Chapter 8 - The Ruin Stone

[Gralhruk]

That night they camp in a sheltered dell, still nearby the oasis. Blarth's plan seems to work, for although they hear the sounds of night feeders and scavengers, none comes to challenge their camp. The next day a meeting of sorts is called, in which the group decides to hole up here for a few days while they recuperate from recent battles and/or imprisonments.

They move their camp to the lion den Surayon had discovered - after removing the carcass she had created there, of course. The scent of such large predators is still strong, and the group believes it will keep most predators away. Nicos dispenses his uncomfortable healing as time and patients allow

Four days later a much healthier band of adventurers looks down from a low rise. Somewhat north and slightly west of them, the massive crown of the obviously volcanic Erol's peak breaks the line of the horizon. Below them lies the entrance to what can only be the resting place of the mysterious Runestone.

[itches]

Standing on the slope looking down, Nicos feels the weight of the last several days weigh heavy upon him. That much magic in such a short space of time took an obvious toll on the bard, and although the power was coming with more ease each time it is not an experience he would choose to repeat. Also wilderness camping was not something the man enjoyed, and he found his thoughts drifting more and more towards a warm bath, soft bed, and the arms of a red-haired woman.

"Well there it is," he said warily. "Our destination of happy fun love."

[Black Plauge]

"Happy fun love?" Blarth asks, clearly confused by Nicos poor attempt at a joke.

"I thought we were going to recover some kind of rock?"

[itches]

"We are," Nicos says. "And if the gods are favourable it will be a rock which brings joy, peace of mind, and regrow the severed limbs of all who are near it."

[Black Plauge]

Deciding that Nicos is being, well... Nicos, Blarth shrugs his shoulders and heads down towards the opening. What ever it was exactly that they were after, it was unlikely to grow legs and come out to meet them, so it'd be up to them to go in and meet it.

[itches]

Entering through obviously not natural cavern, the group moves cautiously out of fear of traps or other hidden guardians placed to stop intrusion. It takes several minutes for them to determine that there are no nasty surprises, for indeed to all appearances the cavern appears to lead nowhere and contain nothing but air.

Standing near the entrance and looking at the others, Nicos looks slightly perplexed.

"Are we sure this is the right place?"

[Gralhruk]

Shade looks around the small, bare cave and shakes her head. After all this way, she isn't sure what she expected but it definitely was not this. Yet if Cadogan had explained himself correctly, this was the place. Of course, Cadogan was blind . . .

She shakes her head again. This should be it. There weren't two volcanic mountains, and this was the only cave on the southern base.

It didn't seem as dark as it should be in here. Her grey eyes scan the stony walls, roving past a narrow fissure in the northwest quadrant . . .

Almost in a trance, she moves toward the shadow of that fissure, runs a hand along the edge. It was deep, but not open. And there was no air flow that she could detect but something deep in her mind hummed with anticipation. She almost had the sense of floating outside her own body, watching as her hands searched purposefull, almost had the feeling she had been here before, done this very thing. There, behind a knobby projection, was a decidely man-made lever. She pulled it without hesitation.

All at once, she was drawn back inside herself. A grinding sound permeated the small space as the door slid back, leaving a gap about four feet wide. The floor beyond was rough hewn stone. She looks back at the others.

"Let's find this thing and go."

[Black Plauge]

Starring about the empty chamber, Blarth is unsure of what to make of it. Nicos's comment certianly seems justified to his mind.

At least, it does until Shade reveals the hidden passage way.

"How'd you know that was there?" Blarth asks in amazement once the door is open.

[red_dr4g0n94]

Ben also had misgivings about this place. It just didn't look like the resting place of a keystone or whatever it was they were looking for. And, if it was, someone had apparently gotten it before they had.

Then Shade did something and a door opened, revealing another room. Ben had to admit, he was impressed. The woman hadn't even looked around the room, she had just gone straight for the key. Almost like she knew it was there. Like she was herding them or something.

Stop it. She found it, that's all that matters.

[Gralhruk]

Shade lowers her veil as she peers into the newly revealed passage. Dark, shadowy, but once again not as dark as it should be. It smelled dusty, dry, like nobody had been here in ages. And it was definitely warmer inside - uncomfortably warm in comparison to the other chamber.

Blarth's question tingles uncomfortably along her spine. She gives him a hard look, noting curiousity and sometimes suspiscion present in other eyes as well. She shrugs the question off, ignoring the looks.

"Just something you pick up in my line of work."

[Shadowfane]

Surayon slips slowly into the cave, looking behind her as the light of the sn slowly slips away. She has never been fond of leaving the open world behind, but whilst caves have served their purpose in life, tunnels, such as the one that Shade has just unveiled... No. She dislikes them intensely, and she knows she can't help but show it in seeveral backward glances, and the fact that, whilst her movements are as fluid as ever, she is almost dragging her feet to enter the tunnel.

[itches]

"Well at least we know it's the right place." Nicos said as he entered through the hidden door Shade had revealed.

The second room was cramped, with barely enough room for the party to all fit in. Immediate in front of them is. Inscrolled into the stone wall besides the door are four lines of text each in a different language.

The first is unknown to the bard, being of a language he never learnt though if he were to hazard a guess he would say dwarven. The second is in elvish and the third the language of men where it is repeated. The final one is in a language totally unknown to the bard. Nicos swiftly reads the text

'Herein lies the chamber of -word unintelligible-. Beware all those who would trespass in its sacred presence'

"Well," the one armed man said softly. "Can any one read the top or last line?"

[Black Plauge]

"Behind door is Eye of not-Gruumsh. Painful death to the heathens in its pressense," Blarth intones, reading the last line of the inscription.

Noting the curious stares of the others, Blarth shakes his head to clear the cobwebs that had suddenly formed and looks at them, "What?" he asks.

[Gralhruk]

The persistant dry heat is stifling, as though the cramped chamber were trying to suffocate them. Slipping forward, Shade runs her hand over the strange carved symbols, furrowing her brow in an attempt to puzzle out their meaning. It was most likely the same warning as the others, but it bothers her that she can't make sense of it. It seemed important . . .

She pulls her hand back with a small shock, suddenly realizing that she's been standing and staring at the runes as time slipped by. What had she been thinking about? Ignoring the impatient shifting of the others, she throws her cloak back and examines the door itself in more detail. The stone seemed of the newer sort, and well crafted. The seems all met precisely, with no gaps or cracks.

The warning seemed to indicate a trap, and she takes a good long time on the door itself. In vain, as it happens. The door seems nothing other than a sturdy stone door. She frowns again and folds her arms.

"No matter the warning, there doesn't seem anything out of the ordinary with the door itself . . ."

She draws back the bolt and pulls on the door, moving aside as it swings inward. Cool air flows toward her, the tunnel beyond quickly fading to immeasurable black. The sudden change bothered her, as did the configuration of the door itself.

"Why bolt it on the outside?"

[Black Plauge]

"To keep something in?" Blarth replies, nervously. The idea that the dwarves would want to keep something in, bothers him.

Looking down the tunnel, however, he can clearly see to the other side and there seems to be nothing to justify his supposition.

"Its empty?"

"No, wait, there's another door at the other end," Blarth ammends after taking a step forward to peer further into the darkness.

[itches]

"Hang on" Nicos said as rummaged around in his belt pouch. Pulling out a gold coin the bard looked at it in disgust before returning it to his pouch and continuing the search. Eventually finding the copper piece he was seeking, the man grasped the coin in his hand and began muttering under his breath to it.

As he finished his quick incantation, the coin burst into light. With a small grunt of exertion Nicos throw the copper down the tunnel.

"Say," the bard said as he peered down the now lit tunnel. "What are those things on things on the floor- Fiol preserve!"

Sounding slightly sick as he recognised the crushed and broken lumps littering the ground up the tunnel as corpses, turned his face away.

"Anyone else want to go check for a backdoor?"

[Gralhruk]

Shade's gray eyes narrow slightly as she catches sight of the crushed bodies in the hall, the only sign she gives of her unease. Instead of speaking, she takes a step ahead of the others, holding her arms out to indicate they should stay where they are. The bard's magical light was bright enough that she raises her veil once more, and then begins meticulously scanning the walls and floor for any signs of the trap that must surely be there.

[Black Plauge]

"Ugh!" Blarth exclaims when Nicos light adds color to the formerly formless shapes and reveals them for what they are. Choking back a desire to vomit, Blarth pointedly looks elsewhere, only to have his eyes fall on the plaque again.

"Behind door is Eye of not-Gruumsh. Painful death to the heathens in its pressense," Blarth intones, reading the last line of the inscription, again.

[itches]

"Yes we know Blarth," Nicos says having recovered his composure after the initial sighting. "You don't need to repeat it."

[Black Plauge]

"Repeat what?" Blarth replies. As best as he could remember, he hadn't said anything since noting the presence of a door at the other end of the hallway, and that certianly hadn't been said before.

[itches]

"The plaque" Nicos replied, gesturing at it. "I think we can be certain that it says the same thing in all the languages."

[Black Plauge]

"The plauque?" Blarth asks, turning to look at it.

"Behind door is Eye of not-Gruumsh. Painful death to the heathens in its pressense,," he intones.

"If you say so. None of it makes any sense to me."

[Shadowfane]

Surayons eyes narrow as she looks at the bodies ahead of them. Moving forward, she kneels easily and looks closer. Although the light is poor, she can see enough to notice that one of the bodies is that of the man she was following before joining up with the group, although she doesn't recognise any of the others. Standing up, her eyes gleam with anger, her fists clenched. Her voice is a parody of its usual chilly self, some of the utter hatred leaking through.

"Let's get in there. Now."

[LonePaladin]

"I'll go first," Xandir says, "I've dealt with booby-traps before."

And boy, has he dealt with booby-traps. It's amazing what some people will pay good coin for, just to keep their possessions in place. Scything-blade traps on windows, high-velocity darts in door-handles, even magical traps that make killing clouds of poison, lethal bursts of flame... or worse.

Shrugging his pack to the floor, he tugs at the flap enough to allow his cat out. He whispers to her for a moment, then she begins prowling around the floor, sniffing and peering into corners. Opposite her, Xandir adopts a similar stance, half-crouched and intent on details.

After about a minute of searching around, Xandir looks up from his work. "Guys, I'm not entirely sure what we've got here." He points at the floor, right in the center of the room. "This has a slight point, like the floor slopes down from here. You can see it better when you look at the doorway from here. The corners are just a little bit lower than the floor there. There are also long scratches on the floor, like something big's dragged to-and-from this line. I can't find the trigger, but the walls--" he indicates the walls on either side-- "aren't joined to the rest. Shade? You think you can find the trigger to this? If you can help me spot it, I might be able to keep it from working."

[itches]

Stepping between Blarth and the inscription, Nicos runs his hand over the words.

"Damn, that's interesting," The bard mumbles. Turing back to Blarth but making sure that he continues to block the half-orc's view of the. "I think it's enchanted to force someone who looks at it, to read it aloud. I've heard of things like this, but never witnessed one before."

[Black Plauge]

"What? Forced to read? Why would dwarves want to force me to read anything? By Gruumsh, how would they even know me?"

[Gralhruk]

Shade looks back towards the others from her forward position. She is kneeling, her fingers running ever so gently over the flagstones in front of her. Grey eyes flick past Surayon and then settle on Xandir. There was a pressure plate in front of her, undoubtedly the trigger. Had Surayon moved forward a few more steps, she likely would have set off the trap. They could probably jump across, but if Xandir could disable it so much the better.

"Pressure plate, right here, extending across the hall."

[LonePaladin]

Xandir takes a closer look at the spot that Shade outlines for him. Sure enough, that tile's not quite flush with the rest. Brushing his fingers across the back of her hand, he says, "Thanks. I got it from here."

Reaching back to his pack, he pulls a bundle off of it. Untying a pair of leather straps, he unrolls the bundle, revealing a collection of thin metal tools, some with bent or twisted ends. The kit also reveals small pry-bars, a pair of tiny glass vials, and sheets of metal. Reaching into one compartment, he pulls out a tube of metal, perhaps as wide across as a finger, and about four inches long. Peeling at one end, part of it separates from the rest, causing the tube to unroll into a metal sheet about two feet long. When it fully extends, the entire length warps, giving the whole a slight curve.

"Stay back, everyone." Working carefully, he slides the sheet into a gap next to the block Shade indicated. As it enters, it straightens again -- and, likely, bends somewhere beneath the surface; inch by inch, he slides most of its length into the gap. Standing up and brushing off his hands, he says, "That should keep the plate from descending properly." As if to illustrate, his cat proceeds to sit on the plate. "I'll retrieve my strip on the way out."

[[ I think a 17 + 6 = 23 should do for a temporary disabling, no? ]]

[itches]

"Dwarves?" Nicos replied to Blarth in confusion. "What dwarves?"

[Black Plauge]

"Why the dwarves who wrote the sign, of course," Blarth replies, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

A moment later, its almost as if Blarth is hearing himself for the first time and a look of confusion crosses his face.

"Wait,... uh... I mean.... er..."

Hopelessly lost, Blarth struggles to reconcile his knowledge that dwarves had written the sign with the fact that no one had ever mentioned that fact before.

[Gralhruk]

She scoops up the coin Nicos had enchanted, using the light to inspect the door at the far end of the passage. It appears untrapped. Shade tugs on the handle and it swings inward, noiseless. The air beyond is stale and thick, motes of dust sparkling in the light leaking between her fingers.

Her hand sweeps in an arc, sending shadows like waves across the interior of the circular room. It was not large in diameter, but there was no ceiling in sight. Shelves were carved out of the naked rock walls, holding symetrical stone markers of varying heights and shapes. To the left of the door, a jumble of broken stone was all that remained of what looked like a large statue of a dwarf.

There, in the center of the room, was a small circular altar. Her eyes travel from the floor, upward along the intricately carved column of stone. There were runes, she guessed dwarvish based on Blarth's earlier assertation. Her eyes reach the flat, polished surface, searching expectantly.

Empty. There is a hollow depression in the exact center, about the size of her fist, but the altar is otherwise bare.

Her eyes immediately scan the ground and she creeps forward, looking for signs. The rock of the floor doesn't tell her much, although the dust has been disturbed. There is only one conclusion, and it isn't one that she likes.

"We're too late. It's gone."

[LonePaladin]

"Hasty, Shade. That's not like you. You're the tracker, right? Look for clues." Xandir looks up, squinting at the oppressive darkness overhead. "You want me to go up there, see if there's anything interesting? I could scale that pretty quickly."

[Gralhruk]

She casts an irritated glance at Xandir, wondering suddenly why he was so eager to get out of sight. Could it be that he knew something she didn't? Was he interested in the stone for himself?

Her eyes narrow.

"Why don't we just search down here first."

A statement, not a question.

"You can start over there. I'll take the north wall. Keep your eye out for any more traps."

[Black Plauge]

Still royaly confused by his knowledge without knowledge, Blarth nevertheless follows the others into the next chamber, taking care to step over the area Shade indicated was the pressure plate trigger for a trap. Not that he didn't trust Xandir's disabling, but... well Xandir was much smaller than Blarth and he didn't think the smaller man had necessarily taken into account the weight diffrence.

As Shade and Xandir begin to search the apparently empty treasure room, Blarth turns his eyes ceiling wards, his darkvision naturally piercing the blackness that Nicos' glowing coin could not dispell.

"Looks like a natural cave ceiling," Blarth comments, "Just a bunch of pointy rocks." Moving closer to one to get a better look, Blarth is startled when the "pointy rock" suddenly falls on him, and trys to grab hold.

[itches]

Seeing something fall upon Blarth's head, Nicos stepped towards the half-orc drawing in a breath to shout a warning. However even as the step was completed something large and dark slammed into him from above.

The sudden weight addition and inertia from the fall knocked the bard to the floor even as the creature wrapped it's tentacles about his head. Feeling a blinding pressure building on his skull, the bard began beating his head against the stony floor in an attempt to dislodge the attacking creature.

Grasping his dagger from his belt Nicos lashed out at it, only to find his initial blow foiled by its leathery hide. Stabbing at it again the man felt the point of the blade dig in, causing the creature to spasm and then go limp. As the fresh oxygen rushed into his lungs, Nicos lay on the ground gasping.

[Cadrius]

Caught within his own thoughts, Cadrius enters the room proper just in time to see a rock fall onto Blarth. Except, rocks don't shift and wrap themselves around one's head; yet this is precisely what this rock does. Nicos' light illuminates the membranes of the rock-like creature as it struggles to suffocate the half-orc. And then one falls upon Nicos as well.

"Beware!" He bellows, raising his shield above his head a moment before another one of the creatures collides with him. It wraps itself around the circular bit of steel, struggling to reach past to Cadrius' head. The creature is mighty, for a small thing, and the fallen paladin struggles to keep it back while his other hand reaches behind his head and finds the hilt of his sword.

The blade slides from its sheath smoothly. Cadrius knows nothing of ancient artifacts, dwarven rites, or rock-like monsters, but this much he knows: his sword is sharp and his arm is strong. The creature knows this too as it breaks off from him to seek a new target. It does so too late.

The bastard sword flashes in the dim light and cuts through the creature in mid-flight, sending it to the floor. It thrashes in its death-throes; Cadrius flicks the dark gray blood from his blade.

[Gralhruk]

Darkness. It suddenly enveloped her absolutely, completely. Without thought, she jerked to one side, bumping up against the security of the wall. Something brushed by her and Shade took a quick hop back, drawing her blades. A subtle rushing in the air was the only clue she had, and using that as a guide she struck out. Nothing. She circles warily, ears alert for friend and foe alike.

<OOC: Darkmantle casts Darkness 20' radius centered on Shade.>

[LonePaladin]

As if summoned by the half-orc's pointing, chaos erupts from the darkened ceiling as stalactites fall from above, then wrap themselves around their targets. Xandir sees Nicos fighting one wrapped around his head, and the ex-paladin fending one off with his shield.

Someone's dropping these on us, Xandir thinks. Not going beyond that, he grabs the wall nearby and starts to climb, letting instinct find hand- and foot-holds; right now, speed is better than care. And he's always got a spell for insurance, should he fall off--

His climb is interrupted as something large, thick-skinned, and heavy drops over his head. Before he can react, something sharp pierces his forehead. Pain shoots bright starflowers across his obscured vision, and his hands reflexively reach to grasp his assailant. The move costs him his grip on the wall, and he falls from about twice his own height, landing on the stone floor with a grunt of pain.

The... thing on his head extends a pseudopod, which starts to curl its way around his neck. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Xandir is aware of a feline form atop the creature, trying to find purchase for its claws.

[red_dr4g0n94]

"Wha," Ben shouted as he heard Cadrius' warning turning back to see the other warrior lift his shield in time to block a rock. He had been near Shade, looking over the pedestal where apparently what they were looking for had been. Now the roof was falling on their heads it seemed.

Just as he noticed that the rock was wrapping itself around Cadrius' shield, the world went dark. It was as if darkness had just fallen from the cieling on top of him. He couldn't see anything. He could still hear though. Someone gasping, gulping for air. The scraping sound of swords being drawn. A thump of something falling.

Ben whirled around, trying to find something, anything. And hoping that he didn't get hit in the head by these strange rocks.

"What in the nine hells is--," Ben's question was cut off as something hit him. Something slammed into his chest, then started wrapping its limbs around him. He thought, for a split second, that someone had run into him and was hugging him. But when the limbs started to reach up and pull the rest of the lump up to his head, Ben realized that whatever was on him was bad.

"Dammit," he swore, quickly getting pissed off at all these tricks and traps this place had set out for them. Fake rooms, crushing walls, weird inscriptions, and now some sort of death rocks. He reached down and grabbed his sword, finding reassurance in the darkness from its leather grip. Just as he drew it though, he remembered that he couldn't see what he was hitting. If he attacked this thing that was now clinging to his chest, he'd probably hit himself.

The alternative wasn't too appealing however. He didn't like the idea of this thing reaching his face and starting to eat it or whatever it was planning. Of course, he had armor on, so that might stop it. Maybe. Or maybe he'd slice an artery.

Instead he reached down with his free hand and grabbed the thing on his chest. It fealt leathery in his fingers, and he tried to pry it off instead, backing up as he did, hoping that maybe he'd find a light or something.

[Shadowfane]

Surayon hangs back a little behind the rest of the group as they head into the chamber - the Runestone, whilst important to the others, was never why she came this far in the first place. Kneeling besides the man she recognised, she starts searching the remains, looking for clues, distinctive marks, anything. Pushing the decaying shirt to one side, she spots a cord around the corpse's neck - a pendant of some sort, but before she can get a closer look at the sigil the room behind erupts into shouts. Stuffing the pendant into a pouch, she curses loudly, spinning round and lunging into the room, swords blurring as she snatches them free. Again, she has let herself be distracted. Again, peopple are at risk becase of it.
Just as she enters the room, it becomes smothered in darkness, black and featureless. Not pausing for a second, Surayon launches forward into a dive, tucking herself up and rolling forward, coming up on her feet. Elven ears catch the soft thud of something landing where she had stood a moment before, and without conscious thought a longsword spears back and down, meeting resistance briefly as it punches through the hide of whatever tried to attack her.
No one is dying here today. No-one.

[Black Plauge]

Grabbing frantically at the creature attempting to cover his head, Blarth rips at it as one might rip at a sack placed over your head. Immediately a high pitched noise, which can only be described as a shriek of agony, escapes from the creature as Blarth's efforts tear its webbing.

The damage, however, is not enough to kill it outright, and the creature counters by squeezing with its tentacles, causing Blarth's eyes to bulge and his breathing to become shallow as a result of the pressure.

[Gralhruk]

The sounds of her companions struggle translate into a rough mental picture of the area. Cadrius is the easiest to pick out, the sound of his voice and the metallic slither of his armor are instantly recognizable. Further away, she can hear Ben cursing and the ragged breathing of two others. The rest was unrecognizable, but based on the sounds and her last mental picture before the lights went out, there was nobody nearby except whatever it was that had attacked them.

She hears a brief skittering of something leathery over stone and the sound is defintely not human. Shade launches into an attack, her footwork made somewhat clumsy by the oppressive dark. Her blades are as fluid as ever, arcing down in a perfect cross to cover as much area as possible. Her aim is slightly off, but she feels her left hand blade connect with a shock and sink deep into something living.

<OOC: Hit once for 7 damage and one dead darkmantle.>

[LonePaladin]

Xandir struggles in leather-wrapped darkness, fighting to get fingers between a rough tentacle and his throat. Across the link to Kahlan, he gets impressions of pure fury. Drawing on it, he wrenches one finger underneath the thing wrapping around his neck.

Not good enough.

A bright flash of pain blooms in his vision as the tentacle tightens, painfully squeezing his finger and making it impossible to breathe. The flash of pain widens, spreading into a multitude of stars, fading into a haze of darkness.

[[OOC: Xandir's down to 0 hp.]]

[itches]

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Laying on his back and gasping to return his breath, Nicos attempted to piece together the chaotic happenings of the scant handful of seconds leading up to and including the ambush.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Noting the oppressive darkness in passing, the bard idling concluded that something had happened to his magical light when during the attack. No doubt he would have to create another light source soon. A small magical trick, but one of the more useful one he had picked up.

Thud. Thud. Thud. meow

For some reason he was reminded of Cheroilo, the woman he had known back in Drefil. She had strong legs, and an inclination to use that strength in the most interesting ways.

Thud. meow Thud. Thud. meow meow

Meow? Puzzled by the discordant note sounding near to his head, Nicos rolled onto his knees and followed the furious sounding meows to its source. His hand stretched out in front of him in the total darkness was the first to discover the source. Warm fur quivering and next to it ... colder leathery hide.

Realising that it must be Xandir under the strange creature the bard strikes out with his dagger, being careful not to injure the man by mistake.

[Gralhruk]

The confusion all around makes her head spin in the dizzying dark. For a moment she squeezes her eyes shut. The view remains unchanged, but her mind superimposes the last visual image of the chamber she remembers over the darkness. An inhuman shriek cuts through the gloom and muffled sounds of struggle. Dropping one of her blades, Shade draws a dagger and moves as quickly as the darkness will allow in that direction, her left hand held out in front of her, still clenched around the hilt of her adamantine sword.

Sounds of struggle are right in front of her now, and her questing fist touches the leathery surface of their attackers. She weighs the dagger, spinning it effortlessly into a traditional grip before lining up to strike. It had to be done carefully, lest she inadvertantly hit Blarth. At least, she thought it was Blarth. At the last minute, though, the combatants lurch sideways and her strike goes wide.

<OOC: Drop one sword (free action), draw dagger while moving, then attack (and miss) Blarth's darkmantle.>

[Black Plauge]

Pulling one last time at the creature, that inhuman shriek builds again only to be cut off as the creature goes limp. Quickly untangling himself, the slow pulsing of the creatures breathing makes Blarth realize that the creature isn't dead, just unconcious from the pain. Unnaturally blind, Blarth does the first thing he can think of and grabs the creature by its tentacles before swinging it into the ground hard.

Breathing a sigh of releif when thats done, Blarth looks up to see what's going on.

Or rather, he tries to. A complete blackness cover's the room. Not even the normal white outlines and shadings of his darkvision impinge on his field of view. Unnerved by something that he only ever sees when his eyes are closed, Blarth instinctivly rubs his eyes, to see if that creature had left anything on them. Finding nothing, he calls out hesitantly.

"Umm... Hello? Where is everybody? What's going on?"

[red_dr4g0n94]

Come off damn you! The...thing attached to him wasn't coming off, and was actually pressing harder on his chest now. His breathing came with short pangs now, his ribs which had been bruised too recently were complaining quite loudly to him. As soon as he'd grabbed onto this leathery rock, this thing had stopped climbing up his body at leat.

But despite his strength, he could not pull the thriced-damned thing off of him. It stubbornly refused to release its tightening grip on his chest. And he was unwilling to risk impaling himself with his sword. He was starting to regret not carrying around a dagger.

Ben felt himself hit the wall. Or rather, he felt his elbow hit the wall. He took another step back, and fell backwards when his foot found the ground several inches lower than it had been. With a loud clang as his shield slammed to the ground and rattled the contents of his backpack, it took his a second to realize that the painful sensation in his eyes was light.

It took another second for him to realize the implications of there being lights. He looked down at the thing that was wrapped around his chest. A blob with tentacles it looked like to Ben, throbbing slightly in his hand in a manner Ben would have given to a leech. Sneering, he brought his sword up and released his hand from the blob, then promptly skewered the thing, meeting only slight resistance before his sword slid in the creature and out the other end.

The creature gave one last painful squeeze before it went slack and its throbbing stopped. Ben let his head drop back down to the floor, letting the pain from his breathing subside a bit. Then he reached back up and pulled the blob off his chest. He looked down at where he seemed to have fallen through, expecting the doorway that they all had entered the chamber through.

Instead he saw his his feet up to just above his knees absorbed by a wall of black. He immediatly pulled his legs out, without any resistance. He rose up, kicking the blob to it slid across the floor away from him. Then he looked around the room.

It was pretty much like the other room. Shelves carved into the walls, with odd stones, only these ones seemed to have some sort of metallic surface to them. And there, exactly as in the other room, was the altar, odd writings and all. Except this had the same metallic sheen as the odd stones all over it. Ben looked up at the ceiling, readying his sword in case more of the blobs fell down. But the clieling here was pretty much smooth, as if whoever built this had taken a sword and just cleaved through the top layer of stone.

There was the altar too, with those odd scribbles, probably runes of some sort, just like in the other room. It had the same metallic sheen that the rocks on the shelves had too. Ben almost turned away, wondering why there would be a duplicate room, when he looked back.

Yes. There, on the altar, where in the other room there had been empty space, was a cube.

"No way." he whispered to himself. It was just sitting there. The dust in the room suggested it hadn't been touched in a long while. Maybe Fiol is paying me back or something. "Um," he said, turning back to the darkness that was still present behind him. "Guys? You aren't going to believe this, but...I think I found what we were looking for."

[itches]

"You found the secret harem that has lain hidden in these hills from near the beginning of time?" Nicos called back to Ben sarcastically. Pulling off the dead darkmantel, the bard attempted to assess Xandir's condition by touch alone.

"I don't suppose anyone has any idea how to get rid of this foul blackness," the man added after a few moments of silence. "Xandir seems to be hurt, but I can't do anything about it if I can't see him."

[Black Plauge]

"Why not create another of those light rocks?" Blarth asks, groping around in the darkness around him in an attempt to get his bearings.

[Gralhruk]

A current thrilled through her at Ben's words, followed by a pang of suspicion. Ysene had charged her with this mission and Cadogan had impressed upon her its importance. Did Ben have some ulterior motive?

Already moving toward the sound of Ben's voice, she starts speaking. Her words are flat, pragmatic.

"Forget making light in here. Bring Xandir into the chamber Ben is in and treat him there."

There is a sense of urgency in her, a restless energy that makes her glide forward as silently as possible. Her blade is still held ready, invisible in the dark. Her hand trails along the wall, the stone rough under her fingers until, suddenly, her hand is in empty space.

She moves forward, into the light. Ben is there, gawking. Shade does her own quick scan of the surroundings, not sure what she expected to find but not liking it anyway.

"Stand back. Gods know we don't need to run into another trap."

[itches]

"Right." Nicos says to the darkness as the sound of Shade moved off. "So, if someone who still has both arms would like to follow the sound of my voice and help me move our fallen comrade?"

[Black Plauge]

"Umm... Okay," Blarth replies, still totally lost in the unnatural darkness. "Keep talking."

Following the bard's voice as best he can (oddly enough it echo's slightly in an underground cave), Blarth stumbles about for a bit with his hands in front of him. After what seems like an eternity, but is actually only a few seconds, Blarth thinks that Nicos's voice is getting louder and his hands brush up against the back of somebody's head.

"Nicos, is that your?" Blarth asks, feeling the head in front of him.

[itches]

"Yes," Nicos said as he reached up and guided the half-orc's hands down to the injured man. "If you take him, I’ll carry his gear."

[Gralhruk]

Shade takes another moment to survey the room. The exposed surfaces are coated with a dull metal that makes the whole room seem almost surreal. Scattered at irregular intervals along the floor and atop the shelves carved into the walls are dozens of seemingly unrelated objects: coins, rocks, gems, crystal, weapons, armor, tools.

The whole scenario, from the moment they'd left the wastelands without, had been gradually gnawing on reality. Now, everything seemed to have moved completely into a dreamscape. The Runestone sits on the altar - a small, irregularly shaped gem. It is a deep green, the center seeming almost black. As she stares at it, Shade becomes aware of the peculiar way it refracts the light. Within the depths of the gem, she can see a dazzling, swirling array as though the stone itself were a deep sea filled with visible currents.

Almost without realizing it, she moves closer, leaning over the altar, grey eyes fixed with rapt fascination on the still surface of the gem. Within, her heart seems to slow to a crawl, its beat gathering intensity rather than speed. Her head lowers until it is within inches of the Runestone, the planes and angles of that emarald surface occupying the whole of her vision.

And then, behind her, there is a small scraping accompanied by someone clearing their throat. With a start, the world comes back in a rush. Her head snaps around, fingers already closing on the hilt of her sword. Ben. He was standing there, staring at her expectantly.

The stone

She glares at him, the turns back to the altar and abruptly snatches the stone from its resting place. The thing is heavier than she had imagined, but she stuffs it into her pouch without further examination.

"Alright, we got it. Now let's get out of here."

[Black Plauge]

Letting Nicos' hand guide his to Xandir's body, Blarth takes a moment to make figure out where Xandir's head is in the dark. Then moving aournd so that he's standing over Xandir's head, Blarth lifts him up by the armpits, encircling his arms around Xandir's chest.

"I have to walk backwards," Blarth tells Nicos, "so that I don't bump his head against anything. Try and tell me as best you can what the floor is like as we go."

Blarth then follows Nicos' lead, trying his best not to fall in the unnatural dark.

[itches]

"Rock. Ditch. Dead creature-thing. Step."

Murmuring warnings as they went Nicos lead Blarth away from the darkness.

"Alright, we got it. Now let's get out of here."

"Let's wait a moment until I make sure Xandir not dead." Nicos said as he emerged from the darkness. "I'd rather not have his angry ghost chasing after us because we didn't take a moment to tend to him."

"Besides," the bard added with a sideways glance at the items laying around. "After coming this far it would be a shame if we didn't take the opportunity to ... examine our surroundings."

Taking in the man's condition with a quick look, Nicos reluctantly pulled one of his dwindling supply of potions from his back. Muttering something under his breath, the one armed man forced it down Xandir's throat.

[LonePaladin]

The potion slides down, almost effortlessly. Almost.

Just before Nicos finishes upending the contents of the vial, Xandir coughs and splutters, spraying droplets of magical fluid across the bard's face and chest. He doubles over, covering his mouth with one hand while keeping his balance with the other.

Finally drawing a breath, he says, "Cabbage? I hate cabbage. When did I eat cabbage last?" Then he looks up, sees a one-armed man in front of him, and notes the dung-eating grin. "Oh, it's one of your concoctions. No wonder. Did you use a spell to make them taste bad, minstrel?"

Picking himself up, he sways for a second, then finds his balance. Looking around doesn't tell him much; a circular room with several patches of... shadow. Not quite true darkness, but enough to make things hard to see. He starts to call out to Kahlan, but realizes that she's busy. When he realizes what she's doing, he almost retches again. "Well, I guess those tentacle-things are okay; Kahlan's busy chewing on one."

[itches]

"I don't think you can afford the good tasting concoctions," Nicos says wiping the stuff from his face with his sleeve. "But we can talk about my bill later."

Stepping over to the nearest item, which appears to be a mail-shirt of small rings. After examining it closely for a few seconds, the bard picks it up.

"Hmm," he said shifting the object in his hand. "This is a lot lighter then I thought it would be." Peering closely at the rings for a second, the man softly utters an oath. "I know what this is! It's Mitheral."

[Black Plauge]

"What?" Blarth asks when Nicos makes his decleration, "It looks like a chain shirt to me. What's a mithral?"

[itches]

"It's a rare metal," he answered in a slightly awed voice. "It's rarer then gold and stronger then iron, but it never rusts. But what makes most people seek it out is the weight."

Handing the shirt over to the half-orc, the bard looks around the room. "Feel that? It weighs less then half of what it looks like it should. I wonder what else is in this room."

[Gralhruk]

Normally, Nicos would have had some competition for his prize. After all, mithral was decidely rare, expensive and - most importantly - afforded excellent protection without undue bulk or weight. In short, it was perfect for one expecting combat but desiring stealth.

Instead, she watches the proceedings distractedly - disinterested, it seems, unless it is to chastise.

"We got what we came for. If you want to loot the place, make it quick. Let's get out of here before something else bad happens. The sooner we get this stone back to the Citadel the sooner we can wash our hands of these wizards."

[Black Plauge]

Holding the chain shrit for a moment, Blarth can't help but notice how light it is.

"That is light, but given its weight it can't be nearly as strong as regular chain. Why would anyone want to sacrifice strength to make a lighter shirt? It won't do you much good in a fight."

Handing the shirt back to Nicos, Blarth moves to look at some of the other trinkets scattered about the room. Shade seems egar to go, but there doesn't seem to be any need to hurry. They aren't in any danager here that Blarth can sense, and its not like the citadel was going anywhere.

Besides, some of these little trinkets were neat.

Picking up what at first appears to be a silver coin, Blarth notes that it has a shape more like an eye than a circle and doesn't feel or smell like silver should. Turning it over in his hand, Blarth notes that its back is smooth, lacking any design. Obviously the object was meant to be viewed only from the one side. Flipping it back over, Blarth is once again taken by the designs resemblance to an eye and is reminded of the headdresses that the tribal shamman's would wear back home. Pocketing the trinket, Blarth wonders if he should give it to his old teacher, when and if he ever makes it back home, or if he should make a headdress of his own someday.

Moving about, Blarth picks up another couple of trinkets or bits of jewlrey that might serve a similar purpose.

[Cadrius]

Cadrius trails behind the others, methodically searching the pitch black for corpses. Upon discovery of one, he prods it with the end of a sword and makes certain it no longer lives. Dangerous foes, but not beyond a cadre of wizards. The question of why they were sent in proxy disturbs him and the feeling of foreboding renews itself. An item so important will not be left so easily guarded unless...

He emerges from the unnatural dark to see Nicos and Blarth gathered around a silver chain shirt. Xandiir is pushing himself to his feet, Ben is surveying the room, and Shade looks pensive. The lack of organization of the items along the floor and shelves is troubling. A sword lays next to an iron ignot which in turn is adjacent to several crossbow bolts. He frowns, but stoops to gather up a few items.

One is a polished heater shield, decorating the front is a silver mailed fist on black field. Another is a shortbow made from a dusky gray wood. The fallen paladin gives it a test pull and grunts; it's stronger than he thought. He adds a quiver to his collection and casually glances around the room for more piles.
Once upon a time, he would have objected to such wanton looting. But he's a far more pragmatic man these days and the previous owners have not been here in a very long time.

"Best take what you can, Shade. We should be well away from here by dark."

[Shadowfane]

Surayon stalks into the room, looking around, taking everything in - the humans, having found the Stone they've been looking for, are busy looting, all except Shade, who seems to be almost in a daze. Typical humans, she thinks digustedly.

"So, can we go now? Or are there going to be more of these delightful" she pauses to kick a darkmantle into the room, "things or traps?"

[Gralhruk]

Shade's eyes pass cooly over the elf before they continue in a slow circle around the room. At any other time, Surayon's words might have elicited some response. She even ignores a suggestion from Cadrius to take what they can. In her opinion, none of it mattered. What mattered was the stone.

"Looks like you have the good stuff already. And you are right: I want a lot of distance between us and this cave come sundown."

[red_dr4g0n94]

Ben glanced over the room, where some of the others were looking it over for possible loot. He, Shade, and the elf were the only ones not doing so. This place, it just didn't...feel right, like there was something watching him, the way a predator would watch potential prey. He wouldn't want anything from here.

"Yeah, we should get out of here. This place is too creepy."

[itches]

The looting continues for several minutes as Ben, Shade and Surayon look on in disapproval. In that time an uneasiness grows slowly in the bards mind, much like an itch which grows from a minor annoyance to an irritation where you can't think. Shaking his head in attempt to rid himself of it, Nicos shoves the items he picked up into his pack.

"Come on guys, we've spent enough time here I think. We can take everything back outside and make camp, then we'll be able to sort it out in comfort."

[Gralhruk]

Shade glances at the others quickly, but without really checking to see if they are ready before she leaves the chamber. The others follow, and they leave much as they arrived - with an air of wariness and without much talking. As promised, Shade sets difficult pace and they push themselves onward for as long as they have light. Twilight is pooling in the broken ground when they finally set up camp on the lee side of a stony hill.

[itches]

Once they are at camp Nicos pulled out his new shirt and struggles into. Because it's fashioned as a sleeveless shirt the bard's missing arm doesn't cause it to sit awkwardly. Despite the lightness its extra weight he wasn't use to moving and fighting in, it would take time for him to become used to it.

Noticing Shade standing alone, Nicos rose and made his way over.

"Shade, now's as good a time as any that is likely to come up before we return. I'd like to examine the stone."

[Gralhruk]

She regards him with a narrowed, sideways look. His new armor provokes a slight pang of jealousy - mithril was lighter, more flexible, and provided better protection than her own finely crafted studded leather. Or at least, she tells herself it is the armor that grates on her, that makes her reluctant to honor his request.

"Why? It's a rock, and one we aren't going to be keeping. No point in wasting time studying it."

[itches]

"A Rock?" Nicos asked incredulously. It was unlike Shade to make such an obviously false statement. The journey for the stone had been difficult for them all and the conflict had only served to wear on everyone’s patience, Nicos not excluded.

"Do you seriously think this is just a rock? I don't know about you, but where I come from people don't set deadly traps to guard random pieces of stone!"

As soon as the words left the bards mouth he regretted the tone. Snapping at each other at this point would only serve to make the journey back more discomforting then it had to be. Taking a deep breath he tried again.

"Look, I'd like to know what it is we're handing over to them if at all possible. Considering both their interest in this rock and where we found it, there's a good chance that it isn't natural. Which leads me onto another point; if this is magical in some way it may be dangerous it’s better for me to examine it now then find out later that carrying it had caused your arm to fall off, or made you blind."

Holding out his hand, the man gives Shade his familiar smile. "I promise I won't break it."

[Gralhruk]

She ignores the smile and the outstretched arm. Shade makes no threatening move or gesture but her eyes have a dangerous glimmer despite her relaxed bearing. When she speaks, her tone is grating.

"It's safer for everyone if this is just a rock. We don't need an amateur fooling around with something powerful that we don't understand."

[itches]

As Shade spoke Nicos' smile became a strained twisted thing on his lips, though his voice remained light.

"Oh? I wasn't aware that you were an expert on these matters. I'd be interested in hearing the tale of how you came to know so much about such an obscure topic. Perhaps you could enlighten me of the side effects of carrying it around for a few days? Or why the wizards want it? Maybe you could tell me if it was hidden and guarded so well because the people who put it there didn't want it stolen, or they thought it too dangerous to keep anywhere else?"

Keeping his arm outstretched, the bard stared into the woman’s dangerously glinting eyes and began to mentally watch any signal that she was going to attack.

“I must admit that I’m rather curious about these things.”

[Gralhruk]

"Too curious for your own good."

Shade is struck by the unreasoning desire to slap the amorphous smile off the bards face. This thing could damn well kill them all. The sooner they gave it to Cadogan, the better off they would all be. She wasn't going to stand by while Nicos tried to get them all killed by practicing witchery on it. Her mouth twitches with a bitter response just as her eye catches the glint of firelight off of armor beyond him.

She gaze shifts focus, suddenly aware of the rest of the group watching the confrontation. There was judgement there, maybe even accusation. Couldn't they see what was going on?

Maybe she could control the situation instead. She slowly digs the stone out of her pouch, then holds it out.

"Alright. Have your look. But don't get us killed."

Her fingers close around it as the bard reaches for it. Her voice drops to a whisper only he can hear.

"You'll hand it over when I say."

[itches]

"Well so much for my plan to sell it and use the money to retire," Nicos whispered back. When she Shade failed to let go of the stone he quietly added "I'm not trying to rob you, I'll give it back."

When the green stone dropped into the bard’s hand, his breath caught in his throat as his eyes gazed deep into its dark depths. In its centre shadows chase each other forming vague, half glimpsed shapes and images before dissolving into chaos. A figure, a sword, an eye...

Suddenly feeling uneasy holding the jewel, Nicos tears his eyes away and consults his memory for tales of magical items. The crown jewel of Krevlion was said to be magical gem, but in itself it wasn't dangerous, was a sapphire and supposedly crafted specifically for the royal family. The hero Hulerion's sword Jeroinus has a large ruby on its pommel which apparently gave the sword intelligence and fantastical powers, but the man claimed it was an eye of a dragon he slew early in his career.

Mentally running through every tale of a magical stone, gem and crystal he can remember, it takes the bard several minutes before he concludes that he's never heard of anything that quite matches.

"Okay," he admits aloud. "I'm stumped. The only things I can tell are the obvious ones. It's not any type of stone or gem that I've ever encountered, but what ever it is it's heavier then I'd expect from the size and probably harder too."

Hefting the stone as if to measure its weight, Nicos continues. "I'm guessing that it's either naturally formed stone or it was crafted by a master stone cutter." Holding the gem up to his eye and turning it slowly as he spoke, Nicos explained. "No matter how closely I look at it I can't see any signs of that it was cut or formed through traditional means, I'm not an expert but I would have expected something to give it away and this stone is flawless."

Shaking his head the man looks ruefully at Shade. "There are a couple of more things I could to try and find out, but they would take hours at best. Over a week is more likely and we don't have that sort of time."

[Shadowfane]

Surayon looks over at the argument going on between Nicos and Shade, but she can't really summon up any enthusiasm for it - the Stone, to her, for now at least, is just a rock, she doesn't have any interest in it. Slowly drawing a whetstone over her blades, she tunes out the discussion until the last sentence catches her attention. Looking over at the bard, she raises one eyebrow.

"Don't have that kind of time? And why is that?"

[Gralhruk]

"Because we're not keeping it a second longer than it takes us to get back to the Citadel."

Nicos had only proven her suspicion that the stone would not yield its secrets up to a novice. Now he had Surayon wondering about it, with that oh-so-elven curiousity when it came to magic.

"You've had your look. Now let's get some food and some rest."

[Black Plauge]

"Food?" Blarth remarks, wandering back into the campsite with a load of firewood. "Is it time to eat already?" In the excitement and confusion that the retrieval of the runestone and the subsequent looting had afforded, Blarth had quite forgotten about eating, but now that Shade had mentioned food, his stomach would no longer be ignored.

"If one of you would do the cooking, I'll go gather some more firewood."

[itches]

Having failed to uncover the secrets of the stone, Nicos reached over to return it to Shade. As he did so a strange reluctance came over him.

Why should Shade be the one to carry it? They had all worked together to get the stone. And of everyone he was the most qualified to care for it. Sure he had failed to learn anything of significance just then, but more was sure to come back to him over time. It would just be foolish to turn it over to someone else. In fact-

"If one of you would do the cooking, I'll go gather some more firewood."

Broken from his thoughts by Blarth’s comment, the bard drops the stone into Shade’s waiting grasp.

"Yeah, I’ll cook."

[Cadrius]

Cadrius eyes Nicos warily, misliking the bard's attitude. That Shade isn't more forceful surprises him; things are generally done her way...or else. Yet in the end, Nicos demures and returns the stone to Shade. That too causes Cadrius to frown. Magic, particularly the eldritch kind housed within this artifact, is not to be trusted. She's right; the sooner they return this, the better.

He lets Blarth go off on his own, preferring to keep an eye on the others while laying out his bedroll and unloading his possessions.

[Gralhruk]

Shade can feel Cadrius watching her, but she ignores his judgemental gaze. Let him be annoyed, or whatever he was. Around her, camp gradually takes shape, dinner is served and watches alloted. Cadrius remained aloof, but enduring his stare was far better than having to explain her reasons, especially to him. Her watch is late, well past midnight. The wastelands around the small group are unusually silent. The ever present chill washes through her as she surveys the camp below.

Cadrius turned in his sleep as she watched. Once, she had thought they might help each other, renegades that they were. In the cold light of the moon, she knew it for the lie that it was. There wasn't anything about her that he could respect, much less embrace. She sits cross legged on the ground, more concerned with watching the others than she is looking out for danger. For whatever reason, the brutal land around no longer seems as threatening. She can feel the stone weighing down the pouch at her side, her fingers itching to hold it. What had Nicos been looking for?

Ultimately, it didn't matter. She still had the stone. The pouch is now gripped tightly in her hand beneath her cloak. Nothing has stirred in camp for twenty minutes. Even Surayon is motionless, wrapped in her elven dreams. Somehow, the Runestone was in her hand, glittering darkly in the moonlight. Her grey eyes are rapt upon it, unblinking, delving its murky depths. Mechanically, she replaces it in her pouch, then silently rises. Her fingers check the hilts of her swords before she fades into the night. By the time they woke, she would be long gone.

***

Dawn is an hour past when Surayon comes out of her reverie. She finds Nicos still asleep and frowns: the man was supposed to be on watch. She wakes him and there is a brief discussion, followed by a quick search for Shade. The elf finds a trail she believes to be Shade's, headed back toward the mountains, but it disappears in the rocky ground. Nicos curses, knowing that Shade's skill in woodcraft meant she'd likely leave a light trail in any case. By the time they return, most of the others have woken.

[Black Plauge]

"*YAWN* What's going on?" A sleepy Blarth asks as he awakens to find Nicos and Surayon returning. "What are you two up to, and where's Shade?"

[itches]

"Where's Shade?" Nicos repeated the question aloud as he shoved his gear into his pack. "Well with any luck she's currently being held hostage and awaiting us to charge in and save the day."

Looking up and noticing the look on Blarth face, the bard quickly explains.

"She snuck off during the night and left a false trail heading towards the mountains. I'm guessing she's going back to the Citadel with the stone. Pack your gear while I wake the others, she can't be too far ahead of us so we'll make an early start of it. That means no breakfast."

[Black Plauge]

Clearly dissapointed at the prospect of no breakfast, Blarth nevertheless complies with the "order" to pack up his stuff and is soon ready to go. He does, however, take a moment to grab a piece of jerky and begin chewing on it.

"So, what makes you think she's headed towards the Citadel?" Blarth asks Nicos once the group hits the trail. "I got the feeling that Shade didn't really like that place."

[itches]

"Because I'm a blind idiot," Nicos replied feeling his stomach complain about the lack of food. "I gave it some thought while Surayon and I were trying to track Shade and it's the only thing that makes sense if you put together all the clues."

"First of all," he said raising his hand and extending a finger. "It never made any sense that they would send us out here on our own. Disregarding the fact that we might have needed some help, why didn't they send someone to make sure we didn't damage the stone and to make sure we actually returned with it?"

Dropping his hand to his side, the bard continues quietly. "I think they did; only they were very subtle about it. There are certain magics which give people compulsions to do certain things. It's a very subtle and powerful thing, people have been known to have been under a compulsion for years - and all without knowing it. I think that Shade was under the influence of one."

Raising his hand again to forestall any argument, Nicos quickly continues. "Let me finish. Consider the fact that on the way here, we followed Shade more then we followed the not-too-specific directions on how to get here. I was expecting that we'd have to search the area for the entrance but we came out right on top of it, and I don't think we're that lucky.

"Consider the first door, the hidden one. Shade knew exactly what to do to open it, when the rest of us couldn't even tell there was a secret door at all. She didn't even have to search for it, which really should have been a dead give away right there but I was too stupid to notice it.

"Consider also how she was when she finally got a hold of it, she didn't care about any of the other treasure that was in there, she didn't even look twice at it! All she wanted to do was get on the way. Consider again that she wouldn't even let me examine the stone until I swore I would return it when I was done."

Turning an eye towards the half-orc, Nicos tries to gauge his companion's mood. "Individually they aren't a lot, but put it all together and I'm convinced. The wizards had the motivation, opportunity and ability."

-Besides- the bard mentally adds. -The only chance we have of following her is if we know where she's heading. It's either the Citadel or nothing.-

[red_dr4g0n94]

Ben opened his eyes, grumbling about people needing to shut up so others can sleep. Rising up from bedroll, he looked over and saw Nicos talking with Blarth and the elf. He caught the end of Nicos' words, something about the wizards from the Citadel. The bard seemed agitated.

"Ability to do what," he mumbled out, trying to banish the grogginess in his eyes. "What's going on?"

[itches]

"Put a spell on Shade," Nicos said glancing back at Ben. "She slipped out during the night, and we have to leave now if we're to have any chance of catching her before she makes it back so hurry up."

[Black Plauge]

Unable to argue with Nicos's logic, Blarth takes a moment to orient himself as the the direction of the citadel and then (when everybody is ready) leads the way in that direction.

[Shadowfane]

Surayon follows the group for a while, then without a word, ranges ahead, eyes darting around, not standing still for a second, searching out any signs that Shade passed this way. Regardless of the humans training, Surayon had lived and tracked in the wilds for three times longer than Shade had been alive - if there was a trail here, Surayon would find it, no matter how long it took.

[itches]

It wasn't until the second day of the return trip that Surayon found some sign of Shade's passing. A day old camp in a small hollow, complete with ashes from a small fire and indentation from where someone had slept. The camp brought a mixture of feelings to Nicos, validation that he had judged the situation and her direction correctly, and concern that despite all of their haste she had still gained a day on them. After that signs of her passing grew more common to those who were able to spot them, as if Shade had traded an element of stealth for greater speed.

And so it was that the companions found themselves camped less then a day away from the Citadel still having not caught up with their wayward companion. Nicos sat the dawn guard, watching as the rising sun turned the clouds into varying shades of red. Some reminded him nothing so much of Gemoud's hair, while others brought to mind blood fresh from the wound. The combination had a despondent effect upon the man.

A piece of old verse sprung to mind, and the bard quoth:

"So dawns the wrath red day
upon fields of the sky
Below mortals gaze and pray
yearning to turn and fly
The blood birthed day shall know no peace
for its name is pain
We broken men hope for release
but all shall be in vain"

Looking away from the dawn display the bard finds Xandir looking at him with pack and gear ready for travel.

"Going somewhere?" Nicos asked trying to sound nonchalant.
"Yeah," the man said fidgeting slightly as if uncomfortable. "I've been thinking and I know I owe you all from saving me from that crevice, but that Citadel? I've been listening to everyone talk about it, and I don't think I want to head in with you guys. I have my own affairs and I'm getting the feeling that once you get involved with these wizards it's hard to escape again."

Nodding Nicos felt that he couldn't blame the man. Despite all the reasons he had for returning, the thought of just turning away and walking off had occurred to him.

"So you're leaving now?"
"Yep, I don’t like long good byes so I thought I'd do everyone a favour and slip out when I have the chance. So bye to everyone for me, and hi to Shade when you catch up to her. Who knows, maybe we'll meet again."
"Oh I'm sure we will," Nicos said with a mischievous smile. "You still owe me for all that healing."

The one armed man watched Xandir make his way alone across the wilderness for several minutes, then turned his eyes back to the dawn fire, wondering what the day would bring.

[Gralhruk]

When she started out she was smug and sure, the emptiness inside her all but forgotten. At first, travelling alone - without the burden of companions who had the excruciating habit of pushing her in directions she didn't want to go - was exhilarating. The waste was cruel and hard, but at least it didn't force her mind to consider anything except survival. Unfortunately, the necessity of covering her tracks meant that it was going to take longer to finish this journey than she would like.

Get to the Citadel, drop off the stone, and then leave the wizards and this broken land forever. That was the plan. Then she'd be free to go whereever she wanted - maybe find a city where she could earn an honest living thieving, with no moral quandries about rescuing prisoners and no involvement in wars over arcane paraphenalia.

Two days of hard travel later and she was barely recognizable as the same person that had left camp. Her face was pale, drawn, grey eyes dull, fingernails jagged. Shade had pushed herself forward without rest, the whole while covering her trail in a meticulous fashion. Sweat and grime covered her like a blanket.

Her mind was fuzzy, and with only a day of travel left to go, something tells her that she needs rest and fire and food if she is to go on. Her body does these things, and when she wakes her eyes have assumed a look of grim purpose, though otherwise her appearance is unchanged. The one time thief no longer bothers hiding her trail, instead moving with all possible speed to her destination.

Hours later and Shade can see the Citadel on the horizon. Relentlessly , she pushes forward. Soon it would all be over. The stone is gripped in one clawlike hand, its edges digging into her palm.

Swinging wide around the bulk of the Citadel, she aims for a small rock outcropping and the squat outbuilding that sits atop it. Near the base, she ducks beneath thick, thorny branches and slips her hand into a crevice between two boulders. A small trap door opens with a rumble. Without pause, she uses the handholds cut into the stone to lower herself in the darkness.

The trap above slides shut, leaving no trace that she had ever been.

[Shadowfane]

Surayons eyes open, coming out of her reverie with the eae of a century of practice. Rising to her feet, she glances over at Nicos - sitting there, eyes fixed on the rising sun - before moving over to the embers of the fire and prodding the ashes, stirring the coals for a few seconds before stepping away, seeing flames in the dull gleam of the ashes. Sitting besides the bard, she draws her longsword and begins to slowly, methodically, sharpen the already razor edge, the rasp of the whetstone almost a soothing balm to her ears. Without looking at the one-armed man, she speaks, quietly, but with a chill note that not even the dawn can chase away.

"So. This Citadel? What can we expect to find in there?"

[Black Plauge]

"Lots of weird stuff," Blarth replies, shaking himself awake.

"Those wizards have knives that cut by themselves and animals shrunk down into miniatures. Its a really weird place."

[itches]

"Yeah," Nicos chimes in. "They seem to be going out of their way to show off magic. I can't really blame them I suppose, most would have spent their entire lives either hiding the fact that they can perform magic, or being very discreet about it. Now that they found somewhere that they can openly practice it - well they must feel like showing off a bit. Or a lot."

[red_dr4g0n94]

"Magic is dangerous," Ben added, as he too rose from his sleep. He hadn't really been talkative, even for him, since Shade took off with the stone. "Its power given some form of physical manifestation. And like any sort of power, it can easily be abused. Unlike a powerful warrior or general though, a Wizard or Sorcerer doesn't have powers like mere mortal men. They can summon beasts from nothing and call fire down from the sky."

He started rolling his bed up and getting ready to move out at a moments notice as he kept talking. "So if you ask me, showing it off like that is just asking for trouble."

[itches]

Nicos cast a speculative eye towards Ben during his 'magic is dangerous' speech, considering. Because of the environ of their first meeting, the bard hadn't considered that he might subscribe to a more traditional view of magic - that is a disapproving one. Then again he hadn't shown any reluctance to accept the handful of tricks the bard had performed on their journey so perhaps he was just sick of being manipulated. Or he had had a bad experience in the past; both were things Nicos could relate to. Still...

"Relax," Nicos said to Ben's preparations. "We knew when we camped last night that we weren't going to catch Shade. We might as well linger at camp this morning and have a good hot breakfast before we face them."

[Shadowfane]

Surayon sighs quietly, not looking up from her sword as she methodically hones the edge. She starts talking softly, almost to herself.
"Wizards. Always playing with things they dont understand. I remember my home, the druids we had there. They understood the balance. Not like the others, the ones who came and...."

Abruptly her mouth snaps shut, her head coming up, violet eyes glaring around.

"I wasn't asking for your opinion on magic. What I want to know is how likely is it that I'll have to kill someone in there? I don't want to go in with no idea of the situation, and lets face it, bard, you're the one who has the most.....practical knowledge of this..."

[itches]

"I have no idea," Nicos said quietly as his eyes drifted back to the sunrise. "I can only hope not."

[Black Plauge]

"Kill people?!? Why would we need to kill anyone. All we need to do is find Shade and make sure those wizards get their stone. Then we can leave. It really isn't that complicated."

[Gralhruk]

She fumes.

After all of that risk and hardship, Shade finds herself stuck in the one place she was desperately trying to leave behind: the Citadel. Oh, she'd turned the stone over and gotten thanks from Cadogan and Ysene. Yes, she had been feeling quite pleased with herself and the way it had worked out. The future was waiting for her, wide open and without complication. She bites back a curse.

Somehow Ysene had persuaded her to clean herself up and get some rest before setting out again. It was entirely opposite to what Shade had planned, but when the sorceress said it, the idea seemed a good one. That had been . . . well, she wasn't really sure how long ago that had been - the apartments she found herself in had no windows, no source of natural light. Long enough to get hungry, though the kitchen was well stocked with food.

Apart from being devoid of windows, Shade could find no means of entering or exiting the room. There was no door, at least none that she could find. And so she spent her time pacing and cursing, wracking her brain for some way to once again seize control of the situation.

It would have been frustrating for someone with a good deal of patience. And patience had never been numbered among her virtues.

[Shadowfane]

Surayon looks around at Blaerth, raising en eyebrow, speaking with a distinct tone of mockery in her cool voice.

"Really. Does it occur to you that if that was all they wanted, then they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of enchanting your friend to leave us with the Stone? Does it occur to you that they obviously want the Stone in there without us being there? Does then then occur to you that they won't be ecstatic to see us come back, demanding Shade back? These are wizards, I highly doubt that there is just the one faction in there interested in the Stone. And when several groups of wizards are interested in the same thing....."

Her voice trails off, and she goes back to scraping the whetstone across her sword.

[Black Plauge]

"Um... Well..." Blarth hesitates, clearly thrown off by the logic of Surayon's reply.

After a moment of confusiont, Blarth seems to simply accept what he can't understand and gets a determined look on his face.

"Okay, then. We need to go in there and get Shade out. Let's not waste any time."

[itches]

The companions ate a warm, if tense breakfast before entering the Citadel where they were met by Ysene. After enquiring to the location of Shade, the presence of Surayon and the Ruinstone and after it became clear that the explanation would be a long one she led them deep under the Citadel to a room that appeared to not have been used in sometime.

Within were Cadogan and 2 other men that were introduced as her companions and once everyone was settled Ysene repeated her question. Caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events, Nicos launched into a mostly true version of the trip while he frantically tried to work out what their next move should be.

[Black Plauge]

Made suspicious by Nicos's and Surayon's earlier comments, Blarth is on edge as they are led into the Citadel and down into what can only be described as the catacombs. Looking about the party as they go, Blarth keeps an eye out for some sign of Shade.

No luck, and not a little walking later, Blarth finds himself in a room with not 1 but 4 wizards now, and his other companions of course, with Nicos recounting what had happened over the last few days. Studying each of the wizards in turn, Blarth tries to figure out what's really going on here. A painfully slow process for the half-orc.

Ysene, the woman wizard that had sent them on this trip and had shown Blarth that amazing trick with the stone lizard. He didn't know quite why, but he really like her. Something about that tingly feeling he'd had when she'd shown him the lizard hadn't really felt right.

The man next to him was dressed in a simple black robe. His hood was pulled up so that Blarth could not see his face. Ysene had introduced him as... as... Damn, now Blarth was forgetting his name. He seemed to be paying rapt attention to Nicos's story, whatever his name was, though, so he probably wasn't a threat. At least not yet.

The other man that had just been introduced was dressed like one would expect a wizard to dress. His robe nearly gleamed with gold, silver, and blue embrodiry in designs of lightening bolts and scrolls. He seemed decidedly less interested in Nicos's story, but then, he didn't seem interested in anything at all. He kept gazing up at the ceiling with a far off look in his eyes like he was looking at something on the other side. Looking up at the point in the cieling where the man is looking, Blarth looks for a hole or something that he might be looking through, but sees nothing. Perhaps his angle is wrong to see the hole.

The last wizard in the line is Cadogan, the man that Shade and Cadrius had lead them here to rescue. Well, not rescue necessarily, but at the very least make sure he was okay. He'd been abducted by some wizards back in Krakas. Well, maybe not abducted, they had claimed to be his friends so the might have just been taking care of him. Cadogan had been unconcious at that point, so they might have just been trying to keep him safe. Most men didn't really trust wizards further than they could throw them, and quite a few prefered them close enought to skewer should it become necessary.

As he studies Cadogan, it dawns on Blarth that Cadogan is studying him. Wait? Isn't Cadogan blind? He can't really be studying him, just pointing his face in his direction. But Blarth can't shake the feeling that those eyes are focused on him, trying to judge what kind of a person he really is. Staring back, Blarth and Cadogan's eyes meet, and for a brief moment there is a spark of recognition in Cadogan's eyes as he realizes that Blarth has noticed his stare. Almost immediately he looks away, or rather looks nowhere, trying to resume the veil of being blind.

For Blarth, however, the illusion is broken. Having realized that the man calling himself Cadogan is not really blind, it seems obvious that he isn't really Cadogan. Indeed a closer look reveals that his appearence is some how partially transparent. Blarth can see through his skin to see another, very different looking man beneath the outer Cadogan shell.

Instantly on the defensive, Blarth is immediately surrounded by a blue glow that has the appearence of chainmail as his face turns into a snarl focused on the imposter.

"Imposter," he nearly growls at the wizard, "You're not Cadogan. Where is he, and what have you done with Shade?"

[Gralhruk]

A curious sound came to her ears. At first, she thought it was the faint whistle of wind, pushed through some joint in the mortared walls. Yet the more she listened, the less likely that seemed. It waxed and waned with no predictable pattern or location. However, the most vexing issue was the quality of the whistling - the sound was barely audible, yet her straining ears began to pick up some subliminal cues that slowly convinced her it was not merely a sound, but rather that it was some sort of language.

What the language might be or what sort of creature might utter it, she had no idea. But it seemed her captors were not content to simply leave her to her own devices. They must even now be watching. Earlier, she had snuffed out most of the candles, leaving the chambers in heavy shadow. She had been hopeful that someone entering would be unaccustomed to the dim interior, giving her an advantage. Now she retreated to a darkened corner, near where the layout of the room suggested a door should be.

The whispering faded, faded again, and then was gone entirely. The silence hammered in her ears but nothing else immediately occurred. Then, one by one, cold fingers descended onto her spine, freezing her in place. It was a sensation beyond the sharp bite of morning air or even the frosty grip of winter. It was an absolute, numbing cold that turned her blood to ice and sucked the strength from her limbs.

She was dimly aware that she had stopped breathing, that the chill had turned her body rigid as stone. Then he strode from the shadow, a man, half-elven, with golden hair and a sardonic smile. The suddenness of his appearance left her wondering how she hadn't seen him sooner, yet he seemed to have been there all along. And she knew him, remembered catching a glimpse of him in that alley in Karkus, remembered him from her seeming dream the night they had left.

Who are you?

The words were meant to be asked aloud, but she finds she doesn't have the strength to even speak. He moves forward, and as in the dream, his fingertips brush her cheeks, tracing lines like white-hot fire. She feels the cold around her intensify, feels her strength flooding out of her body like water drained from a bath. His smile grew, at odds with the cruel light in his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was musical.

"At last."

The dregs of her strength swirl away and she collapses forward into his arms.

[itches]

Hearing Blarth's accusation, Nicos breaks from of his tale and glances over at Cadogan in confusion, only to see the man's face melt away revealing a stranger underneath. Not waiting for the mages to react, the bard swings his gaze back to Ysene - who thus far had acted like the leader of the group - and locked eyes with her.

As Nicos chanted in a fast tempo, the woman's eyes first widen in surprise and her lips move in an attempt to speak. The words never became vocalised as her entire body goes tense, then freezes in place.

[Shadowfane]

Surayons lips skin back, baring her teeth in a silent snarl as she realises that they have walked tamely into a trap. Her swords seem almost to leap into her hands with a hiss as she leaps forward, ducking and rolling to avoid potential strikes - she'll give these wizards a few seconds to try and explain themselves, but then she intends to strike as hard as she knows how - and she doesn't take prisoners.

[Cadrius]

He’s caught off-guard by the flurry of activity. Blarth’s accusation sends his heart racing. A trap? Had they really fallen for a wizard’s ruse? Surayon prepares to strike, as quick and as quiet as death. The wizards themselves push back from the table, clearly having prepared for something like this.

It all happens too fast.

The presence of steel ensures a violent response. Nicos doesn’t waste any time, freezing one of them in place with a word of power. There is no going back now. Even if the room is not being scryed by others, they cannot expect to disarm the situation. By steel and spell, they have made their choice.

Cadrius leaps forward, grabbing the elegantly dressed man by the front of his embroidered robe. One heavy mailed fist smashes into the wizard’s face, sullying his delicate features. Cadrius hears the satisfying crunch of the man’s nose breaking; he does not go down.

Blood streaming down his face, the man snarls and barks an arcane word. “Fulgarite!”

The sudden drawing of energy through the air is palpable to Cadrius. He can feel it rushing over his shoulders, down his arms, and into the hands of the wizard. The fallen paladin raises his fist to strike again, but it never lands. The energy condenses and then explodes in burst of lightning. Electricity courses through Cadrius’ body, and hurls him into the stone wall. He slumps to the ground, dazed and twitching.

[Black Plauge]

While Blarth hadn't been quite sure what the response to his accusation would be, the out break of a fight certianly hadn't been his first thought. Perhaps the other wizards would have turned and demanded that Blarth explain himself. Or maybe the would be Cadogan would vehemently deny the accustaion. Or perhaps one of his friends would have asked what was going on. Anything but an immediate brawl.

Reaching for his club, Blarth's hands grasp at empty space and he looks down to find it not there. Looking up in confusion, Blarth sees it in the hands of the not-Cadogan wizard, a small grin on his face. A thought crosses Blarth's mind, how had he taken his club when he was way over there, only to be burned in the fire of rage. That was his brother's club, and the wizard had taken it.

Snarling like a beast, Blarth rushes the man, whose grin fades into a look of suprise and disgust as Blarth's visage reforms to match the beast inside. With little time to think about it, the wizard raises the club he so recently aquired in an attempt to defend himself and swings it at Blarth. Only to be spun around by its momentum when Blarth easily ducks the akward swing, and then scream in pain as Blarth's elongated teeth find his thigh.

[Gralhruk]

Shade stares down the passageway where the man had disappeared, her mind ticking impatiently over the details of what he had said. Anger and resentment churned in her gut, but she could not deny that he'd saved her. Sudden shouts and the unmistakable sound of combat wrench her attention back to the door in front of her. His last words had been that her friends were beyond that portal. She throws the door open, her mind suddenly tuned to the rhythm of combat.

The images blur together - Blarth, Nicos, Ben, Surayon - all scrambling in the heat of battle. The one thing that comes crisply into focus is Cadrius, slumped against the wall, a wizard standing before him. For the moment, both are unaware of her presence.

She crosses the short space in the time it takes her to draw steel, slicing crosswise at the unprotected flesh of the sorcerer's neck. He goes down, spurting blood across the flagstones.

[red_dr4g0n94]

It takes days or weeks to forge an alliance, but only a single action to destroy it.

Those were the words that he'd been told by one of the Mercenaries. Ben couldn't remember who, but now he could see whoever had said that knew what they were talking about. All it had taken was a single accusation, and the whole damn place had become hell in less than 5 seconds.

Not that that stopped Ben. His sword was out, along with his shield, and he was facing the black-hooded man. He couldn't see his face under the cowl, but he really only needed to see his hands. There was a flick, and Ben, expecting the man to cast a spell, was caught off-guard. Still, his shield was in the way enough that the dagger only pinged against it, never hitting Ben.

What the hell? Why didn't he--?

Before Ben could even finish his thought, a sizzling green arrow flew past his shield and splashed into his chest. The arrow burst into small green goblets that spattered against his skin and shirt, and they immediatly started hissing and burning.

The damned wizard had thrown the knife to get him to move his shield so the arrow could hit! Ben cried in agony as he felt the liquid, most likely acid, burn his skin and melt his chain armor. The pain, though not immediatly life-threatening, was quite intense.

Letting loose an inchoherent growl, Ben ran up to the man in black, slashing at where he had been. Emphasis on been. The man in black was fast, damn fast. Almost too fast.

[itches]

The chaos of combat swirled around Nicos and the man struggled to make sense of it all. To one side Blarth had transformed into ... into the thing as he had done a few previous times in the past and was now biting. Turning the bard was in time to see Shade standing just inside the doorway.

Shade, the woman they had chased desperately across the wasteland, the woman enchanted to bring the ruinstone back to the wizards, and enchanted still? Before Nicos can open his mouth to speak the woman stepped forwards, drew her blades and Nicos got his answer in a crimson pattern upon the floor. Shade was no longer on the wizard’s side, and she seemed annoyed.

Turning to aid Ben in his struggle, Nicos stopped again. Standing in the doorway that Shade had just stepped through was a new figure, that of a large man. They both see each other at the same time and the large man begins to chant. Dragging his dagger Nicos threw the blade causing the large man to dodge aside and break his spellcasting.

[Gralhruk]

The dying wizard slumps away, revealing Cadrius wounded on the ground before her. Would it always be so, that she stared at him over bloodied steel?

Not for much longer.

Behind her, the room is alive with the chaos of battle, the pulse of magic a tangible pressure. She remembers when they came and took Cadogan, how powerless she had been to help him. Either these were mere apprentices or they simply hadn't had time yet to bring out their strongest spells.

She guessed the latter, letting her eyes scan the room, looking for some way to guess the more powerful opponents. If they could strike quickly, cut the head off of the serpent, then they might stand a chance. Almost too late, she dodges and somersaults as her peripheral vision detects a glowing missle arcing her way. It veers unerringly after her, numbing her side as it strikes home.

Nearby, she sees Nicos cast his dagger at a menacing figure just entering the room. Could he be the one in charge?

She starts toward him, bringing her blades in line and then delivering a well timed attack. The man moves like a cat, dodging one blade while the other rings harmlessly off his unprotected tricep.

[Black Plauge]

Fully commited to the fight now, Blarth pulls back just enough to draw the wizard into a false sense of security so that he tries to cast a spell, and then strikes again, biting at the wizard's hands and forcing him to let go of the club. Stooping to retrieve the club, Blarth feels a familiar tingle in his scalp. No, it was deeper than that. Shaking his head clear, Blarth let's his anger flow as was natural for his race and swings hard at the wizard infront of him, knocking him back off his feet and against the wall. Clearly dazed, the wizard that claimed to be Cadogan merely slumps down to the floor.

Turning to face the room, Blarth sees each of his companions fully engaged in the fight. A new foe seems to have entered the room, but so too has Shade, and she battles the with the big man, though he seems far more adept at combat than the not-Cadogan that Blarth had just eliminated.

Out of the corner of his eye, Blarth catches sight of a section of wall near Cadrius which seems out of place. Looking at it for a moment, it takes Blarth a second to realize what is wrong: the wall has no blood on it. On the wall next to Cadrius where he had been flung against the wall there is a small splash of blood that he had probalby spit up when the air had been forced from his lungs. The splash, however, has a very sharp and unatural termination about 12 inches from where Cadrius lies.

Moving in that direction, Blarth pushes his club at the wall only to find it going through without any resistance. Not really knowing or caring where this passage might lead, so long as it lead away from that battle with the wizards, Blarth grabs Cadrius by the back of his armor and hauls him behind the fake wall. Immediately they are plunged into darkeness like Blarth as experienced only once before. Unable to see, he feels the air in front of him with his club and pushes forward.

Please let this be a way out.

[Shadowfane]

Surayon glances quickly to left and right - Blaerth obviously needs no help, and Nocos and Ben are at least holding their own. A ring of steel against steel catches her ears and she twists to she Shade's blade bouncing away from the large man's skin, leaving no mark. A hiss of vexation escapes her lips as she twists behind the mage, ramming the side of her foot into the back of his knee, buckling his leg and forcing him to stagger in order to catch himself.

[Cadrius]

Blarth catches hold of the Cadrius’ armor and pulls. Cadrius grits his teeth and forces his legs to weakly propel him through the illusion and into the passageway. Blood trickles down the side of the fallen paladin’s mouth, leaving a trail of smeared crimson droplets in his wake.

The curtain of darkness falls instantly across his eyes. The sound of battle carries from the room, but it does not echo like he expected it might. Instead, the sound of metal scraping on stone, and the tap of the club Blarth’s club as he fumbles his way down the corridor.

The temperature is precipitously cooler in here than in the room, and particularly so when one is still flush from combat. Running a gauntleted hand along the wall, Cadrius notes that the stone feels pitted. Wasn’t there some sort of stone utilized by wizards? He can’t recall, having little aptitude for arcane geology.

“The others,” he rasps. “We mustn’t leave them.”

[Black Plauge]

"Wasn't planning on it," Blarth replies, "but first I'm going to get you out of this darkness.

Tumbling forward, Blarth falls out of the darkness and into the cavern by which the group had originally entered the citadel. After taking a moment to get his bearings, Blarth props Cadrius up against the wall and heads back into the secret passage, but only after bumping into solid wall once as he misses the concealed passage on the first attempt.

Arriving back in the midst of the combat, Blarth is just in time to see several more wizards pour in through the open door.

"Come on!" he shouts at the others, "lets get out of here!"

[Gralhruk]

Shade keeps her eyes focused on her enemy even as she hears Blarth shout. Getting out of here sounded good to her, but first this bastard needed something to remember them by, something that would make him think twice about giving chase. Nicos moves toward her and the wizard, looking capable despite his lack of a weapon. Shade tumbles past her foe, forcing him to divide his attention between two fronts. The ploy works as her attack slips past his guard and drives beneath his shoulder blade.

[itches]

The fight quickly became a one-sided affair when the new arrivals rushed in. Seeing the reinforcements, Ysene's companions struggled for a few moments more and then dropped their weapons in a clear sign of surrender. As the confusion of battle suddenly became a post-fight lull, Nicos a moment to recognise one of the new comers as Gemoud.

Stepping towards the redhead, the bard was stopped short by her wide-eyed gaze directed at something over his shoulder. Turning he was shocked to discover Ysene once more animated and holding a cube in one hand, the ruinstone in the other. In the shock of the fight Nicos had forgotten about her and she must have broken out of the spell unnoticed.

"You can’t!" Gemoud stuttered at the woman, but made no move to approach her. "You don't know for sure what will-"

"I do know!" Ysene exclaimed. "Here, let me show you." Before anyone could react she inserted the stone into the depression on the cube, and for a long moment nothing happened. Then a low grinding noise began inside the cube, a vibration that shock the cube violently. Grinning in a triumphant manner Ysene held the cube above her head when-

-when the grinding stopped. One of the sides opened in the sudden silence and a half dozen coloured stones fell out to scatter randomly on the floor.

[itches]

"So the cube was a fake?"

Nicos sat in a well furnished and comfortable room that was doubling as a makeshift prison for he and his companions. They had been rushed into the room when everyone had been apprehended after Ysene had activated the fake cube, and were to stay while the citadel's leadership considered the situation. The fact that they hadn't attempted to relive them of their weapons gave the bard some indication of hope, but the corpses they left behind was causing a lot of doubt.

Cadogan had been found in a nearby cell, bound and dehydrated from his imprisonment but otherwise unharmed. He had gave his side of the story, then insisted on being given access to the companions, which lead to where they were now.

"Yes," The blind man replied. "I knew that it would be dangerous to actually carry the true cube around with me, so I had a replica made. It was similar enough to help u study the thing, without being dangerous."

"Makes sense," Nicos said. "But when she 'activated' the fake cube, what were the things that fell out?"

"There's nothing really secretive about that," Cadogan said grinning and searching through a pocket in his robe. Pulling out several more of the coloured obviously, the mage popped one into his mouth and began to chew it. "Candy."

"Why were you keeping Candy in the cube?" Nicos' asked perplexed.

"Why not?" came Cadogan's reply with a completely straight face.

Cadogan went on to explain something more about the nature of the brotherhood, and of how several factions had developed within their numbers.

"There are some who propose that we totally cut ourselves from the outside world, those who want to take a more aggressive approach to forcing magic upon what they call the 'common people'. Those who propose a more diplomatic and peaceful approach and several others.

"Ysene and her friends were after power, no matter the risk or the cost. Gemoud, I and several others banded together when we learnt of their plans to try and counteract it. We didn't know much so we couldn't openly oppose her, working in secret and without knowing anyone what was happening."

Running a hand over a face still clearly showing signs of his stay in captivity, Cadogan manages to look regretful and pained at the same time.

"They must have realised we were on to them and started preparing against us, and it almost worked. Looking back at everything, it might have just been easier if we openly confronted them without evidence. Maybe it would have scared them away from the whole affair and we wouldn't have this mess."


It was maybe fifteen minutes later when Gemoud finally returned dressed in a sleeveless robe, flanked by two heavily muscled and armed men.

"They came to a decision." The woman said with an ominous tone of voice.

"That was quick," Cadogan remarked, seemingly still of high spirits despite all that had happened. "What have they decided?"

"It's an understatement to say that they're not pleased about this whole affair. At first some wanted to just punish everyone cart-blanch, but wiser heads prevailed. They wouldn't tell me what they were going to do with Ysene and her crew, which seems to indicate something rather ominous."

"What about us?" Nicos asked as his eyes rested upon the woman's arm.

"It took a lot of argument, but in the end they decided to just ask you all to leave. Permanently."

"Well that's not so bad," Nicos said in a cheerful tone. "We would have left on our own if they hadn't been keeping us here."

"The two gentlemen here are to see you out immediately, and I'm to inform you to never attempt to return." The threat went unspoken but understood. "They won't even let you take some supplies."

"What about us?" Cadogan spoke up.

"It also could have been worse," Gemoud replied. "I'll tell you about it later."

[itches]

On their way out Nicos found himself walking next to the red haired Gemoud.

"Don't you think it's amazing," the bard said suddenly. "How what you see at first, often isn't the way things really are."

Gemoud looked at Nicos, her face convoying a silent question at his statement. In response the man traced a finger down the woman's arm to her wrist, where just a few days ago a scar of a crescent moon had rested.

"Oh," Gemoud said as realisation broke across her face. "Oops."

"Oops," Nicos echoed. "So much for a secret society. It's been games and manipulation from the start, hasn't it?"

"No," the redhead said softly, sadly. "Never a game. The stakes were so high that I, that we…"

"The end and risks justified the means," Nicos completed her unfinished sentence.

They fell silent again as the group reached the exit of the wizard’s Citadel. His back held straight, the bard walked out with even, steady steps.

"Nicos, wait!" Gemoud called after he was several steps outside. The man stopped and half turned, looking back. "That night, only some of it was a lie."

"More then you know Gemoud," Nicos said flashing his standard bright, happy, shallow smile. "More then you know."