December 11, 522 just before midnight.
Without hesitation, Keridwynne steps through the portal and into the Straight March, Tieron somewhat hesitant steps one foot through and then follows into the afterlife. Shateera soon following. Nightshade shrugs and then follows.
The next instant you are standing in a jungle at night. The coughs and grunts of large animals can be heard. The movement of birds and bats fluttering by in the night is almost deafening. The smell of musty earth and the flowering of hundreds of plants that you do not recognize. A large snake lies drooped in coils about the limbs of a giant tree that towers above you. The temperature is about 85 degrees and the humidity is oppressive. Those of you that are wearing the white cloaks created by Tieron’s cloak pin are cool and comfortable.
“Talorc, how are you?” Tieron asks.
Talorc looks at Tieron and says, “Just fine if I wasn’t dead.”
“Is there anything that we can do to help you and why haven’t you passed on to the afterlife?” Nightshade asks.
“I can answer that probably better than Talorc can.” A voice from the jungle says.
A figure steps out of the shadows and into the fringes of the party. Talorc, Altira already drawn, steps forward to defend.
The figure continues forward to stand directly in front of Talorc, “Your weapons you will need but not against me. I am no vampire, just a dead traveler like yourself, seeking vengeance like you. That is the only reason, Talorc, that you and I have not passed on to the afterlife.”
The figure pulls back his tan cloak and reveals his face. A handsome human with a short cropped red beard and short but wavy red hair. He is about 6 feet in height and very thin for his size.
“I am Duncan. Keridwynne’s dead husband.” He steps up to face Keridwynne.
Keridwynne looks at Duncan and then reaches in and hugs him tightly. They hold each other for sometime and then slowly release each other.
“I don’t know how much Keridwynne has told you of me, but I was killed by the same plague that the Dwarves now face. Kivutar or Kiputtyto, whatever her name now, killed the Dwarven king and his guards just like she killed me. Talorc was quick enough to uncover this but not ready to take on Quilon, the elven vampire.
(Side note, for the Elven speakers in the party. Quilon is the elven word for vengeance)
“Everything in the Straight March seems to be about vengeance. I and Talorc are here and not traveling on to the afterlife because our need for revenge is so strong that it holds us here, trapped between life and death. I seek Kivutar and he Quilon. Quilon is trapped in this well of revenge as well as Kivutar. Quilon sought to kill Keridwynne and our sons because he thinks that I left him to die at the hands of a vampire. In truth, Quilon and I were never friends but we respected each others prowess as rangers. The territories that we protected overlapped each other. There came a time when a rumor about a vampire brought us together. We banded together to rid him from the land. We went after him. We fought many of his minions off and killed many of his vampire underlings. Finally after tracking him to his lair, we battled. He was much stronger than the two of us. He beat us silly. We ran but circumstance split us up. I escaped into the woods. Quilon did not. I thought him dead, not undead. Either I died to soon for Quilon or he wanted to keep on hurting me. So he started the hunt for my relatives. He joined forces with Kivutar who was already working for Montossey and Ashler to hunt you down. Kivutar is another story. Montossey filled her head with ambition for the throne. He found ways to twist her mind to his desires. He created this hatred for her own people and her own King. She sought vengeance on them for supposed insults to her. She turned to the Goddess of Illness, Kivutar, her namesake for help. Kivutar answered her with this strange plague. She wandered around for bit, killing off Ashler’s enemies, Sir William and I. William would have died shortly if not for the arrow that killed him. But other reasons bring you here as well. Caltor’s shield for one. Without which you will never cure the plague and it will run rampant through the Dwarves.”
He pauses for a bit and then continues. “I am sure that you have other questions. I will try to answer as best I can. The rules of the Straight March world are a bit different than the world you came from. For now though, you will need to sleep. Talorc and I will guard you. Sleep is no longer an issue for us. I know a good spot not far from here. Come.”
(Side note. Questions will be answered here if you have any.)
You wind through the jungle for 10 minutes, coming to a small black pyramid shaped like the one in Keridwynne’s vision. It is overgrown with vines but it still stands.
“The race that built these pyramids is long dead, I think. I have seen some strange things still living here but few that could have the technology to build these things.” Duncan says.
He walks into an opening in the pyramid. You follow him into it. It is a single room, very large and filled with stuff. Vials, potions, shields, swords and weapons. Things left here by the people that have passed into the afterlife. The stuff has been pushed around the walls of the room leaving the center clear. Duncan gestures to the floor.
“I am sorry that a good inn is not available, but this is the best that I have to offer. In the morning we will set out for the large pyramid. It holds Caltor’s shield. I am certain that Kivutar and Quilon are probably already on the way there. Either waiting to ambush us or grab the shield for themselves. But they will never get to it before the vampire has to take refuge for the day and even if they do the traps that are there will slow them way down. I have been here for over a year and I have never gotten into the room where Caltor’s shield is. Then again I am not a thief practiced in such measures.”
Very early morning December 12, 522.
Duncan and Talorc wake you from a deep sleep. The sun is just rising over the eastern treeline. The morning birds are singing and the coughs and grunts of the nocturnal carnivores have died away. Duncan gives you time to study.
Keridwynne you start your morning ritual to find that your goddess is cut off from you. The spells that you carried in here are all that you have and will be unable to receive any more until you leave the Straight March. This could be an advantage. Kivutar is in the same circumstance that you are. She is cut off from her goddess as well. The wizards in the party seem to have no trouble changing spells.
The walk is very short to the main pyramid. You pass along the way the foundations of many buildings. It would seem that some time ago, this was a city and the path you follow was a street hundreds of years ago. Duncan leads you to the an opening in the pyramid. It doesn’t look anything like a door until the light shines on it revealing an alcove. Duncan steps inside. You all follow. It is pitch black in here with no light whatsoever.
“Light.” is all Duncan says.
The tunnel sconces burst into flame and burn brightly. You watch as the torches light themselves one by one all the way down the hall.
“I have deactivated the traps from here to the room that I can not breach. It kept me occupied for several months. Some of them almost killed me again and if that happens I would have gone to the afterlife oversized vengeance or not. So remember that Talorc. Don’t die a second time.”
Duncan leads you straight down the corridor. There are no doors or other corridors in this hallway. The elves in the party search for secret doors and passageways just in case Duncan missed anything along the way. Partway down the corridor, Duncan stops and looks at the floor.
“Kivutar and Quilon were here all right. Their tracks are obvious, maybe just a bit too obvious.”
You come to a stone door at the end of the hallway. Along the way you have passed many traps, including arrow traps, gates that swing out with spikes on them and other such mechanical traps. The door that you see is stone the same that the pyramid is made out of. Its seams are apparent to any but the casual looker. There is no keyhole or hinges on the door. The sound of wind rushing by the other side of the door is heard and felt as a few strong blasts of it push air out around the seams. The door itself has a few chips out of it as if someone thought to break it down and failed. If you ask Duncan he admits to the chips that he took out of the door in frustration.
(Time to let the thieves in the party earn their keep.)
"Excuse me, Duncan, but do you know anything about these items here? Will any help us against the vampire? " Tieron questions.
“I know a lot about these items. Mostly I know that an item can not leave the straight March without an equivalent piece left in its place. It is the price of this place and from those that have travelled here by accident and knew not this simple rule found out that the caretakers of the March exact a terrible revenge.” Duncan says.
Duncan smiles coyly, “But by all means, Tieron, help yourself for they are all magical.”
Next morning at the door
Tieron starts banging on the walls with the handle of his knife to make sure none are hollow. "Hey, I think they are still here personally."
After alot of banging, Tieron pulls out a black diamond. "Maybe a meld with stone will show what is behind that door."
Tieron steps to the stone door. The diamond in his hand glows a little and then returns to its normal color. Tieron places his hand against the door and pushes. The stone seems to ooze around him and he is gone. Nightshade continues the search for a way to open the door.
The other side of the door reveals a hole in the ground that drops farther than you can see. Looking up the hold continues upward about 30 feet before you see the roof of the temple. No door is visable. There is a wind howling here. It blasts against the door you are in and shakes it violently. If you stand there long enough, you will sense a pattern to them. About 30 seconds apart the door shakes violently. In between the blasts is a terrible suction that feels as if it could suck you straight out of the stone.
Nightshade,
You have seen some dwarven handiwork in your time. This is definately some of that. Dwarves are the type of people that know exactly how far underground that they are at all time. They are also great at detecting even the slightest slope. It is armed with this Knowledge (and a great roll on your detect traps) that you notice that their is a distinct upward slope about 5 foot back down the corridor. Its investigation reveals a secret panel set in the floor. Its opening reveals to you a plunger, like the ones they used to blow up dynamite with. It is currently in the up position. There is a marking like an arrow draw around the plunger indicating that it can be turned as well as being plunged down.
Duncan answers a few questions before Nightshade opens the door.
Keridwynne asked if it was possible to resurrect Talorc and Duncan back from the Straight March and if he has ever seen any living people escape from here once they entered.
The answer from Duncan is yes to both, Caltor’s Shield is rumored to raise the dead and there are various other artifacts scattered about that can raise the dead. As for the living ever leaving, he has seen some come and go. Most are killed by the caretakers of this world, for picking up artifacts without giving something in return. Those that are powerful enough to kill off some of the caretakers and escape have escaped. Some are strong willed enough not to take anything and they to have escaped from here but most of them do not know when the gate will open to their world again so they jump through into some other world unknown to them. Some as a matter of fact stepped through to your world just as you entered this one. Three people he knew of, nobody he recognized and they took nothing with them from here. They looked like Gnomes to him but not like the thin little yellow ones that populate your world.
Tieron asked what else Duncan knew about this temple?
Duncan says “Not much, just a lot of theories that I put together over the year that I have been here. The race that built this temple is gone. They either abandoned this world for another or something killed them all off. I have a personal theory on this one actually. I think that they lived on this world and found some way of opening gateways to other worlds. Some left and some stayed behind to guard the device that opens this gate. The people over the course of the centuries and millennia have evolved into the caretakers that I have encountered. These caretakers look somewhat like large primitive humans with hair covering most of their bodies. They stand about 7 feet in height and are extremely agile. They dodge most spell affects thrown at them. They are masters of the hit and run. They target one creature in the party and drag them off into the jungle where they are never heard from again. They also feint for one party member and then grab another. The best way to avoid them is to make sure that whatever item you take, another is placed in return. Anyway this temple was built by them to house the gateway portal. I believe that it was Caltor himself that came here when he died and built this system of traps to protect his shield. Most of the inside of this tunnel is dwarven make.“
"I think I can get rid of that wall," Nightshade says, pointing towards the stone Tieron just exited. "But I can't close it behind us, I don't think. Well, okay, maybe it'll close itself. Whenever you guys are ready, let me know....we should probably be behind something. If what I found in the floor is what I think it is."
Nightshade moves over to stand next to a dynamite plunger looking thing that was concealed in the floor.
The party looks around for something to hide behind and finds nothing. The corridor is empty with just a few sconces providing light. Talorc wanders back to the door to step outside for a moment whilst Nightshade pushes the plunger.
“Nightshade, have you done anything with that thing yet?” Talorc calls.
“No, why?” she answers back.
“The door is sealed shut with no visible way out. Its as though the stone grew shut. like a wound healing over.”
Tieron shakes his head, “Damn thing is alive. Wounds healing over, it feels like it is breathing. This is getting kind of creepy.”
“Well everybody hang on, here goes.” Nightshade pushes the plunger.
The door explodes off the end of the corridor and plunges into the abyss. For a few seconds nothing happens, then all hell breaks loose. The wind that Tieron felt on the other side of the door slams up against the party and literally throws them back down the corridor. The landing is rough but nobody suffers serious damage. The wind picks up again. Your hair and cloaks start blowing forward toward the abyss. The wind increases in speed and a vacuum is being created. The outrush of air pulls you off your feet and sends you tumbling down the corridor, threatening to plunge you off into the shaft. On the way by, Nightshade clamps down hard on the plunger and holds on. Duncan grabs on to Nightshade’s leg, reaching out he grabs on to Talorc who is tumbling down the corridor. Talorc in turn, catches Keridwynne who reaches out a hand to Tieron. Tieron holds on for dear life and extends his other hand to Shateera. She grasps on to Tieron but her hand and his is sweaty from the exertion that is being used for the chain of people that was created. Her hand slowly slips from Tieron’s grasp, inch by precious inch. Tieron hoping against odds that the wind will die before she slips from him. Tieron shouts but the wind is so strong that no one can hear him. Her hand parts from his, leaving bloody scratches deep in Tieron’s palm. She is swept over the edge.
Nightshade oblivious to the action taking place at the end of the chain, noted that the plunger can be twisted in one manner or the other. The weight and the wind on the plunger snaps the plunger around 90 degrees to the right. The corridor starts to move with it. It twists and turns to face the direction of the plunger. The wind ceases when it becomes blocked by the corridor’s pivot. The party members are exhausted and lay on the floor for a second. Tieron, enraged runs up to the plunger and gives it a twist. The corridor starts to pivot back toward the abyss from whence it came. Talorc scrabbles to the plunger and twists it back. The corridor reverses course and starts back. Tieron reaches out for it again. Talorc grabs him and pulls him back. Tieron struggles to break free. He is not a match for Talorc.
“You will kill the rest of the party if you open that again.” Talorc states.
“But she will die if we don’t help her!” Tieron shouts.
Duncan pulls out a coil of rope, tying one end around the plunger and a length of it around himself. He tosses the end of the rope to Tieron.
“Tie that around you Tieron. The rest of you step into the corridor and wait there.” Duncan states.
The party steps into the part of the corridor that doesn’t rotate. Duncan twists the plunger back to its original position. The corridor swings around back to the windy abyss. Duncan’s feet firmly planted on the plunger is jerked forward toward the abyss as the wind starts to howl again. He lets loose slowly of the rope. Tieron is slowly drawn down the corridor to stand at the very edge of the abyss. He looks down, hoping to see the form of Shateera somehow holding on to the edge just waiting for him to rescue her. But she is nowhere to be seen. She must have fallen. Tieron stares out and down, contemplating cutting the rope with his dagger and joining her in whatever fate. She was an assassin though and had worse scrapes than this and survived. She may have had a trick up her sleeve yet. Tieron turns around and nods to Duncan. Duncan’s face is streaming sweat from holding on to the rope. He reaches down and twists the plunger. The corridor swings back to its new position. Nightshade, Keridwynne and Talorc are greeted with a very morbid looking Tieron. He stands there for a moment head held down.
“I couldn’t see her.” he says.
Duncan unties himself and Tieron.
The corridor is a dead end one way and this new corridor revealed stretches onward to a t-intersection. Nightshade takes the lead, searching for traps as she goes. Duncan not far behind scanning over her shoulder looking for signs of tracks. Quite often Nightshade stops to scan the floor and walls for strange cracks in the otherwise black walled corridor. After a time, she always moves on. Progress is slow but 45 minutes later the party reaches the t. Duncan has seen no tracks at this point. Looking to the right is a short corridor that ends in a door. To the left is the same.
Nightshade turns right for no particular reason and starts for the door. She stops at the door and checks carefully for traps. She sees none and then calls Tieron over to search as well. He shakes his head after a cursory search. Nightshade turns the handle of the doorknob and pushes it open. The room is expansive, clear crystals imbedded in the walls at a seemingly random patter. Some of the crystals are large and some very small. The rest of the room is quite plain. In the center of the room straight forward from you stands a table and chair. The table and chair are wooden. The table is large as well it has some sort of lip around the edge of it, containing a mercury-like substance. The shimmering liquid moves in sort of a wave motion back and forth across the table. Nightshade studies the scene for awhile and then steps inside. A dwarf with a really long beard and dressed in furs and a metal skull cap appears before her.
“I am Caltor, or rather a preprogrammed illusion of Caltor, left to warn you of the Straight March. If you are seeing this illusion of me then I have failed. I have tried to kill this thing before you came this far, for now you will surely sucked into this abomination as I obviously was. The pyramid that you stand in is a living creature, created of magic. It feeds on souls that it brings here through the use of the portals that it creates. Its creators were the first to die, their souls sucked from them and used to power this thing. The traps that I left outside were meant to kill you, thereby releasing your soul to its rightful afterlife. The caretakers that you may have encountered are just animated bodies of people that this has already killed. Mindless they have a single purpose to find souls and bring them to it. The pyramid tracks items left here by others by the overall magic that radiates from it. Any drop in that level of magic alerts it that something has been taken. Then it sends its caretakers to retrieve it and them. Your only chance of escape from here is to find a portal that it opened and step through. It is the only way a living person can get out. If you have already died, my shield can bring you back to life and then find a portal and escape. Do not take anything with you except that which you brought here. If you do take something, make sure that you leave something with stronger magic than what you took, for any drop in the level of magic will bring the caretakers down on you. The table with the liquid on it is a crystal ball and control panel. It can show you just about anything that you desire, just speak the request and watch it appear. The control panel part of it will allow you to open the next portal in here. It will also allow you to change the time of the opening but not which world it will open to. My shield is strapped under the table, should you need it. I have found no way to destroy this thing but I gave my life and soul in trying. I hope that you can accomplish what I can not. I have but one suggestion to you that I could not try. The room opposite this one is the feeding room. There the souls are sucked away. A creature with negative energy could destroy it if it got sucked in.”
The image vanishes leaving you wondering about things. Keridwynne steps over to the table and speaks “Show me Shateera.”
Shateera’s image appears in the table, standing over her is Quilon and Kivutar. Quilon has opened a vein in his wrist and is dripping blood into Shateera’s mouth.
“Off.” Keridwynne says in disgust.
The liquid in the table returns to normal.
(Its all yours.)
"Show me a creature of negative energy...." says Nightshade, stepping towards the table. Hoping to see an image of Ashler's sword. "Would a vampire be a creature of negative energy? Maybe the sword? 'Cause this thing should really be destroyed...despite the great training ground it must provide for thieves."
The table’s wave motion pauses for a moment or two, then shows Quilon the elven vampire still feeding his blood to Shateera.
Talorc growls at the vampiric sight. "Apparently they know more about the geography of this place than we do. Can we portal to those two... um three?" (DM Note. No it can’t.)
Talorc gets down on his hands and knees and looks under the table. If he sees a shield, he gets close to it and touches it.
Upon touching the round black shield, a male Dwarven voice rings out like a hammer stiking an anvil, “Creature touching me is a half-elf and dead. It was affected by a plague at the time of death. Half-Elf, you are now resurrected and the plague has been purged. Rise and go forth into your world and create a religion based upon the death and resurrection of yourself and name it Christianity. Oops sorry somebody beat you to it.”
Here, I will help you unstrap it, Talorc." Getting down on his knees, Tieron reaches under the table across from Talorc.
Tieron grabs at the straps that hold the shield. He also touches it.
“More half-elves. What is this Half Elf day? The plague affects you as well. It is now purged. Anyone else?”
Tieron perks up and continues to look at the crystal ball when the others ask there questions.
To the Crystal ball, Tieron speaks, "Show me the path that Shateera took when she went down the shaft? Show the path how Quilon and Kivutar got down there. Show the path out of this place starting from this room."
The image in the table shifts to Shateera plunging into the shaft. She falls for a long distance and then is grabbed by Quilon who is just hovering in mid-air. He smashed her hard against the shaft wall knocking her out. They descend hard being buffeted to the ground. The shaft ends with no obvious way out.
The second image is the path of Quilon and Kivutar. It starts out in the hallway. They find the plunger and push it. They both get sucked out of the shaft. Quilon grabs onto Kivutar and attempts to fly back up the shaft. He is fighting the wind as he does it. The tunnel into the shaft closes before he can get back in to it. He stops and kicks at the door. He descends and sets Kivutar on the ground of the shaft. He rises back up to the level of the door. He beats at it for quite some time doing no damage to it or the surrounding walls. He gives up and retreats to the bottom of the shaft.
The third image is the path out of here starting from this room. It shows the table that you are looking at. Underneath the shield, it shows a switch. The switch changes position and the ceiling slides back revealing the top of the pyramid from the inside. The top of the pyramid rolls back and reveals open sky.
Its a good thing that Tieron has been pushing his climb walls skill looks as if he is about to need it.
Keridwynne helps strap Ashler’s sword to the table. The switch that the table showed is definitely there.
Keridwynne takes the shield from whoever last had it.
“Finally, someone who has no problems.”
Keridwynne hands it to Duncan.
The shield responds,”Another dead one, I am afraid that I can not resurrect for another week. The plague that killed you has been purged though.”
(So are you following Keridwynne’s suggestion? or something else?)
The table quivers and then stops. It shows the same switch under the table now pulled into a different direction. A small pinhole appears near the western wall. The opening expands rapidly allowing a person to descend into it. The image shows a metal ladder bolted into the sides of the tunnel. The ladder ends in the bottom of the shaft. Here there is a door. The door opens to reveal the bottom of the shaft that Quilon, Shateera and Kivutar are sitting in.
(Some of you are a bit confused by the workings of the portal. I will explain. You can cause the portal to open in this room or in any part of this world that you wish You can also open the portal within the next minute or in the next several thousand years, this is up to you. It will not allow you to travel in time. The amount of time that passes here passes as well on Earth. You can not go back to a point before the dwarven king died. Nor can you go forward. The portal normally opens randomly from one world to the next but Keridwynne’s vison states that the next portal will be to your world. If you do not command the portal to change its next opening time. It will open randomly in 1 more day to your world.)
Nightshade perks her ears at the suggestion of using the shield in combat. "If you heal a vampire....Table, show us what happens if we heal the vampire of vampirism?"
Caltor’s shield pipes up, “I can tell you what happens when you heal a vampire of vampirism, elven missy. Nothing. Vampirism isn’t a disease. I can heal werewolves and stuff but a vampire is a vampire is a vampire. To heal a vampire of vampirism is to kill it. So to heal it you bop it over the head, hard.”
The table swirls for a moment, then stops as if agreeing with Caltor’s shield.
"Table, show us the one of greater magical power: the Sword of Ashler or Caltor's Shield. Or show us both if you consider them equal. “
The image of Ashler’s sword appears and then fades away.
The shield shouts,” I demand a recount!”
“Show us the last appearance of the caretakers. “ Talorc continues.
The image distorts for a moment then reappears in a jungle scene. A gnome crouches over a huge emerald. He looks up at the backs of the rest of his party, four gnomes including himself. He hefts the big emerald and quickly throws it into his backpack, scurrying after his comrades. A caretaker all seven feet of it covered in body hair seems to step out of nowhere and grabs the Gnome by the head. With a deft twist, the cracking of the Gnomes head can be heard for miles. His body drops on the trail. His comrades whip around and bring weapons up. By the time the have turned the caretaker is already leaving. The gnome with a sling fires a parting shot. It impacts on the caretaker, but it appears not to notice and leaps into the trees and swings away.
“Show us the last successful escape from the caretakers."
A dark blue to black cloaked female is shown. Short black hair, cropped close about her pointed ears. She stands next to a marble temple, this one almost totally destroyed by time. From amid the rubble she pulls free a trident and a black leather bound book that shines in the jungle sunlight. Almost immediately, a caretaker appears moving to attack. She fires a lightning bolt at him and he falls back burned badly. He stands and she fires again. This time the bolt turns him to ash. A second caretaker and a third step out from the jungle. She bolts them as well. A fourth and a fifth caretaker appear behind her. The second and the third move around here surrounding her in a circle. She launches a fireball at the second caretaker. His skin burns from his bones. His skeleton seems to hang in the air a moment and then collapses into a heap. A sixth, seventh and eighth caretaker appear, knowing that she can not win. She pulls forth a tuning fork and taps it lightly against a rock nearby. It produces a clear tone and the air seems to shimmer around it. Then it tears asunder leaving a hole to another world. Steam rises from a marshy looking place. There is a house in the background of the picture. It is the house that Nightshade was raised in as a child. The hole to Earth disappears, the caretakers disappear back into the jungle. The table goes still.
(Nightshade, that elven female is no one that you recognize.)
December 14, 522. 11:30 am.
Nightshade turns toward the place in the floor where the tunnel should be. She looks at it quizzically.
“I think that I hear something, like the wind rushing up.”
The floor explodes. Ceramic tiles fly out like shrapnel across the room, cutting into everybody. Quilon floats above the floor, his cape flowing around him. His body covered in plaster dust from the shattering of the floor. Quickly he descends to the ground, releasing Kivutar and Shateera.
“Shateera, kill the elven waif.” Quilon says, “Kivutar, kill whoever has that damn sword of Ashlers and lets be on our way. Portal, open here and now!”
The wind starts to swirl and then a rip in the air appears. The garden of the Dwarves on earth, that Keridwynne saw in her vision is revealed but the time is different. The sun is beating down. Quilon stands between the you and the portal to home.
“Fuck me! The sun.” Quilon says.
(I thought I would spice things up a bit and keep you moving. Everybody took 5 points of damage from the floor shrapnel.)
Talorc rushes in, sword swinging for Quilon’s neck. In his hand, Quilon holds a scimitar. With barely a look at where he is striking, Quilon blocks Talorc’s sword, Altira. Tieron’s mumbling comes to a conclusion. A streak of light flashes by Talorc and impacts on Quilon. Acid tumbles down the front of his brown tunic, wisps of smoke rising up to cloud Quilons face for a moment. Nightshade pulls her bow and knocks an arrow, pointing it at the charging Shateera. She lets the arrow fly. It arcs over Shateera’s shoulder and imbeds into Quilon. Keridwynne charged with Caltors shield positioned in front of her. Her impact is perfectly timed with Nightshade’s arrow. The momentum topples Quilon over backward and into the portal. Keridwynne following after. Quilon extricates himself from Keridwynne’s limbs reaching up to pull the hood of his crimson cape over his head. Quilon fades from view. His form now invisible. Keridwynne assumes a defensive position, crouching down to protect as much of herself as possible from the invisible vampire. Talorc steps through the portal.
“You are a fool, Talorc, by following me through the portal. You will soon fade away. Your soul cut loose from this world. “
Talorc narrows his eyes and searches for the sound of Quilon’s voice. His ears are part elven and quite good at zeroing in on sounds. Directly behind Keridwynne’s crouching form is where the voice comes from. The sun must be taking its toll on Quilon, small wisps of smoke are rising from what should be an invisible form. Not capable of reaching Keridwynne before Quilon strikes. Talorc throws Altira. The sword spinning over and over. It strikes true. A thud and a shriek of pain as Altira tears violently through the midsection of Quilon. The force of the blow knocking him back. He lands hard on the ground, his hood slipping from his head. He fades slowly into view.
Back inside the portal, Duncan feints a stab at Kivutar, then spins and brings his sword around in a backslash. It leaves a trail of blood in the air as it sliced through the knee of Kivutar. She nearly collapses to one knee, but fights for her balance. A jarring impact of magic missiles by Tieron is too much for her and she slips to the ground near the table.
Shateera jabs at Nightshade with her dagger. Nightshade ducks out of the way and runs toward the table and the fight with Kivutar and the rest.
“That was a good throw, I must admit, Talorc and I don’t quite understand how you are still standing but I have killed you before and I will again.” Quilon springs to his feet, pulling Altira from his stomach.
Keridwynne has spun around, looking at Quilon, “Not I think today, Quilon. Not I think today.”
Kivutar looks up from her prone position on the floor and underneath the table. Here rests the sword of Ashler, she pulls it from its hiding place. She shudders again from the impact of more magic missiles released from the still smoking fingers of Tieron.
Nightshade ducks again as Shateera swings wide over her head. Leaping high into the air and somersaulting, Nightshade’s form flies over the prone Kivutar. She lands on the table’s edges, balancing precariously so as to not step into the viscous liquid.
Talorc approaches Quilon, no weapon in hand, “As you defeated me, without weapon, now I will defeat you. “
Talorc passes by Keridwynne, he grabs Caltor’s shield from her hands. He loops his left hand behind the straps and steps forward shield lowered.
Kivutar springs to her feet, Ashler’s sword firmly grasped in her hands. For Nightshade, it is far to tempting, she kicks out with all her might. A boot lands on the back of Kivutar’s head, snapping her neck downward. Duncan and Tieron use the opportunity to sweep both their swords at Kivutar. Each leaves a line of blood across Kivutar’s body. Nightshade using her momentum from the kick to Kivutar leaps from the table and into the open portal to Earth. Shateera follows after.
Quilon turns and throws Altira deep into the snow covered garden of the Dwarven Palace. He grabs his scimitar in both hands, smoke rising from the charred flesh of his fingers. His blade bites deep into the exposed flesh of Talorc. Talorc doubles over for an instant from the pain and then stands and smiles a very wide smile his teeth glinting in the bright sunshine. The sword cut seals over and disappears before it even thinks about bleeding.
Kivutar recovers quickly, she swings the sword of Ashler. Tieron attempts to block it with his short sword. The blades connect and Tieron’s shatters from the force of the blow. Kivutar brings the sword around for another pass at the now defenseless Tieron. Duncan tries to interpose his body between Tieron and her. Kivutar is suddenly pulled from the floor, her neck cracks with a sickening crunch. Behind her stands a seven foot tall guardian, his eyes never even seem to acknowledge the existence of a fight. He drops the lifeless body of Kivutar on the ground. Ashlers sword hits with a loud clang. Tieron always the thief starts rummage through her pockets. Duncan pushes him off her before he can take anything.
“The magic now belongs to this place. If you steal it, that guardian will do to you what it just did to her. I don’t have much time, Tieron.” Duncan says, “Hurry.” Duncan leaps through the portal followed by Tieron.
Keridwynne steps behind Shateera. Shateera is focused on her job of killing the elven waif. Keridwynne’s quarterstaff raps sharply into the back of Shateera’s head. She falls forward on to her face.
Nightshade looks at Keridwynne, “Nice backstab. Have you ever thought about becoming a thief?”
Quilon steps back. His face smoking from the exposure to the sun. His flesh now peeling in great strips from his hands. His charred hand reaching for the hood of his cloak. Duncan covers the ground between the portal and Quilon. His sword flashes out and parts the hand from its wrist. Quilon grabs at the stump of his hand. He falls to his knees. Talorc grabs at Quilon’s stump hand and using it as leverage hauls him over on to his back. Duncan drops his sword and grabs the other hand, pinning it to the ground. Tieron and Nightshade grabbing a leg on either side. Quilon, too weak from exposure to the sun, tries to struggle and fails. Talorc using his free hand reaches over and turns Quilon’s head so that he is looking right at the sun.
“Just think of the nice winter tan you will have.” Talorc says dryly.
It is just a matter of moments and Quilons flesh falls to ash and his bones crumble into dust.
Duncan stands and walks toward Keridwynne. His form fading as it goes. He takes off his cloak and folding it, hands it to Keridwynne.
“I was never good with words, Keridwynne. I left my words in the pocket of my cloak. I will always love you and be with you. Never give up the fight, I never did.”
Duncan fades even more. He turns toward the mountains and shouts, “I am Duncan Thystledowne of the Clan Thystledowne.” He fades away. The echo returns bounces for awhile and then silence.
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