Autumn 1372

"Hmmm..." Taking one of the glowing crystals, Ashara's eyebrows crunched together as she studied it. "It almost looks like it has Continual Light cast on it, but...the light seems to be coming from within..." The weirwood Rod of Curing was quickly fished out and touched to the crystals, which immediately erupted into intense blue flame. Whatever these things were, they were much more magical than one of their simple Continual Light marbles!

She held one up into the sunlight, but it appeared to be completely clear. No warmth emanating from it. No sound. Given their shape and color, they definitely weren't the same kind of crystals that lined the walls of the Memory Chamber within the library. Those they actually had a few of... The dead mage they'd found in the Hall of Scents must have pried some of them from the stone, but they no longer looked active at all. Still, if that wizard had been interested in them for some purpose, chances were that their wizard would be interested as well! Therogeon's birthday was going to come early this year!

"I've no idea, my dear," she admitted, with an apologetic shake of her head as she handed the crystal back to Elric. "I might guess that the dwarves that lived here could have made them as light sources... Certainly more efficient than burning candles or oil, but these things seem a little too magical for so mundane a use. We could probably take them with us and have a closer look at them tonight though!

"Do you have any ideas? Ever seen anything like this in Evereska?"

"Ehhhhh... " he answered noncommittally. "They have a lot of... stuff in Evereska. Lots of crystal... lots of magical glowing..." He just shook his head as they put the glowstones in the bag. I never saw anything that looked like this though. Maybe the same principles... Either way, I'll be interested in finding what they do..."

The lower floor held little else of either monetary or intellectual knowledge so they continued up to the next floor. They were able to discover from long lasting carvings, that the store owner and clan patriarch was named Bakrich Fistcarat. The upper story showed more of what had become of Clan Fistcarat.

Long dead bones of dwarf, orc and probably flinds were scattered about living quarters. It was obvious the dwarves were outnumbered at least three to one... but gave better than they got. Broken weapons and scraps of armor showed the battle a little too well for the Everdawns. They'd seen enough battles to let their imagination tell the tale.

During the last days of the war, the city was being overrun. The warriors of this house had fallen back to protect the hearth and home. Elric didn't know much about dwarven anatomy, but two of the skeletons seemed smaller. Probably either females or the young.

The Orcs had forced them to retreat to this back room, paying dearly for every step they took. Finally they had nowhere else to go and made their last stand. Amongst the wreckage he spotted a dull gleam. Brushing the dirt and dust away he found a horned helmet covered in jewels. Beautiful but functional, there were many dings and cuts and more than a few missing gems. Still even if nothing else it's monetary value was immense...

Most of the weapons were shattered or rusted beyond worth, but he was able to dig up one shield that was still held together by sheer dwarven stubborness. It was heavier than her old one, and despite it's ragged look they touched it with the rod anyway. Decidedly not magical.

Still... Every little bit helped! A nonmagical shield was better then no shield at all...

One other thing caught his eye. A mace. Stil looking like it was first forged he couldn't help but whistle when he saw it. A dark purple luster shown up at them as called Ashara's attention to it. The mace was a footman's mace and by it's lightness and condition he could tell it was very magical even before the wierwood rod lit it with fairie fire.

"Did I ever tell you what I 'wanted' to get you for a wedding gift, Melamin..." He smiled wistfully at the memory. "It seemed like we'd waited so long... and then everything happened so fast, I didn't have the time... or traveling ability to put it in action."

He nodded down at Dawnspeaker. "We were also operating under the impression that Lathander would be taking that back before the wedding could take place... I'd hoped to get you a replacement... something magical enough to hurt all the demons and undead we keep running into. Something that would let you keep adventuring after your 'mission' was complete."

He chuckled at the irony and stood back up and held out the weapon. "Granted... Lathander never took it back... but he could anytime... Wouldn't hurt to have a spare back home."

Sobered by the tragedy that occurred here...the loss of life, the murder of innocents, Ashara was silent as they picked through the rubble. She was quite pleased to find a shield to use, even in the state that this one was in! It just felt odd last night as she fought the abishai, to have her left arm free and not have some thickness of steel to place between herself and the enemy. The heft of this one would take some getting used to, but if she were to be fighting in melee as often as they did yesterday, perhaps a bit of strength training would be good for her...

Ashara smiled warmly at her husband as he held out the newly found mace, brushing her hand against his as she took it from his grasp. The weight of it...or lack thereof...surprised her quite a bit. It looked as if it was crafted from a single piece of the strange, shimmering purple metal, and the priestess had never seen its like. On the haft, just below the flanged head, was the maker's mark. A four pointed star on a black anvil. Something about that symbol looked familiar to her, as if she'd come across it in her studies of ancient dwarven history, but she just couldn't place it at the moment. Perhaps Ivan Bouldershoulder would recognize it! She glanced over at the missing mithril plate and damaged chain at her shoulder and grimaced. Perhaps the dwarves of Dagadar would be recognizing it first...

"Your intention for a wedding gift was very thoughtful, A'maelamin," she said softly, "even if it didn't work out as planned... And honestly..." With her free hand, Ashara reached up to touch the onyx pendant that always hung at her neck just above the glowing medallion. "Honestly there is nothing in this world that I would trade for this, more so the words that accompanied it. Nothing... Its value to me is worth so very much more than gold!" She smiled and flushed deeply as a wave of heat flowed through her at the memory of receiving his gift and note that day.

"And you're quite right," she chuckled at herself after clearing her throat of the emotion welling within it, "we don't know when this 'temporary trust' will come to an end. As far as I've read, this is the longest that Dawnspeaker has remained in one place. Certainly its purpose should be revealed soon, and it would undoubtedly be useful to have a replacement when that time comes..."

The not knowing troubled her a bit. Lathander remained as silent on the issue as he had been the morning after the Most Hated Wyrm fell... There must be something else yet to do, and though the mission hadn't been revealed to them yet, Ashara was confident that the time would come when that question would be answered in full.

"Maybe..." he whispered with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Maybe Dawnspeaker just likes you! After all... why would it want to go back home when it's having SOOOOO much fun down here! All the demons and dead things to smash... " He just started laughing. "I don't know.. makes sense to me."

Regardless he wasn't going to worry about Dawnspeaker anymore. It hadn't gotten him anywhere yet! There was always a slight nagging at the back of his mind. That they weren't 'done' yet. Freeing Dagadar had earned her the right to carry it, Stopping Xvim was it's purpose. One they completed admirally... There were no more missions they were bound to follow. Was there?

Her searches had come up empty, Their lives were their own as far as they could tell... but he couldn't help but know eventually they'd be called again. He only hoped The Most Hated Wyrm wasn't practice for the new mission...

Maybe their answers would be found in the Dawnspire!! Maybe the mace would disappear in the middle of a fight sometime when the morninglord needed it... He felt better knowing they this new mace handy... just in case.

His ears had turned red again from her words about his gift... He'd never imagined at the time it would affect her so... An old gem he'd had in his pocket... Just goes to show that even simple items can be 'magical' in their own way.

The half-elf ran his thumb over the familiar stone and smiled. "I'm glad melamin... I'm also more glad than you can imagine that we didn't wait till Dawnspeaker left! Honestly, I can't even imagine not being married right now..."

"It's good to hear that you haven't found our new life to be completely intolerable," Ashara teased as she stowed the mace away in the Haversack, "and I agree! It's hard to remember what it was like not waking up to you every morning... Would've made our journeys over the last months distinctly less enjoyable, that's for certain!"

She smiled brightly and pressed Elric's rough hand to her cheek. "My dear husband...," she whispered, looking up at him with a fondness in her eyes that told exactly how fortunate she felt to be able to call him that.

With nothing more of interest to be found amidst the remains of the Fistcarat home, the Everdawns made their way back downstairs where they pulled out their map. They were nearly at the southeastern corner of the city.

"Looks like there's nothing left standing on this street besides piles of rubble," she said, after peeking out the door. "Guess we're heading to the northwest next, but we'll soon need to decide whether to continue along the outskirts of the city or head deeper into Dlabraddath." Pressing her lips together in thought, she looked to the salk sirra master. "Personally, I think the Dawnspire would've been built at the edge of the city, rather than surrounding itself with ruins on every side. Consecrating and constructing so large a site amidst such a mess would be a nightmare! But," she admitted, "that's just an assumption based on no facts..."

Ashara sighed and traced her finger along the roads to the north. "I hate passing anything by, but you were right about the horses... It's only a matter of time until we run into a real problem with them. Their best chance of survival would be to find the temple as soon as possible. What do you think? Should we do a street by street search of the city, or travel along the outskirts in hope of seeing something or maybe finding someone to ask?"

"Well.. that's two temples of the Morninglord that are not in the east..." He said with a chuckle. Looking at the vast amount of territory left to cover stole some of his mirth.

"Hmmm... Well... Where do you think would be likely?" He pointed to the conglomerated mess of the buildings that would be coming up the road. "Regardless of Consectrating concerns, if these buildings are in same shape as what we've passed... it wouldn't be very defenisble. All sorts of monsters and nasties could sneak up..."

He pointed to the western part of the city. "Same thing here.. Unless there was some mystical reason they chose to put it there... I don't know..."

He was quiet for a moment trying to put himself in the shoes of the travelers that came here so long ago. "Operating of course under the assumption that the Dawnspire still stands... Then I'd guess it HAD to be defensible to survive long in this city... So probably someplace fairly open with a clear line of sight..."

"There's a river through town... Granted it had trolls, but maybe the dawnlords needed the fresh water... especially if they can't trust their magic."

He shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know... maybe being out in the open is as much a death sentence as being surrounded... There are a few open areas toward the south and the West... Maybe we should just try to circle the outskirts, then work our way toward the center... "

Ashara nodded in agreement. "A really good point about the water... They might also have the same issue with food and probably would need a space to grow their own, which would be another reason that an open area might be preferable."

Scanning the map, it looked like there were a few clear areas on the outskirts of the city, but only one that appeared to have an abundance of water.

"What about here," she suggested, pointing to the large clearing on the south central edge of the city. "It's just east of that lake, and assuming after seven hundred years that it's still a clearing, it seems like there would be plenty of room to build a temple there!"

Her eyes lit with excitement at the prospect of meeting the brave priests who had carved a place for sanctuary among these evil infested ruins. She prayed that they were still here...

"Better yet," Ashara grinned up at the half elf, "I betcha we could make that clearing today! As long as we're not terribly waylayed of course... Shall we start heading in that direction?"

"Seems as logical as anything else, I guess..." he returned her grin. Following the snow cleared path to the south they noticed the path continued farther than their map showed. This must have been one of the roads coming into the city from the Moonsea ride... before the paths and roads were taken back by nature or closed by elves.

Turning toward the northwest road they soon passed the trees blocking their view of the west. It was obvious that whatever happened during the war, there was some major battles fought around here. Buildings were shattered by powerful magics Some were simpy 'gone', while other left rubble scattered about.

Suddenly a loud growling language caused them to stop and duck to the side. Something was up ahead of them.. a lot of somethings. Silently he handed Ashara the reins to his horse and indicated he'd scout it out.

He didn't have to go far. Ahead and to the left, he saw at least a dozen red skinned warriors. Each a little taller then himself, alert and ready for war. Hobgoblins... It apeared that eight were digging through some rubble, while about four were actively on guard. The condition of their armor indicated that they'd been here for a while.

Quietly he slipped back to Ashara and the horses. Grimacing he told her what he'd seen. "Twelve.. I think we could probably take them... but that's a lot for just the two of us..."

He looked around their surroundings. Despite their goal to check the clearing, there were a couple of buildings that were still around them.

"We could check out one of those..." He pointed to a dilapitated tavern and warehouse. "Hope they go away..."

While Ashara had complete confidence that her husband could deal with those hobgoblins on his own if need be, her concern was what other attention that battle might attract... Demons? Undead? Worse? Vailis had mentioned that there was rumored to be dragons here, and THAT was a fight that would need to be avoided at all cost!

"An excellent idea," she agreed wholeheartedly, "I'll follow you as quietly as I can..."

Fortunately the hobgoblins were making enough noise to drown out the sound of Ashara sneaking in plate mail, as they made their way toward the derelict tavern. She was curious as to what they could be looking for. Were they just searching for random treasure, or was there something specific they were trying to unearth? Were they working for someone else that was trying to uncover a powerful item from the ruins?

Tugging a braid to keep her mind focused on the task at hand instead of wandering down fanciful paths, the priestess pulled Himbar along behind her as they approached the building.

Nerves on edge, they inched their way toward the old tavern. 'The Overfull Jack'... an odd name, but with this many cultures clashing together there were bound to be a few odd names...

The western wall was collapsed, and most of the roof was gone, but quickly they ushered the horses in and waited. With a couple of buildings between them, Elric could no longer hear the hobgoblins. Still he was sure they were still there. Best to just hold up for a while.

A quick scan of the tavern revealed little. Even the wine was gone. After a few moments of searching something caught his eye. Just outside the ruined wall he spied what seemed to be a satchel.

"Ashara! Found something..." He said as he hopped outside again. Still no signs of enemies so he moved over towards the potential treasure. What was once a leather satchel was still clutched in a skeletal hand. The hand disappeared under the tilted blocks that were once wall.

"Whoever this is... He's been here as long as this building was destroyed... Maybe as far back as the war itself..." He tried to pick up the satchel only to watch it disolve under his hands. leaving behind just a few ancient coins and shining metal tube.

"Poor fellow..." After tethering the horses, Ashara had stepped through the collapsed wall to see what her husband had found. "Looks like he was in the wrong place at the wrong...What is THAT??"

Peeking over Elric's shoulder, she saw the metallic tube. It was dull black in color, but had been painstakingly polished until it took on a beautiful blueish sheen. Straps and buckles were affixed down the length of it, all of the parts looking as if they'd never seen a day of wear. She didn't need to get the weirwood rod out for this one...

Her eyes widened as she knelt down on one knee lifting the piece of armor in her hands. "I think it's a rerebrace... This part," she explained, tapping at the mithril plate that covered her upper arm between shoulder and elbow. Hers was slightly different, only half of a cylinder, being strapped on over the chain mail. "This was meant for a suit of full plate though. It's definitely not mithril either..." Ashara grinned and shook her head incredulously. "It could be adamantite! I've never actually seen anything like this but while I was being fitted for my armor the dwarves were chatting up a storm about the differences between the rare metals and the challenge of smelting them... After five millenia, I guess they were just happy to have a captive audience!" She chuckled after a barely perceptible wince, reminding herself that the invaluable suit of plate mail had been worth the very thorough and time intensive fitting. "Anyway," she continued, "looks exactly as what they described the finished product to look like..."

Ashara turned it over in her hands, looking for a makers mark or some other kind of identification, and came across a strange square outline etched into what would be the inside part of the arm. When she ran the edge of her fingernail into the groove, she realized it wasn't just an etching, but the outline of a tiny storage compartment! When she pressed on it, the little door released and revealed a note hidden inside.

"Look at this, Love!" So very carefully, the priestess unfolded the note. On one side there was a symbol of a bird, whose wings were made of four pointed stars and on the other was an inscription written in a language that while looked familiar, she couldn't read.

"I have no idea what that symbol represents, but the script looks like it's written in Thorass," she commented, handing the note to Elric for him to inspect more closely. "At least the writing looks very similar to the writing from the book we were given after the Upparkol incident." Ashara chuckled remembering the 'Book of Treasury Goodness' that the elder of the half elves had translated for them. "Where's Therogeon when you need him?"

"Hmmm... or Eddick even... I remember them both working on that book." Elric answered.

"Why would someone carry around just this..." he wondered aloud as he poked around the debris hoping to find the rest of the armor. To no avail.

"Well... I guess we're carrying it now! Too bad it wasn't a Pauldron." he said with a wink. "Of course we should probably do the Detect Evil on stuff before we tried it on... but still... it has to be magical... considering the condition of everything around it... and not even a touch of rust?" His voice was getting excited when they heard a screeching and muffled shouting in the distance and they quickly moved back inside to the appearance of safety...

"Never a dull moment is there..." he grinned as he looked out into the sky.

Sounded like something hungry had stumbled upon the pack of hobgoblins... Grimacing at the thought, Ashara slipped the adamantite rerebrace into the Haversack, and grabbed the handful of coins that lay atop the remains of the satchel. Not because they appeared to be of much monetary value, but because they were different than any other coins she'd ever seen! Could they have been minted in Myth Drannor before the fall?

The coins of gold were marked with two crossed spears, the silver, two crossed axes, and the platinum had two crossed swords. They were square in shape, with a diamond shaped hole punched into the center of them. On the opposite side were elvish runes labeling each coin's monetary value. Wonderful souvenirs!

"Maybe some of the priests at the Dawnspire will be able to translate that note for us," she said, nodding hopefully after they'd ducked back inside the tavern to avoid getting eaten. "I'm terribly curious as to what a note hidden away inside a piece of armor might have to say!"

After a few tense moments wondering if either the hobgoblins or their pursuers would be running in their direction, the muted sounds of combat ceased. Which side had been the victor was anyone's guess at this point!

"Do you think we should take a look out there to see if it's clear to press on to the northwest, or should we check out the warehouse next door and give whatever is munching on those hobgoblins a bit more time to finish their breakfast?"

"Hmmm... I'm not so eager to 'claim winner' in their little dispute... Let's see what's next door. We'll give the winner a chance to move on..."

Quiet as he could he slipped out the back of their building and listened for anything. Once again the ruins were deathly silent. Quickly they both slipped over to the next building. As it turns out, it was less a warehouse, and more a feasthall. "The Lady's Laugh" Elric read as they approached what was once a grand place. "Sounds festive..."

Outside the door they heard a bubbling sound and Elric was instantly on edge. Again, what they saw was harmless. A freestanding fountain of a large tree and what he assumed was supposed to be a dryad. Age had weathered the stone as had battle and magic the half-elf imagined, but surprisingly it still worked. Water sprouted from the top of it, and cascaded down the branches. Where the water came from... he couldn't guess. He was too amazed that the magic that sustained it still worked...

"Very Festive..." he repeated with a grin as he pushed the weathered door open with a loud creak. He cringed at the sound, certain he was ringing a demonic dinner bell. The insides was a wide open area with stairs heading up. Window's were mostly vacant, but the feasthall room was steeped in dark shadows except for the holy symbol Elric still had displayed.

Elven eyes scanned the room seeking any movement when he felt a weird tingling.a few steps in. Daysight shimmered and switched to infravision automatically as the light from Symbol of Lathander simply went out.

Seeing the ornate fountain of the dryad and her tree in the courtyard of the feasthall immediately spurred thoughts of one of CoRD's earlier adventures. It was tragic what happened to that dryad. Though Kaber had ripped her tree from the ground, Ashara never blamed him for the incident... If he hadn't done it, they may still be living that beautiful illusionary forest yet today, entombed there until someone killed the poor creature which would in turn release them from the room. No, her death could be laid squarely at the feet of those that built that mockery of a tomb dedicated to the late Esa El'Hadar. Ashara felt the guilt of more deaths she could count, but THAT wasn't one of them! Well, okay maybe a little guilt...

She also wondered if the fountain's water might be drinkable. They'd refilled all of their waterskins at the pool in Sune's glade, but they'd burned through quite a bit of water with all of the fighting yesterday. Not to mention the horses... The extra waterskins they'd packed in the Haversack were nearly depleted and it might not be best to count on the lake they were heading out towards. First though...better check if the building just behind it was...inhabited...

The remnants of shattered chairs and tables were strewn about what once must have been an impressive room. A few charred chunks of wood lay heaped amid a low pile of old ashes, telling of a campsite that had been made here at one time, but not anytime recently.

Elric was a couple feet in front of her when the lights went out...

She assumed, as any twitchy, seasoned adventurer would, they were being attacked but when Sacred Guardian didn't go off, there was simply confusion. No sounds of incoming attackers, no sound of casting... Continual Light didn't just...quit. Though her recently acquired infravision kicked in as soon as the darkness engulfed them, twenty feet of vision in a room this large didn't make her very comfortable, so she reached for the medallion tucked beneath her cloak. Wait...wasn't that only ten feet of infravision yesterday??

Ashara's medallion still shone out brightly. Perhaps something in here wasn't attacking, but simply didn't like the light? Curious, she walked up to stand beside her husband, when she felt the same tingle he had just before her light spell was snuffed out as well. It felt similar to the sensation when they'd walked inside the Mythal for the first time... Like a field of some sort.

Taking a step back was all that was necessary to relight her holy symbol. "Huh... Anti-magic field maybe?" She stepped back up next to Elric and her light went out again. "Maybe even a dead magic zone? I guess it wouldn't be much of a stretch to believe that one might exist here after all the magical battles that took place."

Her brow furrowed in concern until she turned to look up at Elric, whose face was glowing bright oranges and yellows in her heat vision, which immediately caused her to break into a tiny grin. "Well, we do have a few torches yet, but maybe I could get some practice in with this infravision... Seems I can see a bit farther today, but I'll still have to rely on your instincts as always. We'll just have to remember that while we're in the area, there's no Sacred Guardian nor will the regenerations work..."

A stab of fear shot down his spine as Ashara recognized what happened... and what it meant. Bright red flashed across his face as he tried to hide his embarrassment... and failed. Eldorath would have been ashamed.

When was the last time he relied on just his skill alone? No magic brooches, no fancy bracers, No danger visions... Just his own senses and physical prowess. He couldn't even remember. Had he grown so accustomed... so reliant on magical tools that he panicked without them?? That's NOT how the old elf had trained him...

Of course, in his defense... the old elf hadn't been training him to fight demons either! Still this little bit of introspection stung the half-elf. Weakly he grinned at his wife.

"Ok... Let's just take a quick look around. Remember... if we don't have magic.... then we don't have magic weapons. Sooooo... if we see a demon. Run!"

As the extent of the implications dawned on her, Ashara grew more and more uneasy. The comforting warmth of the Morninglord's power felt strangely...distant, and she knew she'd been cut off from the spells she'd prayed for this morning. Not the first time she'd been cut off from Lathander's power, but in this case at least it wasn't a total separation as it had been after their first visit to Trademeet...

The inability to cast in such areas did not come as a surprise. While her power was divinely granted by Lathander, he like most other deities drew that power from the Weave before channeling it to their followers. So though Ashara didn't technically use the Weave herself, Lathander did, rendering her granted spells inoperable in the area.

Lack of spells was an inconvenience, but they'd done fairly well without using much magic in combat thus far on this little vacation. However, she'd completely taken for granted that all of their equipment would still function, but where the Weave was absent, so was magic...in ALL its forms! Dawnspeaker... The Sword of Quickness... Healing potions even... All of it useless without the Weave.

"You're right Melamin," Ashara spoke softly, not wanting to disturb the silence of this place more than necessary. "Certainly, running could our best option in the case of demons, but we're not defenseless against them if it comes down to it."

There was more than one way to skin a displacer tiger... Though she didn't know all the ins and outs of devils, demons and the differences between the two, she did know that there were other ways to hurt them besides using magical means!

The priestess shifted one of the good sized pouches on her belt from back to front so it was within easier reach. "Holy water isn't magical," she smiled up at him reassuringly, while patting the pouch of vials. "I believe that it could still harm demons and undead in here, and though relying upon that in a dire situation might not be the best choice, if we are being chased off, feel free to chuck a vial at one so we know for next time! I also seem to remember that they don't like silver, and cold iron is effective against some of them as well, but we don't have anythi--"

She stopped and her eyes burned a little brighter as she reached into the Haversack. The silver plated sickle they'd found yesterday appeared in her hand. "Maybe we do," she grinned, handing the weapon to Elric. "It probably wouldn't do much, but something is better than nothing! Might be enough of a surprise to give us that few extra seconds to get back to the 'safety' of the Weave, where they might be smited properly! Smitten? Smote?"

Ashara shrugged at the grammatical quandary and rested her hand on Elric's powerful shoulder. She'd seen the flash of concern on his features and the glance down at his bracers did not go unnoticed.

"It's not the magic that allows you to do the things you do, my dear," she whispered comfortingly. "All of your training is done without that stuff...you may use it, but you don't need it. It's true we're at a disadvantage in here, but I have every faith in you and your incredible skills! We'll be fine if we just keep our wits about us..."

"I hope your right darling..." He answered quietly. He grasped the Silver sickle and turned it over in his hands. It was a good weapon. The half-elf had nearly forgotten about it in the chaos of brain melting and body snatching. Didn't help that he had trouble thinking of a sickle as a 'weapon'.

He remembered helping Ebbard in the fields the harvest before last. While the others had studying and other projects they liked to work on. Elric tended to suffer from an abundance of time and willingness to help. Ebbard understood that the young man may be leaving at any time for the road, but the offer to help when he was around was never taken for granted. He remembered his now father-in-law instructing him in the use of the tool.

Tool or not... he could do some damage with this if needed. He grinned as he bounced the weapon in his hand getting a feel for the odd balance. Yes... if worst came to worst... This would do nicely.

Nervously he led the way deeper into the feasthall. Old tables, once finely polished and broken chairs inticitely carved were scattered about. If he closed his eyes he could almost picture this room full of laughing and singing. That was a long time now... Nobody had sung in this room in a very long time.

Before too long, it became obvious there wasn't anything left in here. beautiful murals they could hardly see by the torchlight. Wall carvings that were fascinating... But nothing that would fit in a sack. on the plus side, there were no monsters or demons lying in wait to pounce on them in their vulnerable state either. The stairs going up were blocked or barred somehow... and soon they found themselves back to the door where their holy symbols lit up again.

"Well... That was fun." Elric said with a sigh of relief. "Ready to keep going?"

"Quite ready," she chuckled, stashing the silver sickle away in the Haversack after it was handed back to her. While their concerns of demons might have been unnecessary this time, it was very possible that there might be more areas of dead magic, especially in the main city where she guessed that most of the heavy fighting went on. At least they would have something of a plan if the situation came up again in the future. Maybe she could brush up on her demon/devil lore at the temple... Surely those priests would know everything there was to know about them!

As they exited the feasthall, Ashara led her horse over to the fountain. She touched the weirwood rod to the clear water but there was no aura, though the stone fountain itself was magical. The concept wasn't an unfamiliar one. Most temples she'd been to had a holy water font that seemed to work in the same way.

The priestess always kept a spell available to Create Food and Water, but considering the unreliability of casting, it was probably best that they use what they can when they came across it! After determining the fountain water was drinkable and clean, they filled up all of their empty waterskins and allowed the horses to drink before setting out once again to the northwest. Hopefully whatever had been eaten up ahead was being happily digested elsewhere...

Elric shuddered as they approached the scene of the battle. At least six of the twelve hobgoblins were dead. Torn to bloody pieces and tossed about. Swords and shields were scattered and more than one blade was snapped cleanly in half.

Gingerly stepping around the blood seeping into quickly melting snow, he tried to get a feel for the battle. The scene playing out in his head made his stomach queasy. Whatever it was that stumbled upon the hobgoblins hadn't been 'hungry'. These things were shredded and torn for the pure pleasure of it.

Unless it took the missing ones with it... but it seemed more likely they had escaped. He hoped they had escaped... Nothing deserved to die like that.

Curiosity nagged at the half-elf and he examined where the hobgoblins had been rummaging. Scraps of cloth and bone trapped under stone. Same as they had found the rerebrace on. Once again the realization of how similar this place was to a tomb struck him. so many dead... in so many places...

The bards had been right though... There was so much treasure in Myth Drannor you could pick it right off the streets. What they failed to mention was the bones you had to rummage through...

"Whatever did this... Looks like it's gone now." He commented aloud. Turning to Ashara he added. "I don't know what the rest of them found here... but I hope it was worth it..."

"I'm glad we didn't have to witness this..." Ashara held her hand over her nose as she scanned the bits and pieces that were left of the hobgoblins. They'd all seen a good deal of carnage in their time adventuring, but this kind of mess still disturbed her...

It seemed odd that they'd be digging beneath the rubble out in the open like this, instead of hunting for trinkets inside a building that might provide a bit of cover. Elric said that from the look of them, they'd been here awhile. She still couldn't shake the feeling that this group was more than just a random group of scavengers. Did hobgoblins often team up to raid ruins? Honestly she wasn't sure, but she couldn't help but feel like someone else had either hired them or was using them to look for valuables.

That thought made her wonder if that someone else could have others watching them at that moment...

"Maybe we should press on," Ashara suggested in a hushed tone. Her eyes shifted nervously to the mounds of rubble surrounding them as she tried to settle the fidgeting Himbar. There were so many places for ambushers to hide! "This stench is bound to bring something else unsavory to the feast..."

********
Darkness. All encompassing darkness. Fear. Then suddenly Hope!
The priestess’ eyes snapped open. Rising to her feet from her meditation in confusion she carefully smoothed her white robes and walked from the glowing inner chamber.

Hope?

What form would this hope take? Where would it come? As always the Morninglord’s answers to her prayers were vague at best. Would this hope be in time? As much as she wanted to have faith, it was hard some days.

A week... maybe two if they were lucky. That was all her advisers could estimate was left for the Dawnspire.

These were the final days... she had little doubt about that. Their power was too small both in magic and soldiers to use it. The enemies were too numerous. It was a battle of attrition and the Seekers of the Dawn were losing. She ran her hand over the stone hallway and tried to remember.

How long had it been? She had climbed her way up through the ranks as higher ranking priests before her had ‘Gone to Lathander.’ Now she was Abbess. With all the responsibility that title holds. The realization that of all the priests who could have been here, she was the one that would fail so utterly. Lathander’s mission would fail, and it would be on her watch.

What of her flock? She leaned heavily on the window sill and stared down into the large garden. The workers were more tense than usual. They could feel it too. She smiled down gratefully as she realized everyone was still doing their part. Most of the priests would die defending their temple. The others, adventurers and the like they had rescued over the years could leave if they wished. The final battle would be glorious

*************
Walking along the ruins Elric stopped suddenly. Something seemed off. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it bothered him. Half expecting the Sacred guardian to go off, he spun around and took in his surroundings. A large clearing was there to his right. Some major desolation from the war he imagined.

Something was different. The scattered rubble, the fallen buildings, they were getting less numerous. The foundations still remained, but the rubble was mostly... gone!

"What do you think?" He turned to Ashara with barely contained enthusiasm. "Some kind of massive disintegration? Or could some good and noble people be cleaning up the city?"

Surrounded by desolation and unnerving silence, the young priestess winced at the clop of every hoof...at the metallic clink of her every footfall. So intent was she at keeping herself alert for an ambush that could fall upon them at any time, that she'd missed the bigger picture which Elric was calling her attention to now.

As Ashara turned to see what he'd seen, a smile started spreading slowly across her face. The Seekers of the Dawn would've needed building materials... If they were always holding off attacks by demons, gargoyles and the like, they were probably in a near constant state of construction! Fortunately Myth Drannor had no shortage of rubble from which to build fortifications!

She stepped up beside Elric and scanned the area. Walls of thick trees blocked their vision to the south and west, and past the cleared out sections of rubble, many more ruined buildings stood to the north and northwest along the road. They didn't see any towers that looked like they might serve as an active temple... These clearings couldn't simply be coincidence though...all that rubble had to go somewhere!

"I think," Ashara grinned, squeezing his hand, "that we're close! That big open area on the map should be just ahead, and maybe once we get past these trees we'll see something!"

They continued along the rubble-free road, her heart pounding hard in her chest. It was a pretty surreal thought... That here in the midst of destruction a temple of Lathander would be standing, against all odds. That within that temple they might meet the second generation of the Seekers (certainly after a hundred years, none of the original members still lived!) and would finally kneel before the Endless Dawn and present Arturo's sword for acceptance by the Morninglord himself!

The dreams of the Dawn rising in the midst of the forest had become more frequent as they neared their destination, and Ashara longed to feel that warmth and serenity in reality and to be able to share those feelings with her husband.

When the trees opened up to the West, the Everdawns could clearly see where all the rubble had gone. An enormous wall rose within the meadow! Made from scraps and rubble, it encircled a huge area, the extent of which they couldn't see from their vantage. Even more exciting was the sight of the simple conical tower that rose high above the wall in the center of this compound!

"Elric..." Following her gasp, the name came as little more than a tiny squeak issuing from her mouth. "This is it, it has to be! The Dawnspire! After months of dreams and travel, it hardly seems possible..."

Ashara was shaking with excitement when she grinned up at the half elf. "Shall we go see if we can find the entrance, Melamin? I certainly hope they don't mind friendly visitors..."

Grinning widely, they started toward the large wall with a bounce in their step. Elric knew the battles hadn't ended, there was still much they wanted to see... but this was the first step. The first part of their journey, the thing that had set them on their path was right in front of them!

The temple tower itself wasnt' much to look at. Like the wall around it, the construction seemed to be made primarly of loose rubble scattered about. Made sense he imagined... He'd heard of wizards raising towers out of the ground... but priests? He didn't know if that was possible.

Well... he corrected himself. There was the Spirit Soaring, everyone in their region had heard the stories of that... but it was a unique situation. And as stories tell it, a costly one... Besides... this has been here for a hundred years or so... undoubtably defending against numerous attacks... This temple looked as if it had been built and rebuilt a dozen times or more...

Lost in observation he barely heard a chittering sound to his left. Spinning suddenly he saw a massive bug! A large purple-ish carapace with upswept horns on some kind of 12 foot long beetle. Six hairy legs moved it toward them and four long clawed tentacles spun in every direction. They seemed flexible and could retract from 20' to 8'. It was slowly coming around the wall from the south. A flicker of movement caught his eye and he realized there was another coming from the north!

Quickly he drew his sword and looked at Ashara.

"Should have known it wouldn't be this easy..." He grinned and leaped toward the closer one. After demon's and mobs, he wasn't overly concerned about giant beetles... even ones as ugly as this. Overconfidence was a shortcoming Eldorath had taught him. Still twenty yards from the monstrosity, his vision exploded into stars and he felt his head scream in agony.

With the worst headache he'd ever experienced he hit the ground hard and slid across the loose gravel. The beetle quickly closed the gap.

Shocked, Ashara watched the warrior fall to the ground writhing in agony as the two masses of segmented ugly skittered in. It looked as if he'd been struck with something mid-leap! She had no idea what kind of magic he'd been hit with, but she couldn't see any other assailant around them besides the beetles...could that magical attack have come from them?? Either way, she didn't have much time to ponder it and she did not like the look of those wickedly hooked tentacles!

With only a few moments before the beetles were on top of them, Ashara ran up beside him. He'd been in a similar predicament before the battle with the Shade. Symbols of Pain had lined the hallway up to the room that housed Shar's Throne and as if that battle hadn't been difficult enough, Elric had to manage it while enduring immense suffering! Only the Rosemantle spell granted her by Lathander had alleviated that pain for a few minutes at a time. Having no desire to watch him in agony nor to face these hulking monstrosities alone, she decided that casting this spell was worth the risk!

Ashara grasped her holy symbol in one hand and laid her other on his back as Elric was grinding his teeth against the pain and trying to pull himself up. At the successful completion of the spell, a red glow flowed from her and surrounded the half elf in warm radiance, temporarily easing his suffering.

"I'm going to need you here, Elric," she teased gently, quickly helping him to his feet. "While bug smashing duty usually falls to the husband, I think I'll help you out in this particular instance..."

Just before the bulk the bug coming from the south obscured the majority of her view, Ashara caught a glimpse of a person in chainmail farther to the south, standing about sixty yards away...