Chapter 12: Shadows in the Dark

[Brian]

Condign looks grim, shakes his head almost imperceptibly, and leads the way back out of the room with Shorak.

[Jeff]

A few minutes later, you all hear a curious sound. It sounds like wind chimes, but there's less of a melodic ringing and more of a rattle to it.

[Ken]

"Um, what's that noise?" says Belarin. He gets up and peers out of the room for a look at the sound's origin.

[Joe]

Streko grumbles. "What now?" He looks out toward the door, watching as Belarin hobbles toward it. "Perhaps those of us not so injured should check first," he tells his friend.

Standing, he moves toward the door, still carrying the child. He offers it to Belarin. "I will look outside, if you would be kind enough to watch after the child," he says.

[Dave W.]

"I will watch the child, Streko." Adamant says. He reaches for the bundle.

[Jeff]

When Belarin looks out the door, he sees Histra and Torcer looking around. She meets Belarin's eye and says, "An untethered spirit is loose somewhere." Even as she says it, some kind of memory lights in her eyes. She looks toward the far wall and the tower. "Shorak and Condign," she says angrily. "Up in the tower."

Assuming Streko hands the child over to Adamant, he is now free to move out of the room.

[Ken]

Belarin turns back to the others. "Shorak and Condign have wandered into the tower for some idiotic reason," he says wearily, "and may be in trouble."

[Darren]

Kal groans as he opens his eyes and pulls himself to his feet. "Can we have five damn minutes of peace and quiet?" Walking stiffly towards the door, Kal goes outside to see what the commotion is all about.

[Jeff]

Streko is the first to come upon the curious scene, followed by Kal. Tangat remains behind with Adamant and Belarin, but through the south-facing narrow window they can make out, one at a time, some of what’s going on as well.

Atop the battlement, near the top of the stairs, some of the skeleton sentries have cornered an intruder: a pallid, leather-clad human in dark attire who appears gravely wounded. His armor is badly punctured near the center of his chest, and the skin around his neck is badly discolored. He carries no obvious weapons, but he seems to have retaliated somehow, as one of the skeletons appears to have been blasted apart already—bones, armor, and weapons litter the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, still on the ground level of the courtyard, Histra and Torcer are looking up at the scene. Torcer is enacting some kind of incantation, looking as professional as any adult about it. Histra, however, turns and looks back at Streko and Kal as they draw near.

Streko and Kal are the only ones close enough to see that the intruder upon the wall is translucent—and somehow familiar. He looks very dead, for one. His face, while somehow livid and horrified, also appears frozen in place; his whole body is somehow held in suspension, possibly from Torcer’s efforts.

“The tiefling may have been murdered,” Histra says grimly and specifically to Streko, pointing up at the western tower, whose door hangs open upon the wall. “Go!”

---

This map isn’t updated with the placement of characters/creatures, but you can figure out where everyone is based on the description above. I can update later.

[Jeff]

Only a few seconds later, Shorak's voice issues from the tower, distorted as it echoes through the stone chambers:

"...hear me?"

"...loose in the tower....needs a healer's....!""

[Darren]

"Dammit," Kal growls, "I knew there was something wrong with him." Not knowing how he can help, Kal nonetheless begins to race up the stairs towards the sound of Shorak's voice.

[Jeff]

[Joe]

Jun 15, 2015 13:39:12 GMT -4 Darren said:

"Dammit," Kal growls, "I knew there was something wrong with him." Not knowing how he can help, Kal nonetheless begins to race up the stairs towards the sound of Shorak's voice.

Streko, haversack still secure upon his back, follows closely upon Kal's heels. He reaches back into the bag and pulls out Therendor, just in case.

"I'll do what I can," he mumbles.

[Jeff]

Up the spiral stairs and into the tower-top room, Kal and Streko go. There they find both Shorak and Condign. The tiefling is lying flat on the ground, looking wan from blood loss and lying in a pool of blood. In a gap in the front of his armor and lower torso blood has welled up in what appears to be a mortal wound. Shorak is crouched, stanching the wound with his cloak. It's hard to tell at first glance if Condign is even breathing. His sword lies nearby, slick with blood.

[Dave B.]

Shorak turns as Streko and Kal enter the room, but he doesn't let up on his duty to keep Condign alive. "Streko, help him if you can. He's still with us, but barely." He shifts just enough to give Streko room to work on Condign.

Shorak looks back to Condign's face. "The spirit that possessed Condign, tried to kill him with his own sword. I guess it thought I would be a better host for it. I fought it's attempt to take me and immediately tried to do what I could for Condign, while yelling for help." He looks back towards where the spirit went. "I have sworn to Condign that I would see that thing destroyed."

[Joe]

Streko immediately reaches back into his Handy Haversack and removes a healing kit, which he then uses to staunch the bleeding and dress the wound.

"This isn't going to help in his recovery from the dog bite, either. Adamant will need to work with him directly. Shorak, you and Kalarian please carry him down to our sleeping area where I can keep a close eye on him."

He quickly glances up at Kal. "I will do everything in my power to keep us alive, but we need rest and we need to stay in one place now, at least until we can properly heal our wounded. Condign will not be going anywhere, any time soon. If there is anything Histra and her family can do to help us, this is the time for it."

[Ken]

From his position near the window, Belarin looks back at Adamant. "I don't like the sounds of this," he says. "Say... remember how the spirits tried to possess us and Syrdan before one jumped into Tangat? Do you suppose the same thing happened to Shorak and Condign?"

[Darren]

Kal stares in horror at Condign's prone form. He nods at Streko, but he's already halfway out the door. "In a minute, Streko," he says. "Healing is not really my thing." Electricity flickers across his clenched fist.

Stepping outside, Kal plants his hands on the railing. "Histra!" he bellows. "We need to talk," he says more quietly, his eyes fixed on the frozen apparition next to him. "We have some new problems."

[Jeff]

Streko uses his healer’s kit to make sure Condign’s horrid wound is bound enough that he won’t bleed out. This frees Shorak up again. But both halfling and half-drow have a considerable amount of blood on their hands now.

When Kal emerges from the tower, he sees Torcer and Histra still at least have the dead man in hand.

“Should I expel him?” Torcer asks his older cousin.

Histra looks up at Kal. “Speak, then,” she says as she holds out a hand to Torcer to hold.

[Dave B.]

Shorak wipes as much blood from his hands as he can. Since his cloak is soaked, he just uses his shirt sleeves. He draws his short sword and marches out of the tower.

Shorak stops beside Kal and points his sword at the spirit. "Can this thing be destroyed?" He calls down to Torcer and Histra.

[Darren]

Kal makes his way quickly down the stairs, standing next to Histra so he doesn't have to shout. "Our hand has been forced. We must stay here and regain our strength. We cannot travel. Condign cannot walk, and we cannot carry him." Kal holds up a hand. "I know you have concerns. So do I. But we are strong, and we will not forget ourselves. We will sleep in shifts. I don't want everyone unconscious at the same time. And no one stays awake alone. We'll do two man shifts, two hours on per person, and we'll alternate out one person each hour. Those who are awake will tell each other stories about their childhood, about their adventures, rememberances of themselves. Should anyone appear to be losing themselves, the others will remind them who they are with those stories." Kal looks in Histra's eyes. "We WILL leave as soon as Condign can walk. I don't want to be here a minute longer than we need to, but our options have been taken away from us." He waits to hear Histra's approval, or more likely disapproval, of his plan.

[Jeff]

Jun 17, 2015 10:43:36 GMT -4 Dave B. said:

Shorak stops beside Kal and points his sword at the spirit. "Can this thing be destroyed?" He calls down to Torcer and Histra.

“Not easily,” Histra responds. “Ghost can be defeated, and made impotent, for a time merely by harming it enough. But to truly destroy it requires learning more about what binds it in place, either resolving its purpose or quelling it altogether. I doubt you would wish to use the time.”

“I can just kick it out of here if you want,” Torcer offers. “Once out, it cannot come in again.” He pauses. “Unless it controls a host again and comes in that way.”

Histra listens to Kal rattle off his plan, and her eyes stray for a moment as though he’s just complaining. When he finishes, she says, “I am finished cautioning you. Do as you wish. If you can convince Belarin of this, I will comply and we will do our best to simply wait through the night."

"If, however, you wish to wisely quit this plane sooner and press on shortly, I can retrieve some small healing supplies. There is a cache near the labyrinth’s gate for my family’s use.”

[Darren]

Jun 17, 2015 11:44:25 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Jun 17, 2015 10:43:36 GMT -4 Dave B. said:

Shorak stops beside Kal and points his sword at the spirit. "Can this thing be destroyed?" He calls down to Torcer and Histra.

“Not easily,” Histra responds. “Ghost can be defeated, and made impotent, for a time merely by harming it enough. But to truly destroy it requires learning more about what binds it in place, either resolving its purpose or quelling it altogether. I doubt you would wish to use the time.”

“I can just kick it out of here if you want,” Torcer offers. “Once out, it cannot come in again.” He pauses. “Unless it controls a host again and comes in that way.”

Histra listens to Kal rattle off his plan, and her eyes stray for a moment as though he’s just complaining. When he finishes, she says, “I am finished cautioning you. Do as you wish. If you can convince Belarin of this, I will comply and we will do our best to simply wait through the night."

"If, however, you wish to wisely quit this plane sooner and press on shortly, I can retrieve some small healing supplies. There is a cache near the labyrinth’s gate for my family’s use.”

Kal throws up his hands. "Why didn't you say so, woman? Yes, go! Retrieve! Let's get out of here, already...."

[Jeff]

Histra's mouth twitches slightly at Kal's tone. "The cache is near the gate, as I just said. We will stop by there when—and only when—we are all leaving the labyrinth altogether. It is not a quick, five-minute stroll from here, fool."

[Darren]

Jun 17, 2015 12:00:35 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Histra's mouth twitches slightly at Kal's tone. "The cache is near the gate, as I just said. We will stop by there when—and only when—we are all leaving the labyrinth altogether. It is not a quick, five-minute stroll from here, fool."

Kal sighs. "You are an infuriating woman. You're going to make Belarin truly miserable some day." He grins in spite of himself. "Fine, but we can't go anywhere until Condign wakes up, and I don't know how long that will take." Kal raises his voice so everyone can hear. "Condign is wounded. Badly. We need to get him into a bed, and then we'll wait for him to wake up. When he does, we're going." Kal spins to take in the place. "Stay on your guard. Danger is everywhere, apparently." Finally, to Torcer, Kal says, "Get rid of that thing, please. Hopefully there won't be any more surprises before we go. Again, my thanks for your hospitality."

[Dave W.]

Jun 16, 2015 22:50:10 GMT -4 Ken said:

From his position near the window, Belarin looks back at Adamant. "I don't like the sounds of this," he says. "Say... remember how the spirits tried to possess us and Syrdan before one jumped into Tangat? Do you suppose the same thing happened to Shorak and Condign?"

"I have not liked anything I have seen or heard since we walked into that tree. It's possible." Adamant says rocking the swaddled baby with a precise rhythm.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Belarin." Adamant says softly while they're alone. Though naming his friend, the warforged's eye gems are kept on the bundle as though he's talking to it. "I am not well-constructed to let others take blame undeservedly. I'm sorry that cost you."

The sound of muted voices comes through the stone walls.

"You may want to get out there, I can watch both Tangat and the son of Streko. I can't tell what they're saying but it sounds a bit like Kal is giving orders. You may need to stop Histra from doing anything unnatural to him."

---

sorry, I fell behind a bit...

[Dave B.]

Shorak looks back at the ghost? Spirit? Whatever it is. His brow furrows in frustration. Turning back to Torcer, Shorak says, "Banish it then. As far from us as you are able. I will have to let my oath go unfulfilled, then." He shakes his head and heads back to the tower, sheathing his sword. "I will need assistance with carrying Condign down to his bed."

Shorak enters the tower and crouches down next to Condign and Streko. "I'm sorry my friend." He says, laying a hand on the tiefling's shoulder. "The ghost gets to survive, although, hopefully it will no longer be a threat to us."

[Ken]

Belarin doesn't react to Adamant's apology, aside from a simple shrug, and even that appears to pain the warlock.

Jun 17, 2015 19:08:35 GMT -4 Dave W. said:

"You may want to get out there, I can watch both Tangat and the son of Streko. I can't tell what they're saying but it sounds a bit like Kal is giving orders. You may need to stop Histra from doing anything unnatural to him."

"Yes, well, getting reprimanded for boorish behavior would be unnatural for Kal," he says. He ventures out of the room, and he soon sees Kal, Histra, Torcer, and ... someone else? No, something else. He can sense the emotions of the grim day -- frustration, fear, and grief -- reaching a boiling point. "What's going on? I'm trying to groan in peace," he says, trying a bit of humor to lighten the dark mood.

[Jeff]

Histra turns at Belarin's approach. She lets Kal explain his plan, adding only the bit about there being a cache of supplies located near one of the gates of the labyrinth.

Inside the barracks chamber, Adamant is alone with Tangat and the child. The baby, whose black skin the warforged can barely see admist the swaddles (she is so very lightweight, he hardly feels as though he's holding anything), wriggles a little.

---

If you've got anything else to add, go ahead. I can't really move forward through a short rest (or until Condign awakes) until someone helps Shorak carry Condign's dead weight elsewhere.

[Joe]

Watching Kal go off on Histra, Streko sighs. He turns to Shorak. "I'm not sure how much help I can provide, but I will grab his legs if you will take his torso."

He once again returns Therendor to his haversack and grabs the Tiefling's legs.