There was a quiet reunion of sorts as Alec and Bob entered
the ruin through the hole cut in the wall by the underground river. Haravak and
Grunhawr had encouraged them to follow after the fimbrul devils once she had
seen them enter the hole left by the landslide in order to cut off their retreat,
and had promised to hold the entrance open. Bathed in the healing light of Siegfried’s banner, the party
ventured forward into the depths of the orcish tomb. The stone steps down were
rough-hewn and perfunctory – there was little artistry in their construction when
compared to gnomish or dwarven stonework, but they were as sturdy and durable
as they needed to be. Holding Fiendsbane aloft to provide light, Varien marched
smartly down the stairs, Alec standing at his shoulder. Behind them, Siegfried
and Theryn walked together, Siegfried’s attention drawn to the walls of the
staircase, intent on drawing out any hidden clues as to what else the tomb
might have had in store for them. “A pity they didn’t continue the frescoes
down into the stairwell,” he sniffed. “Everybody’s a critic,” muttered Theryn. Behind them were Bob and Erwen, with Yeemik bringing up the
rear. “What’s that?” Varien said as he spied something on the steps
several feet in front of him. He moved forward to check it out. It was the body of an orc, recently done-to-death it would
seem. The orc’s armour had taken a fair amount of beatings, but the orc’s flesh
seemed unmarred, though it looked to Varien’s eyes like the humanoid’s life force
had been drained out of him. By a… “Wraiths,” Varien hissed, and stared down at the next level’s
entrance, where an eerie blue light seemed to animate the shadows it cast.
Without a second glance or a second thought, Varien charged down the stairs. Theryn knelt by the corpse, and Erwen sized it up. “Looks
like it’s only been dead a few days,” sniffed the druid. “Don’t even think about it,” Siegfried said, examining the
orc’s weapon – a curious battle axe, the head of which was styled to look like
a grinning skull. And unless Siegfried was mistaken, the clenched jaws of the
skull were made so that something could be fitted between the steel teeth… “Ugh!” Theryn said, withdrawing his hand from the dead orc’s
hip pouch. His hand came out bloody, but uninjured. A sloshing sound from the hip
pouch indicated the source of the blood – it was nearly brimming with it. The monk unfolded his palm and revealed five small vials,
stoppered with silver filigree plugs, containing more blood. “Looks like the
remainder of his supply broke open when he fell,” the monk ventured. “And this
blood looks angry!” Theryn continued as he wiped the gore off on the dead body’s
cloak. Gingerly, he fished around in the orc’s other pocket pouch and came up
with two platinum coins. He pocketed them. Siegfried looked at the blades of the orc’s axe. They had suffered
a serious amount of wear and tear and the edges and face were splashed with
black blood, the kind that would ooze out of a zombie or other undead creature.
“So, this one chopped his way through a horde of undead upstairs only to meet
his end here,” he surmised. “Varien!” he shouted, “Get back here!” “There are wraiths in this pit and there’s no time for
retreat!” the paladin called over his shoulder as he increased his speed down
the stairs. “Oh, so you don’t want to meet the guy who summoned those
blood demons in Ieirithymbul then?” Siegfried called out. “Siegfried, you’re wasting not only your time but my own!”
Varien said as he dashed through the door out of sight, Alec right on his heels. Siegfried sighed and examined the axe further. “Yes, it does
look like one could socket one of these vials into the face of the axe, but for
what purpose?” He grimaced. “One doesn’t need a paladin’s divine sense to smell
the bloody desecration, does one?” He looked at the orc’s other hand, which was
clenched shut in deathly rigidity. Sure enough, the orc’s glove was slick with
fresh blood and embedded with several shards of glass from a broken vial. “Well then, no time to waste!” Siegfried said cheerily,
unslinging Hack and chopping the orc’s arm off at the elbow. Theryn rocked back on his heels. “What are you-” “For future study,” Siegfried explained, wrapping the grisly
trophy in a torn part of the orc’s cloak. “Let’s go save that paladin from
himself!” Erwen smiled and nodded, thinking of his growing collection
of parts. Varien and Alec found themselves in an octagonal chamber
nearly identical to the one they had entered above. It was nearly 80 feet
across with the same sort of murals painted on the vaulted walls and ceiling.
Two waterfalls, fed by the streams above, poured down the abyss, and beneath
the contact spray some mossy growths had begun to adhere to the slick stones.
Varien’s eyes picked out the shattered remains of at least one unlucky fimbrul devil
that had caught an edge as it tumbled from above to scatter on the flagstone
floor. Four orc statues stood in small alcoves in the northeast,
northwest, southeast, and southwest corners of the chamber, and sets of doors led
west, north, and east. Gliding over the stone floor were four apparitions, vaguely
orc-like, their eyes glowing a bright blue-white in anticipation as they saw
their quarry enter. Alec stepped up and cast magic missile , sending three
bolts of force arcing across the chamber to impact on his target. The wraith
grimaced and bared its incorporeal teeth in silent fury. The rest of the party rushed into the room from the
stairwell. Yeemik shouldered past, intent on attacking the wraiths. “Paladin!” Siegfried called, tossing Hack underhanded
towards the Tiefling. “You’ll want something that can take a bite out of those
incorporeal irritants!” Without breaking his stride Yeemik grabbed the axe out of
the air. He rushed at the nearest wraith and chopped down with the enchanted axe,
slashing at the spectre and landing a divine smite. The wraith returned the paladin’s attack, attempting to
slash Yeemik with its claws, but couldn’t find purchase. Another wraith swooped in to savage Alec with a life drain
attack. The barbarian roared in pain and surprise as the creature’s talons
plunged deep into him, spreading necrotic wounds across his bare chest. Yeemik, in making some defensive moves against the first
wraith, backed into a third, who hit him with a life drain that sent the
Tiefling to his knees in agony, permanently weakening him. A fourth wraith glided silently towards Theryn, but the monk
managed to dance out of the way of the creature’s attack. Erwen rushed in and wildshaped into a wolf-like air
elemental , descending on the pair of wraiths savaging Yeemik. Air-wen executed
a whirlwind attack that washed over the two wraiths, who stood their
ground, while Yeemik was picked up and hurled back against the stone wall,
collapsing in a heap on the ground. Theryn disengaged from the wraith before him and rushed
across the room, slamming his bo staff down against one of the wraiths and executing
a stunning strike . He then leaped across the abyss to strike at the next
wraith, dazing it. Bob walked over to where Yeemik lay on the ground. “Hey Yeemik,
what’s up?” “I’ve been better,” wheezed the paladin. “Yeah, tell me about it,” Bob said as he cast greater
restoration , removing the wraith’s curse from the Tiefling. Then he turned
on his heel and drew upon his sorcerous reserves to cast Toll the Dead
on the nearest wraith. The dolorous sound of a bell echoed in the vaulted
chamber as it blasted the wraith with a wave of necrotic energy. The creature
put its hands to its ears and shuddered violently until it was suddenly ripped
apart by the sound wave. Siegfried had witnessed the effects of the wraith’s life
drain on Yeemik. “Yes, there shall be none of that,” he said, casting protection
from evil and good. He then rushed to block the advance of the nearest
wraith, waving Talon threateningly. “Good plan, Siegfried,” Varien said, casting protection
from evil and good on himself for good measure. He then pointed Fiendsbane
at a wraith and sacred flames spread out to engulf the spectral creature. “Wait!” Alec said. “I have a magical weapon after all!” He pulled
out his borrowed moon-touched longsword and slashed at the wraith before
him. The creature reeled back in pain. Yeemik brandished Hack and slashed recklessly at his target,
missing his first two swings but finally catching the creature with a third,
pumping a smite into it for good measure. The remaining wraiths pressed their attack. Yeemik tried to
dodge but failed, taking another necrotic attack. Siegfried ducked out of the way of the claws of the wraith
before him. The other two wraiths, stunned, stood in a silent swaying stupor. Air-wen unleashed another whirlwind , tossing a wraith
20 feet away through the stone wall of the chamber. The reeling creature
vanished. Theryn struck out with his bo staff twice and then hurled
himself away from his foes, ignoring one of the wraith’s attempts to claw him
as he did so. Bob used his sorcerous abilities to twin Toll the Dead
as he attacked the two wraiths, who stumbled beneath the necrotic blast of
sound, but held their ground. He still had time to cast a healing word
on the battle-scarred Yeemik. Siegfried held out Talon with a swordfighter’s skill and
plunged it into a particularly vital part of the wraith’s incorporeal anatomy.
The spectral creature shuddered and reeled in response, but Siegfried paused
only to knock it to the ground and stab through the top of its transparent head,
turning it into a wispy cloud that vanished, leaving only the echo of a scream
behind. Varien sent another sacred flame towards his target,
but his second strike missed its mark. Again, Yeemik wildly flailed his axe at the wraith in front
of him, only landing one of three attempts, which he embellished with a divine
smite . The reeling wraith missed. Another wraith reappeared behind Bob, melting out from the stone
wall, and clawed at the cleric. Air-wen attacked with yet another whirlwind, sending the
spectre flailing away. As it did so, it was torn apart into wisps of oblivion. Theryn wheeled his bo staff on the final wraith, striking it
first in the midsection, causing the incredulous creature to double-over in
agony, before thrusting the butt end of the staff down through the spectre’s skull
to crack against the stone floor. The wraith shuddered and was gone. The party paused to catch their breath. Varien took note of
another sprawled orc corpse on the ground nearby, a fresh kill. Siegfried looked around. “The Hall of March Victorious,” he
said, interpreting the murals. “Those statues you see will be famous champions
of legend not doubt stirring the hearts of the horde as they march to death and
glory.” His eyes narrowed. “But wait, those statues…those weapons they are
holding aren’t carved from stone.” Siegfried turned on his eldritch sight and took note
of at least two magical weapons pulsing in the statues’ arms. Theryn ventured over to a statue that held two silvered,
serrated shortswords. His eyes widened. Siegfried also noticed that a ring of runes had been drawn
around each of the statues within his field of vision. “Careful now,” he said. “There
could be some magical trickery at work here.” “Thinking of robbing graves now, are you?” Varien said. “No, merely returning my family’s heirlooms to their
rightful owners,” Siegfried said. He stepped forward to inspect the nearest
statue, careful not to step on the invisible warding circle. “A pike, decorated
with holy symbols of some deity called Karzag the Radiant.” He frowned. “Never heard
of him.” Air-wen growled as he perceived unnatural shadows flitting
bat-like in the alcoves above the statues. “How about this,” Varien said, reaching out with Fiendsbane
to tap the pike out of the frozen stone clutches of the champion statue. The weapon
skittered and rolled out towards Siegfried. There was a purple flash as the runes ignited in an instant,
burning away. Then there was only a slight rush of wind, like a sigh, that
washed over the party members.
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“Was that a good thing?” Varien asked, uncertainty creeping
into his voice.