Surya swung a sword at it, and gulped as it passed straight through without effect. He remembered something a veteran he'd once known had said; "Only enchanted weapons can harm it!" he cried.
Finally, in despair, the party decided to attempt to lift the portcullis. Lining up along its' base, they flexed their muscles and -heave!- up went the grating. There was an anxious moment as Hildraft realized the others intended to lift the thing higher than he could reach, but once he'd let go he was able to go and find some suitable chunks of rock to jam the gate's track and keep it from closing again. This sorted, the heroes stepped through under the portal.
As they crossed, the statue at the corridor's junction flared with a magical blue glow. A stern voice rapped out a brief sentence in Elvish. "Give the password!" it demanded.
It waited a few seconds for a response. Then, a wave of magic surged out from it, carrying with it an almost overwhelming feeling of despair and futility. Surya and Hildraft managed to throw it off, but Sack and Kobort's morale broke, and they had to be physically persuaded to run away - until the statue started hurling bolts of energy at the group, injuring Sack, Surya and Kobort. This induced a quick retreat to the stairs.
A period of experimentation followed, establishing that the statue
Finally a plan emerged. Kobort, the fastest moving character, would run out to it, carrying one end of a noose-tied rope, drop that over the statue and run back - hopefully in under five seconds, despite being in an unfamiliar body. This they did - Kobort escaping with only a couple of bruises from leaping to cover behind the stairs - and the whole band laid hold of the rope and heaved mightily. The first two pulls only shifted it slightly, but with the second, the statue tipped over and toppled to the floor - where it promptly exploded with considerable violence. Forewarned, the party had hurled themselves flat, and no-one was hurt by the flying chunks of molten rock.
The way was now open down to the quay level; descending again, the group reached the boathouse, storage for the slender and beautiful elven boats once used to travel up and down the river outside. A passageway led towards the cliffs, but a few yards in it was blocked by a massive rockfall. As with the other end, the fall was clearly engineered. Stairs at the back led down to another level, probably below the river.
|
As they viewed this, the group became aware of a
shimmer of movement. In the very centre of the room, an
indistinct form became slowly visible. The shape was that
of an elf - a woman - dressed in what were - for elves -
rough work clothes; its' body was horribly battered and
distorted, and its' face was anguished. It moved towards
them, raising a fearful moan which raised the hackles of
everyone watching. Surya swung a sword at it, and gulped as it passed straight through without effect. He remembered something a veteran he'd once known had said; "Only enchanted weapons can harm it!" he cried. |
Hildraft, perhaps wanting to determine if his find was truly magical, dropped his greataxe and unhooked the battleaxe he'd found in the entrance hall of the castle. Kobort readied some spells. Sack unlimbered his mighty bow and nocked an arrow. Surya, possessing no magical weapons at all, burrowed frantically through the dropped packs, finding the castellan's scimitar and a magical dagger that no-one else was using. Then the band prepared to defend themselves against the dire spectre.
Hildraft stepped forward, and raised his golden holy symbol. "In the Name of Kord - BEGONE!" he thundered. With a flick of its' hand, the vision invoked a spell of some sort in response, and the dwarf felt a wave of power beat against his face.
The others wielded their arms to good effect, each magical blow tearing holes in the ghost's form, until finally it dissolved into tendrils of vapour and disappeared. Gasping for breath, they looked warily around. Surya was well aware, from what he remembered, that spectres of this nature didn't just die when they were clouted enough. The only real way to lay them to rest was either for a priest to overpower them with his faith - which Hildraft, valiant though he was, was not equal to - or to find out why they were unquiet, and to resolve their torment so as to allow them to rest.
Thinking this over, they investigated the blocked tunnel with a little more care. A few moments' digging brought the discovery of a boot; a boot with leg bones in. Soon they had uncovered the body of an elven woman, in the remains of a miners' outfit, crushed under the fall. Respectfully removing it, they straighened it out, and Hildraft recited a modified version of the ritual for the burial of the dead from Kord's cult. As he did so, the ghost reappeared, a look of gathering peace and relief on its' face, and drifted to the body, sinking in and disapearing. As it did so, the watchers were somehow aware that the unknown spirit was happy for them to take anything they wanted from the now-finished with body.
Checking it over, Kobort found an arm bracer, as often used by magi, which showed up as magic, which he shoved onto his arm; Surya opened a dusty soft leather pouch and poured out a shining stream of golden coins with a smile. After checking the boat-builders' workshop, they descended again.
They found themselves in a huge chamber, 100’
long by 55’ wide, with a high, vaulted ceiling disappearing into the gloom.
On each side, short flights of stairs descended to doors set 3’ below the
level of the floor; there were five on each side.
Over several of the doors was carved some writing in the Elven script. At the far end, a gigantic statue of the elven goddess Anladur – patron of Fate and Stars – towered 30’ high, her cupped hands held a large, shallow bowl, in which burned a green fire which lit the room with an eerie green tinge.
One look at this was enough to persuade the band that they needed to recuperate before proceeding. Backing up to the wide landing of the staircase, they made camp and rested for the night. Surya made the trip out to where the horses were tethered, to feed them and retrieve some supplies from the saddlebags. While there, he discovered that the captive orc had escaped.
Placing guards, and binding their wounds, they slept in shifts until the morning.
The next day, they started investigating the crypts.
The first of the entrances to catch their eye was different to the others; it had no door. The writing over the arch declared "Nyáfirin, High Priest of Anfadil, died 4255", and the band entered to investigate. The crypt was warmly lit with two steel rods, treated with Continual Light but tuned to give off firelight. The coffin was set transversely, with an altar rail separating the back third of the crypt, and a kneeler at the rail for visitors to kneel and pray at. Around the walls of the larger half of the crypt were set bookshelves, holding a large number of scrolls, all apparently spell scrolls. A perceptible air of sanctity, peace and refuge filled the crypt.
Hildraft investigated, and the scrolls turned out to be what they appeared; spell scrolls for a variety of priestly spells. He tucked them in his pack. Sack and Surya debated opening the coffin, but decided against it.
Fourth Level:
Cure Serious Wounds
[Cloak of Bravery ]
Spell Immunity
Restoration