How The Wicked Fall - Chapter 6

"Let's take the letter and go... The sooner this is over with, the better."

"I'm with Richard, whatever he wants us to do we can deal with it later. Let's get our priorities straight.

Wynne turns to Dyreth, "I believe my companions have reconsidered."

Dyreth gives a slight smile with perfect teeth. "I knew we would come to an agreement."
Again the servant was there, and again he passes Dyreth a letter. The delicate paper seems to harden in the air as the mysterious man puts his flowing signature on it.
"There you are." He hands the letter to Wynne. The amulet shows a creature that you've never seen before and glitters. When you look up, Dyreth is on the stairs, just like when you saw him first. You can't remember him walking there...but you can't really say he didn't, either.

*Shudders.* "What IS he," Richard mutters...

"Let's go", Joran says, moving to the door. "This guy gives me the creeps."

After what seems an eternity in Dyreth's pressence, you turn and find the doorway leading out to be slightly ajar, as if it is awaiting your hand to push it open farther, allowing you egress.
Stepping out into the open, you are slightly disheartened to see that the beautiful morning that greeted you this morning has retreated behind a gray wall of cloud cover. But the threat of rain looks distant, and the air is still warm. As you walk to the roadway, Aren stops and turns to your group. "I...I cannot continue with you, friends. I must see to my own needs. They are becoming more...demanding of my time." He shudders as he says this, and you all cannot help but compare his features to the giant bat-like creature that he became two weeks past in Falkovnia. With nary another word, Aren turns away from your group and walks down the street, leaving you standing in the road in front of Dyreth's hulking manor.
With a start, you all realize where you're standing, and seek quickly to escape the brooding malice that seems to emenate from Dyreth Manor. Walking down back towards the marketplace, you look at the piece of paper that Dyreth gave you. It directs you towards a weaving house in the Government District. The placement for such a building is unusual, most such factories are on the Docks or in the North District. Perhaps Dyreth wants the added protection that the city guard affords to the Government District, and it's influential inhabitants. With a shrug, you head towards the building.

Wynne looks around, waiting for someone else to take the lead.

Raven, certain that his presence in the lead of the party would not be wise, prepares to fall directly behind the lead. Once we decide who it is.
"I say we be ready for anything once we enter Dryeth's facory. My memory of the past few years may be hazy but i do know this; people... nay things with strange eyes cannot be fully trusted."

Joran frowns.
"It's only a merchant. An unpleasant one, I giv'ya that... but it's a WEAVER, for Hala's sake, what can be wrong with a guy that tans cloth?"
He walks forward, and knocks at the door.
After a few seconds, he pushes it open (@ooc: if it's a factory or guildhouse it's probably not locked ?) and booms "Hello? Anyone?"

Natty takes up his defensive stance in the back with arrows ready to fly should Joran get attacked.

"For Hala's sake, Natty.
It's just a warehouse, not an armory."

Richard looks to Joran to take the lead. "Alas, like Aren, I too have other journeys and troubles to face..." He grins.
"Oh, who am I kidding? Lead on!"

Joran nods.
"All right. Just don't shoot anyone."
He steps inside.

Raven glaces to Corvus, and with a shrug steps in behind Joran

Inside the wharehouse the interior is dim, dingy, and dirty. The smell of stale ari is stifling, along with something else, though you can't identify it. It's also dark. Quite dark. The only light in fact comes from lanterns suspended from the ceiling here and there. After all of you come inside and still no one comes forth from the darkness to greet you you are about to shout out when the door behind you slams shut suddenly! Whipping around you find youself face to face with a small wiry fellow who looks at you sullenly and says "I don't care for the light."

Using that as a greeting he continues. "You must be the ones here for the sticks? Well, come along. And don't TOUCH anything. Mr. Dyreth would hate to have his...good nature taken advantage of."
With that, the small man turns and heads down a narrow passage crowded with boxes and crates of all sizes to either side.

The man leads you to a door in the dark wall. The stale air and strange smell continues to pervade the air, as well as the darkness. Looking up, you can see that there are windows in the building, but they are covered with tight boards that don't let in even the smallest sliver of light. The man opens the door before you, and pulls a lantern off the wall, handing it to Joran.
"The sticks are in there. Help yourself. I have to get back to work. I believe you know the way out."

Before you can even say anything, the man disappears out of sight in the maze of crates. Left alone, it is only then that you realize that you are in a wharehouse, also a place where the rugs are made for Stefan Dyreth, head of the Weaver's Guild. And, in this place where there must be hundreds of people working loudly and busily on rugs which will fund Dyreths empire, there isn't a single sound...

Joran supresses a shudder.
"You'd think Dyreth could get himself a better place than this...
Well, let's look for those sticks then. Faster we are out of here, the better."
He steps inside and casts the lantern's beam of light around.

"I am in full agreement with you Joran, there is definatly something not right with this place. However, If you would pardon me, I've got a little theory that must be investigated."
And with that, Raven steps into the shadows.
He soon returns.
"I thought I might have an idea where the oder was coming from, but I guess I was wrong.
I cant help but wonder where that smell is actualy coming from though, it is quite unsettling."
Corvus gives a caw of affermation

Wynne suddenly pulls out his sling, loads a stone, and begins twirling it. He has a hard time getting it started as he continually glances to all corners of the room.
"Don't come any closer," he frantically calls, "I'll not stay here again. Stay back all of you. There's nothing I can do for you."

Joran stops in his tracks, and bruskly turns around. "What is going on here?!" He steps back and shines the lamtern at Wynne. "Come to your senses, Wynne! Darn it! Natty! stop prowling the corridors! This is just a bloody warehouse!" But Joran's eyes are now, too, flashing to his sides, trying to spot what migth have upset his companions.

Falling back on instinct, Raven turns about drawing his Kukri, eyes darting about to all corners of the warehouse. He gives the impression of a black cat raising his heckles at some unseen danger.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again," He hisses. "there's something not right with this place. Lets get what we came here for and get out."

Joran nods, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow.
"Right y'are. Let's do this before we start shooting each other. But first..."
He speak to Wynne, again, softer now.
"Ok, Wynne? Are you alright?"

"I saw them. They looked like me, but they were like living shadows. I could see them all around. They were coming for me, but they all vanished."

Joran moves into the dark room, his lantern darting around in the shadows. The rest of you all stand clustered around the doorway, alternating between looking into the room and the dark shadows around you.
The small room seems amazingly tiny, almost like a storage closet or something. Joran's head almost touches the ceiling, and you can't shake the parallel that the dirt-covered walls resmeble a tomb in your minds.
After a few moments you here Joran speak a low "Ah ha." You all turn to see him coming out of the room holding the strange candlesticks in his free hand, his weapon in the other. Then Joran stops suddenly, his eyes looking to something beyond you.
Turning, you all see what Wynne may have been talking about. There are small children all around you. They have emereged soundlessly from the shadows, and they stare at you with vacant distant eyes. They are covered in dirt and grime, and some seem to wear clothes that appear very old.
And then an observation dawns on you all that chills your very bones. None of the children appear to be breathing!

Wynne looks for the exit, "Let's get out of here, and now!"

Wynne looks for the exit, "Let's get out of here, and now!"

"eep." Richard swallows hard. "Is there something we can do for you?"

Joran looks at the candles, and then back at the children. He clutches them under his arm and draws his sword, looking around to see if there's any path left unblocked.

Raven stands ready with his knives drawn, Looking from small face to small face. Hoping that If he stares long enough the children will begin breathing and talking and that it was only his imagination running away with him that saw these little people as a threat.

Natty keeps his arrow drawn but with the tip lowered to show himself less aggressive. He tries to decern with his "experiance" hunting undead, wether or not these are actually his racial enemy, undead, or just "shallow breathers."
Natty says to Joran, "you are holding the candlesticks, perhaps you can control them, tell them to back up and form a line or something."

"Are you nuts? I'm not using these sticks if they control kids, even if they are..."
He eyes the children.
"Should we... Are they... dead?"

"They could be dead. They could just be controled living people. They could be an illusion. But they showed up when you got the candlesticks."

"Yeah... well.. If they command these kids, I don't plan to use them. It sounds evil...
Who knows what will happen?"
His fists bald around the sticks, his knuckles trunign white, as his eyes flutter from one child to another.
"What is it you want?"

The small children make no move towards you, but neither to they seem to retreat. They hem you in completely in a semicircle. You can see that you would have to either get them to move or force your way through them to get out of the warehouse.
When Joran addresses the dead children, for they are certainly dead, they all open their mouths, and as one they begin to speak in a sing-songy voice:

"Ring around the Lost Ones,
Soon to join the Dead Sons,
So Cold, So Cold,
Fall down die!"

And with those words the children start to move slowly, ever so slowly towards your group, edging forward...

"Perhaps it is just time to leave? Joran, why don't you lead us out of here."

"Lead us out??? We are hemmed in!"

Raven looks across the sea of blank faces, his grip on his blade shifting neviously. "Normaly I'm quite good at getting out of sticky situations, but in this case..."

"Saying that I have a bad feeling about this is an understatement."

A small glimer of light that can only be hope begins to shine in Raven's grey eyes. "Joran, try to light the candle. We shall hold them off."
Raven then looks at the rest of the faces in the party, and in a tone that is almost indignent; "It can't hurt, if anyone has any better ideas let us hear them."

"Well...'Cade' here was one of them apparently. Maybe he can talk to them? How about it Wynne, see anyone you know?"

"How about... NOT lighten it for an idea?"
Joran looks at the candlesticks with disgust.
"They're evil. I just know it. If you think they're so pleasant, YOU carry them."
He still holds his sword out, his face wet from sweat.
"Look. They're undead. They must be. We'll just have to... fight."

"They haven't attacked us yet let us just try to wade through them. If they attack then we defend ourselves. I can do more damage with my bow, that is why I suggest that the hand to hand fighters lead the way. If no one else dares to try I will, though I am at a disadvantage in hand to hand combat."

"Killing them would be mercy." Joran says, but he steps forward, his sword held out. Taking a deep breath, he bellows "Part and let us through, or suffer the consequences!"

"There is too many of them. We will be here for hours if we try to hack our way through, assuming that we survive. Give me the candle and I'll light it and see what it does. If nothing happens, I will be more than happy to fight at your side. But let us explore all of the options first!"

Joran seems not to have heard Raven. He moves slowly forward, his sword out.
He is fumbling with the sticks, and infrustration thrusts them outward for someone else to grab.
"Someone guard these. I need free hands."
When someone takes the sticks he seems more at ease, and takes up a guarding stance.
"Well?" he seems to pose the question to the children. "Do we fight, or do we pass?"

Raven takes the sticks and begins to fumble in his satchel for his flints

"Joran, I don't think they will respond, just slowly move through them, and we will follow single file."

Joran nods, and presses forward, keeping his eyes on the children.

Joran & Natty advance closer to the shambling hoard of children. The little ones are starting to reach out towards you, as though to grab hold of your clothing...or skin.
Wynne is also moving forward, but you all notice that none of the children even seem to see Wynne. They move right towards him, but then veer off in another direction, avoiding him completely, yet not even looking at him with their vacant stares.
Richard & Raven stay back, and tentatively, Raven lights the candles. As soon as the flame touches the wicks the winged women come alive, thrashing, screaming, and moaning as though in great pain. Also, dark red wax, much like blood, starts to run down the pure white tallows.
At the noise from the candles the dead children stop, and all stare at the candles. They make no move forward or backward, but simply stare at the unholy relics in Raven's hand.
But what's more disturbing is the attention the candles are getting. All of you feel as though you have just lit a beacon to all things of evil heart to come to you. And you can *feel* dark eyes upon you. Something seems to be watching you, with great interest.

As the light from the candles falls upon Joran, a sallow and pale light from which he gains no comfort, he feels something...stirring inside him. Something buried. Something feral. Something wild that only desires to rip, tear, shred and destroy. His limbs begin to shake ever so slightly with this thing's desire to be free, and he knows with a certainty that the primal serum which Dr. Vjorn Horstman injected him with is still present in his body!

With a loud clatter that breaks the deadly silence, Joran drops his sword.
He has his hands on his head, and is shaking.
"Put. Out... Candles... Oh Hala! Noooooooooo......"

Raven holds the candle out as if it were a live snake and that any moment it may turn and bite him.
"Get out of here, NOW!" he orders the rest of the party.
Raven is shocked to find that there is a sliver of fear in his voice.

Richard throws his cloak over Joran's head (to block the light) and grabs him by the arm to lead him out, behind Wynne who tries to part the crowd.

You all head forward into the waiting arms of the undead children. Heedless of the danger, you all head towards the exit, Wynne leading the way. But then the children say something that makes Wynne hesitate. A little girl stands closest to Wynne, the decay of the grave very evident on her once porcelein features.
"Cade? Is that you Cade? Won't you come and play with us Cade? Like you used to? We could play Hide and Go Seek! You remember Cade? Just like we used to! You would hide, and we would come and find you!"
Joran stops shaking after these words, seeming to master some control over himself. He feels *something* inside him subside...for now.
The other zombie children have all seem to be "awakened" by the candle's light. They are looking about in puzzlement and confusion. Then, they begin to notice themselves, and their conditions. The children look to you, fear in their milky white eyes, and you know that they have become aware of their status as undead, and it horrifies them to their cores.
In the silence there is a solitary whimper, from one of the children...

Raven plays with his blade nerviously and has almost forgoten about the writhing candle in his other hand. The sight of all the children seem to awaken a little something inside of him and his face shows that he's struggling with waves inner emotion.
He says what everyone's thinking, "We can't leave them like this"

Richard blinks, then swallows hard. "Oh," he says. "Bollocks..."

"Do any of you children know how you came to be like this? Who might have done it to you?"

"They have always been like this. What can we do to put them to rest?"

Raven looks over the multitude of small faces, looking deep in thought.
He turns to Wynne, "We have not much time, who knows what else has happened upon my lighting the candle. Talk to them. Find out what happened and if they know how we can place them gentily at rest."
He turns away and adds, "...I do not want to think of the alternitive action that we would have to take."

"Unfortunetly, the only solution I can offer includes cutting them into smaller pieces. And it is a solution that I do not look forward to."
He thinks for a minute and adds, "We could just leave and come back later with a priest or other less violent soulution. One that does not involve harming small children, even undead ones"

"I only know one way to put the undead to rest." Joran says holding out his sword. "But first... put those candles out!"

"I've got a better Idea. Let's close the door and baracade it. Then we'll put out the candle and "deal with" the undead.
I'll feel a lot better if we 'deal with' Mr Dryeth first."

"We'll ask Dyreth for clarification later. Let's deal with the now." Joran handles his sword uncertainly, unsure if he should strike or not.

Raven makes sure that the path to the door is clear, giving the party a chance to escape if neccisary.
"I hope whatever is up there is on our side. If you are not strong of stomach and will, I suggest you leave. as for the rest of us..."
And Raven blows out the candle.

The children stand all about you, staring with vacant, and sometimes missing, eyes. Although there seems to be a glimmer of intelligence in all of them now, some sort of self-awareness that wasn't there before. A quality you've never seen present in the undead before.
The candles have been extinguished, and now only a feeble light from a torch illuminates the scene with flickering weakness.

Joran still holds out the sword.
"Wynne..." he whispers, not taking his eyes of the children.
"What do they want?"

"Do something, Cade. You're their friend..."

"Perhaps we should just leave them alone for now, bring the candles back to our employer and ask him how these candles could be affecting (if they are) the children."
"If Dyreth is controling/ holding their spirits captive with out these candles then we will need to find another way to break the spell Dyreth has cast to hold these children as his slaves."
"Besides I have a problem with attacking something that has not attacked me first, expecially children. I want to free their souls but I don't want to stain my own in the process."

"We must release them. They are no longer children. They are monsters, perversions of life itself."

"There... should be no need for all of us to taint our souls." Joran says. He has lowered his sword, it's point resting on the ground. he waves his hand to the exit.
"Leave. Do not look back. Just get out.
I will... follow later."

Wynne continues on through the crowd and toward the door.

Wynne continues on through the crowd and toward the door.

"Right. We'll be outside." Pale and obviously shaken, Richard follows Wynne.

Natty quietly follows Wwynne out.

"You are a brave man Joran. Are you sure you wish to do this alone? If you have any doubts, I too will stay and assist with this deed."

"It's no bravery. If you knew me better you wouldn't even suggest that. No, I am already doomed. It's... Look, I don't want anyone to see this, ok?"

"I was only offering my help, But If you feel it is best that you do this alone, I will leave you to it."
And with that, Raven goes to join the others

Joran waits till the sounds of the others has diminished and there is naught but the silent dead around him.
He fishes around in his clothes, producing a smudged cloth, which he ties around his face.
"Forgive me, Hallah, for what I have become... and for what I am to become..."
He sighs heavily, and then raises his sword as he beckones to the children to step closer.