A halfling walks up the mountain (2)

The Halfling campaign
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Tadelin
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Post by Tadelin »

Albert shakes his head, and continues on into the darkness. After a moment, it sounds like he stops and picks something up off of the ground. Another tearing sound - his other sleeve - can be heard. There's a spark of light from in front of him, and when he turns, he's holding a torch for the rest of the group.

It's only going to get darker as we go. This should be helpful to you.

He hands the torch to Xylia. The light gives her and everyone a chance to see that the stain on his shirt has gotten larger, and he's going to need healing, despite how much he thinks otherwise.
One of these days, I'm going to get it right. Until then, I guess I can just keep being a fool.
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Post by Xanthippe »

Xylia hands Rook the torch and pushes Albert against the wall. Holding her gold disc in one hand and the other hand pressed against Albert's chest, she says a brief prayer of healing. His breathing becomes more even, and he stands up a bit straighter.

"My apologies for the familiarity, Albert, but this escape already has one martyr. We don't need another."

Taking the torch back from Rook, she leads the group forward. After a few hours of walking, the torch begins to sputter. Xylia stops and examines the walls again.

"Good news and bad news ~ the walls are starting to show signs of work. We may be approaching signs of life soon. Everybody be on your guard."
[size=84]"Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain." -Friedrich Schiller[/size]
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Post by Bela »

The carved walls reveal strange runes, almost hidden within natural cracks and fissures. Rook motions to bring the light closer, and squints to see.

"I cannot make out these runes...can anyone..."

Desilda leans in and nearly gasps. She'd seen such strange writing before...and though she could not understand what the scrawls meant, she shivered at the memory of where she'd seen them...

...in the depths of Mt. Makab...in the hell-spawned island of Bluetspur.
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Post by Tadelin »

Albert is taken by surprise at the sudden forced healing, but he doesn't resist as he sees he has little choice. Even in the very small amount of time that Xylia needs to remain in contact with him, she can feel the truly unnatural heat within him, and almost feels as if her hand is going to catch fire before she pulls her hand away at the end of the spell. Something obviously isn't right with him, but whatever that heat is, it doesn't seem to bother him at all. When the group moves on, he falls into the rear of the group, still a little dazed by the event.
One of these days, I'm going to get it right. Until then, I guess I can just keep being a fool.
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Post by Xanthippe »

Xylia retrieves the torch and walks to the front of the group.

"These runes give an evil aura. However, I feel we have no other option but to forge ahead. The sooner we get out of this mountain, the sooner we can all resume our previous charges."

The group has no answer, and Xylia soon turns and walks further into the passageway. The floor slowly levels its downward course and becomes much smoother. Suddenly, the torch sputters and fails. The group is plunged into darkness.

"Albert! COme up here - we need your keen eyes to lead us! I'll keep one hand on your shoulder and one to the wall. Rook, you do the same with me, and Desilda, please close the ranks in a similar fashion. We seem to be approaching a more 'civilized' area, and I wouldn't want anyone stumbling off down a cross-corridor while the rest remain on the main path."

The troupe comtinues its way into the depths of the mountain.
[size=84]"Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain." -Friedrich Schiller[/size]
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Post by Tadelin »

Albert moves up, seeing nothing immediately out of the ordinary. He then moves forward, halberd at the ready.

If there's anything ahead of us, it's probably too far ahead to spot.

His eyes move from side to side, checking the walls for side passages or changes in the way the walls are carved.
One of these days, I'm going to get it right. Until then, I guess I can just keep being a fool.
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Post by Jason of the Fraternity »

Rook staggers over and tries to adapt to the loss of his depth perception. Between the pain and lose of vision, Rook silently curses the Fir Darrig that took his eye.

"Will you be all right?" Desilda asks as she falls in step behind Rook. The fight and fall had given her a few injuries of her own, but she seemed to be in better shape than her wouldbe rescuer.

"Yes," Rook nods his head solumnly as he glances over at the Invidian woman, "I'll be fine. It is just going to take a while for me to adapt."

Both Rook and Desilda follow behind the other two. Neither one saying much more as the horrors of the Fir Darrig slowly ware away.
[i]Pandemonium did not reign, it poured![/i]
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Post by Tadelin »

Albert looks down the passage, deeper into the earth. Every once in a while he looks back at the small band behind him; all they ever see are the red rings of his eyes. Then he proceeds onward, following the path before him.

Who knows how much further we have to go...
One of these days, I'm going to get it right. Until then, I guess I can just keep being a fool.
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Post by Tadelin »

Albert continued down the passage. He didn't see anything ahead of him, and that bothered him a bit. Even though he could see perfectly well without light, he was always bothered by the fact that he couldn't see very far at night. Now, several hundred meters into the earth itself, Albert began to wonder how long it would be before they encountered daylight again.

But perhaps this is better. Assuming the town guards are still going to be looking for him, being down here puts him in one of the few places they would certainly be unwilling to look. Not that the thought of the matter stayed much in his mind. This land was quite different from the one he left behind. There's also the matter of what to make of this new crew of people.

Rook was quite the mystery, being able to change into a beast of some unimaginable origin. The ladies were equally odd for this outing. Rook's friend seems highly out of place here in these caves, and one can only wonder why a lady would be traveling with a man like Rook. The other woman was quite the wild card, in that Albert had no idea what to make of her. That could either be very good, or very bad...
One of these days, I'm going to get it right. Until then, I guess I can just keep being a fool.
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Post by Xanthippe »

The unnatural heat emmenating from Albert's shoulder forces Xylia to continually change the hand gripping his shoulder. Just as she doesn't think she can take any more, she feels the hand resting on her shoulder slide away. A small part of her mind is grateful for the reason to stop contact with Alfred, but the vast majority of her thoughts were focused on what was happening in the inky blackness behind her.

"Rook?" she whispers fiercely into the void. "Desilda?"

Only the sound of heavy breathing returns to her.
[size=84]"Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain." -Friedrich Schiller[/size]
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Post by Tadelin »

Albert stops for a moment, then looks back into the darkness behind them. Even with his vision, only the lines of the walls behind them can be seen.

Where did they go?
One of these days, I'm going to get it right. Until then, I guess I can just keep being a fool.
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