Editing Journal - A Search for Answers (section)

==Hall of Death==

We started moving down the tunnel, with me checking for traps and Falcor behind me holding faggot up for light. The tunnel turned sharply left, and a little way down we could see that there was an opening on the right, like a hole broken through the wall. As we got closer we could see that there was another circle... this time with fresh blood and no star, marked on the floor in front of the hole.

I peered around the corner into the hole - it was a steep downward slope that then levelling off, and reminded us immediately of the goblin hole entrance we had seen in the north. I could hear some muffled sounds, and was pretty sure that there were goblins in there somewhere. Arad darted past, without any change the the sounds, and Falcor followed, moving ahead of him. As he did so, though, the floor collapsed under him! He disappeared down out of sight with a crash.

Arad peered down and then lowered himself into hole, quickly trying to treat Falcor's injuries from the fall, with some success to be fair. I leapt down to join them, landing lightly. I had lit the hooded lantern as we entered, and now we were below floor level I uncovered it to examine the hole in more detail. It was about twenty five feet long, with straight sides. The tunnel seemed to continue beyond this, so I started making my way to the far side.

Falcor dusted himself off and cursed the stupid hole, but followed on behind. When I reached the end I got onto Arad's shoulders and he stood so that I could just reach the top and jump slightly to pull up and roll into the tunnel. Arad then boosted Falcor, who pulled himself up, then turned and helped Arad in turn. Falcor extinguished the faggot, and I passed the lantern to him for better light as we went on.

The passage ended shortly afterwards, opening into a large chamber that disappeared into gloom at the far end. The hall was lined with sarcophagi on both sides and dug out of ancient, solidly packed earth. The ceiling was higher, about twenty feet up, with a curve to the side walls. It was not ornate, but crudely built. A couple of the lids of the sarcophagi were askew, and another fully open, although none of them were decorated in any way. There were some unnatural patches where there was a lack of heat further into room, which was ominous.

We moved cautiously into the room, drawing weapons. The light showed that the next two sarcophagi were also open, but the patches of cold ahead had not moved yet. Inching forward, the light revealed a skeletal warrior standing in front of a final sarcophagus, this one in the centre of the hall. The warrior did not react or move in any way. We stopped at once, knowing that at some point it would turn on us, and trying to draw up a plan, although we went a little further to reveal four more skeletal warriors, slightly different in appearance to the first, so we were facing five.

We came together in the centre, protecting Arad as he called on the Creator to banish these foul creatures. Falcor rolled the lantern a little way forward to ensure that we had light and to keep his hands free. Arad called out his prayer chant loudly, holding his new tree amulet before him... but it still did nothing.

Falcor had a new idea - magic acid! Well it was different... We collected our waterskins, bar one, in a pile and Falcor read from one of his scrolls. He was really nervous and shaking, but thankfully it seemed to work as the scroll disintegrated in his hands. He winced and stepped back, but we were too busy trying to get rid of the dangerous skins to really notice.

As we ran forward to throw they came rapidly to "life" and charged forward at us, forcing us to throw the first skin practically in their face. I missed, but Arad hit and the acid coated the skeleton, burning away bits of armour. I got scratched as the thing leapt at me, although I turned away from the worst of the blow, and I managed to lob my last skin over and into one of the creatures at the rear. Acid splashed over it, again burning at whatever bits were left from its previous life.

I was scratched lightly again, unable to land a blow in return. Arad put his hammer into one with a good swing, and the foe disappeared completely! Falcor charged into one on right, pushing it back but not quite bearing it down to the floor. He followed up with a stab, doing heavy damage with the dagger. I stab the one that stood at the front when they were guarding, but again found that my weapons would not do any damage. Falcor kept pushing his foe back, this time successfully bearing it to the ground.

As we fought we noticed an ominous black mist starting to rise from the sarcophagus at the end of the hall. Falcor finished off the one underneath him with the dagger, then got back to his feet. I was struck with a short sword, but luckily my armour turned it aside. Arad landed another good hit, doing significant damage but not putting the thing down. Falcor grabbed another one, forcing it towards a sarcophagus. I leapt towards him, trying to get away from the attacker I couldn't hurt, but got cut nastily along my side as I jumped away.

A wraith started to form out of the black mist - it was the source of the evil, as we had seen in visions and in the dark past we had all escaped from!

Arad smashed one down, at least helping with the odds. Falcor tried to move back, shouting "let's go!" He kept stabbing the one he had grappled, though, until it stopped struggling. Arad engaged the one that had cut me so badly. The bleeding was bad, and I lay in the coffin wondering whether it would be an ironic resting place as I bled out. Then I remembered the potion I had! Not knowing what it would do, I was a little nervous, but what could be worse than this? I downed it quickly, and almost immediately felt much better. My wound knitted before my eyes and before I knew it I was feeling like I'd not even been in a fight!  I told them it was a good potion...

Arad was not faring so well, though, and got stabbed badly. He did strike back, doing some damage, but not enough to fell the last skeleton. We did not have much time now! Although we would only reflect on it later, we did notice that the wraith forming wore a crown, and that it had a single point at the front. Whether that was important or not remained to be seen.

Falcor moved to engage the last skeleton, flanking to avoid Arad's swinging hammer. I tumbled behind it so that we surrounded the thing completely. I knew that none of my weapons would hurt it, so I tried to grab at its arm and disrupt its attacks, but it frustratingly kept moving its arm just out of my reach every time I thought I was about to get hold. Falcor scraped it with the dagger, but didn't get a solid connection, whilst Arad tried something new - as he could will his hammer smaller and bigger with a thought, he shrank it down to move more easily, then began the swing and caused it to grow to full size just before hitting the foe. Well, that was the theory... it was clear he needed a bit more practice as he missed wildly with his first attempt. Falcor connected with his sword, using the flat of the blade in an attempt to club the thing's head off, but the force of the blow was not sufficient and it kept moving.

The skeleton was still trying to claw at Arad, but his armour was protecting him for now. I felt an ominous darkness starting to envelop me... the wraith was here! I shrank and rolled away to one side, a deep chill throbbing in my arm where it's incorporeal fingers just missed touched me. Thankfully it was only fleeting and I managed to get clear. Arad tried his "little hammer, big hammer" trick again, but I think he overcompensated for the last time and missed so badly that he almost lost his grip entirely! Falcor had got a good position, though, and thrust the dagger inside the thing, causing it to collapse into a pile of bones with bits of armour clanging to the floor around it.

Falcor turned on the wraith, shouting "for Maladan!" and thrusting his sword into its form... but there was nothing for it to connect with and he met no resistance. I darted to the sarcophagus behind it, hoping to find another weapon that might hurt it, and heaved the top over to one side. The top crashed to the floor on the other side, and I could see a body laid out for burial inside, with shield and a short sword laid carefully atop the body. The shield had a star inlaid in silver, surrounded by a gold circle. My interest right then was on the sword, though, which had a triangle with a line through it etched onto the blade near the hilt, pointed down the blade.

I grabbed the sword, turning towards the wraith as I did so. As I did, though, time almost seemed to slow and the blade sent a warmth through my arm and body, it felt instantly comfortable and perfectly balanced. It was more than just a fine weapon, though, it felt... connected in some way, to me personally. I could not imagine ever fighting with anything else again. Falcor swiped ineffectually at the wraith with his dagger, instead focusing on trying to pass some ointment to Arad, who he could see was badly wounded. Arad was not responding though, as he had started a chant that was growing in strength, calling on the Creator in some way and focused entirely on the wraith before him.

As Arad's words came to a crescendo his hand started to glow brighter and brighter until it was painful to look at, then a ray of light shot out, enveloping the wraith in a ball of light that exploded (although there was no sound or pressure) with tiny shards of darkness splitting up into nothing until the light faded with a sharp crack of thunder and we were left in darkness. After a moment I realised that it wasn't actually dark - the lantern was still casting a light, it was just taking time for our eyes to adjust after the intense light Arad had channeled.

After a moment of stillness the ground began to shake and dust fell from the ceiling. We were all slightly stunned, but I eventually found my voice and called to the others to come and look inside the sarcophagus with me. Arad called "what have you found?" whilst swinging his hammer at the fallen skeleton. As it struck the floor a crack appeared and the shaking intensified. Cracks started to appear in the ceiling as well. We needed to get out of there!

I looked in the sarcophagus again. It looked like there was once a crown on the body's head, like the one we saw on the wraith, but it was missing. I said to Falcor "grab me!" and took hold of the shield as he picked me up. As soon as I touched it, just like the sword, I felt a connection, and resolved never to let it go... which was a little worrying in hindsight, as I had never trained with a shield or intended to keep it until I touched it.

Arad had got the ointment that Falcor had thrown at him, and was putting it on his wounds. We shouted at him to run as Falcor carried me towards the tunnel we had entered through. He followed, stumbling as the floor became more uneven and cracked, but keeping his feet. As Falcor carried me I drew and threw away my old sword, sheathing the new one in its place and getting a better grip on the shield. I didn't want to lose them now!

We reached the end of the pit, and I jumped down with a bit of "encouragement" from Falcor. Arad took a moment to light a torch (yeah, we didn't pick up the lantern in our rush to get out, so bite me) and then they scrambled down, Falcor running past me to get to the far side and prepare to boost us up. Arad was lifted, tipping the torch over the edge and pulling himself up, and then Falcor threw me up after him. I sprinted forward to the corner ahead as Arad helped Falcor up. The whole place was still shaking and rumbling so we were not out of danger.

Arad waved the torch at the goblin hole, looking for a way out, but found that it had collapsed completely. Chunks of the ceiling were falling down on and around us now, with Falcor taking a nasty smack to the head from one particularly large piece. I was hit by a clod, staggering me a little, but I kept going. We headed for the stone room ahead, hoping that it might be a bit more stable. Arad seemed to be struggling to keep up, possibly feeling the effects of his wounds as he pushed himself forward. Falcor was as swift as ever, though, picking me up again and running into the room with me.

The stone was no more stable... in fact it meant the falling debris was more dangerous! Falcor sprinted up the stairs even as they buckled beneath his feet, Arad following behind. As we reached the entrance hall the walls were starting to cave in and bits of ceiling fell around us. Falcor carried me out of the door, and I looked behind to see the house collapsing as the hill itself seemed to subside. Arad cleared the door but a part of the stone portico fell and knocked him straight to the floor, unconscious!

I shouted at Falcor to stop and help Arad, and to be fair he did so, running back despite the danger as the house began to fold in on itself. He started to drag him out, being hit a glancing blow by another piece of masonry before he could get clear. I ran up to help drag him, but as soon as he was out from the portico Falcor stopped to use his last jar of ointment on him. The ground was still shaking, and even here was becoming dangerous as mini sinkholes started to appear around the hillside. Thankfully Arad started to come to and we dragged him to his feet (well, mainly Falcor to be fair).

It was about midday outside, and fully light. This was not a surprise except that the permanent gloom that had accompanied the inside of the illusory circle had disappeared and the light was now bright and welcoming. We could see the tangled, webbed forest around us as before, but the light made it look merely tangled rather than sinister. We could hear, even above the rumbling and cracking, noises of creatures fleeing from the house. Whatever we had done, it seemed to have lifted the curse from this place, and was driving at least some of the evil creatures away in the process.

We didn't have time to stay and take in the view, though, as the ground was collapsing in places and we needed to get off the hill. The mostly demolished house was collapsing into the hill, which seemed to be subsiding around it as well. I could see a huge spider escaping from the house, presumably what we heard upstairs behind the locked door, but it showed no interest in us thankfully.

We started jogging down the hill, with Arad thanking Falcor and able to come with us. He offered to carry (yeah, steal more like) the shield I had found, but I refused. I would not give it up that easily! To be fair, he did try to lift me up to carry me, but he was still weakened from the wounds those foul skeletons had inflicted and was unable to even lift me up. Falcor exclaimed "come on, get a move on, we have to get out of here"! Arad explained that he was too weak to lift me, so Falcor grabbed me and ran to the south, with Arad following.

We could hear the whole house just imploding behind us, and I was able to get a good look as the others focused on keeping their feet. The whole of the hilltop was cratering, with any remains of the house being buried within it. Arad said "don't forget the silver - we can come back for it"!  I didn't think we would be getting anything from that tomb any time soon, and nor did I fancy coming back now that we had banished what was here. Victory felt good, though, even if it was hard won.

The ground became firmer after a while and Falcor slowed to a jog. Setting me down, we continued to the coast at a walk to allow everyone to get their breath back. It had been a harrowing escape, after all. We took a minute to look back, although there was now nothing visible atop the hill, which itself was noticeably lower, and then began to walk back along the coast. It was odd seeing the dense forest to the side of us, where before it had appeared light and sporadic due to the illusion, but it didn't take long to realise that there was something nagging at us... hunger!

It had been ages since we ate, so we sat down for some proper lunch, Falcor sharing his food for once (is this what he counts as a celebration?) and plenty to go round knowing that we would be returning to the village where we could get more. We also talked a little about what had happened and what it meant, although we didn't know much. At least we knew now that those shades could be defeated! Falcor called it a "Sarn" and talked of how it had destroyed Maladan (his home) and his people. He suddenly embraced Arad, thanking him for destroying it, although Arad of course asked him to thank the Creator. We also noted the crown with the single point, in case that was important, and how it had been missing from the body. I was flush with excitement and new-found hope, but the others seemed more broody and reflective so I sat quietly to enjoy the last morsels of the meal.

We shared our last waterskin and talked a little about the symbols on the shield and the short sword. If the triangle on the sword was part of a whole that also included the symbols on the shield, then in addition to the star (two triangles) and the circle, there were intersecting lines like a cart wheel, similar in fact to the burnt lines around the obelisk in the village. Hmm... we were still no wiser as to the meaning of these symbols, though.

We enjoyed the rest of the walk back to the village, our burdens for at least one afternoon having been lifted and the day pleasant. We arrived back around mid-afternoon to see the expected activity trying to make repairs and sort out usable remains, particularly focused around the meeting hall in the south. We were greeted by most with a nod or a wave, although the children came running to see if there was anything to see. Arad gave them some coppers, which made them excited.