Tavern Tales: Come on in and Have a Drink! Part II

[WillieSea]

William checked his gear. Apparently, when the entity willed the tavern real, everything in it was real as well. He had his adventuring pack with him this time.

"I guess it does not matter which tunnel we take", William said to the small band of adventures, with whom he was a part. "Anyone want to pick a passage?".

Red pointed in a direction, and everybody marched down the dark passage. It was gloomy and wet with slime. Very gradually, the tunnel dipped down. Then a stairway went down even further. As they descended the stairs, they suddenly went flat, creating a steep and slick slide. The whole group started sliding down, with water pouring on them from above.

William managed to catch a crack and stop his plummet into the abyss, only to be washed away by a wave of cascading water. The adventures slid down the tunnel for what seemed ages, before falling into air. They slowed, and where soon floating in the center of large round room, like a globe. They were immoble, with no way to move since there was nothing to push against.

[DarkRider]

The five friends hung suspended in the air within the massive globe. Near the top was an opening, but they had no way of reaching it. Echo began kicking against the strange mist that seemed to be holding them suspended, He paddled like a dog in water, but for all his effort, he made no progress from his place.

William growled in frustration, "When we find this thing, whatever it is, I'm going to unleash such a vengeance," he promised darkly. His companions exchanged knowing looks; not one of them would want to suffer that fate.

Red suddenly laughed, in a completely spontaneous and inappropriate fashion. Her laughter faded when Rider and William both shot daggers at her with their eyes, "Well, it is kind of funny, I mean, look at us...all of our experiences and all of our power and here we sit; hanging out to dry," she stifled her amusement.

Vereta tried to reach for his tomes but couldn't manuever, it was as if his center of gravity would no longer obey. Nothing in this world would it seemed. There had to be some way to escape. He furrowed his brow in concentration. Something about the sphere seemed oddly familiar, "Rider, this...glass...what do you think it's made of?"

Rider, who had appeared to be lost in his own thoughts looked around, "Not sure, some type of crystal. It looks like the same crystals that were growing in the underground forest."

Vereta's head reeled as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place, "The creatures from the forest...they were eating the crystals."

Rider suddenly caught on, "Brilliant, Mate."

"What is?" William asked, ready for a plan of action.

"If we can break the glass all of the mist will escape," Rider answered.

"But we'll fall," Echo pointed out.

"Too right," the Rider agreed, "but I'd rather take my chances in the water down there then spend the rest of my days suspended in this fishbowl with you lot...no offense."

Red shook her head, "That's impossible. Even if we all combined what powers we have, it wouldn't be enough to break the glass."

"Not as it is, no," Vereta agreed, "But, all of the creatures in this place are attracted to sound. If we make enough noise we should be able to draw them toward the globe."

"So they can come in the hole in the ceiling and eat us," Echo added.

"Do you want to rot in here boy?" Rider half shouted in exasperation at Echo.

"Maybe," he answered, "I don't want to be eaten either."

"Listen," Vereta pleaded, "the creatures won't come in here, they must know it's dangerous, but I'd wager they will still try to get at us. I'd take my chances with a dangerous rescue even if it meant having to fight my way out later."

To everyone's surprise it was William who decided, "Agreed. Let's start making as much noise as we can, perhaps do our best to imitate the creatures we've heard here. When the glass breaks, try to lean toward the center so you land in the water below...and not on the rocks."

Red let out a piercing whoop, "Now THIS is really starting to get fun!"

[WhoGuru]

As one, they all began to yell, whoop and scream. The noise was vicious and Echo's screams were more real than fake as he covered his ears to protect them. The mist swirled, un-phased by the noise and nothing seemed to be changing. A faint chime silenced them all, just as they were beginning to fade. The sound came again, louder. They stopped, listening.

Echo was muttering under his breath. "Eaten, eaten Echo stew. I hope my insides poison you..."

"Echo." Rider snapped, stopping his mad mutterings. The sounds were louder now, clearer, like crystal bells.

"It's a pretty sound." Red observed lightly, to mask her rising tension. Louder and louder the sound grew, as if hundreds of the creatures were hurling themselves at the glass. Vereta whimpered for a moment before forcing a brave face.

"Anytime now." Rider said, trying to see where exactly the creatures were hitting the glass and failing. William looked wholly unconvinced that the plan would, in fact work. He was convinced they were stuck here until the creature that had trapped them decided otherwise. As if in response to his disbelief, minute cracks began to appear in their prison. Fine fissures ran up the curves of the bowl. Wider and wider they grew as the sound became deafening. They could now hear the cries of the creatures as they desperately tried to feed from crystal.

William prepared himself to try and fall correctly. He saw the others trying to do the same, intense looks of concentration on their faces. It was almost unreal when it happened. The crystal shattered all at once, all of it, into a rain of winking, twinkling slivers of crystal which followed them as the mist evaporated and they slowly began to fall.

Red whooped again. William marveled at how she was able to find some little measure of joy after she'd been through, and what may lie ahead. He took a lesson from her and, uncharacteristically for him, gave a whoop of his own.

As they fell, they could see the forest creatures swooping about them as blurs, barely seen and soon, the twinkling of crystal was gone, consumed en masse by the forest denizens.

As one, they plummeted, picking up speed. Echo was cartwheeling, eyes screwed shut. Vereta and Rider were pinwheeling their arms to adjust how they were falling. It seemed as if they all were heading just as they should and finally, after many minutes, they plunged through the top of the crystal forest and into the water with a tidal splash.

[Vereta]

Vereta's body trembled as he sank into the depths of the water. He hesitated for a moment before looking up at what he thought was the surface of the water. He let out some air from his mouth, bubbles spewing out as he swam towards it. He was running out of oxygen quick. He looked up only seeing the blue around him, the surface, and his arms grasping for the surface. His eyes widened and he let out a water-muffled panicked yell, his lungs telling him to breath. His head broke out of the water and he sucked in air, gasping.

Vereta stared around him, breathing in air deeply. He puffed out a warm breath and the freezing cold air turned it into mist. He didn't see anyone at all. He turned his head and, to his horror, saw a large wave of inky darkness on what he thought was the south shore. He swam, wide-eyed, towards the opposite shore. The inky darkness began to crawl over the water like an evil fog. He gasped and puffed as he doubled his efforts, nearing the shore. He reached out a hand and grasped the edge of the body of water he was in. With his adrenaline pumping in his ears he hoisted himself up in no time and sprinted off into the forest.

He gasped out as he leaned tiredly on a tree. He wondered were the others were. He hoped they were alright. He lifted his head and stared out into the darkness of the forest. He was tired of this...

[WhoGuru]

Red sank deep into the lake before giving a mighty kick and aiming for the surface. Lungs burning she pushed and pulled the water behind her, frantic to reach the surface and air. Finally, with a mighty gasp she broke the surface.

Wheezing air into abused lungs, she peered around her. The lake was shrouded in the remnants of the mist, hanging just above the water and making visibility worthless. She could see nothing but could hear splashing near-by.

"hello? Rider? William? V?" She called. No one replied and the splashing continued. Unnerved suddenly, she began swimming for what she hoped was the shore. "Echo?" She called again, again hearing nothing but the continued splashing. She swam faster, forcing her abused body to cooperate. She reached a shoreline and pulled herself from the water. For a moment she simply lay there, feeling her muscles protest and, more worryingly, her leg begin to burn, just a little. She brushed it aside. Their keeper had said she would be fine for now, she'd take him at his word and not borrow worry. She rose, surveying the lake once more. Still little could be seen through the mist though, as she watched, a great dark shape began to emerge from the mist, heading in her direction.

Trusting the others to handle themselves, she turned and headed into the trees quickly, not wanting to be around when whatever it was hit the shoreline.

Vereta, meanwhile,was still leaning on his tree, panting and lamenting the fact he was back where he started, more or less. A sound reached him through the dense trees. Something was heading his way. With visions of the last time he was here whirling through his mind, Vereta bolted away from the noise, further into the forest. He ran, gasping for air, dodging limbs and bushes and finally, in the semi-dark, falling over a root he hadn't seen.

He fell headlong into the leaves that covered the floor. The sounds behind him had been closer when he fell, now they were silent. Panicked, he struggled to rise from the ground and was suddenly breathless as something heavy landed on top of him, knocking his breath away.

Vereta struggled to get free, having visions of being eaten alive when the weight on top of him tapped him lightly on the head. That stopped him. Ravenous, bloodthirsty creatures don't tap people on the head as a rule, he thought.

"V." Red's whisper quiet voice spoke in his ear. From the sound of it, she was as winded as he was. "Stay still, ...and quiet." He nodded. Again she spoke in his ear. "Those creatures are near, following the sound of your running." He trembled once and she carefully, and silently moved off him. She waited until he could see her. She tapped her lips, then pointed back the way they had come.

He understood. They were very close. She pointed to herself this time and off in another direction, then at him and back to the lake. He shook his head. He was not about to let her use herself as bait.

Red glared at him, pointing back at the lake and then at her eyes. He was supposed to return to the lake and find the others while she drew off the creatures. Vereta struggled with the idea. She was a thief, and an expert at not being heard when she didn't want to be. Of the two of them, she would have the best chance, but he was loathe to leave her when he'd just found her. Alone was not as much fun.

Red went through the motions again and finally, knowing there was little choice, Vereta nodded. Red smiled her crooked smile at him and patted him on the shoulder. With a last wink, she leapt from the ground and took off into the trees with a wild whoop of glee. Seconds later, Vereta felt the mass of creatures pass almost over top of him and after Red.

When they had gone, he too bolted to his feet and back the way they'd come, in search of their friends.

[WillieSea]

William was falling through the air, as he had done a million times before, usually in escapes out tower windows into the moat below.

Inhaling deeply before smoothly diving into the water, he arched his back and quckly curved up to the surface.

The group was torn away from each other during the fall, probably by the disembodied voice, who William decided to just call 'the Master'. The type of personality that liked to play with peoples lives liked being call the master. It could be beneficial to pander to this mysterious being.

William listened for the sound of a shoreline, and upon hearing one, quickly started swimming towards it. It would serve no purpose to look for his friends here, since they were pulled elsewhere. He would have to search for them once again.

[DarkRider]

Rider tried to navigate his fall, but the weight of his boots and hidden arsenal drug him through the air like a stone. He managed to narrowly avoid the rocks, and hit the water with his back, sinking in moments. The shock of the impact momentarily stunned him, but he came awake with a start when his brain signaled he was in danger of drowning. His legs were tangled in a thick mass of some kind floating in the water. He struggled to free himself from the mass, but it twisted around his limbs with a will of its own. The more he struggled the faster the dark mass seemed to ensnare him. He had heard of plants like this before, that cling when it detects movement so, despite his precarious situation, Rider forced himself to relax. The mass swirled around him, he was running out of air quickly, his lungs were beginning to ache from the effort of holding his breath.

Suddenly something caught ahold of his arm. For a moment he thought it was one of his friends but it the murky water he could just make out a dark green form tugging on him. Realizing he was under attack, Rider tried to fight but his strength was expended by the long hold under water and soon blackness engulfed him. As his consciousness faded, he felt fear for the first time since arriving in this place, this was his end and he would never leave the Oubliette alive.

He was not alone. Rider awoke with a start coughing over the water that remained in his lungs. He gasped for air and felt the hard ground below his back. For a moment, surreal euphoria filled him as he realized he was still alive. But how?

"You was breathing now?" a small voice asked.

Rider scrambled back away from the voice and shook his head hard to focus on the source. A creature was perched atop a nearby tree stump. It had shaggy dark green hair like cotton wool, a muzzle like a lion with a shiny black nose, and bright eyes that peered at him curiously. He was no bigger than a human child, but his musculature was visible under his long fur. His shoulders were hunched forward over his long arms and short legs were foldeed under his stout torso. The creature had two long canine teeth that protruded ever so slightly over his bottom lip that gave him the appearance of a crooked smile.

"W-what?" Rider asked.

The creature came closer, reaching forward with its long arms and swinging it's body forward like an ape. It sat up on its hind legs in from of him and prodded him with its hand.

"My says, you was breathing now?" it repeated, "you was breathe the air? As this?" The creature inhaled loudly and marched around a bit breathing in.

"Yes, yes I can breathe now," Rider answered, "thank you. Where are we?" He asked, looking around his surrounding. They were in a small shelter of some kind. A fire crackled in a makeshift hearth, and though not a house by human standards, it was certainly a dwelling.

The creature looked around the room, "We was in Crockit's Holey," he answered, "Crockit is my!"

"Crockit? That's your name? Crockit?"

"Mm-hmm, yay, my was Crockit!" the creature seemed overjoyed.

Rider straightened where he was seated but there was no room for him to stand, "My name is Rider."

Crockit beamed, "We eats now," he said hurrying to the hearth where a kind of bread was baking. Rider accepted the large piece Crockit offered him and though wary, could not deny his empty stomach.

"Crockit, I wasn't alone," he explained as they ate, "Did you see what happened to my friends?"

[WillieSea]

William swam up to the beach, and catching his feet on the sandy bottom, walked up the shore. The waves gently lapped at the land.

A lightning bolt split the air, and in the brief illumination, a house could be seen further up the dunes. William cautiously made his way to the structure.

The house was boarded up with old vines twining around it. It started to rain lightly, and as William closed in on the house, the rain intensified. The frequency of lightning also increased, a few of them hitting the iron rods on the top of the house. A light howling noise could be heard, but it was hard to tell if it was the wind, or some being. William Jumped onto the porch to get out of the rain. The front door was banging on its hinges, showing a fire in the fireplace. A skeleton laid in front of that, with one arm over a jewelery chest.

The storm outside was getting worse. William cautiously slipped inside to get out of the weather. Looking around, the house had dried blood on the walls and huge boney claws protruding from the walls. He then caught sight of a ghostly figure in the next room. It just stood there, not seeming to hear or see anything.

William moved the skeletal hand off the chest, and opened it. Inside was a key. Taking it, he then proceeded into the remains of a dining room. Around the corner, in a hallway, was an Ghost. It spotted him, and cast a bolt of frost at him. Dodging the ball of coldness, William threw one of his enchanted daggers at the creature, the force of which sent it backwards into the wall. Being ethereal, it mostly just distracted it long enough for the second dagger to repeatedly slash it, destroying its link to this world. It faded into a pile of ectoplasm on the ground. He then retrieved his thrown dagger.

There was a stairwell leading up to the second floor. Another skeleton was hanging from the rafters with a rope around its neck. It swung slowly in the breezes from the storm outside. Thunder still crashed outside, and the strobe of its light illuminated the interior. Some horrible thing had happened in this house, probably a long time ago.

Cautiously ascending the stairs, William heard a 'click' noise. He instantly fell to the ground, knowing a trap had been set off. An instant later, a spiked block of wood swooshed past his head. When it stopped swinging, William cautously got up, and proceeded to the top of the landing. The door was locked, but the key fit it nicely.

With the door unlocked, it was quickly thrown open. A zombie stood at the end of a bed with a large serrated dagger thrust in its chest. William moved behind the doorframe, waiting for the zombie to move in and attack. Nothing happened. Peering in, the zombie was in the same position, totally still. Sneaking in, William pushed the creature and it fell to the floor. On the bed pillow, was a human finger, badly mummified.

William sat down in one of the plush chairs and thought...

[WillieSea]

William contemplated the situation. There was no imminent danger, the only other entity in the house now was the lone apparition downstairs. Raising an eyebrow, he descended the stairs and approached the spirit.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" William said to the ghost.

After a moment, its head slowly turned towards Williams voice. As if not even seeing William, the spirit wailed a mournful cry and said, "I must be whole again! They took it and hid it from me... You, you must find it and return it to me!"

The apparition then slowly faded away, with a whisper of sorrow on the wind... The fire in the fireplace went out, and the storm outside abated.

Perplexed, William went back upstairs to the bedroom and the soft chair to think. This was obviously some riddle the Master created just for him to solve before he could continue on his trek to find his friends.

Back to the riddle, what could they have taken, and who are they? And where did the apparition go to so the item could be returned to it?

Many thoughts flowed through the assassins mind. There were clues for him to find, he just had to put them together�

What clues did he have? First, there was the missing item the spirit requested that would make it whole. What would a spirit need for this purpose? Second, the house appeared to have been invaded by some evil, killing the inhabitants horribly. Third, the storm stopped when the spirit faded.

Fourth, hmm, there was a finger on the bed pillow. Could that be the missing item? After all, it was hidden away behind a magically locked portal. The key to the room had vanished when it was inserted into the lock. And being ethereal, the spirit would not be able to collect this missing item.

It made sense, but how could he reunite it with the spirit? Some more exploring would be required.

[Vereta]

Vereta and Red stopped and breathed in deep amounts of air. Vereta looked out ahead of them. He found that in order to get farther away from the creatures behind them they'd have to scale a ravine. He crawled over to the edge and looked down into the deep crevice. It was so dark he couldn't even see the bottom. He motioned Red towards him and she carefully made her way to him. He looked at her seriously.

"Listen, give me one of your arrows" He whispered holding out a hand.

She handed him an arrow. Vereta looked up at the trees and spotted what he wanted. he walked up to his selected tree and tugged on a vine hanging from it. It didn't budge. He smiled and tied the end of the vine to the arrow. Red watched him now knowing what he was doing. He set the arrow on the ground and stepped away from it. He streched out his hand towards it as if to grab it, but instead his hand glowed a light color and the arrow began to tremble slightly. It took on the same color as his hand and rose into the air. He looked at a tree on the opposite side of the ravine and swiftly pointed at it. The arrow flew at it and plunged itself into the trees trunk. The vine stretched over the ravine like a makeshift rope.

Vereta motioned for Red to go ahead first. Red nodded and climbed the tree nimbly before taking out a cloth and zip lining to the other side of the ravine. Vereta heard screeches ring out behind him and he turned to see black shapes crawling out of the foliage. He gritted his teeth and climbed up the tree hastily. he remove a cloth from his pack and zip lined across the ravine. He turned his head slightly, still gritting his teeth as he was crossing and saw the creatures were crawling across the vine after him. He remove a hand from his makeshift zip line and gripped a pocket knife in his pocket. He took it, just as he was reaching the edge, and slice the vine. He planted his feet at the very edge of the ravine and pinwheeled his arms.

"AHHH!" He screamed out as he fell into the depths of the ravine. Red cried out after him.

[WhoGuru]

Red saw Vereta cut the line just a second too soon and was momentarily frozen as he pinwheeled his arms on the edge and toppled over. Without thinking, she ran to the edge and dove off after Vereta. Arrowing her body, she saw him a short way below, his face white with fear. She saw him look up at her in horror, realizing she'd leapt after him. She quickly made up ground as they fell, eying the walls of the ravine further down. When she was close enough, she snatched at Vereta's cloak, catching the edge and pulling him to her. For a moment, Vereta strangled as the cloak tightened about his neck, then Red had her arms around him.

"Hold on to me!" She yelled. Vereta did as he was told, unable to imagine how they would survive this. They fell on into the seemingly bottomless ravine. Red was scanning the wall closest to them. Using their combined weight, she managed to turn them, aiming them closer to the wall. "V!" She hollered in his ear. "Hold tight to me, this is going to hurt!" For a thief, timing was often the line between life and death and she had faultless timing. At just the right moment, she aimed a grab at the wall, catching hold of an outhanging vine. She quickly twisted her hand to loop it over her arm and gritted her teeth. Suddenly, their free fall stopped, they jerked wildly and Red screamed as the vine tried to tear her arm free of it's socket. She refused to give in and held fast.

Vereta and Red swung into the wall, taking a couple hard raps against the stone and finally coming to rest. Vereta was shocked they were alive. Red's breathing was an agonized rasp in his ear. She moaned, then coughed and dropped her head onto his shoulder. "Ouch." She groaned and began to giggle.

At a loss, V held on tight, not wishing to fall again.

"Okay." Red said in a voice harsh from pain. "Look at the wall, V." She used her weight to turn him so he could see. "See the vines?"

"Yes." He reached out and carefully pulled until he found one secure.

"Climb over, slowly and stay put." She ordered. Vereta did and found there were lots of places to plant his feet on the wall once he was there. He watched as Red hung for a moment by her arm, then finally turned herself into the wall and found a purchase. "We're going to climb back up." She glanced above them, then down below. "Definitely up. Have you ever climbed like this before?"

Vereta shook his head. "No. I can do it." He said, smiling. "If you can jump off a cliff, I can climb back up."

Red laughed softly. "That's the spirit. Now, we go slow and easy. You don't let go until you've made sure you're next handhold is secure. You don't move your foot until you know the next place you put it wont crumble away." She carefully freed her arm of the vine, and moaned again. Her sleeve went with it and her arm was grooved with long, red lines from the vine.

"Are you okay?" V asked. concerned.

She nodded. "Just sore. Now, up we go. Slow and easy and don't look down. Keep looking at the wall. Okay?"

Vereta nodded and they began their ascent. In the ravine, there seemed to be no day or night. Red was sure it should have gotten darker by now, but perhaps day and night had no meaning in this place. Her arm was a torture, screaming at her every time she moved it. She could not afford the energy to try and heal it now, reaching the top safely was all that mattered.

Vereta, though never having done this before, turned out to be something of a natural. He was very cautious and once or twice even pointed out better holds to her. After an interminable time, they finally reached the lip of the ravine. With great care, they rolled themselves over the edge and lay spent, marveling at being alive.

[WillieSea]

Thinking about what to do next, William suddenly burst out laughing, so hard he fell out of his chair and rolled on the floor. Wiping tears from his eyes, he said out loud to no one in particular, It looks like I have to give the ghost the finger!

More laughing could be heard from the upstairs bedroom

Finally gaining his composure, thankful that his friends were not around to have witnessed it, William took the finger from the pillow and started searching the upstairs.

In a small study off the upstairs balcony, there was a note with writing on the desk. Picking up the note, William read;

The evil from the tomb was too great! Willet ran screaming from fright into the basement! My husband Wilbur went after him. I do not know their fate, as I have locked the dining room door. I can hear them trying to get through it; they will soon knock it down. I pen this note in the hopes that somebody will find it, if I am slain by the foul beasts, and rescue my son. I just heard the door crash below. I must prepare myself... Eletta

Searching the desk some more, William found another key in one of the small drawers in the desk top. This would probably unlock the basement door. A shiver went up and down Williamss spine. Oh, how he hated ghosts

[DarkRider]

Crockit lead Rider through the long depths of another underground forest. He would scurry a few paces before turning back to wave him forward. It wasn't long before they were within view of the river's shore where his strange companion had rescued him from a watery grave.

"Here it be, Rider, here it be, like my says it is," Crockit pointed to the wtaer's edge.

Rider stared at the water for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought, wondering how such a small creature had managed to carry or drag him back to its burrow.

"Thanks, Crockit," he said crounching in front of the creature, "If it wasn't for you I'd be dead now. I have to search for my friends now, only the gods know what has happened to them in this place. Farewell."

"Fare-my-well," Crockit replied cheerily.

As Rider stood and headed to the shore to search for clues, the stout creature followed along behind him. The ranger turned and cocked an eyebrow at him, causing Crockit to shrink away slightly, smile, and wave at him as if to remind him they were friends.

"Listen Crockit..."

Crockit shook his head, "My helps you," he explained, "Yay, you see Rider, my helps you look for friends!" he said, opening his eyes widely and scanning the shore dramatically. Rider had to stifle a laugh, the creature had an endearing quality to be sure, but in the Oubliette nothing was ever as it first appeared.

"Clues, clues my finds," Crockit announced proudly, jumping up and down madly, and pointing to the dark soil. Rider took a closer look. Sure enough, the little blighter had found a few boots imprints in the wet sand. Judging the size, he suspected they belonged to Echo and they were headed into the nearest tunnel at a running pace.

"I'll be damned," Rider exhaled, "You did find a clue."

Crockit tugged at his long coat nervously, "My helps you...my comes with you? My helps you more? Yay?"

Rider considered it a moment then nodded, "Alright then, you can help, but quietly."

"Oh yes, Rider, my be quiet as quietness!" Crockit half shouted, then covered his mouth, "Quiet now," he whispered between his fingers.

Rider nodded, "Right, quiet. Now let's go."

The unlikely pair entered the tunnel in search of Echo.

[WhoGuru]

For several minutes they lay there, heedless of any danger around them. Finally Vereta forced himself to his feet and looked back across the ravine. On the other side, he could some of the creatures they'd recently escaped massed on the edge.He could almost hear their frustration at having lost their prey.

"You know." He said. "I wonder if those things live on this side of the ravine as well?" Red harrumphed and sat up, massaging her arm.

"I'm not doing another swan dive into a dirty great crevasse today so they better just bugger off for the time being." She impishly stuck her tongue out at the creatures on the other side and climbed to her feet. Her leg was stiff as well as sore. Hoping it was just the result of banging into the wall, she ignored the discomfort and with a disgusted snort, tore off her other sleeve before shoving it into the pouch she kept slung over her shoulder. Never knew when something could come in handy.

"where to now?" Vereta stretched, working the kinks out of his shoulders. The climb had been scary but a boost to his confidence as well. "I don't think there's any going back to the lake now is there?"

"No." Red agreed. She turned to the treeline behind them, noting the rock wall of the cavern was close. "Let's head towards the wall. Perhaps we can find a tunnel or something to lead us round the other side."

"Sounds like a plan." Vereta hitched his pack, miraculously intact after the fall and led the way. Red fell in close behind, her eyes ranging through the trees for danger and kept a hand close to her dagger.

It took them little time to reach the wall, which turned out to provide no outlet they could see. "well, pick a direction." Red gestured wide with her arms.V looked to either side, seeing no real difference and chose left.

"That side is closer to the ravine and so a closer route back to the lake." He nodded and looked to Red for her assent. She shrugged and patted him on the back as she passed him.

"Sounds good enough to me." She led the way, picking through and over scrambles of withered bushes and dead fall rocks which had tumbled from above long ago. The forest was silent around them and the lack of sound subtly picked at Red's senses. Every scrape of their boots or audible breath made her cringe. She couldn't help feeling they were being watched and, she supposed, in a way they were. Their keeper, jailer, whatever he was was undoubtedly keeping close tabs on them. It was after all a game to him.

"Red." Vereta tapped her arm and pointed. Ahead, a shadowy arbor of trees led straight into the face of rock. "Ominous." He remarked and suppressed a shiver even as he saw goosebumps march up her arms.

"I don't like it." She said softly. "But we haven't much choice. Let's go carefully." Together, they stepped into the arbor and toward the tunnel. The light, which had been dim to begin with, darkened further. The closer they came to the tunnel, the darker it got. It was almost impossible to see now and Red, turning back towards where they'd entered exclaimed loudly. "It's gone!" She gasped. Vereta too turned and saw their entrance had been completely closed off by the trees. It was as if the trees themselves had moved to block their escape.

"No help for ti now, I suppose." He said resigned. "We have to go on. Wait a moment." He reached into his pack, rummaging through the books, odds and ends inside. Finally, to Red's surprise, he emerged with a lantern. She laughed.

"I refuse to ask how you fit that in there." and provided a flint from her own pack. Vereta smiled widely.

"You'd never believe me." He lit the lantern and together, they entered the tunnel in pitch blackness, surrounded only by the small circle of light provided by the lamp.

[WindmillTilter]

Shamus awoke with a start. He'd had the dream again. A dream so vivid and somehow otherworldly it left him in a cold sweat. It seemed odd that he could dream in such detail about people he'd never met or even imagined before.

It had started last night, and he'd told himself it was just an odd dream nothing to worry about. As the day progressed he started to get the feeling he should be turning west and snatches of the dream would intrude on his consciousness, at one point he was certain he was remembering something that he hadn't actually dreamed the night before. Now he'd dreamed of them again just as intense and disturbing. Shamus lit his pipe and tried to think it through while waiting for the coffee to percualte over the handful of fire he'd lit.

He'd spent weeks tracking down and retreiving the relic, at as it turned out no small risk to himself. He was still at least 3 days ride from delivering it and getting paid well enough to support another forray into the mountains. A pleasant month digging through ancient ruins in search of some reference to the old lore and peoples long gone would round out a good summer. Yet he kept looking to the west and wondering what it was that had invaded his sleep.

He attempted to dismiss the feeling while finishing breakfast, it was a dream nothing more. It certainly wasn't the first dream he'd ever had and with luck wouldn't be the last. Sure he loved the old stories about lost arts and the "fey" tenancies of his ancestors, but he'd never experienced anything to lead him to believe he shared such talents. Breaking camp he checked the weight distribution on the saddle bags and mounted up. Ensuring the Wakizashi on his left hip was free in the scabbard and the dagger on his right was sitting comfortably he guided Sainmhni onto the path.

At the top of the first rise he turned west, receiving a questioning nicker from Sainmh ni at the sudden direction change. Patting the horse on the neck he said "don't worry boy, we're just making a small side trip". What the hell it certainly wouldn't be the first time he'd gone riding off to save someone who didn't need it. Besides if it was nothing more than a dream he'd see some new country. Shamus realized he was humming a jaunty tune under his breath and rolled his eyes. Wasn't that typical he was happier chasing after some dream than riding towards a real payday. He supposed that's why he was single and didn't own much a horse couldn't carry. Smiling into the morning sun and the unknown he thought it might not be a bad trade.

[WhoGuru]

Vereta and Red huddled round his lamp as they walked through the pitch black tunnel. Red kept a hand on the wall, leading the way and using each step to feel in front of them with her toes. Wouldn't do to stumble off into a chasm in the inky darkness.

"Wish we knew where we were going." V muttered. "I don't like dark caves."

"Neither do I, V. We'll be out of this soon." She reassured him. Looking back, she saw his face was a bit white in the light of the lamp. She stopped suddenly and gasped. Her hand had lost contact with the wall and the foot she had been searching the floor with met nothing as she pushed forward.

"What's wrong?" Vereta inched closer, trying to see.

"The floor and the walls just went away." Red dropped down to her knees."Hand me the lamp V and stay close. Need to see what's down here." He did as she asked and peered over her shoulder, trying to find what had stopped them. Red held the lamp out, seeing nothing, then down. For a moment, there was nothing, just emptiness, then a faint glow began just below her. It seemed to be drawing light from V's lamp. As they watched it grew until finally they could make out small crystals embedded in the wall of the chasm just below Red's knees.

They gained strength as she watched and lowered the lamp even closer. The light level in the tunnel was building. For the first time in over and hour, Red could actually see the tunnel walls behind them and now looked with awe on the chasm before them. The walls were covered in blue crystals, as far down as the eye could see. They gathered light and illuminated everything up to the vaulted ceiling far above.

'Too wide too jump." Red noted and pointed to their left. "You see that?" She asked, as if worried her eyes were playing tricks.

"Yes." V nodded, still in awe of the view below them. "Looks like a stone bridge."

"Mmm hmm." Red stood, handing the lamp back to V and headed toward it. "Let's see how sturdy it is." They went to stand at the foot of the bridge and Red fisted her hands on her hips, staring across. It wasn't straight. It actually meandered back and forth a few times as it spanned the gap. Red smiled grimly. "I get it."

"get what?" Vereta asked, a bit confused.

She gestured at the bridge. "See how it twists back on itself? How easy do you suppose it would be to navigate that in blackness?" Vereta stared, then at the bridge and the glowing crystals below.

"The lights are going to go out once we're on it aren't they?" He asked, resigned.

Red nodded. "Oh yes. It's a little too easy otherwise, isn't it?" She kicked a pebble across the bridge in bad temper, frustrated. "I'm getting very tired of this things games." She muttered. "Let's go, V. Stay behind me and keep your hand on my back." She held the lamp out in front of her and down toward her feet, anticipating the darkness.

Slowly, they stepped out onto the bridge. They reached the halfway point, where the bridge began to turn and just as Red set a foot upon the turn, the lights winked out, plunging them into blackness except for the faint light from the lamp. Red wobbled slightly in reaction."Still there V?"

"Y-yes." He replied, now grabbing hold of Red's belt, not wanting to lose her. "Can you see your feet?" He saw Red lower the lamp and her feet came into view.

"We're okay. Just stay with me and move exactly where I move. No more free-falls today, alright?"

Vereta let out a short laugh. "I promise." and they inched slowly forward across the twisting rock through blackness.

[WillieSea]

William started down the stairs again, and stopped short. Looking around, he sensed several sets of eyes watching him. A creepy chill crawled up his back. Looking around, he saw nothing, shrugged his shoulders and continued down the stairs.

With key in hand, William unlocked the door to the basement. Without warning, the boom of thunder and flash of lightning illuminated a Lich in the doorway, reaching for Williams's throat! Startled, and jumping backwards by kicking back off the Lich, William rolled on the floor and came up with both daggers in his hands.

The Lich was gone, and the door lay open before him, with stairs leading down into the darkness. Bewildered, William looked around, as if searching for the foul creature.

With the door open, the sound of a pitched battle could be heard below. The sound of skeleton hisses and weapons hitting bone could be heard, as well as moans, oh god William though, of more ghosts

Stealthily descending the stairs, around the third corner, three skeletons could be seen in fierce combat with two ghosts. William watched, transfixed by the ethereal sight before him. Then, a zombie came up from one of the other stairwells and attacked the other two groups. William quietly backed away from the brawl between the undead creatures.

It would be a good time to let them beat each other to a pulp before he stepped in and finished off the winner.

The sounds of combat seemed to go on and on. William was beginning to wonder if this was another trick. A short while later, finally fed up with the whole thing, William crawled around the corner, and with arms outstretched, sent a bolt of white hot lightning into the ranks of the undead.

Picking the zombie flesh out of his hair, and kicking a few bones out of his way, William entered the basement proper, and promptly slipped on some ectoplasm.

Sliding across the floor on a trail of slime, the assassin, trying to regain his balance, grabbed at a string of garlic that was drying on a post, missed that and grabbed a burning candle instead, which flung hot wax onto his hands and arms. Dropping the candle from the shock of the burns, he crashed into some crates that were against the wall. The crates, upon being smashed in, flung vials of oil onto the stone floor, where they broke open. The candle, still lit, ignited the oil and sent flames racing back to the source of the oil, the broken crate that William was laying on.

Eyes wide, from this most unusual streak of bad luck the normally lucky assassin was having, he jumped from the broken crate to get away from the encroaching flame, which quickly engulfed the crate. He then jumped behind another set of crates just as the explosion from the remaining vials of oil sent flames and smoke throughout the chamber.

Bits of rock and dust rained down from the ceiling onto our crouching hero, putting some of the flames out that were burning in his hair. Finally, with ears ringing he looked up from behind the crates. The dust had put most of the burning crate pieces out since the majority of oil was burned in the blast.

Covered in dust, William stood up and surveyed the wreckage of the basement. That's when he noticed a symbol etched into the floor, going from wall to wall.

It was the arcane sign of curses and bad luck. It was a fortunate turn of events that he had cast the lighting bolt when he was outside the circle. He shivered slightly at that thought. It also explained why the creatures were in combat so long, they were probably missing each other more than anything else, since they were in the cursed circle.

William carefully moved out of the circle and continued down the next set of stairs. He was very glad his friends were not here to witness his feats of acrobatics. This would not be a tale he told around a fire...

[DarkRider]

Rider lead the way through the long winding tunnelway, using the occasional glimmers of light to search for clues to Echo's whereabouts. Fortunately, there were few turnoffs and the ranger was confident he was closing the gap between them. Crockit did his very best to stay quiet, a few muttered comments and dittery songs broke the silence, but a well placed glare soon returned him to silence. Rider was not used to having such a companion. His steed Legion was his only company in the wilds and the horse never chattered to himself.

The tunnel finally opened into a large cavern. Tall columns of stone stood like guardians in the cavern from ceiling to floor and in the center of them, Echo lay lifelssly on the ground.

"Echo!" Rider called out to his fallen friend, rushing forward to render aid.

"Nay, Rider!" Crockit shouted desperately, snatching Rider's hand, "Nay, come backs!" he said in a hushed voice. Rider tried to pull his hand free, but Crockit's grip was amazingly stronger. When he finally managed to slip his hand free, the little creature instantly <a href='http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg21/Darkrder/CrocketFrightened.jpg' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow'>caught his leg and held fast</a>. Rider growled under his breath and tried to pry Crockit's hands from his leg.

"Crockit, let go," he suddenly realized how easily he must have been dragged from the river by such strength, "My friend needs my help."

"Nay, nay," Crockit dragged him to the ground, "They is watching. See thems? The eyeses in the darkings..."

He pointed to the surrounding hollows in the stone and when he studied them for himself, Rider spotted glowing eyes reflecting out at him from the darkness. Echo was the bait; Rider was the prey they were hoping for.

"Alright then," Rider drew his katana from the sheath hidden beneath his coat and the wakazashi at this belt, "Crockit, you stay here. I don't think you can help with this."

"Mm-hmm," Crockit agreed, releasing his hold on the ranger and ducking behind a nearby rock.

Rider held his blades low and moved cautiously toward Echo. He wasn't moving and had a deep, bloodied gash in his shoulder. From the closest hollow, Rider could detect subtle movements and could hear a deep throated growling. He slowly crouched beside Echo, his attention never turning from the precarious situation.

"Echo, wake up lad," he said quietly. One of the creatures abandoned its hollow to skulk forward a few steps. In the low light, Rider could finally see his foe. It moved on all fours like a wolf, but was twice the size. It beared it yellow teeth and a thick saliva dripped from its mouth. All along its back was a wide row of spike-like hairs from head to tail. The others moved into the light in turn, they must have decided Rider wasn't falling for the trap and if he took Echo, they would lose both of their catches. They circled around him and Rider raised his blades, defensively moving to stand over Echo.

In one coordinated strike the creatures dove for him and Rider spun like a top with his blades extended, striking through the wolf creatures. Those who were badly wounded abandoned the attack, most of the others followed, but the largest recovered quickly and dove at him unscathed, taking Rider to the ground. Rider released his katana and tried desperately to manuever his short blade in to strike, but he could barely move under the weight of the beast that was bearing down on him with gnashing teeth. It took all of his strength to hold it off.

"Nay eatings!" Crockit's voice shouted. The little creature leapt from his hiding place, snatched the beast by the tail and swung him to the far side of the cavern. The beast richocheted off one of the columns and could barely get its feet under it to retreat; howling after its fleeing comrades.

"I guess you were more help then I thought," Rider said to Crockit as his pulled himself up off the ground, "Thank you, Crockit."

Crockit grinned shyly. Rider hurried over to Echo and Crockit followed. He withdrew the small vial from his pouch and dripped a few precious drops onto Echo's gash. It moments it began to close and Echo groaned as he came back to consciousness.

"Is alive!" Crockit cheered joyously.

"Rider?" Echo asked weakly, coming around at last, "Where are the others?"

"I don't know," the ranger answered, but I hope they are in better shape than you my friend."

[Vereta]

Vereta stared out into the depths of the darkness below them as they neared the end of the bridge. He felt something was wrong...

"Watch out!" Vereta cried out as rocky arm grew out of the bridge and grabbed hold of Red's leg. It pulled her off with a flick of it's hand and Red gasped in shock. Vereta acted quickly, he raised his arms, his hands glowing, and a large section of the bridge broke off. He shifted his arms towards Red and the bridge piece flew under Red and caught her. Gritting his teeth and sweating lightly he pulled the rock back over towards the bridge, but before he can finished the rocky arm that threw Red off lifted a rocky body, it's rocky body, up out of the bridge and stood at full height. It was a golem! Vereta cursed under his breath as the golem grabbed hold of his waist and tossed him off the bridge as well.

Vereta dropped the rock platform he use to save Red as he lost all concentration from being thrown off the bridge. Red came hurdling down with the platform and Vereta looked up with a hard look. He gritted his teeth as he once again raised his arms up towards the rocky platform and pulled it under Red catching her. He glanced down quickly to see he was nearing the bottom of the pit. Rocky spike protruded out of the ground. He looked up again and brought the rock towards him as quick as he can. The rock neared him, being just above him, and Red looked over the edge at him. She stretched out an arm at him and he grabbed hold of it. She hoisted him onto the rocky platform and he stood up quickly, the floor getting nearer and nearer. He raised his arms violently upwards and the rock shot up quickly. Red was pressed down on the platform from the sheer force.

As they reached the top Vereta pulled the rock towards end of the bridge and set it down roughly. He landed on a knee and breathed deeply, realizing he was holding his breath the entire time. He looked up and glared at the golem as it approached them. Red stepped up to it, blades raised in defense.

[WhoGuru]

The Golem raised itself from the stone and stood towering over them. Red realised they could see again. In the heat of the moment, she hadn't noticed the crystals once again glowing. She readied her blades, stepping in front of Vereta and waited for it. It was massive, that it had broken no bones when flinging them about was a miracle, as was Vereta's rescue. He was far more powerful than any of them had realized, she thought.

The Golem stared balefully down at them with a single, massive red eye and gnashed stone teeth in anticipation. "Single, red eye." She muttered and re-thought her plan to fight. She backed up into V and spoke softly over her shoulder. "How fast can you run?" She asked him. Vereta stared up in confusion.

"Run?" He asked, eyeing the monster angrily.

"If I distract it, can you get between it's legs and over to the other side?" She grinned, keeping her attention on the slowly advancing monster. "It's him." She breathed to V. "Our keeper. Look at the eye." Vereta did and suddenly remembered William's description of his encounter with the mysterious being in his room. "I can't kill it." Red said grimly. "I'm sure, game's over if it dies so, we out maneuver it."

Vereta nodded and ducked suddenly as the Golem swiped a stone hand out at them. Red bounced back up and swiped at it with her dagger. The ancient blade actually removed a chunk of the stone before the creature snatched its hand back. The look on it's face now was one of anger. She had hurt it.

"I can be fast enough." Vereta agreed, feeling that now the thing truly meant to kill Red for her insolence. "What about you?"

Red tensed, ready to distract it and replied. "I'm a thief, V. Born to the sign of the shadow. I'll meet you on the other side." Vereta had a sudden insight and smiled. Of course. He readied himself to run, hoping to not waist her distraction. Red kneeled down, preparing herself and then made a spectacular leap onto the things arm as it reached out to them again. She ran nimbly up the limb, executing another leap to land on it's shoulder.

Vereta took his chance while the Golem was looking up at Red and bolted across the bridge and through it's legs to the other side. He dodged into the tunnel there and called back, "Red! I'm through!" He glanced back out, saw her acknowledge him and hack another piece from the Golem's head. She was aiming for the eye of course and vicious in her attack.

She over stayed her welcome however and the Golem got in a lucky strike, sending her back to the bridge with a thunk. Red lay for a moment under the things baleful eye, a smile creased it's face through the stone and it raised a hand to crush her. Vereta frantically tried to think what he could to save her when...she vanished. Red simply disappeared before his eyes.

The golem roared in rage, casting about the bridge for his quarry in vain. Vereta jumped in fear when he felt a tap on his shoulder and Red materialised beside him, bruised, battered and grinning. The sign of the Shadow, he remembered, bestowed on those born to it the ability to vanish from sight once each day. He laughed and clasped her arm.

"You alright?" he asked her, seeing some horrific bruises begin to appear on the left side of her face.

"Fine. Just mad. Shouldn't have caught me so easily." She pulled Vereta from the wall and further into the tunnel. "It will never make it in here." They could still hear it growling from the bridge and then it's head hove into view at the mouth of the tunnel.

"Little thief." The voice filled the tunnel, forcing Red and Vereta to cover their ears even as they backed further into the tunnel. "You have angered me."

In fear of the reprisal, Vereta grabbed Red's arm and pulled her away, running with her now away from the Golem. The tunnel wormed it's way through the rock and finally emptied out onto a high ledge over-looking the forest and the lake. They stopped and sat back against the wall, panting for breath.

"It didn't do anything." Vereta gasped. "Why didn't it do anything?" He looked over to Red and found her grim and angry. "What's wrong?" She said nothing but simply pulled open the tear in her pants leg from the beginning of their journey. Vereta looked more closely and found that red lines were beginning to wend outward from the Spider Daedra venom. Very, very slowly, but certainly spreading once again. "Oh no."

Red laughed suddenly and threw her arms wide in acceptance. "It will be worth it to have taken several chunks out of his pride." She covered her leg again and surveyed their position, ignoring the concern in Vereta's eyes. She could see a small cottage set back in the woods, just make out the chimney stack. "There's a ledge leading down over there." She pointed off to the side.

"Red?" Vereta tried to talk to her about it and she stopped him.

"Leave it. Please." She smiled a little to take the sting out of it. "Nothing to be done now. Let's head toward that cottage. Quietly."

Vereta nodded, realising that they were now back on the same side of the ravine as the creatures.

[WillieSea]

As William descended the stairs, something caught his eye. The wall on one of the landings looked odd, and the floor was slightly scratched in a peculiar half circle with a small pile of dust at its termination.

A wide grin broke the assassins face! Only to his trained eye did the secret door become visible. Now, he just had to find the catch that would open it.

At first, surveying the wall, then feeling for the catch, one of the rocks pushed into the wall. There was a clank, and then the sound of rusty machinery as the wall started to open, accompanied by a cloud of dust.

Cobwebs filled the passage down the secret stairwell. A small fireball was soon flying down the tunnel, burning the cobwebs out of the way, before hitting a wooden door at the end with a puff of flame and smoke.

William went down the stairwell, and at the bottom was a plush entrance mat. The door was locked, but was easily opened with the key that was under the mat.

Inside, red crystals glowed from the ceiling, illuminating the entire room with a soft red light. The walls were covered in richly decorated tapestries. The floor was covered in furs and plush carpets. There was a bar with a full selection of drinks, alcoholic and not. A four poster bed was in one corner with a great chest in front of it, near a fireplace with a couple of overstuffed chairs. A bookcase was nearby filled with reading material.

On a desk, several gems and some jewelry glittered in the light from the fireplace. These vanished into a special pack the assassin carried with him everywhere.

Going back to the door, he looked out, then closed it slowly and locked it. A good nights rest would do wonders for a weary adventurer. He then turned back to the room and made himself at home. He hoped the others were faring as well as this, but, over 24 hours with little to no sleep was surely to make him slow, and possibly get himself killed. The misadventures he already suffered lately were proof enough of that.

William had checked the stairwell past the secret door. It ended in another door, probably the sub-basement. Questions raced through his mind as he dozed off to sleep. What evil had over-run this place? Where were Willet and his son? How was he going to reunite the finger with the haunted spirit, whom he assumed was Eletta? Where were his friends? Soon, sleep claimed him and he slept a tormented sleep, full of dreams of his friends in danger, calling out for help.

[WhoGuru]

Red and Vereta picked their way slowly down what turned out to be some sort of rock slide. The rocks would often turn under their feet and several times, they went down far faster then they wanted. Finally, they reached the bottom and both stopped, listening for signs the other denizens of this forest had heard the noise.

"All quiet." Vereta whispered. "I can't hear anything."Red nodded.

"Maybe they're still trying to work out how to get across the ravine?" She rose from her crouch with a grimace and led off into the trees. Vereta noticed she seemed to be walking more stiffly than before and decided to attribute it to the bruising. She was obviously not in a mood to discuss the poison further. As Red reached the tree line ahead of him, she paused in mid-stride. Vereta stopped where he was, not speaking in case it was the creatures come back for a nibble.

Red motioned him forward and he crept silently to her side.

"Saw something moving by the cottage." She whispered "Don't think it was those things from before. Moved wrong." She pointed and Vereta could just make out the front of the little building through the trees. As he watched, a shadow did indeed shamble into sight and then out again. "Wait here." Red pointed at a clump of bushes at the edge of the treeline, from where he could still see the dwelling. He nodded and slid behind the bush to watch and wait.

Red moved stealthily, making no sound as she slid into the trees and Vereta lost her for a moment. He scanned the front of the cottage again and found her slipping around the side as the unknown shadow moved into sight again. He held his breath and waited, ready to run to her aid if necessary. Tense minutes slipped by as V waited and finally, he saw the shadow appear again and then, almost faster than he could see, Red stepped up behind it and away again into the shadows. Confused, he watched her round the house again and then saw the shadowy figure wobble for a moment and then fall forward and lay still.

He gasped at the speed and skill which Red had shown slaying whatever it was and gasped again when she stepped out from behind a tree near him moments later. "Come on." She said and started walking away from the cottage.

"What was it?" Vereta asked, glancing over his shoulder at the cottage as it vanished into the trees.

"A zombie." Red spat on the ground and continued on. "That cozy little cottage was lousy with them, packed in like sardines from what I could see through the windows." She reached the wall and, looking either way, decided to head to her right, away from the ravine and closer to the lake. "If we'd walked in there, we'd be dead."

Vereta shivered and thanked the gods Red had spotted the one wandering outside before they'd walked into it.

They walked on in the underground forest, staying to it's edges and peering into the trees. They heard the occasional splash from the lake but no sounds that would have signaled where their friends were. Red fumed inwardly, wishing she'd gotten close enough to the Golem's head to slide her blade into its' eye. She was sure it wouldn't have killed the thing but perhaps it would have distracted it long enough to figure a way out, or convinced it to give them up altogether if they were too much trouble.

Worse, having angered their keeper, the poison was now active again in her body. She could feel it, beginning to burn a trail in her leg. Soon, the burning would expand again, sucking away her life with it. Again, she told herself it was worth it for the few moments of joy she'd had fighting their foe directly.

"Watch out!" Vereta called loudly. Red had been so wrapped in her thoughts, she hadn't been watching her footing and fell suddenly into an algae choked fen. She landed on her face and, fearing danger, rolled quickly to her back. Sitting up, she cleared enough of the gunk out of her eyes to see Vereta on the shore doubled over in laughter. He was trying valiantly to muffle the sounds with his hands. Wiping her hands across her face she looked at them and then down at herself. She was waist deep in muck and covered in green. In spite of herself, she began laughing too. She must be a hell of a sight.

With a last chuckle, she picked herself up and began scraping the algae off of her clothes. Vereta offered a hand and helped steady her as she stumbled out of the pool. "I deserved that." She said with a laugh. "For not paying more attention."

"Sorry, I didn't warn you sooner.Vereta produced a cloth from his pack and offered it to her. "I thought you saw it until you...well...tumbled in." He snorted again. "Sorry."

"No worries." Red grinned at him and began the business of de-greening herself. Vereta touched her arm then, getting her attention and pointed into the trees. Through them, Red could see another building. This one much larger than the last. "I don't know." She said softly now.

Vereta took shook his head. "What if it's a trap like the other. It's much larger. There must be three floors." Red had removed the worst of the muck now and passed back his now green sodden cloth. Vereta took it with two fingers and, considering it a loss, dropped it to the grass.

"We can check it out." Red said, squeezing algae from her hair with her fingers. The tie she'd used to hold it back had slipped out as well and her hair fell before her face like a green, speckled curtain of red. Irritated, she flipped it behind her ears and looked at Vereta. "You up for it?"

Vereta nodded. "What if William or Rider or Echo is in there?" He said. "They could be hurt...or worse. We have to know."

"Agreed." Red then led the way into the tree line, Vereta close behind and silent as he could be.

[WindmillTilter]

As soon as Shamus saw the dark opening in the canyon wall he knew he had found it, whatever it was. The feeling of needing to be somewhere had been growing stronger all day and had increased substantially when he had turned Sainmhni into the canyon. The feeling was definitely emanating from that dark opening along with a faint feeling of <em class='bbc'>wrongness</em> as if something was out of balance. After dismounting he settled his saddle and gear in the shade of the canyon wall, then rubbed Sainmhni down with a handful of the parched grass growing along the canyon bottom. Leaving the horse to graze near a clear springfed pool he took 2 torches and headed over to the cave entrance. The perfectly smooth walls made it obvious that this was not only no natural cave, it hadn't been excavated with any normal masonry tools. Lighting one of the torches and tucking the other into his small pack Shamus proceed inside.

The passage was about 8' high with vertical walls that curved to meed above his head. It proceded straight for about 20' then opened into a larger room. The room was circular with no break in the wall besides the passage he stood in, it had a domed ceiling and there was a large hole bored into the floor. Approaching cautiously he stopped between 2 short stone pillars and peered down into the darkness. The shaft was about 6' in diameter and went straight down beyond the reach of his flickering torchlight. Close examination showed that both the stone pillars and the shaft wall below them had small holes at regular intervals, some still showing traces of rust, leading him to believe there had once been a ladder of some sort secured here. Well he thought, if someone went to all that trouble to get up and down there must be something worth seeing at the bottom.

Shamus laid the torch on the floor and dug a rope out of his pack securing it to the lefthand pillar then the right. I hope whoever put the ladder there didn't like long climbs Shamus thought as he tossed the remaining coil of rope over the edge. The rope hit bottom below without uncoiling all the way, but the drop must have been at least 50'. Shamus considered the dark hole as he took a drink of water, it didn't look that inviting but he was intrigued with this place and what purpose it might serve. Who had carved this obviously deliberate entrance way out of solid rock, how and why? Any answers that were to be found were likely to be found below. He thought about tossing the torch into the shaft, aswell as providing some illumination of his landing sight it would give an indication of the air quality below, but he didn't like the idea of the torch landing on his rope or gods knew what else below. Instead he cast a light spell and extinguishing the torch placed it in his pack. The spell was weak and it's light didn't carry much farther than the torches had, but it was easier than trying to descend a rope carrying a lit torch.

Pulling some slack in rope Shmaus wrapped it over his right shoulder, between his legs, then over his shoulder again. Slowly paying out the rope with his right hand he began lowering himself into the shaft.

[DarkRider]

"Where did you find him," Echo asked quietly as they walked through the next cavern, glancing back over his should at Crockit. The little creature was following in silence, a strange determined exp​ression on his face. His recent battle had clearly boosted his confidence.

"I didn't. He found me," Rider explained about hitting the water at a bad angle, how he nearly drowned, and how Crockit had saved him.

Echo frowned, "What if he's just pretending to be nice?"

Long silent moments passed before Rider answered, so long that Echo had nearly forgotten his own question, "I'll admit, I've wondered thing same thing. All I know is that a man...or creature, should be weighed by his actions and Crockit has saved my life twice now. And yours too."

"I guess so," Echo admitted still feeling uncertain.

The ranger stopped suddenly and turned to crouch on one knee in front of Crockit, "I need to ask you some things, my little friend."

"Yay, askings, askings," Crockit nodded his head, reaching out and resting both his hand on Rider's, "You be Crockit's friend, what Rider be askings?"

"Crockit, we were brought here by a being with a great eye," he explained, "do you know of him?"

The little creature averted his eyes as if hesitant to speak, but answered softly, "Yay, my knowses of his. His is the Burneded One."

"The Burned One? Is that what they call him?" Rider clarified.

Crockit nodded, "Mm-hmm. His comes muching years ago from another place. His was burneded and his is weepings and shoutings. His crawled to the dark place, to the darkings. His was quiet then his becomes powersful, his becomes the darkings."

"Do you know where this place is? Can you take us there?" Rider pressed urgently.

"Yay, my can takes you to the burneded one," Crockit answered after a moment, "We goings there now?"

"Not yet," Rider stood with purpose, "first we find our friends. Then we pay this Burned One a visit."

"Do you think we can kill him?" Echo asked, following as the ranger and the creature began their trek, "Rider?"

"If he can be burned, he can be killed," Rider said evenly, "William will be so pleased."

[WillieSea]

William awoke with a start! Something had happened, it felt like anger. Thoughts of the eye that visited him in the fake tavern came to his mind. The Master!

Quickly getting up, he took supplies from the room, a couple of potions in a chest by the bed and a small golden shiv. Unlocking the door, and climbing back up the stairs to the secret door, he continued deeper into the basement.

He soon came to a mostly empty room. There was a table and a wall that had arcane symbols on it. The assassin then noticed there was something under the table; it looked to be the burnt remains of a book. Picking it up, the entire front of the book was burnt to cinders, but the last couple of pages were mostly legible. It was a hand written journal, by the look of it. The final chapter could just be deciphered.

At last, I have been shown the way to live forever!

The fragile body my soul inhabited failed all too soon, but it granted me the power to become a very powerful lich. Nothing short of Herculean effort can kill me while my heart beats elsewhere! The restorative powers of the ancient arts heal me constantly.

I must guard the heart carefully, keeping it very close to me, least some fool destroy it and bring me down. I curse the arrogant world, may they know pain and suffering that I will bring them.

The foolish farmers thought they were digging up a treasure of gold! Ha! They only released my cursed soul from the tomb. They have paid with their lives and souls. They tried to run, but were quickly overtaken! The same will happen for anyone fool enough to enter my domain...

Alshazoor the Great

William thought for a moment. Could this be the Master?

The arcane symbols on the wall received the assassins attention once again. Looking closely, it appeared to be a secret door. But how could it be opened? There were no latches or loose stones on this wall. Something had to activate the magical symbols and cause the door to open. This was not an area of Williams's specialty. Dang, where was Vereta and his books when he needed them?

The assassin was in a dark mood as he rubbed the stubble on his chin, thinking about a way past the portal. There had to be a way, the door would not be there just to mock him!

Raising an eyebrow, William thought of a plan. Upstairs, when he opened the door to the basement the first time, there was a Lich who appeared for a moment. It was real, he knew, since he kicked it when he lunged back away from it. Those skeletal hands that reached for his throat, there was a ring on one of its fingers, with the same arcane symbol etched into its surface. Perhaps it was the key.

Retracing his steps back upstairs to the house, William closed and opened the basement door several times, trying to get the Lich to appear. Nothing was happening. Okay, think, he said to himself, there must be a trick to it.

As he was pondering his situation, he heard a creak of the front door opening, and somebody, perhaps two more zombies, entering the house. With dagger in hand, William stealthily moved up against the wall, waiting in ambush for the vile creatures. They were shuffling around the living room, and then entered the dining room. Then a form came into Williams view, and his dagger swiftly swing in an arc to take the zombies head off!

Red was just entering the dark hallway when she saw the glint of a blackened steel blade arcing towards her neck. Time seemed to slow down as the blade made its slow motion movement towards her. So, this is how death was going to happen to her, she could not move out of the way of the killing blow, could not even scream a warning to Vereta. At least the end would come swiftly and in combat, rather than dieing from poisoning.

William had a feeling something was not right. The hair on the back of his neck had risen once again in warning, but it was not from these creatures, what could it be? At the last moment, he pulled his blade and it just missed hitting the creature before him and sunk into the wood doorframe. He quickly pulled it out and readied himself for combat, cursing his instincts. The creature gasped, and pulled back, a blade glinted in the darkness.

Confused by the almost familiar sound from the creature, William said, Red?

The shadowy creature stopped short and said, Is that you William?

A light suddenly flared up from the wrecked dining room, Vereta had cast a light spell. Red was standing in a thiefs stance, in front of the Assassin, William, who was similarly posed.

Red, confused, just stated, You missed?

William just raised an eyebrow and slowly shook his head. It was much to close

The assassin then caught them up on the current events inside the house. Vereta and Red both thought about the situation with the arcane symbols down below. It was Vereta who spoke first. What were the circumstances for the Lich showing up the first time? You must recreate your actions exactly.

William locked the basement door with the key and removed it. He then walked up to the door, with the key held out, and unlocked it. Upon opening it, the crack of thunder, the flash of lightning, and the Lich with the outstretched hands appeared. The hand with the ring was quickly severed from its arm and the ring quickly pulled off the boney finger. The whole lich then vanished with the ring still in Williams's hand.

The three then made their way back to the arcane symbol wall, being extra careful in the bad luck room. Even so, Vereta stubbed his toe on a crate and stepped on a nail that was in a board. Not meaning to laugh, but being unable to control herself, Red snickered at his folly, which caused her to hit her head on one of the candle holders that was missing its candle, scrapping her head. Having been through the room before, William passed it unscathed this time around. He just shook his head again and almost tripped on some loose stones that were on the ground.

Finally at the doorway, the ring was pushed at the symbols on the wall, and with a flash, the ring vanished and the arcane symbols flared a deep red. The wall then split open, revealing a passage beyond. The three of them entered, perhaps to find the Master dwelling inside.