Cayzle's Wemic Site
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The Final Confrontation
The same step that moved them inside the door is the one that takes them to where they are right now. A huge circular area about 200 feet in diameter. The ground is leveled and the walls seem to have been worked out with tolls to give the room this unnatural shape. Huge boulders, some almost as big as the wemic, are spread all over the place and, this is something weird, lots of light globes the size of a human head are floating about 20 or so feet high in the air, illuminating everything. The place looks like a huge cone, although they can't see the top of it. It seems to go on forever above the light globes ...
So, this is the place where they will find the source of all evil things happening in Detrit. Is it so big that it needs all this room?" We're dead!" Cosmos whispers, "We're sooo, dead!" his eyes search here and there, trying to keep him alert of any surprise attacks. But, with so much to look at, just now he and the others notice a human sized person, all covered up in a dark hooded robe, standing at the opposite side - which is about 200 feet away from where they are. He seems to be doing something to the wall in front of him, maybe studying the many symbols carved in it.
"Who are you?" a voice seems to come from behind, startling them and making them turn around. But they soon realize it actually came from the strange man ahead. He's still facing the wall but it seems he knows they are there.
"I don't know how you got here, but you better leave! Now!" the voice is not only demanding but threatening. Whoever that is and whatever it is that he's doing, he doesn't sound very pleased with their company.
Solana gives a mental shrug at the person's words. "The fastest way to get rid of us would be to tell us what, exactly, is going on in Detrit and how to stop it."
Expecting trouble, Owyth listens for an answer. But he thinks that a fight is more likely than a discussion. The wemic walks forward 80 feet and 20 feet to the left, where a particularly large rock can offer good cover. He is ready to attack or to cast a spell.
A loud laughter follows Solana's words. The kind of laughter that makes you feel like you said something stupid.
"Help Detrit? Help Detrit? Who are you people? Detrit is dead! And so will be you all if you don't move your asses out of here! Now!" the voice, that started in a mocking tone, now ends filled with rage. But still, the figure of the man in robe doesn't move, standing the way he was since they got there, with his back turned to them.
Cronis follows Owyth's example and moves to the nearest boulder in front of them. Urameshi and Cosmos stay together with Sculg and Solana, waiting a little longer before taking an offensive action.
"Well, we're not leaving yet!" Cosmos shouts, so confident it doesn't sound like him. "We faced a lot of trouble getting our asses to this place to just turn around and go away like that! And I think we're the ones who should ask you who you are in the first place! So?"
There's a moment of silence and Cosmos turns to the others, whispering, "Do you think I pissed him off?" he grins, but turns back to look at the strange man as he hears his voice again.
"Hmmm, well, if you insist. I'm the brother of the one known in Detrit as the Iron Man. The man whose greed brought death to that once lively town. My business here, though, is none of your concern and if you don't leave this place right now, your bones will lie together with the many covering the tunnel ground. Now, leave ... or die!"
Owyth declares in a clear voice, "Whateverr your grrievance, it does not excuse the murrderr of childrren. We have come to put a stop to it.
Will you negotiate orr must we end this with forrce?"
Leaving further ... *negotiation* to Owyth, Solana breaks away from the main group and darts into the stone field, trying to keep rocks between herself and the figure as she makes her way to one of the globes, preferably one situated above a rock.
The man said he's the brother of the one known as the Iron Man. He was probably referring to Bernard, the landlord of the Iron Man Inn. If that's so, this strange man standing two hundred feet ahead of them is nobody but Bernard's young brother, Raphael Dominus. You recall the story told by the innkeeper the night you arrived.
Ninety years ago, a powerful arch mage called Kenth Dominus retired from his adventurous life and married with a woman called Alyssia. They found a place to build their house and live their lives, but the house soon became an Inn that went by the name of 'The Magic Place'. Curiously, some people decided to retire and live in that same place, together with the Dominus family and years latter it had become a small village, with a few houses scattered around the inn. They named it Detrit for some unknown reason. As the years passed, Kenth died and his only son, Carlos Dominus, became the new landlord. He had no interest in magic and preferred to hunt on the mountains. He was the one who found the iron ore in the mountains and also the one to start mining it. The iron ore brought gold to the small village that quickly grew up in the passing years. After the death of Carlos, the business passed on to his son, who passed it later to his oldest son, Bernard Dominus. Raphael never wanted anything to do with the mines. Actually, according to Bernard, he didn't even live in Detrit. Then what the hell is he doing here? By the fact he's wearing a dark robe and studying the many runes on the wall in front of him, and also by the fact that he's in this place which strongly smells of magic, he's probably a mage of some sort. Whatever he's doing here, he doesn't feel like sharing it with the party and from the tone of his voice when demanding them to leave, it's also obvious that patience is not one of his greatest virtues. He finally turns around at the threatening words of the wemic and although the hood doesn't fully cover his face, the distance makes it hard for them to take a good look at him.
"You? End this by force? Are you mad! ?" he angrily shouts the last words. " I was being merciful by giving you the chance of escaping alive and not only you refuse that but you also stupidly stand your ground and threaten me! You fool! You shall have a painful death like many others from Detrit! Zargor! Kill those idiots!" After spitting those words, he abruptly turns around and gives his back to them once more.
Who is Zargor? The party looks around but sees no one. Solana had found her way to the top of a rock, a globe of light floating over her head a few inches away from her reach. Even by stretching her arms and standing on the tip of her toes, she doesn't manage to touch it. She doesn't try harder though as something else calls her attention. Something terrifying. From behind the huge boulder Owyth is standing, two dark tentacles arise, waving like the body of a snake. At the end of each tentacle, there's an exposed eye globe the size of a human fist, if not a little bigger. 'What the hell is that? ' she thinks, as so do the others as they see it. Time seems to slow down and they feel like froze in place as they observe what appears right over the wemic's head. Those tentacles are attached to a globular dark body, heavily wrinkled and covered with many thick, blood veins, as so are two other similar tentacles attached in it's lower sides. In the center of the body, a huge eye almost as big as two human heads and carried with red veins stare down at Owyth. A groan comes from it's toothy mouth, which is so wide that it seems to be always open, dripping spittle from it's many yellow fangs. Sculg shivers as he feels that he can be fully swallowed by that thing!
"What the ... " Cosmos stares at the floating monster, a creature of nightmares and scary stories. Something he never thought he would see in his life. Something so fantastic it can't possibly be true. But it is! If they were searching for something 'evil', that should be it! Right now, he can not imagine a better representation for that word!
As the creature fully appears from behind the boulder and floats another 5 feet over it, one of its smaller eyes begins to glow and, in the blink of an eye, a red ray is fired from it and crosses the wemic's left shoulder, drawing lots of blood and making him roar in pain. Although it seemed like an eternity, the creature actually appeared very fast and caught the wemic by surprise, who was stunned like the others by its horrifying view!
Cronis, who was watching from behind another boulder, winks at Urameshi and draws his axe. Leaving the cover of the boulder, the dwarf raises his axe over his head and charges, giving a battle cry and calling the attention of the creature, thus giving some time to the wemic. Urameshi follows the dwarf's example, although he approaches more carefully, silently running from boulder to boulder, going to the left and trying to reach Owyth in time.
Cosmos is much slower than the ninja, and moves even more carefully to the right, stopping still very far away from the monster and protecting himself behind a boulder.
The dwarf covers half of the ground between him and the creature when another of it's eyes glow, this time with a green light, and in a few seconds they can't see the dwarf anymore. His body is fully covered by a great amount of web! The web seems so dense they wonder if there's room for him to breathe! The creature moves away to the center of the room. It seems to wait for them to attack! It seems to be enjoying it! Like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it. It seems it's just playing with the food!
Solana needs only one look to decide that she shouldn't stay on her rock with that thing around. Judging the distance, she tosses off a quick spell (Magic Missile) before sliding down the far side of her elevated position and going for her weapons.
Owyth roars with pain and anger, but his ire is directed at the mad mage, Raphael, rather than at his monstrous servant. The wemic then silently runs at top speed, first 5 feet west around the boulder next to him and then in a strait line directly at Raphael. Like an arrow, he aims directly at the mage, quickly closing the 110-foot gap between them. For the last 50 feet, Owyth makes a tremendous flying leap, hoping to land on the mage and bear him to the ground.
In any way he absolutely can, Sculg will try to help the party without doing anything foolish. Hoping that running out to help Cronis isn’t something foolish, Sculg curses under his breath to help his 'brethren', the web-entangled dwarf.
From the moment they entered this place, they have been ordered and threatened by Raphael Dominus to leave. But they didn't, so determined they are to find a solution to the curse of Detrit. Noticing that the party wasn't going to leave, Raphael summoned a five eyed, nightmarish creature to kill them. Zargor surprised Owyth by appearing from the other side of the huge boulder he was using as cover. One of the creature's eyes fired a red ray at Owyth's left shoulder, drawing blood and bringing pain to wemic priest. Cronis, deciding to distract the monster from his injured companion, left his own cover and charged, waving his axe over his head and shouting a battle cry. But another of the creature's eyes cast a web spell that densely covered the dwarf and immobilized him.
Floating to the center of the room, being about 8 feet from the ground, the creature seemed to wait for them to attack.
Solana casts a magic missile and slides down her boulder for cover. The missile hits the spherical body of the creature and makes it move an inch backwards, but it doesn't seem to have hurt it too much.
Soon after, Owyth decides to charge, not the creature but Raphael! The liontaur is fast and covers the ground in an amazing speed - although he knows he could move faster if he wasn't injured on the shoulder. Zargor notices his intention and fires a yellow ray at him - which comes from his lower left eye - but he was too late. It missed the wemic! In a matter of seconds, more than half of the distance between him and Raphael is covered and just when he's about to leap, he forces his body to a halt, almost straining his muscles. With eyes wide open in alarm, he stares at the thick curtain of fire that rose from the ground and now separates him from Raphael. It's too tall for him to leap over it and only the gods know how thick it is. Whoever that man is, he is very dangerous! Even if they destroy Zargor, how are they going to fight him? Maybe they should've heard Bernard, Gweenersteed and Cosmos. But now there is no turning back!
In the mean time, Sculg runs to the aid of Cronis and begins to rip the web in search for his 'brethren'. It's not an easy job. The web glues to his small hands and arms, sometimes giving him the feeling that he's going to end up stuck with his friend, but he doesn't give up and notices he is making progress. Maybe in a few minutes the dwarf will be free. What sounds like a sinister laugh comes from Zargor, whose body shakes a little in the air at the sight of the gully dwarf fighting the dense web. It points one of its eyes at the little man but decides not to cast any spell. The scene is amusing him and that's the main goal of keeping them alive, at least for a while. To amuse him.
Then the sound of sharp objects cutting the air is heard, followed by a small groan from the monster. Two ninja stars can be seen half buried in the creature's right side with thin streaks of blood coming from the wounds. The monster didn't see the attack! Or, if it saw, it wasn't fast enough to dodge it. Although it looks like it can take a lot more damage than that, the surprise attack seems to have enraged it! It turns all it's five eyes to the left, the four eye stalks moving crazily in search of the one who fired the sharp, metal stars. But it fails to locate it. Those who were paying attention, saw when Urameshi had made his way to the large boulder while Owyth was charging at Raphael. Zargor begins to float slowly to the left, the eye stalks moving like hungry snakes in search for prey. Now that the monster wasn't looking at his direction, Cosmos finds enough courage to cast a spell. He decides to go for the standard attack and casts a magic missile. Zargor groans in rage again and violently turns around, staring directly at the eye patched mage, who freezes in fear and is instantly hit on the chest by the red ray. Cosmos screams in pain and drops sitting, leaning his back against the boulder.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he shouts, both in pain and anger, for not covering himself in time.
"We're screwed!" he shouts to the others, breathing hard because of his wound. " There's no way to kill this thing!"
Maybe the monster doesn't understand common, since you believe it would laugh at Cosmos' words. But that is just a maybe. The fact is that Zargor is very unquiet with the present situation. He was hoping to play a little before killing them, but he's getting hurt and that's not very entertaining. Not at all! He quickly floats back to his later position, from where he can observe them all. Looking more alert than before, he awaits for them to attack.
Taking advantage of her position behind a boulder, more or less out of Zargor's sight, Solana dashes towards the boulder southwest of her, keeping low. After reaching the north side of the boulder, she turns towards the boulder to the northwest, striving to cross the multi-eyed thing's line of sight as unnoticed as she possibly can (preferably dashing through the LoS of it when it is looking another way). She will pause there to assess her options in reaching one of her opponents at this stage.
Foiled in his hope of taking Raphael by surprise, Owyth turns from the fire and runs at the floating eye-monster. He leaps to attack the beast, clawing wildly at it with his forepaws as he hacks at it with his greatsword. "We came to end this evil nightmarre," he yelled, "we cannot fail because ourr cause is just!"
Simply glad that he is still alive, Sculg cries out in frustration as the sticky webbing hampers his progress, although frequent bouts of rage from Cronis undoubtedly make the going a bit faster, if not easier. It is his hope that he can assist Owyth against the foul monster as soon as possible by mounting a combined offensive together with the dwarf.
Zargor floats in the center of the room, alert with his many eyes to the movement of his enemies. Then the wemic charges. Four eyes to shoot and only one target! It would be too easy! But almost at the same time, the others begin to move. Solana leaves her rock and makes her way to another. Another moving target for the eyes. Urameshi also leaves his cover, believing it's the right time for a frontal attack. Owyth coming from one direction as he comes from another, and Solana on the south making her own plans and drawing part of the monster's attention. Everything happens very fast and four rays cross the air by the time the wemic and the ninja reach closer to Zargor. Blood! Lots of blood cover the three of them! A blue ray missed Owyth, who jumped just in time to land a few inches away from the monster and cut off one of its eye stalks! What little was left of it was shaking madly, as if it had a life of its own and was feeling the worst pain in the world! Cold blood spilled all over Owyth and Zargor! The monster's mouth was now wider than before - something that seemed impossible - and a sinister cry comes from it. He's hurt!
But Urameshi wasn't so lucky. Two rays were directed at him. A yellow one held him in place, making him unable to move as if he was statue, while the red one inflicted a bad wound in the kidney area. It was enough to make the ninja give a short cry and drop unconscious on the ground.
A fourth ray was aimed at Solana. Zargor saw her moving and didn't take one of his eyes away from her. Not wanting to be surprised by the elf, he used the web spell to hold her in place. But the always careful Solana noticed Zargor's intention and jumped out of the way, although she wasn't entirely successful as part of the web caught her legs. At least she reached the cover of the boulder in time. Sitting on the ground, she fights to free herself but soon realizes it's gonna take a while!
Zargor has a worried expression in his eye and quickly floats higher and higher, trying to get away from the big liontaur as fast as possible. He reaches the light globes - which are, at this part, some thirty feet away from the floor- and mix himself amidst them.
In the meantime, Sculg manages to reach Cronis' head! The dwarf has also managed to free one of his arms and legs and would be soon free to help. Using his free hand, Cronis works hard on freeing his mouth, which takes but a few seconds.
"Ahg, finally! Blasted thing! Hey, you stinky little shit!" he's probably talking to Sculg, "Go help the others! I don't need your help! Go! Now!"
Keeping the boulder between herself, Zargor and the wizard, Solana settles against it and starts cutting through the webbing with one of her daggers while contemplating other options to get rid of the sticky webbing hindering her leg movement. Fire? Spider webs burn pretty well, but with that stuff stuck to her, maybe not too good an idea. Apart from that ... just wait for either the duration to run out, or cut.
Owyth looks for the tallest boulder within 20 feet of the many-eyed monster. He leaps to the top of it. From his perch atop the boulder, the wemic gathers his reserves, tenses his muscles, and leaps right at the monster. With his sword outstretched, he tries to skewer the abomination. If there is no boulder in reach, or if Owyth decides this plan won't work, he'll take out two throwing daggers and hurl them at the monster.
Giving Cronis a crisp salute, Sculg grins and runs off happily in Zargor's direction waving his wooden ladle at the creature. At the same time, the pot dangling at his waist has once again found another use as a helmet, protecting the gully dwarf's head (? ) from anything nasty. Sculg hopes that the creature is distracted and in pain enough for him to attack it outright.
Zargor is badly hurt for the first time, having one of its eyestalks severed by the wemic's sword. That makes the monster retreat for a while by flying up to the light globes and getting away from Owyth as quick as possible. But the wemic reacts fast and jumps on top of the boulder in front of him, to then leap as high as he can manage to deliver another blow at Zargor. Unfortunately that doesn't happen. The sword cuts the air a few feet below the many eyed monster, who keeps flying higher till all that can be seen is his shadowy form amidst the light globes.
About 90 feet to the left, Solana is still fighting to free her leg from the web. She notices she is not strong enough to pull herself away from it and decides to use her dagger to cut her free. That proves to be more efficient, but not easy. The dagger often gets stuck on the web, forcing the elf to pull it free all the time, which only slows down the process.
If the elf is only starting to free her self, the dwarf is almost finished. He managed to free himself from the waist up and is now using his axe to cut the web holding his legs. He stops for a while to watch Sculg charging Zargor a little too late. The pot he uses for a helmet ends up sliding forward and covering his eyes, making the gully dwarf bump into the wemic.
As for Urameshi, he still lies unconscious and badly injured, a dark pool of blood slowly forming at his right side ...
Cosmos didn't do or say anything since he got hit by Zargor in the chest. He hasn't even showed a sign that he's still alive. Maybe he's fighting the pain or maybe the fight was already lost ...
Owyth observes the shadow of Zargor moving between the light globes, going west towards Solana. But then, the shadow disappears. The monster is still there but can't be seen no more. They wait and try to find it again, but Zargor doesn't show up. One minute pass and the silence is disturbed by Cronis, who screams with join for finally freeing himself.
"Ha! Now, where's that giant meat ball? I'm gonna chop it with my axe and then Sculg can make a soup out of it! Show up you ugly thing!" he screams, shaking his axe above his head. As if answering to the dwarf's call, Zargor falls down in an amazing speed, right behind Cronis, stopping about 5 feet from the ground. Owyth and Sculg point and shout, trying to warn the dwarf, but a little too late. Just when Cronis turns around, Zargor opens his mouth and bites the dwarf! The huge mouth covers the dwarf's head and shoulders and they can see the many sharp fangs burying into flesh and armor. Blood runs in many streaks, dying Zargor's little fangs and Cronis' back with the dark, red liquid. They can still hear Cronis' muffled screams, which shows that he's still alive. The dwarf tries his best to fight the monster, punching it with his left hand and trying to hit it with his axe. He misses the first try but is successful on the second one. The axe buries deep into Zargor's left side, making the monster to shake in pain. Cronis' body shakes with the monster's and soon the dwarf stops screaming and release his hold on the axe, his arms dropping lifeless by his side. It seems that Zargor is the only thing sustaining his body right now.
Seeing that Cronis is in a very bad way, Owyth charges the monster while Cronis is still in its mouth. The wemic strikes at its eyes with his taloned paws and sword.
Sculg lets out a gasp and his lips tremble at the sight of the obviously dead Cronis dangling only by the help of Zargor. Looking around him and seeing everything in chaos, with Urameshi bleeding and the eye-patched mage likewise facing great difficulties, the gravity of the situation suddenly reaches into the gully dwarf like the ghostly hand of the shadow. The shadow. If only it doesn’t reappear. In frustration, Sculg flings down the helmet to the ground and charges the floating eye-creature, Zargor, choosing to use his rusty sword instead of the wooden ladle. A muffled cry escapes his lips. Whether the gully dwarf will survive remains to be seen.
At the sight of Cronis being killed in such a horrid way by Zargor, Owyth and Sculg loose no time in avenging their friend. Zargor stares at them, the corner of his big, bloody mouth raising in a evil smile while his teeth keep pressing harder and harder against Cronis flesh! The three eyestalks shake wildly, searching for a good aim at the charging duo. Before closing to Zargor, the wemic receives a discharge of the yellow ray on his chest. Luckily, there is not effect. Zargor's central eye widens, startled to see that he couldn't stop Owyth. He tries to remove his teeth from Cronis but finds them stuck to the armor. Unable to move or dodge, he receives a full attack from the wemic. The paws make many deep cuts in the monster's central eye and are followed by a thrust from the broadsword, which buries deep and almost cross the body! By the time Owyth withdraws the sword, Zargor screams in pain, although the sound is muffled, and shakes violently as if he's having a convulsion! Dark thick blood runs from the deep gaps in his large eye and the monsters feels in panic! With three eyes left, the monster is far from blind and can still fight for his life. His red eye quickly responds to Owyth's attack and the red ray hits the liontaur on the knee. The pain is great and makes him remind of the wound in his shoulder. Owyth feels dizzy and everything around him begins to spin. He backsteps a little and falls to his side, only half-conscious of what's happening. He hears a cry and then sees the small figure of Sculg, bravely charging Zargor. Despite all the hatred Cronis showed towards Sculg, the gully dwarf knew, or at least believed, that his companion actually liked him, even if just a little. All the troubles they've been through only served to unite those who were once stranger to each other. United till death do they part! Clearly moved by the dreadful sight of his dead companion, Sculg attacks the monster in front of him with steel and heart! A cry, expelled from his throat with hatred and vengeance, echoes in the room and blood splashes all over his body as he cuts two eyestalks in one violent motion! Zargor stares at Sculg and feels like he's looking at a giant instead of a gully dwarf. The great amount of pain and loss of blood is enough to make Zargor falls unconscious. The only eyestalk left drops lifeless by Zargor's side, and both the monster and Cronis fall unmoving to the ground. It seems it's over.
Half conscious, Owyth tries to form a mental prayer to the Great God of the Wemics. And as he lapses in and out of dreams, some corner of his mind hopes that someone got the license plate number of that truck.
A red haze lifts from his eyes, and thus a feeling passes that Sculg and likely no other gully dwarf has never felt before. The bloodlust gone, Sculg simply trembles, astonishment clearly evident on his face at what he has just achieved. No time is lost, however, as he realizes that almost everyone else in the party needs some degree of help. Sculg respectfully pulls Cronis out of the beholder's maw, and rushes afterward to administer aid to the nearest compatriot, in this instance Owyth. Strangely, Sculg is not jubilant. He does not cheer at his accomplishment, and tears stream down his face as he silently breaths a last word of farewell to his friend, Cronis.
Owyth is able to heal his shoulder wound, although a dark purple bruise is left. His knee stopped bleeding but still hurts and the wemic finds himself walking with a limp. He finds the brave little Sculg worried about his side, tears still running down his eyes from the loss of his grumpy friend. A moan is heard a few feet behind. It comes from the hunched figure of the eye patched mage, carrying in his face the smile of a mad man, like someone laughing at his own death. His left hand rests on the bloody shirt, pressing against his chest where he was once hit by the now dead Zargor. And so slowly he slides down the hand and the others notice something amazing. Although they can see the hole in the shirt, formed by the deadly red ray, there is no sign of the wound that almost killed him. It has healed, somehow. They begin to wonder if they don't already know more about Detrit than about this mysterious man. Who is Cosmos? Who is this man that acts both as a fool, a wise and a mystic man? What other tricks does this trickster hides in the deep dark pockets of his being? The answers to those question will have to wait. At the opposite end of the room, the wall of fire separating them from Raphael Dominus disappears, fading away as an illusion instead of having its flame gradually extinguished. It seems Raphael fooled their minds, thus gaining some time to continue whatever it is he was doing. Cosmos approach Owyth and Sculg, the smile on his face fading for a moment as he glances to the dead body of the dwarf. "Well, let's make sure he didn't die in vain." he looks back at them, the mad and arrogant grin returning to his lips, "Ready for round two?" Their eyes drift from each other to the figure in dark robe, standing next to the wall. Raphael finds himself in the same position he was when they last saw him, but then he slowly turns around, holding a large and thick black book in his hands. "This is it!" they hear him say and see him smile as he turns to them. "So, I see you killed Zargor. Pity you lost your friend. Now tell me: was it worth it? Huh? You should've left when you had a chance ... hmmm, I'm in a very good mood today, so I'll be merciful once more. Leave now and I'll spare your lives. Stay and your souls will haunt this mine ... forever ... together with your friend's and the souls of many others from Detrit. So, what do you chose?"
Owyth didn't use it before because blinding one of Zargor's eyes wouldn't have hindered the monster much. But now he uses his faithful Light spell, as he used it against Turd the half-ogre, against the Shadow, and against the full ogre on the first level of the mines -- he cast Light into Raphael's eyes.
Solana will approach Raphael by darting two rock north-north-east-ward, keeping on the side of the rocks that is facing the chamber center.
Sculg has so far been extremely lucky in surviving, and for a moment relishes in this fact as his thoughts painfully are forced to revert back to reality, away from the loss of his friend Cronis. Dominus, he sees now, is the true mastermind behind the dwarf's death, and with this realization the bloodlust once again comes forth as a reddish tinge affects the gully dwarf's vision at its periphery. With no knowledge about the 'big magic' that not only Solana and Cosmos, but also Dominus is capable of, Sculg entrusts his fate into the hands of every conceivable deity that springs forth in his mind, from Gweenersteed's Rock God to his self-fashioned Lord of Rats. Sculg charges Dominus with his blooded sword now dubbed 'Eyesplat', in reference to Zargor, the eye-creature. It might as well be called Dwarf Avenger, in honor of Cronis.
Holding the black book in his hands, Raphael grins and shakes his head, once he sees that the party decided to challenge him instead of running away.
"One thing is to fight for good. Another different thing is being foolish!"
He seems to just stand there and await for them. Owyth casts his light spell but it dissipates just as soon as it appears, without getting bright enough to blind Raphael. Right after the wemic, Cosmos casts a magic missile spell, but the bolt of energy also dissipates before hitting Raphael. The mage grins wider. As Solana and Sculg advance forward, the evil mage gets serious once more and slides his left hand on the cover of the book, as if about to open it. But his eyes grow wide in fear as something goes wrong.
"No. No. Nooooooooooo!" he shouts, and what happens next cause the same reaction on Solana and the others. A great ball of fire rises from the book and explodes right in front of Raphael. But it doesn't stop there. A lake of flame begins to spread forward, making Sculg and Solana re-think their moves and turn around. The others also do the same as they see that the flames are reaching them with amazing speed! Cosmos shouts, practically ordering them to go the south wall. In the extreme of the situation, without anything else to do, they do as they're told. Owyth takes care of carrying Urameshi with him and once they're all there, Cosmos begins to concentrating on another spell. They see far ahead, Raphael still screaming in pain and burning on the flames and wonder if they will have the same fate. The lake of flames is only twenty feet away from them and coming fast.
"Oh boy, this is gonna hurt. " Cosmos says and takes a deep breath. They turn their looks to him and notice something for the first time. There is something behind the eye patch!
As he says the magical words, his voice raising to a shout, a yellow glow appears from behind the eye patch and small rays of golden energy begin to cover his body, making it shake a little in shock. They feel the heat of the flames on their skin and see that the fiery lake is about to engulf them, but then, just out of a sudden, the fire stops. They see that the flames have covered the whole area, except for a small circular area they are in. Cosmos falls crouched to the ground, exhausted from his effort to protect them, his face buried between his legs.
Far ahead, they see that Raphael is still alive. A blue magic portal appears in front of him and the evil mage steps through it, escaping from hell.
All they can do is wait and watch, but that doesn't take long. In less than thirty seconds, the flames begin to extinguish, till there's no sign left of what just happened there. Only now they notice that they're inside an almost transparent sphere. It has a very faint orange hue, but due to the flames around the, they didn't notice it. Cosmos slowly raises his head and stands up, his face carrying a very tired expression. With a movement of his right hand, the orange sphere disappears and he turns his face to look at them.
"Well, I guess this is it. We did it. " he fakes a smile.
Eyesplat is forgotten on the ground beside Sculg, who is curled up with his head in his hands. The gully dwarf is heart-racked with sobs, accompanied every now and again with a sniffle. The gore that came from Zargor still stains his hands, but is the blood of Cronis staining them too? Is the death of the mean tempered dwarf his fault. It may seem so. Or, rather, it seems as if Sculg has taken the responsibility on himself.
Owyth breathes deeply and lays Urameshi down with care. The wemic crouches low next to Sculg and tells him solemnly, " Brrave Sculg, be prroud of yourr deeds and valorr, as Crronis is prroud of you. He is welcome now in the stone halls of his forrefatherrs, and he tells with satisfaction the tale of Grreat Sculg, who avenged him."
Owyth then turns to the wizard who saved them. He bows deeply to the ground and says, " Thank you, frriend Cosmos. You continue to surprrise with hidden secrrets, but you also continue to delight with courrage and devotion to us in need. Come, let me help you. You have this day earrned high honorr indeed."
After doing what he can to make the mage more comfortable after his efforts, Owyth tends each member of the group in turn, ignoring his own wounds for the moment.
Then the wemic brings up the next items on the agenda. " That mage was not destrroyed when his magic backfirred. Arre we in dangerr, Solana and Cosmos, that he will rreturrn? Should we flee forr ourr lives? Or have we the time to look arround, in the hope of making surre that the currse is lifted? What was Rraphael so involved with overr therre? Should we wrreck his worrks, as best as we can? Can we take or destrroy the tools he used to crreate his necrromancy?"
" And morre to the point, how do we get out of herre?"
Cosmos accepts Owyth's help and taps the wemic shoulder in a thankful manner. "Thanks Owyth. As for Raphael, I don't think he's coming back. He got what he was looking for. That book. He was so over confident he forgot to check for magic traps in it. A slip I believe he will never repeat." he then turns to the wall ahead, covered with runes. "But maybe we should go check that wall ... just in case. Maybe we can find something there." Calling the others, he goes ahead to the other side. There are many runes and words in a strange language covering the walls. None of it makes sense to any of them, but Cosmos gives a wild guess saying that maybe that was all part of a spell to guard that book and maybe Raphael was trying to break the spell. "I just don't know what that has to do with the curse of Detrit. If it has something to with the book, then let's hope the curse is lifted now that the book is gone."
Owyth searches high and low (throughout the entire chamber) for any other objects, valuables, clues, secret doors -- and especially for an exit.
"I'm not so sure what this is, Cosmos ... " Solana responds to the other mage's guess. "Haven't seen any of those symbols before." Solana moves to inspect the other walls, hoping to find something helpful.
After a long and tedious search, they decide there's nothing else they can do. The best thing is to leave now, believing they have done their best to lift the curse, even though the doubts still rests in their minds. Wondering how to get out of there, doesn't take long before someone comes up with the idea of using the same magic word that brought them there. "Oeteor!" The portal appears once more, and one by one they are back to the tunnel. A surprise: the green smoke is gone! They run down the tunnel till they find the rope and climb back to the third level of the mine, where another surprise awaits them: Gweenersteed is not there. Without then gnome to lead them back, they end up having to rely on their memories to find their way. Luckily, Solana remembers most of it and in less than an hour they are back to the surface. The midday sun burns their eyes and blinds them for a while, until they get used again to the brightness of the outside. But it's good to be there, surrounded by an infinite vastness instead of being in the claustrophobic tunnels of the underground. With each deep breath comes a feeling of joy that spreads all over their bodies, healing their minds and filling them with energy. The air is cold and humid and the many small ponds scattered on the hard ground shows them that it must have been raining some minutes ago. A small yellow bird lands next to a pond and drinks from its water to then fly again, going in the direction of Detrit. The party goes the same way ... They reach the town again, making their way to the Iron Man Inn in the hope to hear from Bernard that his daughter Gabrielle is fine and that the curse is gone. But something is wrong. There isn't a single soul in the streets and a dead silence hangs in the air, making their every steps to echo as they move. Reaching the inn, they push the half-open entrance door and get inside. Nobody is there. Dust is accumulated on top of tables and chairs, as if the place hasn't been cleaned for a long time, and nothing but ashes can be seen inside the cold and gray hearth. "Hello!" Cosmos shouts, "Is there anybody here? Bernard?" There's no answer. Urameshi, who has recovered his consciousness when they left the mine, goes behind the bar and opens the door. He feels like shouting too, but decides otherwise, feeling it would be useless. As he's about to close the door, he hears the sound of a cat. It's Mink. The white cat walks past Urameshi, leaves the bar and goes to the elf. Solana takes it in her arms and is glad to notice that the fever is gone. Has the curse been lifted or not? Bernard said that the cat was suffering from the cursed fever of Detrit, but maybe it could also have been a normal fever. How could Bernard be so sure and where is everyone? They shiver as they remember what Raphael said even before they fought Zargor. "Detrit is dead."
Picking her companion up, Solana looks first relieved, then *very* worried. "Mink? What *happened*? Did you fall into a sack of flour?" She tries to dust the white fur, remembering Mink was a gray-striped cat when she fell sick. Looking around and remembering Raphael's words, Solana scratches her head. "We risked our lives for a ghost town? Or what happened?"
Owyth scratches his head, sending his mane agley and clacking the beads braided in his hair against each other. "The mysterries of the worrld arre a deep ocean, and I crrawl along the surrface like a waterr bug. We can only do what we think is best, and on that scorre I am prroud of us all." "Let us rrememberr the people who lived herre. We can spend the night, and tomorrrow we can rresume our jourrney to the swamp." If nothing else happens, Owyth will spend the evening in prayer and contemplation for the people of the town and for Cronis Steelehammer. Everyone is welcome.
Sculg remains mostly silent, still somewhat fatigued from the day's events. He will try to approach Mink, but the most likely reaction would be a hiss (? , not too sure about how much personality you are giving Mink, Solana ... I assume she's not too fond of smelly gully dwarves). Stepping back alarmingly, Sculg wanders off in search of somebody to pour him a glass of ale, searching every room in the tavern.
Exhausted from the battle they had a few hours ago, they decide to stay in the Inn and rest till tomorrow. While the others are looking for a bed to sleep, the gully dwarf goes on a private search, but after an hour prying into every nook and corner, he finally gives up. There's nobody there but them.
Sleep comes easy once they hit the bed, but the poor adventurers are far from having a quiet dream ...
"This is a true story known only by a few, and it happened more than five hundred years ago ... " .
A recognizable voice invades their mind and bring with it the remembrance of a night, when Sculg finally cooked to them and an old, mysterious man joined them by the fire. This man presented himself as Maestro.
" ... At this time, lived in the forest of Cormanthor a wise elf whose name remains unknown ... He had the gift of magic and controlled it like no other elf ever did. After centuries living among his kind and learning all he could about his craft, he decided to leave the woods and study the magic of other races ... Decades were spent wandering the realms and learning, learning and learning ... He stumbled into something that called the attention of an evil god and this deity decided to interrupt his studies ... The elf met seven humans one day who asked him to teach them. Seeing this as an opportunity to study the human improvement in magic, the elf accepted. He noticed though that they desired power instead of knowledge and related this compulsive behavior to their short life. With time, noticing that this desire for power was turning into something evil, the elf decided to teach them no more ... The evil god saw that as an opportunity to stop the elf and gave the seven human apprentices a magical artifact ... Nobody knows how nor when, but one day they surprised their master and used the evil god's artifact against him ... It's said that a terrible curse was cast upon the elf. His soul left his body and he was born again as a human. He suffered from amnesia too, but as the years passed he began to remember things, till one day he recalled his real name and his real self. He recalled who he was and what happened to him and he went mad. He was fourteen years old by that time. He left the house of his human parents without even saying goodbye. He hated humans and since that day he has been wandering around the world, trying to find a way to recover his body and his memory and also to take revenge on t hose who did that to him. But he was a human and the story is too old. Some say he failed, but some believe he's still out there, wandering around the world and lusting for power ... "
The voice of Maestro vanishes and they feel a gentle breeze caressing their bodies. A warmth covers them and the sun rays gently open their eyes, awakening them for a new day. But again, something is wrong ...
Where are the beds, the walls, the Inn and the houses? Where is Detrit? As they rub their eyes and stand up to take a better look around, they realize they're at the same place they were when they met Maestro. The fire is long burnt out and the pot used by Sculg is still there. They are all there, except Cronis and Maestro. Owyth looks for tracks but finds nothing. Somehow they have just disappeared. But how come they are back there? What about Detrit and the curse that killed its people? Was that just a dream? It can't be! It was so real! And Cronis died, right before their eyes!
Urameshi looks for his wounds but finds nothing. Same thing happens with the others. They suddenly realize they have nothing to prove that they were actually there.
Cosmos slowly walks to the pot and kicks it hard, turning it around and spilling the rest of stew that was there.
"Damn! We're shifting from dream to reality so much, I'm having problems discerning one from another. Maybe we're all mad! That's what happens to mad people, right? They lose sense of reality! I am pretty sure I'm awake, but what if I'm not? I was sure I wasn't dreaming while we were inside the mines! It was real! It had to ... aaagh!"
He suddenly feels a pain behind his eye patch and makes pressure against it with his right hand.
"Aagh! Damn, I'm sure it was real. Now I'm sure ... " he sits down, still pressing his hand against the eye patch and remaining that way for a while.
"Actually ... " Solana pulls a small ring and an amulet from her pocket. "That wizard we fought in the *dream* dropped some real enough items. I remember picking those two up after he vanished. At least in the dream, they both radiated magic, but that can easily be verified here." She pockets the two items again. "I hope I get a chance to learn more about them soon - but I'm not yet foolhardy enough to try for myself."
Owyth, hearing Cosmos's complaint, sighs. "It is said that therre is trruth in drreams that we often do not underrstand. So it is herre. But fearr not, forr we arre sane and whole, and the trruths of drreams rremain trrue afterr we awake." "It matterrs not, in the end," the wemic says. "We did ourr best, and we will continue similarrly. We still must go to the towerr in the swamp, which was everr our goal."
Solana glares at the big Wemic ... something looking rather, well, interesting, coming from her, as she is shorter than Cronis had been. "Well, Owyth, you are our expert on dreams. Normally, dreams don't leave with companions vanished and items left behind - at least, mine never did. Maybe you want to try your hand explaining that?"
Owyth looks calmly back at Solana. "Have I offended? Please accept my apologies. All I mean to say is that therre arre forrces at worrk grreaterr than morrtals weild. All we can do is rride the wave of events. When ourr drreams become ourr rreality, staying trrue to ourrselves is ourr only defense."
Cosmos raises his head when Solana mentions the amulet and the ring, giving the elf an inquiry look, but decides to say nothing. "I think Owyth right." says Urameshi. "We must go to towa. Follow Dragon God's dureams. Good dureams." "Yes," says Cosmos, "but remember our deal of going first to the temple. We go there, take our treasures and then I take you to this tower. Maybe it's the one I saw last time I was there."
"Well, we gain nothing herre by this dead campgrround. The sun shines! Let us be on ourr way." If there is no objections, the liontaur takes the lead.
Sculg awakes to the sound of camptalk, and ever keeping to the background as small and unimportant folk usually do, he sullenly cleans up after himself. For a gully dwarf, this means taking the pot which Sculg cooked the stew in, and in an absent minded sort of way he ties it to its place at his belt. Without giving a thought to the stew that is still inside. However he does not seem to care as the cold slop runs down his pant leg. Gently running a finger over Eyesplat, the gully dwarf only mutters, "Cronis ..."
The party slowly begins to pack their things, a strange feeling resting in their chests as they remember everything that happened to them till now. So many odd and mysterious things that still need to be understood ...
With Owyth on the lead, they finally leave the camp, taking a look back over their shoulders to make sure they're not missing anything. To make sure everything is alright.
The day is still bright and warm as they reach the mountains and a silence predominates during the walk as they remain busy inside their own minds.
Night falls, bringing a cold rain with it, and they find shelter inside a cave, Owyth entering first to make a quick inspection and assure them that it's safe.
Around the fire, while eating their rations in silence, they find themselves looking at each other. Somehow, they feel like they're looking at these persons for the first time, but the fact is that they have a new found respect for them. As they put together all they've seen and learned about each other and match that with the person around, they can't help but feel a little ... impressed. A pair of eyes rests on the diminutive figure of Sculg and see more than the usual dumb and stinky gully dwarf. They see a brave and sensitive warrior, who would certainly risk his life to save any of those around him. The eyes then shift to the big wemic. A beast, most men would and will call him, but this powerful creature is more than dangerous, it's holy. Many were the times he used his healing powers to save the lives of his companions. He's also often looking at things in a positive way and pushing the party forward, towards their goal. Then, there's Solana. The small elf they have hired to guide them through Cormyr. While inside the mines, this elven girl didn't hesitate a single time when the tunnels needed to be checked and never once did she ask for help. She has been more than a just guide, she has been their eyes, the torch lighting their path. The eyes then move to Cosmos. A veteran adventurer and probably the most experienced of them all. A man with many secrets and, as they saw back in the mines, some great hidden powers. But don't we all have secrets? Although very individualist, he has shown, sometimes, he cares for the group. Or maybe he just needs to keep them alive till he finds his treasure. Who knows?
Urameshi. The one who started it all. The mysterious and deadly warrior from the far lands of the east, whose quest ended up involving them all. A man cold and fearless while dealing with his enemies but also caring for his friends. He turns his look to a spot where Cronis could be seated, joining this cold meal with them, if he hadn't died. A long sigh shows his sadness, not only for the loss of the dwarf but also for the losses about t o come in the future. The path is long, dark and dangerous and not all of them will live to reach its end. But if it's for a good cause ...
Besides the hard and cold ground, they have a nice rest and are awaken the next morning by the sound of eagles circling the clear blue sky. They once more hit the road and in exactly two days, as predicted by Solana, they reach their final stop. The hamlet of Eagle Peak. A few dozen buildings can be found there, including a smithy, stables, a temple to Torm and an inn, their obvious first stop. After renting rooms and washing themselves, they all go back down to the tap room and have a nice meal.
Night is falling in a few hours as the sun goes down behind the mountains, casting a dark orange hue in the clear horizon sky.