Autumn 1372

The priestess shuddered down to the tips of her toes as a great, hairy arachnid was revealed above them in the lantern-light, crunched into the corner, lightly tapping its two front legs on the ceiling.

"Uhhh... Yep! More than ready to move on!" Quickly she sidled toward the doorway with the rest of the group, keeping an eye on the thing as it kept its eyes on them. More skittering sounds from a previously unseen source raced along the edge of the ceiling just out of the light radius, and Ashara picked up the pace and leaped into the next room!

This room appeared to be a burial chamber of sorts... A stone bier rose to about four feet high in the center of the floor. Ancient bones were scattered about it as if the body had been carelessly tossed onto its resting place. After a brief examination (which took longer with half her attention diverted to the possible movement of the segmented horrors in the previous room), she determined that the remains belonged to an elven female...probably a mage, judging from the staff that lay off to the side of the body. She had been here a LONG time! These were not the remains of a mere treasure hunter. Not unless she'd come just after the Weeping War itself!

Carefully Ashara picked up the bones that had fallen from the bier and placed them back in their place, then returned the fallen staff to the wizardess who had been entombed with it. It was in good shape. Likely somewhat magical, though there was little in the way of ornamentation. But they hadn't come for that... What they had come for, a towerkin ring, was nowhere to be seen on her person or anywhere else in the room it seemed, as none of them managed to find anything of note.

From the center of the western wall, a hallway opened up, leading about thirty feet to another door. Fifteen feet in, it seemed to branch off to the south.

As the party moved down the corridor, Ashara glanced back again, hoping that those spiders weren't hungry enough to change their mind and decide that a possible meal was worth such risk!

Jorelon stepped back from the group as they moved down the hall to the lone door. Looking down the hall to the south he instinctively took a guarding post from potential lurkers coming from the long dark tunnel.

Elric nodded in approval as he moved towards the front of the pack. Suddenly he felt something squishy beneath his boots. Holding up a hand to slow the progression, he reached down and found a blue rubbery lump about the size of his hand. With a questioning look he held it up for the others to see. Durlan grunted a negative and Elric tossed it to the ground. It seemed to leave an unpleasant residue that he quickly wiped off on his pants.

Further inspection showed the ground was littered with the things. Lumps from a few inches to almost a foot wide were scattered around the hallway.They seemed harmless enough, more likely a sign or droppings of some other strange creature down here... With that wonderful thought he unconsciously wiped his hands again with a grimace.

The western door led to a small room, the contents obscured by a rustling of wings. Shrill squeaking erupted from the darkness as two large shadowy... things burst out and started swinging at the half-elven intruder. The shrill cries were echoed down the hall behind them only to be answered from the south.

"More this way!!!" Elric heard the priest in the back of the pack call out.

The warrior was swinging before he even knew what it was, but without the enchanted sword, he wasn't as fast as he'd hoped. What he had first thought was a giant bat was nothing of the sort. Similar looking wings were attached to a dark egg shaped body, nearly five feet around, a barbed tail and single giant eye leaking a blue fluid completed the horrific sight. Two of the things were heading right toward him.

Cursing from nearby told him that Durlan was having his own trouble. The third of the creatures had flown past him dropping a giant tear of that blueish fluid right onto the dwarf. Elric felt a splash hit him and start to burn, though he missed the main gout.

The dwarf however wasn't letting it go at that... With a mighty cry he swung his axe up and clipped the bat wing sending it into a tumble. The creature tried to right itself, but was too slow. With a resounding grunt the mithril axe split the creature in two.

The sword Ashara had found... or made actually, for him was of wonderful use against demons... however, it was heavy. It's balance was questionable, and worst of all. he'd had little time to practice with it. Once again, he questioned his reliance on the speed and lightness of magical gear. Still... it worked. He spun around and dug his sword deep into the body of one of the creatures as it futilely tried to claw his life from him. The distraction was costly though as he felt a claw scrape across his back drawing a trio of bloody scratches.

He sensed almost as much as saw, the barbed tail come flicking in. If it's tears were that poisonous... he didn't even want to imagine what it's tail did! His unarmed hand snaked out and caught the barb meant for his soft throat. A kick in the eye caused it squeal even louder, and using the tail like a leash he swung the beast toward his ever-waiting wife.

Hearing calls of attack from both sides, Kaldric focused his attention toward Jorelon to the rear, being the cleric was all the defense he had there. Big and round cyclops-like eyes of deep scarlet hue peered stoically from three egg-shaped black beasts that sped around the corner of the south hall with clawed bat wings beating a frantic pace. Long, barbed tails waved threateningly behind each, poised to strike. Their unique bodily arrangements seemed almost comical, except that he recognized them immediately as rare Abyssal creatures unimaginatively known as Eyewings, and nothing originating from the Infinite Abyss pertained to comedy.

He saw the cleric readying to meet the queer creatures and reached down to one of his vial cases to lend aid with an alchemical mixture of his own devising. Knowledge of this foe eliminated some choices, such as the use of Freezing Air, since they were immune to any cold attacks. Kaldric also ruled out Lightning in a Bottle because flight was their only means of transport, and the lightning would connect with the ground beneath to potentially harm anyone (in this case Jorelon) that might be there. That left some rather potent acid as his best fallback. By the time he brought the vial to hand, however, dire peril had descended upon him!

The awkward appearance of the Eyewing often deceived one as to their tremendous speed in flight. Two of the Abyssal blights alighted upon the cleric before him, but the third apparently had a taste for less armored flesh! Kaldric looked back up just in time to see a pair of clawed wings swooping in on him, and countered by throwing his left forearm up to intercept a claw seeking to shred his face! Though painful, he much preferred the gouge it raked there as opposed to its stealing an eye! He ducked to avoid the second claw, then pulled his right shoulder back and twisted about to get behind the Abyssal spawn. If the barbed tail had struck at him during the maneuver, he had failed to register it.

Momentarily in the the clear, he stepped to the left and chucked the vial in hand at the creature while its back remained to him. From such a close distance even he struggled to miss the throw! The vial shattered on impact and acid coated its back, sizzling as it bubbled and chewed through black fur and the skin beneath.

Kaldric reflexively snatched the dagger tucked into the back of his sash. The acid would continue to burn the spawn for a very short time, but he planned to shove a blade into that dark red eye when next it turned to meet him just the same.

The splashes from the creature's caustic tear was still stinging her hands and neck, but worse than that was the reek of these things! Her own tears filled her eyes as the horrible, acrid stench assaulted her senses. They smelled like burning... Or maybe that was the acid eating away at the beast that Kaldric was dealing with behind her. There were a few times that Ashara regretted the need to breathe, Calimport sewers being one of those times, and this was yet another!

Fortunately the shock of it passed just as she saw Elric flinging one of the beasts backwards, entrusting her to deal with it. Ashara didn't disappoint. Lantern still clutched in her left hand, the priestess swung the inert Dawnspeaker at the bulbous body of the thing as it hurtled toward her, striking it as it spun, at the base of a wing. It flopped to the ground, where it writhed around, spewing buckets of black ichor from the wound it had taken from the half elf's sword.

The priestess landed a blow to silence that creature, then hearing the ruckus at her back, spun around high with the holy mace outstretched, clipping another one that was trying desperately to tear at the mage's face.

At the end of the line, Jorelon was having a few issues of his own. Two eyewings were buffeting him with their massive wings, and clawing at his chainmail in hopes of getting to the meat beneath. Pushing at them with his shield, the priest was able to get his starmetal mace up to strike one of the creatures, just as the second one's barbed tail curled underneath the metal barrier and stabbed him in the gut.

Thankfully the chain links didn't allow the spine to penetrate deeply, and to Jorelon's relief it was no more than a sharp spine at the end of their tail! No deadly or crippling poison was injected into the wound.

The Eyewing fluttered its dark wings rapidly to swing itself around for the attack, but this time Kaldric proved the quicker. His dagger flashed at the first sight of scarlet and plunged into the large, dripping eye. Sickly wetness splashed from the socket with a pop as the red orb disintegrated at the tip of his blade. The creature fell from the air like a rock to lay lifeless at the mage's feet.

Kaldric swept his gaze to the front of the group just to peek at the happenings there before squaring in Jorelon's direction, hand already retrieving a second vial of acid from his case.

It was hard to tell which way was which in this battle. The screeching interferred with his acute hearing, while the buffetting wings and horrendous stench distracted his other senses. He felt a sharp gash tear at his collarbone and realized one of the claws had cut him good.

Quickly he retaliated with precise flailing and felt his sword score two hits on the winged monster. Spinning suddenly he shot his foot up into the dark furry mass and felt something give beneath his heel.

Wounded or not, he wasn't out of the fight yet...

It took only a fraction of a second for Ashara to determine where she was needed most. With her husband's sword flashing and body whirling at the remaining eyewing at the fore of the group, not to mention the razor-sharp mithril axe that Durlan was readying to bring down in an arc of death toward the creature, she had no doubt that problem was well taken care of.

Kaldric, with a skillful stab, had exploded the eyeball of the one threatening him, the flesh and fur of the corpse still bubbling as the acid ate away at it.

Jorelon however, was being harried from either side there at the rear of the party. One of the aberrations was directly over his head, and able to get its claw around the haft of the starmetal mace, puncturing flesh as it latched on and tried to wrench the weapon from the man's hand. Grunting away the pain, he smashed his shield upward into the five-foot diameter hairy mass. The eyewing, finding itself crushed against the ceiling, squeaked indignantly and released its prize in order to free itself from the makeshift vice.

Its attacks foiled by it's comrade's own flailing wings, the second eyewing adjusted itself in time to see the more heavily armored priestess rushing in. Unfortunately for it, not in time to get out of the way of that translucent mace...

Even without any of its divine power active, Ashara sent Dawnspeaker crushing violently into the beast, pummeling it twice with enough ferocity to drive it back and give Jorelon some breathing (and wielding) room!

And he made use of it! The priest maneuvered himself around while dodging claws and tail, until the eyewing's back was fully facing Kaldric. He hoped to present the mage with an ample target for the flask of acid that he was readying to throw, and just to ensure that he kept the creature's attention, he swung in with his own attack, bruising the bulbous torso with his mace.

Ashara's savage assault unfortunately opened up a weak spot that the second eyewing decided to exploit. It raked at the priestess with its dagger-like talons. The first scratched off her right pauldron with an ear-splitting squeal, but the second plunged through the chain and deep into the soft flesh between neck and shoulder.

She refused to cry out in pain, but instead gritted her teeth and pummeled the creature that was tethered to her. Two sickening thuds and the eyewing was on the ground. Maybe those spiders to the east would appreciate a meal that came pre-tenderized! Maybe they'd be satiated with this offering and leave the heroes alone!

No time to worry about them now... Only one unfortunate eyewing remained, and as the group turned to face it, the possibility of its continued existence had all but departed.

The mage waited long enough for Jorelon to get the spawn's back squared to him and launched the acid vial. Like the previous eyewing targeted, the vial shattered against its body. While the contents dined on dark-furred flesh, Kaldric stepped aside to flatten himself against the wall so those behind him might get through without trouble. With that throw, he figured his job finished for this fight.

There was one left, and it was hurting. Elric, blood trickling down his back, was quickly tiring of this exercise. With the dwarf finishing off the one beside him and the mage flattening against the wall he saw his opening.

Leaping to the aid of Jorelon, without the aid of his magic boots he fell a few feet short. Adapting on the fly the warrior fell into a roll and came up right underneath the eyewing slashing for all he was worth. Within moments, the bleeding, bubbling mass of fur and wings landed hard on the floor and stopped moving.

"Everyone ok?" he asked as he wiped the ichor from his blade.

"Seems we're only slightly worse for the wear..." Ashara's practiced gaze roamed over the injuries of her companions, finally settling upon her husband. Bleeding steadily from gashes to his shoulder and back, Elric had taken the worst of the damage and she immediately set to stemming the flow as the group took a moment to catch their breath.

Jorelon as well fell into his own practiced role. In spite of the dwarf's grumbling, the priest managed to bandage up the acid burns to prevent them from chafing against his armor.

"The next time we have a few minutes, our wounds will need to be treated properly... Can't imagine that the claws of those things are sterile and what with our wandering around a crypt, the risk of infection or disease is significant." After the temporary patches were in place, Ashara tugged teasingly on the shredded back of Elric's shirt and patted him on the side with a grin before moving over to Kaldric.

The mage wasn't injured badly, but three nasty scratches down a wizard's arm could threaten the necessary dexterousness of his hand. No good could come from that!

"Nice shot," she smiled, nodding to the fallen creature with the punctured eye. "As long as there's no objection, I think I'm going to move to the back of the group with Jorelon to keep you as far from the danger as possible... I'd prefer to have you return to the Dawnspire completely in tact, though from the look of it, you can handle yourself quite well in melee if need be!"

Ashara winced as her shoulder wound throbbed painfully. The three layers of armor would keep sufficient pressure on it for the time being but it would need some tending once they had a chance to rest. Considering the difficult location of the gouges, if they didn't make it back to the Dawnspire tonight, she hoped Jorelon had some skill at stitching!

"In some situations, against certain opponents, I'm capable of getting a stab in edgewise," the mage joked at the compliment. "It's pure talent really. I don't even practice." Somehow, he managed to spout that without laughing, despite its truth! He couldn't remember the last time that dagger had escaped its sheath, but the weapon was probably happy to get a breath of fresh air.

Kaldric housed the blade, then acknowledged her offer. "I'll present little objection to the notion. Poor Jorelon would probably appreciate the additional help back there. I attribute his willingness to bring up the rear with only myself for aid as a blatant test of faith for the Morninglord."

Laughing lightly while trying not to breathe in the horrific stench around them, Ashara tied off the mage's bandage. After observing a successful attempt at finger waggling, she deemed Kaldric good enough for now, and moved over to Jorelon who was finishing binding up the wounds on his hand.

"Well, since I'm offering to join him of my own accord," she called back, grinning over her shoulder at the mage, "I don't think Lathander will look with disfavor upon my brother's show of divine conviction! Undoubtedly you've all proven your dedication to the cause a thousand times over, so maybe he'll let it slide just this one time."

Ashara took her new position at the back of the group once everyone was adequately patched up. She was eager to move out of this particular hallway! They were all tromping around in puddles of ichor and other forms of repulsive fluids and the putrid stink was burning her throat and causing her eyes to water. And she thought these things smelled bad while they were alive!!

Not only that... Though her human eyes couldn't pierce the blackness down the hall to the east, she could feel those shining black spider-eyes on her and was sure they were just waiting for the fleshies to move off of their quickly cooling meal.

Using the practical excuse of her heavier armor to pacify Jorelon into relinquishing his place in line, she handed him the lantern and hefted the shield into her hand as the group moved forward into the room to the west.

Elric glanced over the new lineup and nodded. The center was the mage who seemed also the center of this particular mission with a core surrounding him of people he knew, trusted and probably worked with before. Bookending the group were the two Everdawns. Whom he knew could handle whatever leaped out of the dark. Of course... Back up is always nice. He hoped Jorelon could be as useful to her as the Durlan had already been up front...

He'd noticed the new blood on her armor, and even ignoring his own wounds... this Dead Magic was quickly becoming tiresome. Tension showing in his voice he simply said, "Everyone ready? Let's keep moving!"

With the Eyewings dead and gone, the way into the room was clear. Inside was a simple study worn from age and rummaging. Taking their time, and searching every square inch of the wall, no secret doors or hidden books were found. Certainly no rings...

A bit disheartened, but determined to humor their mage friend, Elric led the group back to the southern hallway. Unsure of what else may be down here, he moved slowly. About twenty feet down, and the hallway opened up into a shadowy chamber.

Two stone pillars covered in arcane writing stood less than ten feet apart. In between them, was a skeletal hand and foot. A cursory examination showed that whatever had removed them had sheared them clean.

"Any suggestions?" He asked to the experienced healers. As the two priests came closer, suddenly the dwarf shouted out a warning.

Spinning quickly Elric saw two glowing red eyes coming out of the shadows. Dark arms reaching for the intruders.

"Ashara!" he quickly yelled. [b]"Wraith!!"[b]

At the shout of an undead threat, both priests whipped around brandishing their respective holy symbols. Jorelon, his humble, rose-colored wooden disk and Ashara, her uncharacteristically extravagant, gold and jewel-encrusted medallion. The symbol itself could vary between temples but what truly mattered was the faith of the man or woman behind it, and there was no doubt that these two had it in spades.

The priests in unison began rebuking the wraith using the holy name of Lathander, as it stretched out its deadly, chilling fingers toward the half elf who was easily able to dodge the attack. Durlan, knowing full well that the abomination stood no chance, still didn't want the Morninglords to have all the fun! He rushed into the fight cackling and swung his mithril axe in two wide arcs, dissipating part of the dark, man-shaped cloud as it went.

It must have been desperate... It must have been quite some time since the wraith had a chance to feed and its hunger drove it to attack, even so far as to enter the light of their lantern! So, in spite of the well-prepared group, two priests and two painful blows from the nasty axe, it turned its attention to the dwarf and pressed the attack.

Or would've if it had gotten the chance.

As their last word of command was uttered, the wraith's vaporous face turned towards them. Its red eyes flickered once before the unholy creature simply burst, sending wisps of nebulous black cloud in every direction.

"All glory to the Morninglord!" Ashara whispered gleefully, giving the equally gleeful brother a congratulatory knuckle bump for good measure.

A wraith was no minor undead. Thinking and malevolent things, they could make a large area extremely dangerous by creating lesser wraiths from their victims, attacking in packs and draining the life force from every humanoid creature they came across. Only sunlight was guaranteed to keep them at bay. Made her wonder if there were any others lurking about this crypt... She wouldn't admit it aloud...but she kinda hoped so! There was nothing quite like the obliteration of undead to get one's blood pumping!

Flushed and grinning, the priestess refocused her attention to the oddly severed hand and foot bones between the pillars. "Well, I don't see any marks from tools that might have been used to amputate these," she remarked after looking over the remains. "They're very old though. I wonder if they once belonged to that recently re-departed wraith..."

Kaldric had simply stepped aside when the call went out about the wraith. With two Lathanderian clerics in the room, he doubted any assistance of his was necessary. Additionally, while demons and devils had certain weaknesses that could be exploited by nonmagical elemental attacks, undead that required magic to strike them had no such . . . Holy water, it dawned on him suddenly. He slapped his forehead stupidly, cocking his head back in disgrace as the wave of divine energy exuded forth from Ashara to wipe the angry undead from the natural world. How could I not . . . If it isn't made in a lab I just don't think of these things!

Eyes still turned heavenward, Kaldric patted the priestess on the shoulder as if to say "well done". However, with ridiculous oversight continuing to torment his mind, what he said was, "Sometimes, I wonder how it is you can love me so." The Sevenfold Initiate had moved a few strides beyond her when his words suddenly sank in, stopping him in mid-step. "No, no!" he bellowed freakishly, spinning around and waving his arms frantically. "Not you! What I meant was . . . I mean, I was talking to . . . Please don't . . . I'll be over here," he pointed toward one of the pillars and quickly retreated from the situation. Had his magic worked here, the mage would have purposefully cantriped his robe red to hide the deep crimson flush on his face, which the current white attire set off in a resounding glow!

The pillar that now held his rapt attention was decorated with a series of elegant elven runes pock-marked in strategic locations around its circumference. Their positions formed a greater rune much harder to see, but which would have laced the pillar with two separate magical forces. A brief glance at the second pillar enabled him to deduce their purpose rather easily.

"No tool amputated them," Kaldric answered the priestess's statements. "I believe the angry protector of this chamber fell victim to a portal collapse. These pillars once acted as a gateway in Myth Drannor. The city was known for having a great many of them. Not really very surprising, as elven magic was remarkable at creating them! In fact, the whole of Toril is filled with ancient portals fashioned by the elves to make their travels easier." He brushed his fingertips lightly along a couple of the runes, feeling the beauty of the intricate work. "Identifying the runes is hardly difficult, but I'm afraid it's impossible for me to know where it went---not that it'd matter now. It almost certainly malfunctioned even before the Dead Magic enveloped the area. Our poor friend here was either using it at the wrong time, or his using it may have been the cause of the collapse."

Mirth still shone in Ashara's eyes from the mage's awkward outburst and while a dozen comments frolicked through her thoughts, she chose to spare him any further embarrassment. At least until she'd gotten to know him better...

The priestess glanced back down at the remains after hearing Kaldric's explanation of the grim fate of the one to whom they belonged. Then she looked up at the pillars. Then instinctively took a step back.

"You know..." Eyebrows drawn together in a mix of shock and horror, Ashara glanced over at her husband. "We really shouldn't mention this part to Kaber when we see him again. If he hears magic can malfunction like this, he'll never let Therogeon take him anywhere again! Probably wouldn't even chance the chariot!"

The half-elf tried to hide his grin behind his hand to keep from laughing at the embarrassed mage. For the most part he was successful. Still his eyes were dancing as he turned to his wife.

"I don't know... You're probably right about 'mage travel'... but who could turn down the flaming chariot?"

Jorelon gasped and Elric turned toward him in concern only to see him staring at Ashara with unbridled awe. The dwarf was staring with a look of obvious doubt.

"Really... " Elric said with a chuckle. "There's no ride like it! An experience you'd never forget!"

"Now that I'd be believin" the dwarf muttered a little louder than he wanted while unconsciously tucking his beard protectively into his belt. "Been a lot of things I'll never forget, that I wish I hadn't done in the first place!"

"You... You've summoned the 'Chariot of Sustarre?" the young priest asked bewilderingly. "I've heard of priests summoning the chariot, but... I've never seen it!! I mean... I suppose the Abbess could... but casting being what it is and all.. I don't think she ever HAS..."

"Well...um..." Ashara shifted uncomfortably under the priest's incredulous stare. Here she was making an off-handed comment about one of the more powerful divine spells known, like it was no big deal! The other Champions were used to it after a fashion, but she hadn't even considered that those outside their little circle might be shocked at such an admission...

"Yes, Lathander has been gracious enough to grant me that power," she responded quietly, with her usual attempt to take herself out of the equation, "and it's been used a handful of times to get all of CoRD from Point A to Point B in a hurry. Definitely has come in handy on occasion."

Turning toward the dwarf, she grinned at his subconscious attempt to protect his precious beard. "But Elric's right, Durlan, it's an amazing ride that you might not want to turn down if the opportunity ever presents itself! Then again," she added with a chuckle, "not everyone shares my dear husband's predilection for all things fast, nor his strange desire to be in close contact with flaming objects!

"Fireballs, balor hugging, fire elemental punching... If I had a copper for every burn I've healed..."

With a playful smile on her lips, Ashara winked and peered down to the other end of the chamber. The light from the lantern illuminated the opposite wall, showing a hallway that opened up to the north and south. Apparently this mage's crypt was more extensive than she'd hoped!

"Now.. I didn't... That's not... " The half-elf sputtered and then got very quiet. "Ok.. That's a really disturbing pattern you've noticed... None of which was my fault of course!!

"After all..." He winked at the bewildered dwarf who seemed to be trying to decide whether to believe these stories or not. "The Balor was the one who did all the hugging..."

Together they moved to the far side of the Pillar chamber. To the south they stared down another long hallway, to the north a door intricately carved and bound in some kind of precious metal.

"Opinions?" Elric asked aloud. "Looks like... we've got two choices here... and two choices on the other side..."

"Three." Durlan stated simply.

"Uhhh...." Elric held out his hand, fingers upraised. "Four actually..."

The dwarf looked up at the half-elf with an unreadable expression. "Three. On this side." And with weathered knuckles rapped on a section of stone wall. Realizing what he meant Elric quickly noticed what Durlan had. A third doorway hidden amongst the stone.

"Well.... Hidden things are the most valuable right?" The half-elf grinned as the two of them immediately went about shoving the door open.

Moments passed and Elric stuck his head around the mobile stack of bricks. "Footprints..." He called out, and another door ahead that... " his voice cut off suddenly.

Joining the others in the hall with a weary expression he spun slowly in a circle as if trying to get his bearings. " Left... left... ... left... Yeah. We've been here before."

"Aye... " Durlan agreed after a moments thought. "That there... should be the hidden hall with three hidden doors... "

"Which we turned away from when we found the study." Jorelon spoke up. "So.... We've just opened up a shortcut back to the surface?"

Elric raised his eyebrow as he kept breathing hard from the exertion. "Yeah.. You could say that... In fact, that's a marvelous way to think about it... and should we end up running for our lives... this pillar room will make a lovely checkpoint.

"Now ... if memory serves... there was another door on the north of that hallway... But ... if it's all the same to the rest of you... Let's try the 'normal' doors first. There's probably more than one way into the room... If not... We can come back!"

He quickly regretted THAT decision.. As he pulled open the ornate door the stench of rotting meat filled his nostrils and he started to gag. Scattered about in the large room were various bodies of all kinds. Humans, elves, orcs, bugbears, even the desiccated orb of what was a beholder.

The room was full of shelves and bookcases. Cabinets that had long been stripped of anything valuable were broken and overturned. He didn't know what had originally been stored here, but now it was filled with the dead. And more... As limbs started to disentangle themselves and hate filled eyes glared at him, he realized this wasn't the first time he'd smelled that. He shuddered involuntarily as he remembered the battle that nearly killed the Champions before they even got started.

"Ghasts..." he whispered.

Though reeling at the stench of undeath and the memories that came with it, the priestess recovered quickly enough to pass off one of her holy water filled pouches to Kaldric, who took it and moved to stand safely in back behind the morninglords.

Just in case...

She was sure he must have something in his alchemical arsenal to combat any undead threat. Likely he was just conserving his supplies in case they ran into some trouble of a more serious nature but if not, she had plenty to spare!

Beside her, Jorelon had already begun his Turning and she took a step forward to provide him with a little bit of protection. It was interesting to work with another priest in this capacity! Things were coming up that she'd never entertained as a possibility before. Like...staggering Turnings for maximum effect! Ooooh the fun that could be had!!

Ashara reached for her own holy symbol then, brushing her thumb along the banded onyx gem that had been found by Elric in Mistletoe Keep.

"This time will be different..." She whispered menacingly under her breath before beginning a Turning of her own.

Hearing Jorelon chanting behind him, Elric called out to the dwarf beside him. "The priests need a minute! Make them a wall!

Durlan did just that, his axe spinning in front of him to catch an approaching ghoul full in the chest dropping it cold. The ghasts were there filling the holes eager to get their filthy claws on anything soft and warm. A muffled grunt told the others that something had found a soft spot...

Durlan however seemed none the worse for wear and with an extra spinning chop, the offending ghast was carved clean in two.

Elric had a tough time telling one from the other. Ghouls and Ghasts... Scholars claimed there was a difference, but near as he could tell... the differences were too minor to note. Just like the Devil/Demon debate he'd had with anyone willing to broach the subject.

Regardless whatever faced him now was a tangle of filthy claws, sharp teeth, putrid stench and a long tongue eager to taste half-elf. Well.. THAT wasn't going to happen! Not AGAIN!

After all they had faced, The shade... the Flaming Dragon... the... other dragons... Even the assassins in Waterdeep... It had been creatures just like this that had brought him closer to death than anything before or since... He still held the scars on his neck from that battle, back when he was younger... Less prepared for the world that awaited an adventurer... Almost two whole years ago!! Not just the physical scars either... Healing had been in short supply that day, and he had been happy to still be alive... but the mental strain of being paralyzed... frozen while being eaten alive... That lasted a bit longer!

It's true what Eldorath said, 'Adversity breeds skill.' The warrior didn't truly believe that these creatures were somehow 'less' dangerous than the ones from Mistletoe Keep... but he had grown since then.

Claws and teeth swept in at him as he deftly knocked each blow aside and countered with fist and foot when he saw an opening. His iron sword seemed especially effective in two quick slashes opened a ghast up in front of him. As the creature feel to the ground finally, truly dead... another quickly took its place swinging in with a claw and catching him on the sleeve of his quickly failing shirt. Just a scratch, undoubtedly infectious... but he had to just hold them back a few moments longer...

As the mob of repugnant undead crashed into front line, eager to get at the warm, fresh meat, Jorelon finished his Turning. Five of the ghouls crumbled to dust at the warriors' feet! With ten more of the creatures left though, the priest hefted the heavy starmetal mace in his hand and started forward, eager to get a couple swings of his own in!

Ashara unwittingly ruined those plans.

A wave of positive energy accompanied her final word of rebuke, pulsing outward in an ever widening circle, kicking up the previously formed piles of ghoul remains. From the companions' perspective the room seemed to explode into a cloud of dust.

When it settled, one ghast stood alone in the midst of them. Its rotting eyes rolled around as it suddenly found itself alone and Ashara smiled at it, waving goodbye as the doomed abomination leaped toward the warriors again, desperate to get just one mouthful of sweet, sweet flesh before its existence was ended.

The ghast threw itself at the half-elf but the warrior was more than ready. Moving in a graceful pattern he moved with the ghast as if dancing. Always just a hair out of reach. Almost as if the tempo changed, Elric saw his opening.

Spinning under a diseased talon he kicked out with all his might knocking the two opponents apart. Even Elric himself wasn't sure where one attack ended and the next began. But when the dance ended, the ghast was thoroughly dispatched. One leg severed clean, and the iron sword shoved to the hilt through it's gaping maw.

The blade made schplucking sound as the blade was drawn free. Quickly the half-elf did his best to clean the dripping ichor off and turned to the group.

"Well... I don't know about the rest of you... but I kind of enjoyed that!"

"My day was goin' just fine without it..." The dwarf shook his head in disbelief.

"Well... I've had history with these types of things... Today I feel... vindicated! "

"That was... something to behold, that's for sure..." Jorelon spoke up a bit shocked. Whether he was talking about Elric's fighting or Ashara's Dusting... was open to debate.

A loud sneeze echoed down the hallway like a thundercrash and Elric winced as he tried to wipe the ghoul dust from his face. "Excellent work Melamin... though, I think I'll be washing ghoul out of my hair for weeks..." he whispered with a hug.

"I ain't fer knowin' much about undead... " Durlan called from across the room. He jabbed the corpse of the Beholder and felt compelled to ask. "What are the odds that they did this... to one of these?

"If a clutch of them encountered it poking around in a dead magic area looking for artifacts as we are, then it's possible that they could have taken him down. Or, maybe their shadowy pal in the next room did?"

Beholders... There was a list of things that the priestess hoped they wouldn't run into here in the ruins and the doomspheres...while not at the top of the list, were definitely on it. She was glad that something had gotten to it first. Unless of course, that meant that there was something far more nasty down here in the crypts...

While gently brushing the ghoul dust from the half elf's powerful shoulder, a thought suddenly occurred to her and Vailis' words rushed back to the forefront of her mind. The recipe for some of the abilities they wished to give the Everdawn blade!

"For enhanced effectiveness against undead creatures, you will need the 'purified' essence of any undead that Lathander gives you power over. Protection vs. the paralyzing powers... that requires... When the parchment says something as vague as 'In order to achieve this power, you must first prove you do not need it...' It means that Lathander must be convinced of your worthiness for such a power. I don't know what the Morninglord would consider a noteworthy test, but Mighty Correllon can be very... specific in his requirements..."

A gasp of excitement escaped Ashara's lips and she rooted around in one of her pouches for a vial of holy water. Dumping out the contents, she knelt to the ground and scooped dust into the glass tube until it was filled, then corked it and stood with a look of absolute delight on her face.

"If this isn't purified essence of undead, then I'm not sure what is!" She grinned and tucked the component away. "Now...for the part about proving we don't need the protection from paralization... Hmm..."

Ashara shook the dust out of one of her braids as she thought, then glanced hesitantly up at her husband. "If we meet any more of these things here in the ruins, maybe I could let one chew on me a bit... Or at least scratch me a couple of times! I mean...you know...just in case that's the proof that would be required for the blade's creation," she added quickly when she saw the horror on Elric's face.

"Even if that's not really the answer, it wouldn't hurt to try! Well...aside from the pain that is..."

Elric started laughing at her comments, but stopped suddenly as doubt and horror took over.

"Wait... Are you SERIOUS?!?" he whispered fiercely as he looked back at the others poking around the bodies for salvage.

"Granted... I could be wrong, but Do you really think Lathander wants you to feed one of these things JUST to prove you can take it??" He held up a tattered arm. "I got scratched a bit.. doesn't mean I want YOU to do it too!! If that's what needed for the sword, Hopefully... "I" just paid it!!"

Over at the corpses, Jorelon tossed another old money pouch into a pile on the floor. Durlan was examining a spear, but that was the only usable weapon left amongst the bodies. Aside from one suit of studded leather, most of the armor was either in tatters or missing.

"I don't know... Whoever killed these guys, looks like they were stripped down pretty clean. They couldnt' have come down here with only broken swords and no armor... I'm thinking they've already been looted at least once..."

"By someone who had no value in gold... " the dwarf agreed tossing a bulging pouch into the pile."