Turn 58 -- Opening of Evil

Stairwell: "Gee, evil presence, huh?" Garth asks with a twinkle of uncharacteristic humor. "And here I didn't get them anything. Well, it's not too late." Tapping the head of his mace in the palm of his left hand, he punishes those present with the following, "Perhaps I can rap a few skulls for 'em!" With that said, he moves off down the corridor to lend what aid he can.

Unnerved by the thought of an evil presence, Randor solemnly moves behind him.

"Odin's blood, I guess we shall be on with it," begins Dain as he and Talimar follow after the others, "I hope this bastard has a hefty unguarded spell book. I could really use the extra firepower. If we are facing living opponents my sleep spell could come in handy. It won't be much use against old one-eye though. If we meet him face to face I'll take out his hench men with multiple sleep spells but it won't do any good against him or his undead goons. The rest of you should be able to concentrate on him and off him before he can hang his cowardly tale between his legs and run. I have a chill touch spell but I don't know if it has any effectiveness against undead or not. I suppose it would be worth a try and then I would know. God I hate learning by trial and error. I don't know how many times I've wished my master didn't have to leave me in such haste."

Talimar simply nods to the young mage as the two of them make their way down the hallway. Back at the entrance the hallway, Ras' eye caught on two strange piles of dust that are against the southern wall about ten feet apart. He stops and kneels to investigate further.

Outside the opening:

Beleg, Gnore, Ortho, Druckner, Kersath and Dain stand before the ten foot wide opening to the south peering into the darkness beyond. Pulling a torch off a sconce on the wall, Beleg holds it forth to provide greater light into the room beyond. As the torch gets closer, the light springs forth in the room but it appears that the darkness actually moves forward to claim the light, smothering and snuffing it. The light from the torch only illumines a few feet within the room before beyond consumed. All the party members looking into the room have a strong feeling of sorrow and extreme pain pass over them. Beleg and Ortho both have to fight the urge to be sick from an overwhelming surge of pain and loss from deep within the room.

Beleg looks at his friends, then at the darkness beyond the opening, "Do you all feel the foulness coming from this darkness? I've never experienced anything like it!"

"I too feel something...unnatural about this place," offers Dain.

"I can't say it is evil because I have never felt 'evil' before. It is definitely unsettling though."

"Well I have felt 'evil' before," says Kersath as he steps back from the opening. "And I can tell you that a great evil has taken place beyong this opening." He then turns to look at Beleg as he unsheaths his twin longswords, "Well, my friend, what do you say? Do we charge in like blind fools and hack everything in our path? What do you know, the dwarven way may be the solution...."

"Nay, friend Kersath, I do not think that would be wise," answers Beleg in a low voice.

Turning to the other group members, Kersath continues, "Even my eyes could not pierce that darkness. Do any of you have a trick that could help here?"

Peering into the opening, Gnore frowns in disgust. "This evil presence is not for me. I'll guard that direction." Gnore indicates with a nod down the section of passageway that he and Ortho just returned from. Stepping out of the way of the opening, he stands guard with his bastard sword gripped tight before him, glancing over his shoulder once in a while to see the progress of the company.

"Aye, Beleg, whatever is in that room could stan' some removin', yet I fear we may not be able to do much to whatever beast lurks within with our plain steel weapons. If it be a fearsome beast, few among us could do more than irritate the thing. I vote we leave it and explore other areas first," offers Ortho. As he sees the others approach, he adds, "Randor, how 'bout throwing a light spell in there? You seem to be well rested now."

"Wait," says Dain to the group. "If we can all regroup, we can rely on the priest's spells, Kersath's blade and Talimar's bow. One of my offensive spells may also be of use but I cannot guarantee it. At the very least, the rest of us could slow it or them, as the case may be, while the others get rid of them."

Talimar continues forward to the opening as his friend speaks. Feeling the evil eminating through the doorway, Talimar peers inside. Seeing nothing beyond the few feet of the torch, he pulls a silver coin from his pouch and flips it through the doorway, listening for the sound of it hitting inside the darkness. The coin flips through the air in the room, after a few feet it is lost in the darkness but it does make a sound as it lands on the stone floor in the room.

"That was successful, but perhaps we should try tossing something a bit heavier. Perhaps Gnore or Druckner? On second thought, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea," chuckles Dain to the group.

"Hey, over here, I found a secret passage!" yells Ras from up the hallway. "Can someone help me get this open?"

"Since I'm here, I'll go," offers Gnore from his position on guard. Gritting his teeth, he moves back up the hallway to assist Ras.

Talimar watches with interest as Ras and Gnore work on the doorway, "Kersath, why don't you stand ready at the doorway while some of us check out the tunnel. Any volunteers?"

"If you don't need more people to stay behind, I will go," offers Dain before as he starts to make his way up the passage.

"Seems only fitting' thah I shood follow Gnore this time," says Ortho as he steps in front of the mage. "Dain, if ye wish ta come, stay behind me. Ah'm a wee bit more hardy than you." With a nod from Dain, the two start down the hallway.

"Perhaps this leads into the room. It may even give us the element of surprise," says Dain.

Back at the opening, Druckner has become impatient with the thought of the evil presence before them. "Move aside, move aside! This darkness is unnatural but it doesn't scare me!" With axe in hand, he then slowly enters the dark area. He stops a few feet inside the room, just enough that he can still see Beleg and Talimar outside the opening. He then looks around the room. As he stepped into the room, the feeling of deep sorrow and pain intensified tenfold. The air is much heavier in the room also and gives the stout dwarf the feeling that it is itself trying to suffocate him where he stands. As he looks about the room, he is quickly assaulted by another sense of pervursion as there is an overwhelming stench of death and decay within the room.

Scanning the room, he can only see a few feet in front of him. What he does see chills him to the bone. Scattered around the room are several dead bodies just thrown around. The bodies appear to have been horribly tortured and mutilated before being tossed aside. As he turns to the south he can just make out what appears to be a temple or altar of some kind. Just as he is about to move forward to investigate several decaying arms reach out and grab him, pulling him further into the room.

From the opening, Talimar and Beleg see the dwarf being grabbed before the torch falls out of his hand and they lose sight of their companion!

Down the hallway, Ras just finished finding the activator for the secret door and with the grinding sound of moving stone, the block moves back revealing a dark passage ahead.....