"Come into the light?" the voice seems amused, "It is mist, human. The light is wherever you are standing but regardless, while I would greatly enjoy being able to move freely I am...otherwise indisposed."
"As for the Watcher....he tends to ignore certain relics of the past as beneath his notice. oracles seem to prefer staring at the stars then anything very meaningful. I am sure you found his 'help' more talk then substance, if he follows his usual pattern." The voice is caustically dismissive of the cyclops oracle.
Shalina's eyes squint as if willing her to see inside the darkness of the building. "Otherwise indisposed? Meaning you can't leave where you are?"
"And how is it that you know of the future if you too are not an oracle? I can imagine that it is difficult to know exactly what will happen in the future because just as one future comes into view, someone steps on a butterfly and changes everything."
Shalina doesn't miss the stressed word of whatever she was conversing with. "Which relics do you speak of?"
The voice chuckles, the laughter dark and edged with bitterness, "Yes, if you were so impolite as to say it that harshly."
"I do not know of the future," The voice goes on, still utterly invisible in the swirling steam. "But I have access to much that would interest an outsider, things forgotten, things un-used. Things useful to those who wish to do great deeds and few others come to this place."
When Shalina says relics, the voice becomes cold and proud, saying, "Those he does not approve of, that conflict with his own arrogant self-appointed legacy as the last survivor of his race. Now, I grow weary of shouting across the street. If you wish my help or aid, come closer or leave me."
Silence descends over the ruined old road.
Shalina takes a couple steps toward the building because she hates the idea of anyone being held against their will. But Watcher's words come flooding back to her from when they had been discussing Sivvek, about things lurking in the corners that shouldn't be trifled with. She stops in the middle of the road.
"Things forgotten, things un-used...and it'll only cost me my soul, right?"
She takes a few more steps, "Why do you offer help at all?"
Only silence greets Shalina's words. Silence and swirling mist.
All she can see is the crumbled ruin of the building, an unroofed shell surrounded by two crumbling walls.
Giving the building a wide berth, Shalina moves around to one of the sides where the walls are completely gone in the hopes that she can get a better look while keeping her distance. She edges slightly closer but is still wary as her instincts and curiosity battle each other.
Shalina edges closer, keeping her distance from the rather unstable building. She circles the haphazard walls, trying to get a better look inside. The area seems bare of anything, just some crumbling rocks and an old, long overgrown stone floor. Mist swirls in front of her, playing around the ruined walls and stones.
Then everything explodes. A huge surging shape breaks free of the ground, heaving up rocks and dirt. The mist seems to part, flowing away from the looming dark shape. The rock walls shudder then collapse outward, throwing loose stone everywhere. Shalina dodges the flying rocks but then the ground under her feet starts to shift and shake, becoming uneven and treacherous. Looking up, Shalina gets a clear look at the emerging shape.
A skeletal carcass has pulled itself from the ground, its body formed as much from earth and soil as from bones and rotting flesh. A heavy iron chain is attached to a collar around the neck, running down into the earth. Bright red eyes flash in the gloom, and a haunting, insane laughter. The creature is about Shalina's size, but leaner.
With sudden speed that shocks Shalina it rushes toward her, chain rattling out its slack. With a cackling laugh it leaps at her, a grasping maw of bone-like teeth. It reeks of death and rotting earth, a horrible miasmsa that makes Shalina sick.
The bite sinks into Shalina's neck, ripping a dirty, nasty looking wound. A strange coldness seems to radiate from the damage, sinking into her flesh and mind...
Shalina scrambles backwards, trying to judge the distance she needs to move based on the creature's restraint. I should have listened to my gut
As her body and mind try to fight off the coldness, she wonders if she should try to defeat this hideous abomination so that no one else will get hurt. But then she thinks that the likelihood of anyone else reaching such a place with the druids guarding it was low. That and the Watcher didn't feel the need to deal with it before he left.
In the end she decides to make her way back to the others so that they can leave this place behind them.
Shalina reels back from the attack, and decides to retreat. She stumbles back through the crumbling and suddenly uneven ground around her. Her going is slow but she does seem to get outside the reach of the creature.
Then, just as she is nearly out into the street again, the creature gives a mighty roar of rage and actually leaps at her. The chain snaps taut and then, with a grinding sound of rust and old metal, snaps free! With obvious surprise, the terrifying creature rolls into the street, clods of rotting earth and undead flesh spraying.
In an instant however it is on it's feet again, quick as a snake. The horrible rictus grin peels back, and it says, "My deliverer. I shall remember this while I gnaw your bones!" All around Shalina, again,t he ground shifts and becomes broken and slick, clearly some sort of radius effect by her foe.
The fact that this creature was now free is all her fault and thus her responsibility to send it back from whence it came. Shalina searches her mind for anything that may help her fight against it.
Shalina finally gets a good look at the beast, as it stands up straight in the middle of the road, heavy chain around its neck. The pearly steam seems to roil back from it, as if its unholy presence drives it away.
Shalina's mind recalls a passage in a book she read once.
Often when a particularly evil criminal is executed, suspicious folk fear that the criminal’s remains might rise from death to continue to plague the living. To combat this possibility, many mobs or rural justices take to the practice of burning the bodies, grinding the bones, and scattering the remains in the wild. Yet in the case of particularly evil criminals, even these steps are in vain, for their will is enough to reassemble a body from earth, stone, roots, and plants drawn from the region into which the remains were scattered. Such an undead horror rises as a guecubu, a harbinger of misfortune and vengeance from beyond the grave.
She recalls much of it, as the concept had horrified the bard at the time. They are potent fighters, enjoying to rip and tear their victims. Their sheer presence makes the ground ripple around them, a constant aura of destruction. Worse, the wounds they cause are often cursed, sometimes powerfully so.
She recalls they have some limited magical abilities, mostly around manipulating earth and stone. They are immune to electrical energy and resist cold magic.
Guecubu It has already shown itself to be able to move swiftly and so Shalina begins to hum the tune to invigorate her muscles with augmented speed for the fight to come.
Her eyes narrow as she allows the rage to roil within her, "What evil have you done to warrant your fate?"
The red eyes narrow and an evil leer crosses the disgusting, half-rotting face. "Few ask that question. I was entombed for many things, fair adventurer but the one that seemed to offend greatest was my love for locking doors and burning down houses with their inhabitants left screaming inside. Ah, the music it made!"
With a cackling laughter and clattering of chains, the Guecubu rushes forward. Unlike Shalina it seems to travel over the pitted and broken ground with ease. On a moment is upon her, a looming mass of crumbling earth and decaying flesh.
Shalina dodges the hungry jaws, but the claw like bone hands rake her back, opening dirty red wounds.
The floodgates containing Shalina's rage burst open taking the form of acid as he reveals he used to burn people alive in their homes. She growls at the guecubu, "Let's see how you like being burned."
Shalina's rage flares like a sudden flame, white-hot. Instantly acid starts to seep from her hands and along the edge of her glaive, called by her fury. It starts to smoke and steam there, etching the metal itself. The guecubu has just enough time to narrow the glowing red eyes before Shalina strikes with the speed of a diving bird.
Once, twice she hits, although the dead seeming earth turns her third blow. But both times her weapon makes solid contact, clumps of of the beast break away, bone and earth alike, leaving gaping holes edged with sizzling acid. The guecubu roars in pain and confusion clearly unsure to prety that fought back. Still, Shalina can see she needs to cause more damage, much more damage, to overcome this foul thing.
It reels back, the screams of rage dying away. The undead steps back a few paces, out of Shalina's reach. Then, without a word, it waves it's hand in some arcane motion.
Suddenly the rocky ground bursts upward with stone shards, like spikes seeking tender flesh. A few lance Shalina's calves and feet, driving right through her boots.
She does however, nimbly avoid any further crippling damage.
The pain of the spiked stones barely registers through Shalina's rage. What does become clear is that she doesn't want to be where she is and her quarry has moved out of reach.
Her muscles coil with tension seconds before she launches herself at the undead creature with a thundering bellow, glaive swinging down in a trajectory to connect with the guecubu's torso.
Seeing the jagged stones burst through the ground, Shalina looks around for a clear place. Behind her, she can see the edge of the spell's radius, and the rest of the unchanged ruined street. But she also sees...bare ground behind the raging undead.
Shalina crouches slightly, tensing her legs. her foe, caught off guard, has just enough time to narrow his glowing eyes before Shalina launches herself in the air, hurtling toward the guecubu. As she passes the undead rotting head, the bard swings out with her glaive, making solid contact. She feels the heavy skull crack under the blow, acid pouring into the broken head.
She lands with grace behind the guecubu, twisting to keep it in front of her. The ground underfoot is unspiked, it is still uneven and treacherous, effected by whatever unholy radius the once-chained beast gives off.
"I will not be denied my vengeance!" the guecubu roars, turning to face Shalina. "How long did I dwell, trapped in the earth, a chain around my neck? I shall wreck my vengeance on all of the living, starting with you."
Shalina, light on her feet as ever, makes sure she finds her best possible footing in the difficult terrain. She glares at the creature and growls, "If you didn't want to be trapped in the earth with a chain around your neck, you shouldn't have killed people!"
Rage burns brightly in Shalina's eyes, "The only thing you will be exacting is your own destruction. You won't leave this island."
As if to accentuate her words, her glaive gives its own speech as it carves off more decaying flesh from the guecubu.
Shalina hefts the glaive in her hands, feeling the solid weight. Green acid glistens along the length, and drips from her hands, creating black pools of burns where it falls to the ground. The guecubu looms above her, a mass of rotting flesh and crumbling earth. She had let this undead thing loose, and she would be the one to finish it.
Rage filling her, Shalina launches herself at the undead. Her weapon slams into it once, twice, three times with such forces that chunks of the creature are thrown dozens of feet int he air. The guecubu's howls of rage soon become howls of pain, but Shalina has no ear for that. Ancient bones crack under her assault, decaying earth falling away in clods. Her last blows smash in the hateful red eyes, demolishing the gaping maw full of teeth.
The undead totters away, arms wheeling. A dark shadow seems to hover around it, like some kind of wispy armor. For a moment Shalina fears it is some new trick, another power by this foul beast. The smoke seems to rise into the air, then slowly dissipates with a distant howl. The bodily remains crumble to fine dust.
A silence hangs in the air.
Shalina warily watches the shadow ready to pounce once again should it solidify into another horrible creature. When it fades into nothingness and the body turns to dust, she finally allows herself to sink to the ground. She breathes in and out as fatigue threatens to overwhelm her. If she didn't think she could handle another orm before, she definitely couldn't now.
She can't help but wonder why the Watcher had just disappeared and left that thing behind. Surely it needed some sort of guard to make sure it didn't break free to wreak havoc on the world. Not that that mattered now. The size of the guecubu obviously suggested that it had been a cyclops in his previous life. The only other question she has, which won't be answered now, is whether he had burned humans alive in their homes or his own people?
As she thinks, she slowly gets to her feet. How could I have been so foolish? I knew this was some sort of trap and yet I just couldn't resist the carrot he dangled before me. Now I have no carrot and the only thing I have to show for my efforts is a disgusting bite and a pile of dust.
She walks back to the others as if in a daze. "Watcher's gone."
Shalina is nearly stumbling back down the steamy path to her friends. Instantly Tekk is running up to her, "What happened?" Then getting a good look at her wounds, draws his sword and stares up the misty path. "Who hurt you? Are there others on this island? Are you being chased?" He lays a land on Shalina's shoulder and a healing pulse warms her skin.
Without even waiting to see Shalina's wounds knit together, Tekk shouts, "Ranger, get that raft into the water, now!"
Shalina grins weakly at Tekk, "You should have known that if there was trouble to be found on this island that I would find it."
She sighs in relief as Tekk's healing washes through her. "I went back but Watcher was gone. It's like he vanished into thin air. Then on my way back..." She looks slightly guilty as she chooses her words, "I encountered a guecubu. An undead borne of the evil it wrought during it's lifetime. I reduced it to dust. I'm not being chased. I should have known better. Watcher said there were things lurking in shadows that shouldn't be trifled with. But I still can't believe he's gone." She looks up at Tekk, a small hint of doubt in her voice, "But you saw Watcher, right? I didn't just have another weird dream, did I?"
Tekk drags Shalina as gently as possible towards the raft. "I guess we have to hope that the repairs Ranger was able to do will hold. There was no one and nothing that I could find to help."
"Dream?" Tekk glances down at her burned and scarred fingers. "No, it was no dream."
Still struggling with the ungainly raft, Ranger snorts, "What am I, chopped liver? I saw the cyclops too you know, even if I wasn't important enough for a vision quest or whatever." Grunting, he manages to slide it mostly into the water, adding, "As for the undead, I'd be more surprised if this place didn't have them wandering about. Places gives me the creeps, let's go."
They are soon shoving off, lost again in a vast lake of boiling water. Steam rises, quickly hiding the ruin-laden island from sight. However, as Shalina watches it recede into the distance, there was a dark, looming shape on the shore. Another standing stone? Then, it moves, as if to wave a final farewell....before Shalina can be sure, all is swallowed by white mist.
"I keep saying this, but I will say it again." tekk says, voice sounding loud and harsh in the pearl-white gloom of the steam, which seems much worse leaving then it did coming. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. Maybe I can invest in some manacles or something..."
Then a dark shape looms out of the mist. It is a bird, a vast vulture, circling down. Before any of them have time to react it is upon them, mere feet about the boat. Sivvek hisses and hides, ranger shouting an oath.
In an instant however, there is a blur and the bird vanishes and a human figure thumps onto the deck. A tall, thin man is standing there, with a sharp face and pointed nose. A neatly trimmed black beard gives his face a rather sinister look. He surveys them, standing in the rocking prow of the boat with little apparent effort.
"Which of you slayed the undead beast on yonder island?" His voice is hoarse, as if rarely used with an old-fashioned accent.
"The chances of us having the same delusion is slim to none so I guess I just have to accept the fact that there is much magic in this world I don't understand."
She gives Ranger a weary smile, "Chopped liver definitely couldn't have gotten us sea-worthy again. And I'm sorry that all you got from this trip was the opportunity to see a cyclops. That was a treasure for me but I doubt it was for you. Alas, there was no gold or jewels to give you."
Shalina squints at the disappearing shoreline as she thinks she sees movement. But...why keep himself hidden from me? Was I meant to fight that thing? She reflexively lifts her arm, returning the wave.
Her musical laugh sounds in opposition to the harsh sound of Tekk's voice, "Even if you get manacles, I highly doubt you'd be able to keep them on me." Then sadness seeps onto her face as she remembers her vision and her voice gets quiet, "You can't always be there to protect me." She raises her left hand and places her right one on her heart, "I promise to not wander out of your sight unless absolutely necessary."
Shalina barely has time to react as the vulture suddenly turns into a human. She is in no condition or mood to deal with the druids. His accent sounds strange to her ears and she tries to place it as she speaks, "That would be me."
Around them the lake boils and bubbles, the raft shifting in the water. Ranger's makeshift repairs are holding but barely, and a slow leak was developed in the hull. They should make it to shore....but it'll be a close thing, even without this druid slowing them down.
The words are strange to Shalina but they remind her of old Taldane epics she has read.
"Why did you do it?" the druid asks, without any preamble. "It was a dangerous thing, to upset the dead spirits that live on the island. Even the Watcher leaves them alone, to sleep. Who are you to disturb them?"
Shalina takes a deep breath to make sure she keeps her emotions in check and the surprise off her face. The druid couldn't have waited until they were out of the leaky raft and off the boiling lake before questioning her life choices? She is tired and feels depleted which doesn't help matters.
"The guecubu was plenty disturbed before I happened to walk by the building where it was. It definitely wasn't sleeping nor did I go search it out. I had no idea what it was until it attacked me. It broke it's chain and swore to wreak vengeance on the world. Not only was my life in danger because he planned to start with me, but I also didn't want anyone else harmed. I slayed it because it gave me no choice."
She looks the man directly in his eyes, "I have no desire to fight any more today. I hope you feel the same."
In silence, the druid looks at each of them in turn, eyes narrow. Around them, the only sound is the bubbling lake and the soft slosh of the rising water in the hold.
Finally the tall man says, "Fair enough and well said. You shall be given safe passage back to the shore, for your valiant effort. be warned, if you step foot on the slopes of the mountain again, you will die. I will make sure of it, personally."
The druid turns as if to go, but then notes the leak below him. "Your raft is damaged." he notes casually, as if they hadn't noticed. Without a word he waves his hand at it, and the tough old wood starts to shift and soften, like clay squeezed by invisible hands. In a moment the leak is gone, replaced by a smooth join, without seam. The druid nods, then changes back into the form of a culture, silently sailing up into the swirling steam.
"Gozreh's right ear!" Ranger says, jumping down to inspect the fixed raft. "That is a useful skill, he fixed it solid. We can get back no problem now, Shalina."
Shalina nods, "Thank you. We will be leaving as soon as our ship is repaired. I do apologize for disturbing your mountain but the Watcher came to me in a dream and requested an audience. I meant no disrespect to your or your mountain but I couldn't ignore his request."
She watches the vulture disappear into the steam above wondering how many druids there were.
Shalina smiles at Ranger, "That's good to hear. Even though my muscles would love a hot bath, this water is a little too hot for my liking. If only he could have done the same to Amon's ship. That way we could leave sooner."
She sits back down, enjoying the rhythmic lapping of water against the side of the raft. It lulls her almost to sleep by the time they get back to the other side. Shalina gets up and stretches like a cat before wincing as the exertions of the day take their toll on her body. "Let's get back before we lose the light."
The trip back goes without event. The repaired raft, under Ranger's skilled guidance, makes it to the lake shore. The sailor draws up the craft onto the gravel bank saying, "We should leave it as we found it."
Then they have a short climb up the inside of the volcano's cone to the outer rim. Birds are flying high above, pinpricks of black against the bright blue sky. Clearly the druids, while allowing them safe passage, are keeping a close eye. The rest of the trip is, mercifully, downhill through the woods and groves of the volcano's slopes. It slowly becomes more and more gradual and opening into dry meadows of grass. Ahead of them the ocean stretches in all directions, a vast sheet of sparkling blue water. Ranger waves a hand at it, "A welcome sight, if you ask me."
Soon they are at the borders of the Black Speck, that collection of tar-smeared hovels. Ranger looks at Shalina carefully and says, "well, that was quite the adventure, I don't mind saying. As you said, no gold or coins to take back and Korlegg is probably going to be extremely dissapointed. Still, I am glad I went along, for some reason. Is it always like this?"
Shalina gives Ranger a hand with the raft even though she's weary, "Wise."
For once she's content to make their way back in silence. She's surprised that she is actually happy to see the ocean. Although she's fairly certain that that will change once they are on open water again.
She reflexively responds to Ranger's question with a laugh, "Why? You looking for a job?". Then she is assaulted with the image of Ranger's corpse and she laughs dismissively, "Forget I said anything. And yes, it's almost always like this. At least that's probably what Tekk would tell you if you ask him."
Quickly changing gears she asks, "Korlegg won't punish you or anything in his extreme disappointment, will he? I can have a chat with him if you'd like."
Ranger shakes his head, "I don't think it'll be anything too harsh. A few extra turns at slop duty, and a few night turns, most likely." he pauses then, looks at Shalina carefully, "Is there anything I shouldn't tell him? I have a feeling you are tangled up with something bigger then the wants or dislikes of a guy like Korlegg. if there is something you don't want to get out, I can keep it secert."
"A pirate with loyalty?" Tekk says, a combination of surprise and disbelief in his rough voice.
"Scoff if you want, paladin." Ranger says evenly, "But everyone has principles, even if they are different then your own."
The sailor glances back at Shalina, "Anything?"
Shalina thinks for a moment before responding. "Actually, I'd prefer that you keep Watcher's existence a secret. He's the last of his kind so who knows what kind of wack-a-doo out there wants to make a name for himself by fighting the last cyclops. I would also play up how protective the druids are of the mountain and how there isn't any treasure in order to dissuade people from trying to explore the ruins."
"Considering the vulture made it sound like there were more dead spirits on that island, it wouldn't do for anyone to be mucking about out there." Her brow furrows in thought, "I wonder if it is some sort of prison for evil." She visibly shudders, "I certainly hope not."
She claps Ranger on the shoulder, "You seem wise enough to know what may or may not be something to share. You earned my trust the second you didn't bolt when I had to go looking for Tekk when he fell. I'm sure you'll know what should and shouldn't be kept secret. Not that there is a lot to tell - at least not a lot that would interest pirates."