Tiegan follows me in, while I hear Alun opening another door. The other double doors. I hear a bestial roar when he does so, followed quickly by the slamming of the door shutting. Very wise, I think to myself. I hear chanting from the balcony above and a wave of stiffness overcomes me. I am unable to move. This is getting to be embarrassing. I hope that Tiegan notices my immobility.

I hear Tiegan move close to me, and the others move into the room. It becomes very apparent to me just how loud metal armour is. Another spell is cast, and I become filled with fear and doubt. Not the ideal start to a pitched battle, I thought in my addled state. The other members of the group… …I must call us something or this journal will be awkward in the extreme to read! …From now on they will be called The Knights of the Cairn Hills in this journal, and whenever I use the capitalised Knights, I am referring to my colleagues. There! My reasons for this naming will become apparent I hope. Meanwhile…

The other Knights moved further in, and the cleric casting the spells makes his presence known. I hear a gasp behind me and realise Malakai, The Storm Knight, recognises this person. I later learn that this man is called Theldrick, and used to be a champion of Heironeous, based at the Garrison! Let us hope our own adherent of the god of valour doesn’t have his own mind twisted to evil. Gods know it isn’t the sharpest weapon in his armoury. As the Knights assess the situation, he addresses Alun, The Shield Knight, “Still desecrating the memory of your clan and their faith, little dwarf?” He then cast a spell of sonic power that hurt the other Knights, but fortunately was not aimed close enough to hit me. Tiegan, The Stone Knight, shook her head to recover her senses, and pulled me aside.

Guess what my honorific is :-)

Guess what my honorific is :-)

:)

To Alun;

“Still desecrating the memory of your clan and their faith, little dwarf?”

"This is NOT a place for the WEAK! THIS IS HEXTOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!"

<SONIC THUNDERCLAP>

Matt Devney wrote:

Guess what my honorific is :-)

Good Knight, Sleep Tight?

:)

• Blinded
  
• Cowering
  
• Dazed
  
• Dazzled
  
• Disabled
  
• Dying
  
• Fatigued
  
• Flat-Footed
  
• Frightened
  
• Paralyzed
  
• Prone
  
• Shaken
  
• Stable
  
• Stunned
  
• Unconscious
  

But that's by the by, I feel.

It's been quite a week, hasn't it?
I'm obviously not trying hard enough...
LOL

I think you should celebrate the fact you're still alive with a slap-up feast at The Hungry Gar.

A steaming plate of Hagfish Jelly.

That'll tick off the 'sickened' and 'nauseated' boxes...

It's been quite a week, hasn't it?
I'm obviously not trying hard enough...
LOL

I think you should celebrate the fact you're still alive with a slap-up feast at The Hungry Gar.

A steaming plate of Hagfish Jelly.

That'll tick off the 'sickened' and 'nauseated' boxes...

As I stood immobile I saw Malakai perform an impressive display of swordsmanship, presumably to call this Hextorian out to a one-on-one combat. Meanwhile, Tegan moved me over to the plinth where the statue stood. Let us all hope this did not animate as the red statue did in the cairn! At the same time I heard another spell being cast, from a different spot, and myself and Malakai were stunned. It just never ends, it seems. Alun moved back to the main set of double doors, from beyond which we all could hear the grunts of a large creature struggling to get through.

The beast was now straining against Alun’s shoulder, trying to get in. Our stalwart dwarf was resisting with all his might, but the huge boar managed to break through into the entrance to the chamber. Theldrick then shouted to Malakai “Come up her and fight then!” He followed up that challenge with a spell: a glowing ephemeral flail appeared next to Tegan and slammed into her armour. Malakai ignored Theldrick’s taunting, and charged at the boar. His aim was true, and he managed to swipe the creature across the snout. Immediately afterwards, the whole area became covered in silence, as a spell is essayed above us. Not Theldrick though. Alun, recovering from being pushed back, tried a swing against the boar, but misses. It then snarls at the dwarf, and gores him badly. Things do not look very promising, but then a ray of hope appears: I manage to struggle free from the holding spell.

From my vantage position atop the plinth I spot a rope ladder being lowered from the balcony, and 2 undead creatures descending – massive and ugly, they appear to be the reanimated corpses of troglodytes. Tegan then climbs up beside me, out of the silence spell. She cures her wounds. While this is happening, Malakai attempts to slash the boar again, but his sword goes very wide of the mark. Another spell is then cast, and Tegan becomes shaken. I later found there were two casters apart from Theldrick on the balcony, and this was the work of Kendra, who I would have a violent and frustrating encounter with very shortly. Alun was obviously badly hurt, and now Malakai was there he could dodge behind him. They will need aid very shortly, I fear.

I move towards the plinth where I could see Theldrick. I loose an arrow at him, but it clatters off his armour. He retaliates with a crossbow bolt, but is unable to get anywhere near me. Tegan attempts to turn the zombies slowly coming down the rope ladder, but fails in this hall of evil. A hear another spell from Kendra, and this time it is I who is shaken. Alun heals himself, while Malakai defends himself against the boar. Unfortunately, it is not enough and our paladin is gored.

I realise the predicament my allies are in, and move back so I can shoot the boar. I espy an opening and shoot it in the neck. The wound bleeds profusely, but the beast fights on. Meanwhile Tegan is hit by a bolt from Theldrick’s crossbow, as the animated troglodytes get to the bottom of the ladder and move up to Tegan. As they do so she heals herself once more, and moves backwards a step or two, out of their reach. Malakai is now seriously wounded from the attacks of the boar, and moves back a pace to stand next to Alun. He prepares to not attack but to ward off every blow from the boar. It moves in to the room now, and strikes at Malakai, but the clumsy lunge was adroitly rebuffed by the prepared paladin. Now the boar has moved in, I am very close to it, and need to move to shoot effectively. Unfortunately, I slip on some of the beast’s blood and it gores me before I could escape. My world turns dark.

To Malakai:
"Do you think me stupid? You want to fight me, you get up here!"

"Lord, harrass the stunted one...let none escape..."

glowing flail appears

What seems like moments later I regain my senses. I see the armoured figure of Malakai standing over me, guarding me from the attacks of the boar. His actions earn him another blow from the beasts tusks, but I manage to stand up and move away. I shoot at the beast, but being disorientated still I miss. Alun however manages to strike the thing. As I move I feel an intense pain in my side. I look down to see a crossbow bolt in my side, and again fall unconscious.

My moments of unconsciousness now have a narrative of their own – a vision of darkness and shadow, where I wander underground, through tunnels and caverns, searching for a way out. These caves change form, melting and shifting into dark city streets, the sky overhead obscured by black clouds. I run between buildings, and I feel I am trying to find some doorway or gate – but I do not know if I am running to something, or away from something. Or someone.

"Hehehehe...heurgh..hehehe..."

<wheeze>

"Hehehehe...."

This vision is disturbed by real life once more, and I find myself on the plinth again – underneath the massive statue of Hextor. I have the presence of mind to drink a potion of healing. I see Alun trying in vain to keep open the double doors, which are being shut by cultists on the outside of the room. I see the body of the boar on the floor, blood pouring out of numerous wounds on its body. Tegan is beside me atop the plinth, hacking away at the legs of the statue, somewhat clumsily I notice. Alun gives up on the doors and moves to Malakai, handing him a potion.

At the edge of my sluggish hearing I hear a spell being completed, and a fiendish ape appears behind Malakai. It roars and attacks, but only manages to bruise its limbs on the paladin’s armour. Mal ignores the ape and moves up to the balcony. A quick look and I work out why. Atop the balcony, next to Theldrick the renegade Heironean cleric, is a figure dressed in rags. The figure appears to be swaying, almost unconscious. Obviously a captive, a second look confirms that it is Melinde, the paladin from the temple to Heironeous inside the garrison. I recall then that I had not seen her there recently, but never supposed she was unaccounted for. I stand up, and drink my final healing potion. While all this is going on, Alun is attacking the ape and smacks it squarely in the chest. Tegan and I come under fire from archers atop the balcony, who must have only now gained their vantage point. The slow moving dwarf gets an arrow in the leg, but I manage to avoid their poorly aimed shots.

The ape roars and swipes Alun across the chest with its claws. Malakai shouts out “Reach out your hands Melinde!” but as I had moved I could not see what he was planning. I later find out that the paladin was throwing an axe up to a blinded woman and expecting her to catch it, whilst at the same time avoiding getting her own hands cut off. Needless to say, the axe clanged on the floor of the balcony. That paladin, a fair few coins short of a dragon hoard and no mistake. I move again, to see a cultist standing over the now prone paladin girl. I recognize this one to be the cultist that first alerted others to our presence in this room, and who I shot in the shoulder immediately thereafter. A lesson needs to be learnt here – if you survive being shot by an expert archer, you should not return to see which one of you was lucky. I shoot him again, this time in the neck. He lets out a gurgling scream and falls off the balcony. He hit the floor below with a thud and a cracking noise. He does not move. Class dismissed.

"glueeeuuuuurrrrgh"

"Get up, you useless streak of bacon! I want to see their GUTS! Hanging from your TUSKS!"

"No treats for you! You don't get your truffles, till I see their MEAT!"

"How do you expect to be given your truffles, IF YOU DON'T EAT YER MEEAT!"

Alun, staggering still from the blow from the fiendish ape, tried to riposte, but his swing was wide. One of the archers on the balcony then shot Tegan in the leg. She winced as she pulled the arrow from her calf, but carried on battering at the statue. We then heard a shout from Theldrick’s location.

Looking up, I saw a piebald horse standing behind the cleric of Hextor. It reared up and stamped hard upon the evil priest’s back. At the same time, Melinde rolled to one side of the balcony. Theldrick followed – just avoiding another kick from the horse. The tide of battle is swinging in our favour! That thought was somewhat optimistic in hindsight. The ape again struck at Alun, but this time the Shield Knight managed to avoid its evil claws. Tegan then espied a weakness in the statue, and took a measured, full strength swing. The blow cracked the ankles of the effigy of Hextor, and the weight of those six arms made it tumble to one side, crashing with a spray of splintered rock against the wall. She is not our Stone Knight for nothing! There it lay, the body of the god creating an uneven, steep, but passable bridge up to the balcony level. Here’s our chance! As I thought this, Malakai started climbing the rope ladder that Theldrick had dropped down for the dead troglodytes, and I decided a pincer movement would be our best chance here.

I quickly scaled the statue and clambered onto the balcony. As I stood up, I became aware of a female cleric of Hextor wielding a crossbow. Unfortunately, this was as she shot a bolt into my arm. Dropping the weapon, she then pulled out a heavy flail and advanced. Further round the balcony, Melinde managed to stand up, healing herself as she did so. She then cast a spell, but I did not see its effects, if any there were. The horse, obviously her celestial mount, ran at Theldrick. Hitting him in the shoulder, Theldrick toppled over the edge, but not before he struck the horse with his flail. Theldrick ended up at the bottom of the rope ladder, at Malakai’s feet. Get him!

Malakai struck at him as he stood up, but seemed to stagger as he swung, and didn’t connect. Theldrick however, did not, and his blow sent our Storm Knight into unconsciousness. Didn’t know he was that bad! This is not good. While all this was going on, Alun was continuing his battle with the ape, and suffered yet another blow from those claws. At least he didn’t fall unconscious! Tegan had managed to move up to Malakai though, and used her wand to impart some vigour to our paladin.

Up on the balcony I could see that my fight with the cleric could be a protracted one. She was not as fast as I, but her armour was protecting her well. Also, I could not move about as freely as on the temple floor, and this prevented me from running rings around her defences. I parried, made a feint and then stabbed at her, but my sword clanged off that half-plate armour ineffectually. She swung at me, but I was more agile than her flail, and the weapon sailed over my head.

"How do you like THAT! Eh? Eh?"
"Not so cocky now, are you?"
"You want a piece of me? Eh? Do you?"
"You're weak! Weak! The lot of you! With your mercy, and honour."

"GET UP! GET UP AND FIGHT ME! DAMN YOU!!"

Alun, recognizing that the continuing attacks from the ape would send him under, backed out of combat for a moment and healed himself. As he did so, the archers on the balcony opposite me aimed at him, but were unable to hit our Shield Knight. From up ahead of me, I saw Melinde, still blindfolded, fumble her way towards her horse. Down below, Theldrick focussed his attention on Tegan as Malakai lay to one side of them. The fall from above must have affected him more than he let on, as his swipe went wild. Tegan attacked back, but couldn’t hit him, and then took a step back. As this was going on, Tegan’s healing efforts brought Malakai around. He saw the evil cleric above him, and swung at his legs, drawing blood. A noble effort it was, but it sent him back again into unconsciousness.

Warily eying up the female cleric facing me, which I would later know to be called Kendra, I stabbed at an unprotected part of her body, and was rewarded with a grunt of pain as my short sword hit home. Her riposte was suitably weak and failed to hit me. A matter of time, and of luck. As I fought, I could see a half-orc cleric appear around the other side of the balcony and approach Melinde warily, backed up by the archers who had previously targeted the Cairn Hills Knights. Luckily for her, she had mounted her horse, and it adopted a defensive stance to protect her. Down below, Theldrick had recovered somewhat from the hit Malakai had dealt, and swung at Tegan again. It proved to be a mighty blow, and sent our Stone Knight unconscious. Not good! We are about to loose this battle!

I continued my offensive against Kendra, but we were held in a temporary stalemate. She was too wary to allow me to take advantage of any opening in her defences, but this also made her unable to use her flail effectively, so she could not successfully hit me. I cannot afford this time! My team need me! Down below, the fiendish ape that caused Alun such pain was surrounded by balefire and disappeared from this place. One less thing to worry about. Alun then moved up to Tegan with his wand of healing and healed her. He then told Melinde to come down from the balcony. “Where!?” she asked, and at this point the fact that she still had her blindfold on worried me greatly. As she asked this, one of the archers, now recognisable as tieflings, hit her horse. Its make or break time. I thought as the tableaux was laid out in front of me…

Melinde urged her horse onwards, probably unknowing that there was a long drop down to the chamber floor. The horse though, took it all in its stride, literally, and jumped down, narrowly missing Theldrick’s head in the process. The evil cleric took the opportunity to strike Melinde though, who winced at the wound on her midriff. Thankfully, the horse didn’t falter, and landed safely on the floor of the chapel, facing Theldrick. I swear I saw a look of righteous anger in its equine face. At the same time, Tegan became conscious, stood, and used her vigour wand on herself. Malakai also stood up and moved, but was unsteady on his feet.

I continued to fight against Kendra, but my attention was distracted by the cliff-hanger situation below me, and I missed. Luckily though, it seems she couldn’t hit me either, her attention drawn to the appearance of the half-orc cleric at the far end of the balcony. Down below, Alun healed our Storm Knight, while the horse carried on defending his, or her? rider against the Hextorian cleric. Theldrick could not get beyond the flailing hooves of the paladin’s mount and failed to strike Melinde. Tegan and Malakai took advantage of this temporary stalemate and both struck Theldrick with sword and axe. He grunted with pain and was too distracted to react to the horse’s pounding hoof, which struck him in the temple. This mighty blow sent him crashing to the ground, his head bent at a very odd angle. He lay still. Woo f#~@ing hoo! Let’s eviscerate these t@!~s!

I was mightily spurred on, to say the least.

...uuh...no...get up.
Not like this...must get...up.

...must ride...ride them down like dogs...ride now, before dawn...

...KILL THEM...all of them!....<cough>...huerrgh....

...cut out their eyes...their tongues...<cough>...their women...children...make them pay...aaahh...

...stick it...your sanctimonious hole...cowards!...aargh...oh...weak!...who is with me?...no?...damn you...damn you to Hell...

...we ride, my love...be brave...hold on...I will be with you again...

...Rose..bud...

...eeuuhuurruuurhhgh...

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw an arrow speed towards me. I think Kendra saw it too, but did not expect me to deflect it towards her. It did not endanger her, but it got her off-guard, which I capitalised upon with a stab to the stomach. She grunted in pain, and backed away with a half-hearted swat of her flail that I easily avoided. Down on the chamber floor, I saw Alun, our Shield, healing Malakai. Melinde was still atop her horse, groping for an exit. Malakai, now suitably bolstered by both healing magic and the death of a Hextorian cleric, moved up to the rope ladder and started ascending. Tegan moved up and healed Melinde.

I was obviously engrossed overmuch in the actions of my team, and one archer took advantage with a well aimed shot to my chest. My armour stopped the force of the impact, but it drew blood nonetheless. All shall die from this place! I vowed, as I removed the broken shaft from my leather armour. I moved up to attack Kendra, but in my eagerness to end the combat my cut to her throat went wild. She stepped back and cast a spell. I became overwhelmed by waves of fear and trepidation, and retreated.

On the floor, Alun moved to the statue to begin his ascent to the balcony. At the same time, on the rope ladder, Malakai reached the top and hit the half orc with his blade. There were obviously more cultists remaining out of sight, and they must have decided that this was the end of their congregation. In a last ditch assault, they opened up the doors that once they were so eager to trap us inside. However, this was not to give us a route to escape, but to allow their last forces back in! Two tiefling warriors came in, closely followed by seven skeletons. The first warrior struck Melinde’s horse across its flank, and the second moved to the plinth where the statue once stood, and attacked Alun, without much success. As the skeletons entered, one got smashed to pieces by the horse’s hooves. The others moved up to Tegan and Alun, but did not manage to hit them.

I am ashamed to say that at this pivotal point in our battle, I was cowering in the corner of the balcony, but my ever-watchful eye caught the action of my heroic Knights. Alun called upon the faith of his adopted deity, and commanded the skeletons to remove themselves. But in this hall of evil and tyranny they were bolstered, and ignored his command. Atop the balcony, I saw Malakai attack the half-orc, but his blade could not find its target. The flail of the half-orc was more precisely aimed however, and Malakai caught a spike to his sword arm.

Melinde, somehow aware of the evil undead among us, or guessing at the cause of Alun’s turn attempt, also raised her symbol of faith, and shouted at the skeletons to leave. Again, the skeletons tried to withstand the holy admonishments, but two were cowered by her divine words of Heironeous and ran away. Her horse smashed asunder one of the skeletons that had not retreated.

Up atop the balcony, a cultist moved in to strike vainly at Malakai, who was at the top of the rope ladder but not yet over the edge. On the floor below, A tiefling hit Melinde’s horse, while two skeletons flailed ineffectually at Melinde herself. Alun was not quite so fortunate, and got struck on the arm by a wild swipe from a skeleton. Tegan however, makes up for Alun’s ill-luck, and managed to cut down one tiefling facing her, and then stepped over the body to kill another one. Our Stone Knight is more of an avalanche right now!

I recovered my senses and took stock of the situation. I needed to get across to Malakai, but Kendra was in my way. I charged in, reckless, meaning to hamstring her. She was caught totally off guard by this and I did strike her leg, but not enough to disable her. Unfortunately, the charge left me somewhat open, and her riposte smacked me across my temple, and I sank to the floor. My world turned dark.

My unconscious narrative took over again – my silent steps taking me through the umbral metropolis of my dreams. The city is still dark and foreboding, yet I feel somehow at home here now, not scared, just elusive. The lack of a sun in the dreary sky is briefly unsettling. I should freeze here. Yet I feel warm, as if some unseen sun warms my body. Again, I search for the portal from this place and my wandering turns into a headlong rush, careless and unheeding of any danger that may lurk. The door continues to elude me, and the city changes shape yet again, to an ages-old forest, lacking in any natural colour or light. The towers and palace battlements of the city grow crooked and spindly as they turn into the ancient trees of this place, the cobbles beneath my feet change to dark undergrowth and the sky becomes unseen beyond the canopy of branches and leaves above. This undisturbed woodland is silent and still, but it is apparent to me that it is alive, and I search for its centre, the heart of the forest.

Once again, I was brought back to the waking world, and I looked up to see Alun stood over me, now twice his normal height. The battle continued apace all around me, with Malakai, now stood on the balcony, slaying the cultist next to me. Kendra was nearby still and charged in to attack Malakai, but was too unbalanced to make her swing count. Alun cast another healing spell on me, as I looked below to see how the rest of our party fared. The number of skeletons left was vastly reduced now, but even now I saw Tegan suffer a blow from one of the remaining skeletons, and she responded without much success. I then stood up and moved to flank Kendra, opposite Malakai. In desperation, she attempted to cast on the defensive but the spell fizzled as she weaved and dodged. Knowing how vulnerable she was with opponents to either side, she moved away from us both. Meanwhile, Melinde on the floor below was out of the combat and attempting to listen for any opponents that might come her and her horses way. Alun healed me yet again.

I moved around Kendra to flank her once again but I did not hit her. Malakai was similarly unable to find his target, but so was Kendra, ineffectually batting at our paladin. Alun and I tried again, but we still missed the Hextorian cleric. Kendra, in a desperate attempt to gain some allies, healed the half-orc cleric Malakai was originally facing, who I only now noticed was lying on the floor near us. At the same time, Alun cast a bulls strength upon our Storm Knight. Then it all comes together – I managed to slash at Kendra’s throat, killing her, Tegan smashed to splinters the remaining skeleton, Malakai strikes the half-orc in the chest, which made him drop to the floor once again. Alun, still our Shield Knight, healed me. The Knights of the Cairn Hills were victorious!

After catching our breath, we explored the rest of the Hextor temple. Thankfully, we had defeated all its inhabitants. There were several small rooms off the side corridor, linking the main corridor to the back of the arena. One room, which must have been Theldrick’s personal quarters, contained leather bonds, and other evidence of having held a prisoner, presumably Mélinde. Her armour and equipment were propped against the wall, and strewn across the desk. Mélinde’s Dragonchess pieces had been unwrapped, and the knight was being used as a paperweight. I found a secret panel and checked it for traps. Unfortunately, I was careless in my task and an explosion of fire caught my arms and torso when I opened it. Healing magic immediately repaired the damage however. We collected and examined the contents.

We found that we now had a crude stone key to the Erythnul temple from Theldrick's effects. There was also a journal. There were entries in there about the uneasy alliance between Theldrick, a creature called Grallak Kur that followed Erythnul and a mysterious figure that venerated Vecna, known as The Faceless One. Another entry mentioned a so-called Overgod of the three faiths colluding down here. The Overgod is the focus of worship for the Ebon Triad. Worms of some kind may be the key to this Overgod’s ascension, but Theldrick wonders if yet another force is at work in this.

While these discoveries were made, we talked to Mélinde. She had come to the mine with Father Jieran, to bring up the matter of the sick workers with Dourstone. They had been told the matter was due to an illegal moonshine still built by the workers, and were tricked into coming into the mine to view it. She was then ambushed and thrown in the fighting pit to train the new recruits, and had survived by her ability to heal herself. Later she was blinded by the Hextorians when they realised she was an actual spell-caster. I shook my head at the logical, yet gruesome solution to having a spell-caster captive. We then went back to the elevator room, and dragged the bodies of our slain foes inside. As we were doing so, any obvious bloodstains were wiped up as best we could. We also saw axe marks on the other doors, but heard nothing when we listened at them. The sensible option then was to barricade ourselves into the temple – we were fearful of leaving lest the owners of the mine notice our exit or prevent us from re-entering. The remaining time we spent counting the coins, identifying potions, and separating the magical equipment into a pile. Nervous and skittish, we stayed the night, but did not rest that easily.

The night passed without event, and the Knights of the Cairn Hills went back out into the pool room. We had previously decided that Mélinde, still a casualty of Theldrick’s mutilation, ought to stay in the Hextorian temple until we could finish the job and get us all back safely to above ground. She seemed supportive of this, which wasn’t a surprise considering her calling. We used the key obtained from Theldrick, and I led the way into the Erythnul temple.

We descended into the damp, slippery, rough hewn and awkward tunnels. All the time I peered into the darkness ahead of me, with my torch of cold flame casting flickering amber light around me. The fact it was an obvious target did not escape me, but my ability to navigate pitch black tunnels was limited, to say the least. I could hear the footfalls and the armour clanks of the other Knights following some way behind, and a small part of me wished I was back there with them, instead of on this solitary skulk. After some time, and that time spent constantly second and third guessing my senses, I heard a noise ahead. I froze as I listened to what sounded like voices, but of inhuman origin. I had to make a quick decision, without the rest of the Knights ruining any chance of surprise we might have. I decided that I had been overheard, but that the advantage may still be mine if I acted quickly. I unslung my bow and moved to engage whatever I was to encounter ahead.