~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire
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Turn 148.0: The Other End of the Bridge
Posted: 4/24/01
Once the aftermath of the
battle plays itself out, Hannibal grabs his bedroll and proceeds to a dark
corner, away from the rest of the group.
Tired, aching, and very sore, he wraps himself up and tries to warm his tired
body as best he can. His thoughts
wander off as he nears sleep, seeing images of his mother and father, his
girlfriend, and his lord. Some of the
memories are good, others bad, but all very real, fortunately. The dream had disturbed Hannibal a great
deal and the thief battled with thoughts of what the visions must have meant.
Elloharin sighs in relief
at seeing the members of the Six all gathered together once more. He winces in pain from the burn marks on his
skin and armor. Feeling electricity course
through his veins like that had been terrifying. Elloharin recalls just how little about magic he knows. With that in mind he resolves to make
himself a true apprentice of mage Crayne's.
When he has the time. For now,
he squats down next to the mage and pulls out his scroll case. He sets to memorizing his two spells. When he is done, he relocates to where the
warriors sit resting. He takes a short
nap for the remainder of the hour.
Storm spends the hour of
rest slumped down--but not sleeping--against one of the walls. After about fifty minutes, seeing the group
is getting ready to depart once more, he goes to wake Hannibal, who had been
sleeping.
Tiredly Hannibal arises,
rubbing the sand from his eyes. Patting
the stout on the shoulder, he gives his friend a wink. "I thought for sure you got yourself in
more than you could chew back there.
You know you never cease to amaze me, friend!"
"Hey, man, I be a
dwarf. We can chew a lot! Just ask Skandor! Hehaha!!!" Storm smiles his half-toothy grin and smacks the
human on the back, not noticing at all that it might have hurt the injured man.
Back with the group, Emma
offers more healing. Glancing at the
arrow holes in his side, Storm smiles quite appreciatively and accepts the
healing. "Thank ye again, Emma,"
he says, offering yet another smack on the back. (7 hp restored)
Emma also offers some
healing to Canter, who thanks her for her and Anhur's efforts. (5 hp restored)
Hannibal then pulls Emma
aside for a private conversation.
"Priestess, I hope that my actions of earlier did not offend you
too greatly. Please believe that it was
never my intention to take by guile and deception what was never mine to
have. I hope that you will forgive me
and my temporary oversight." He
awaits any reply she has and says nothing while she speaks.
Emma moves her mouth to
answer but nothing comes out at first.
She feels embarrassed and her heart feels tight inside her chest for
some reason. She just knows her cheeks
are starting to blush. Her eyes dart
beyond the thief, toward the rest of the party to make sure none of the others
are eavesdropping on their conversation.
She was still uncertain if anyone had seen what happened while she was
healing Hannibal.
But then she considers his
words further and realizes Hannibal never meant for the kiss to happen. That discovery causes her to reassess her
assumptions that he might actually feel something for her. She is disappointed for some reason, and
can't quite explain why it hurts to come to that conclusion. It's not like they were a couple...and
besides, she had feelings for Robert Wade the Fourth...didn't she? Torn between the image of a dashing southern
Caerloon soldier and the very real presence of the roguish Hannibal, a trusted
friend and ally with whom she had shared so much of herself, Emma continues to
be confused by the signals of her own heart.
The feeling scares her and
so she pushes through it in order to put on a brave face. She shouldn't show him how much the kiss had
affected her...or that she would even entertain thoughts that he and she could
be...
"That's okay,
Hannibal," Emma feigns a nonchalant attitude about the whole thing,
"You were wounded...and the lightning, it...um, it probably shook us all
up, you know. You probably just weren't
yourself. So, I...I..." She could feel the mask crumbling away, but
tried to smile through it anyway.
"I understand."
She avoids his eyes and
stares beyond him into the darkness of the cavern toward the tunnel Covarc had
used to make his escape. She could
barely make out the image of Skandor amidst Crayne's pile of ice, dutifully watching
over the exit. But inside, she could
only feel the trembling of her heartbeat.
To calm herself, she finds a quiet spot to continue her own prayers.
Following the completion of
her prayers, Emma rises to her feet and sets about gathering her things. The successful completion of their mission
to these Ancient Chambers is within reach now and she wants to be ready for the
trials ahead. Her meditation has
allowed her to once more gain insight into the will and wisdom of her god, and
having taken the measure of her adversaries in the battle that freed Amos, she
feels confident that Rinder's Six is up to the task of taking on Covarc once
more.
But that's really only half
of the equation, she comes to realize.
Amos and the Coreognate's spirit had both hinted at the fact that they
needed a certain song of praise to Hathe, God of the Arts, in order to find the
play. The priestess takes stock of the
powers at her command and recalls a prayer that might aid them in locating
specific items. It had been Emma's
intention to use that particular form of spiritual guidance to lead them to the
play itself. But, if they needed these
lyrics to successfully obtain the play, it might be better spent upon finding
them instead. Of course, the
enchantment wouldn't work without at least some limited bit of knowledge about
the item sought. Perhaps Amos might
lend some insight?
Approaching the flighty
Hathean, Emma softly places her hand upon his arm to convince him to take a
walk with her so they can talk for a moment.
"Amos?" she asks, "In the training provided to me by my
temple and our battlemasters, we were often instructed on the importance of
realizing that wars are rarely the pursuit of a single goal. More often they are comprised of many
smaller goals that shift with the tide of battle. We must be prepared for them or the next wave of warriors will
sweep us away.
"When Rinder's Six
first came to El-Balans," she continues, "We sought a clue that would
lead us to the Rings of Damacht before these Red Dragon renegades seized them
for nefarious purposes. Then, as we
came to realize the plight of you and your fellow priests, our goals widened to
include securing your freedom from the Caerloon soldiers. And now, with the understanding given to me
by your Coreognate's spirit and your knowledge of the ancient customs of your
god, once more it seems we must expand our goals to include finding these
lyrics which will give us safe passage through the Ancient Chambers and help us
in our greater goal of securing the play."
She stops walking and turns
to face him. "Amos," she
explains, "I need your help.
Sometimes Anhur gives his priests the ability to find fallen comrades
upon the field of battle...or an enemy's standard in order to target their
general...or a lost sword, too precious to leave lying upon the ground. I can use that power to find these lyrics,
no matter what they might be inscribed upon, if you can describe them to
me. Any phrase that you might recall? The shape of certain unique runes that would
be contained within them? Any
description whatsoever that might help me to nail down an image in my
mind? From that point on, Anhur will
guide us to it. So can you help us,
Amos? Can you describe what form these
lyrics are most likely to take?"
Crayne rubs his eyes as he
closes his spellbook, looking to see Emma and Amos, and catching the end of her
question to the Hathean priest. The dim
light had made it difficult to concentrate and irritated his eyes. Nevertheless, he did feel better now that he
had some spells that he could use should Covarc spring a surprise. Rising from the hard floor Crayne stretches
his muscles. He feels a strong pain in
his chest and side caused by the recent encounters with Covarc and the Battle
of El-Balans.
Leaning a little on his
tall staff he heads over to the group.
He eyes Hannibal who still looks a little worse for wear and nods at
Storm who doesn’t seem effected by any amount of pain. He casts his eyes on the
newly gained priest Amos who still looks very nervous and upset. It is then the group start firing
suggestions towards each other as to what the party should do next. Crayne remains silent and becomes intrigued
by Emma's suggestion of a spell she has which enables her to locate an object. Crayne is impressed indeed.
"Emma, your suggestion
is one of great merit and if you could pull it off I feel it would save us a
great deal of time and bother!" He
then looks expectantly to the nervous looking Amos.
Emma smiles, buoyed by the
support of the party's primary spellcaster.
It feels almost as though she and Crayne have come to understand their
roles. Her faith-inspired powers
usually assisted Rinder's Six in discovering things, defending them from
things, or dealing with the aftermath of a battle by relieving their
wounds. 'But Crayne's contribution is
no less important,' she realizes, 'He affected Covarc all by himself during the
battle...and lived to tell the tale.
The Ring of Water Command rests easily upon his finger now.'
Emma comes to the
conclusion that she has no doubt Crayne will have prepared himself for the
battle ahead and would come out victorious on the other side. 'Now,' she thinks to herself, 'I just need
to get us to that battle...and Anhur's power should be more than enough to
accomplish that. After all, if there's
to be a showdown between us and Covarc, I'm sure Anhur wouldn't want us to be
late.' The priestess grins to herself
with that thought.
Amos scratches the stubble
on his cheek as he thinks. "That
is quite a power you'n have there, Emmalya of Anhur. And I think that I may be able to help you'n in finding these
lyrics. Indeed, such an inscription
would probably not be uncommon to the ancient ones. Let me think..."
As Amos' voice trails off,
Canter flicks his eyes toward Skandor, who, though guarding Covarc's escape route,
is paying attention to the conversation.
"I've got it!"
Amos exclaims happily. "I don't
know the entire lyric, but this might be enough for you'n and Anhur: '...as
krayet imaginatyan bodies forthnec formen things prunknown..."
"'Imaginatya bodies forthnec...'"
Storm repeats, almost in wonder, struggling to wrap his dwarven tongue around
the poetic words which seem themselves formed in some foreign ancient tongue.
"I can work with
that," Emma states, nodding to Amos and then to Crayne. She then steps away from the circle and
begins her prayer, calling upon the will of Anhur to guide her toward the
inscription of the lyrics. At the
appointed time, she says the words aloud: "...as krayet imaginatyan bodies
forthnec formen things prunknown..."
Somewhere high above, even
from the depths of the Hathean Ancient Chambers, the priestess' voice is
heard. It seems, in fact, as if her
voice grows stronger with each call. At
first, she feels nothing, but soon she can feel a pull upon her chin, directing
her first to move her head. Then her
whole body follows until she is turned around completely, facing the south wall
of the large chamber...the same direction as Covarc's escape. At the very last moment, she feels the tug
on her chin once more, pulling it upward.
As she opens her eyes once again her sight falls upon the darkened
corner of the chamber, high above the doorway through which Covarc and his men
fled. No, her sight is directed into
the blackness where the stone bridge seems to meet the south wall.
Crayne then perks up,
"I have a suggestion also. We
still haven't found out where the other end of the bridge leads. For I do believe that that is another option
open to us if all else fails. I do
remember that it did seem to lead across to another brick wall with little
evidence of a door. However, we mustn't
forget the way we entered into this chamber!"
Emma smiles, rising and
hearing Crayne's words. It was as if he
were reading her mind! But, "Can
we get back up there?" Emma asks, unsure if Crayne has exhausted his
powers of levitation yet.
"Indeed we can!"
Crayne says, "I purposefully went back up after I levitated Hannibal down
and attached the rope to the bridge."
Crayne smiles at Emma who seemed a little on edge about something. He wasn't sure what it was but Hannibal too
seemed involved in someway.
Crayne then turns his
attention back to the battle and takes his spellbook out. He jots some notes down about the colours he
saw through his Detect Magic noting the orange which represented the
statues. He also jots down the deep red
colour which he presumed belonged to the mage.
A deep red must have resembled strong and powerful magic Crayne
suspected, but from which field of magic he was still unsure. He believed it wouldn't be long before he
had a better chance of identifying the specific fields of magic through the various textures and hues
of the colours that he saw through his Detect Magic spell.
Storm keeps quiet as the
rest decide which way to go. He keeps
busy by checking the straps on his leather armor, inspecting his boots and
daggers, making sure all his belongings are in order.
"That was good
thinking, Crayne," Emma says, still smiling. "Because Anhur's guidance has directed our search toward
that very spot. Come, let us make our
way up there so we can see what we find."
With that, Emma heads over to the rope and begins the climb up. The others follow behind until all are on
the bridge. Then, with a few weapons
drawn--just in case--they proceed across the bridge all the way to the south
end of the cavern. Canter carries one
of the lanterns, shedding some light on the way ahead.
As the bridge meets the
wall, the party can see the wall it flat and smooth, a little unlike the rough
rock from which the chamber has been cut.
From where the edge of the bridge meets the wall, a carving begins. The party's eyes follow the carving straight
up, then over, and down the other side to where it meets with the other edge of
the bridge. Three sides of a rounded,
rectangular shape. An archway. But where is the door?
"What is it?"
Skandor asks, squinting to make out the carving.
"Look closer..."
Amos says, crouching down right up against the wall, and in front of the
group. "Here, carved within the
border! Emmalya and Crayne you have led
us to it!!" He smiles broadly
toward the Shield Maiden and mage.
"But can you read
it?" El asks, eyeing the flighty priest of Hathe.
Amos returns his gaze to
the tiny carved symbols within the border (two parallel lines) that outlines
the retantular archway. "It will
take some time," he admits. "Give
me a few minutes..." He exhales
loudly, preparing to concentrate.
Leaning forward, he placed a hand within the rectangular border,
pressing it flat against the smooth rock wall.
As his fingers make
contact, the rock moves back slightly and a loud "click!" is emitted.
Storm's eyebrows shoot up,
his attention immediately jolted into a hypersensitive state. That sound had not been good.
"What was that?! What did you just do?!" El squeals.
Amos yanks his hand away,
but the rock wall does not return to its earlier position. For a moment there is silence. Then Amos looks to El, "nothing! It obviously did nothing!"
"No...it did
something..." Hannibal says, his voice low. He cocks his head to the side and tugs on the lobe of his
ear. He could hear something. A low drone. Perhaps a buzz. No, a
high pitched whine.
Then, the pattering of
small feet from the other side of the bridge.
"Something's coming...even I can hear it!" Skandor says,
turning his back to the wall and facing the north end of the bridge. In the darkness, what sounds like a thousand
tiny squeals and footsteps seem to be getting closer and closer.
Suddenly, into the
lantern-light the first of the creatures appears.
"Rats!" Amos
screams!
"Sumatran rats!"
Hannibal corrects the priest.
They are everywhere,
packing the surface of the bridge completely.
Each is fat, brown, and over two feet long. Those in the front bear their small, sharp teeth as they
approach, wiggling their snouts in what, under other circumstances, a small
child might find amusing. But the sight
of a pack of these creatures extended as far as the lantern can see (and,
presumably further) is not at all amusing.
And, judging by the aggressive advance of the creatures, they are not
amused either.
1. HP Status, taking into account the healing in this turn and recent
levels-up:
Canter 22/44, Crayne 24/16,
El 18/28, Emma 28/47, Hannibal 14/29, Skandor 25/38, Storm 23/50
2. What are your actions? The party is located at the southernmost end of the bridge, where it meets with the south wall of the cavern. You have discovered the lyrics, but it will take a few minutes for Amos to read them. In the meantime, an indefinite number of exceedingly large and angry rats appears to be advancing across the bridge toward your position.
~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire
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