Hogar’s Journal (Translated from Giant)
Year
781 of the founding of the City
11th
Day of Meloramensis – Part IV
Thunderspire
Mountain – Hall of Enforced Introspection
The
exit led directly into a corridor. We
turned to the left and followed it into the gloom. The temperature dropped noticeably so that
our breath misted in front of our eyes. Before
long I noticed a dark stain on the floor.
After preventing the hapless Vic from blundering straight into it (he
was more interested in admiring his new dagger than watching where he was
going) I inspected it more closely and discovered that it was a trail of blood.
We
followed the trail around several corners until we almost ran into three
figures who barred our way as though waiting for us. Partially translucent all three spectres bore
the signs of brutal, and fatal, combat.
The first was a human male, slightly shorter than I, donned in
chain-mail. About his neck he bore the
symbol of Kord. The second was a stout
dwarf in a suit of full plate. The
dented and scored breast plate bore the remains of the enamelled symbol of
Pelor. The third was a tall elf wizard,
some of the usual grace of his people diminished by the wicked gashes across
his face and torso.
“You seek to test your mettle
against the trials of Bahamut.” Said the
human. “What makes you think you’ll be
able to succeed where we have failed.”
A closer look at the three spirits betrayed their relative
youth and inexperience. Their equipment
was old and poorly maintained, they bore no comparison to ourselves in terms of
ability, experience or indeed numbers. I
pointed this out to the human ghost and he did not seem impressed. One must wonder why he would ask such a
question when he did not wish to know the answer.
Rodney had been gazing past the three figures and into the
darkness beyond, his head cocked at an angle as though listening to a sound on
the edge of hearing. Suddenly his focus
snapped to the ghost of the wizard.
“What is
the power that whispers through these halls?”
He asked
“It is the
essence of three artefacts.” The elf
replied. “Three of the four that Bahamut
would have you seek; a mask, a bell and a book.”
“You
claimed these artefacts.” Rodney
replied. It was a statement rather than
a question.
“Those
three and the fourth, the blade carried by your leader.” The elf turned his gaze upon Old Vic who was
still engrossed by the gleaming blade.
“We gathered all of the artefacts but we could not place them in the
rune circles and complete the task. The
Guardian prevented us.” He gestured at
the fresh wounds upon his torso.
“Why do you
remain here?” Rodney asked.
“We seek to
aid adventurers worthy to succeed where we have failed.” The human cut in. He turned to look upon me his lip curling in
a half sneer. “You are not such adventurers.
We shall wait for others after you have passed into the
Shadowfell.” Without further comment all
three spectres vanished, leaving us alone in the cold corridor once again.
“We should
press on.” I muttered.
Continuing along the corridor we passed through a door to
the right. We entered another corridor,
this time brightly lit, which came to an end no more than fifteen feet in front
of us at a heavy black curtain.
“There is no sound here.” Eligos barely breathed the words but so right
was she that they seemed to echo from the walls and ceiling.
I
gestured for everyone to remain still and crept up to the curtain. I drew forth an arrow and notched it before
cautiously pulling back the curtain an inch or so and peering through. Before me was a large high ceilinged hall
resplendent with light. There was no
obvious source for the light but it gleamed from multiple mirrored columns that
stretched from floor to ceiling. In the
mirror nearest to me I caught sight of a reflection. Looking more closely I could make out the
canine features of a gnoll. The creature
met my eye and with a sudden movement seemed to lunge from the mirror out into
the hall and towards me. Everything went
black.
I
wasn’t dead, that much I could tell. The
darkness was all consuming but quickly I realised that something was else was near
to me. The utter silence of the mirrored
hall had been replaced by the rasping of laboured breath. The echo of the gasping told me that I was no
longer in a large room and whatever shared the space with me was no more than a
few feet away. I was about to reach into
my bag and activate a sun rod when I heard the scuff of boots on the floor
right next to me.
“Interesting.” Rodney’s voice filled the void and was soon
accompanied by a brilliant light, shining like a beacon from the top of his
staff.
Light
danced around the small chamber revealing the figure of the mage. He was standing nearly shoulder to shoulder
with me but even at such close quarters had been rendered invisible by the
thick darkness. We glanced at each other
before our attention was grabbed by the other creature in the room. It was the gnoll that I had seen in the
mirror. He lay on the floor in an
emaciated heap. Usually proud and
fearsome creatures this one was a wretched sack of skin stretched thin over
bone and coated in matted fur. His stink
was enough to drive one to distraction.
He blinked in the light before focussing on us. Mad eyes swivelled in their sockets and
flecks of foam dripped from maw to floor as the beast hauled himself to his
feet. It was clear that he hadn’t eaten
for some time and myself and the mage looked absolutely delicious.
The
creature pounced at Rodney but the mage stopped it in its tracks with a bolt of
energy. As the bolt struck, Eligos appeared
suddenly in the room. With barely a
moments hesitation she took in the danger of the situation and charged at the
gnoll. I drew back an arrow and shot it
into the beast’s midriff earning a canine whelp of pain and a torrent of
blood. Eligos and Rodney continued to
distract it whilst I took careful aim with a second shaft. This one pierced the creatures heart sending
it toppling to the ground before it was able to make further sound.
Our
foe dispatched quiet descended on the room.
I scanned around me looking for and exit, none was apparent. Rodney pressed his hands against the granite
blocks and closed his eyes, probing the structure with his mind no doubt.
“There is no exit.” He said without a hint of emotion.
“How did we get in then?” I asked.
“Some sort of teleportation
spell.” He replied. “But without knowing how far and in which
direction we need to travel it would be very dangerous for me to attempt to
recreate it.”
“We wait then.” Said Eligos as she sat down cross-legged in
the centre of the room.
“Wait for what?” I knew perfectly well what we were waiting
for of course but one should never turn down the opportunity for a little
healthy sarcasm.
“Wait for the others to free us.” She answered matter-of-factly. I could not resist a wry chuckle.
“Your faith in them is quite
touching.”
“My faith in them is based upon
experience. Vic and Minron may have let you down in the past but Glen always comes through.”
“I’ll make some tea.” Announced Rodney sitting down next to Eligos
and rummaging in his pack.
I
dragged the stinking corpse of the gnoll into a corner whilst Rodney magically
heated water in his kettle. As we sat in
a circle sipping on the mage’s bitter brew Eligos gestured at the slain beast
with his cup.
“How long do you think he’s been
down here?”
I did
not have to look up from my drink, moving the creature had given me plenty of
opportunity to assess his state.
“Judging by the state of him he’s
barely eaten for a month or more.”
“Surely he would die of thirst long
before a month passed?” Asked the
mage. I nodded towards one of the
shadowy corners, near to where the beast had been slumped on our arrival.
“See over there?” I said gesturing a
string of slime mould clinging defiantly to the moist blocks of the wall. “There’s enough moisture there to keep you
going for a while once you get desperate enough.”
“Well
that’s something to look forward to.”
Commented Eligos as she returned to her drink.
We finished our drinks and continued to wait. Rodney immediately started brewing another round;
I think he may be slightly addicted to tea.
Eligos started gathering loose bits of stone from the cracks in the
floor tiles and arranging them into precarious piles.
Suddenly, after what seemed like an age but was probably no
more than a few minutes, we found ourselves staring at the curtain marking the
entrance to the mirrored hall.
“We’ve
teleported.” Rodney said before
scrambling to his feet and disappearing through the curtain. Eligos followed hot on his heels leaving me
sitting alone next to a piping hot kettle.
“Don’t
worry I’ll tidy up after you.” I mumbled
at their backs before scorching my hands on the piping hot kettle.
I stowed it in my pack as quickly as I could before setting
off after them. I moved through the
mirrored hall and around the corner to the left. The mirrored columns continued for a little
while until a second larger curtain partitioned off the end of the room. As I approached I could hear the voices of my
companions and the sounds of a scuffle beyond the curtain. I pulled the curtain open just in time to see
Glen dispatch a mummy to a more permanent death. It fell to join another, already lying dead
on the ground. They were standing before
an alter of Bahamut and Glen looked…different.
His ears were more pointed almost lupine in appearance and tufts of fur
had sprouted from his face.
“What
happened to you?” I asked.
“I rung
that bell.” He indicated an ivory
handled silver bell on the alter. “It
somehow pricked the palm of my hand and a little while later I got this rather
splendid addition to my already magnificent facial hair.”
Minron picked up the bell and turned it over gently in his
hands to reveal a rune etched on the side of the bell itself.
“This means
change in Minotaur.” He snorted. “I don’t like change.” He handed the artefact to Rodney who had also
walked over to have a closer look.
“Maybe
ringing this released us from the chamber.”
He mused. “other than the
physical changes do you feel different?”
“I feel
strong.” Glen replied. “More powerful.”
“Powerful?” Vic chimed in. He had once again been preoccupied throughout
the conversation inspecting his new dagger.
“Perhaps we should all ring it.”
“I would
advise caut…” Rodney began before Vic
snatched the bell from him and rung it.
“Caution? Where did being cautious ever get
any..Gah!” He cried out as the bell pierced
the skin of his palm. He dropped the it
and it tumbled towards the ground.
Eligos’ reactions were fast enough to prevent disaster though and the caught
it by the handle before it could smash on the flagstones. In doing so the bell chimed and the skin of
Eligos’ palm was also pricked by the artefact. Not that you could tell from her
reaction. She merely cast a sidelong
glance at Vic in reproach for his lack of fortitude.
“Perhaps we
should put that somewhere safe.” Said
Rodney producing a cloth from his pack in which he wrapped the artefact before
putting it away.
After a little while Vic and Eligos both doubled over in
pain as the changes caused by the bell started to manifest. Vic’s
canine teeth grew. His nose compressed
and hair sprouted from his face.
“Hey you
look a bit like me.” Glen slapped him on
the back. “My canines came through after
a while as well.” The dwarf flashed the
half-elf a vampiric grin as proof.
“I’ve
always preferred an elongated lower canine myself.” I said grimacing at them to show my own
splendid teeth.
Eligos’ skin darkened to take on a rusty hue and fine scales
formed around her jaw line and brow.
Most startlingly of all she shrunk by six inches! She’s still quite tall but very far from
happy. It took the combined efforts of me,
Minron and Glen to stop her from teaching Vic a lesson for his clumsiness.
“I think
perhaps we’d better all take a rest and get some sleep.” Rodney said in an attempt to calm things
down.
“Sleep? Here.”
I asked my disdain for the notion clear.
“Yes.” The mage did not seem to share my view.
“You want
to take a nap in a place called ‘The Well of Demons? You don’t think that could be a mite risky?”
“Hogar some
of us need rest. We are out of sight and
with a wall to our backs. We may not get
a better chance.” Rodney and, with the
exception of Glenn, the rest of the group dropped to the ground and set to
rummaging through their things.”
“Rest? I don’t need rest. I could carry on slaying these beasts forever.” Said Glen.
“All you longuns need to get a grip.” I’m inclined to agree with him but he was
summarily ignored. We’re having a rest.
