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From: [e-mail] (Lance Dooly)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: STORY: The Tales of Dark Haven (Chapter 28)
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Date: 26 Sep 1995 09:13:47 -0400
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------- The Tales of Dark Haven ---------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-                                                                            -
- These stories are from an on-going E-mail campaign, and are currently      -
- maintained by Lance Dooly ([e-mail]).  New stories will be  -
- posted in rec.games.frp.archives and are available for anonymous FTP       -
- at tfnet.ils.unc.edu in /pub/dark.                                         -
-                                                                            -
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------- Chapter 28: Run for the Temple ------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The group, all together and with a plan in mind, enter the magic-dead
area to get to the temple ruins. Keilan is to provide a distraction
while the others run for the temple ...

(DM:)
You slowly set off towards the second native line, while Keilan is
moving off to the left to distract the natives, and moving a bit
faster, to reach the native line before you do.

The moment you hit the anti magic zone, all become instantly visible
and one by one, you guys appear in single file, sneaking up on the
natives.

(Arlon:)
As we move into the 'dead' zone; Arlon makes a slight grunting sound
like he was poked hard.  "I hate this area" it sounds a little
stressed. "I'm in your hands now Tatiana, the best I can do is run."
Tatiana should now see Arlon's .. uh .. eye 'problem'.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana was still invisible as Arlon stepped into the zone.  She was
reluctant to cross the barrier too.  Arlon turned searching for her
aid and she noticed something wrong with Arlon's eyes.

She stepped forward to him to make sure everything is okay.

She became visible with a look of concern on her face, and then she
blinked, again not able to see in the magic dead zone.

"I will need your aid as well.  I need your ..." she hesitated

"... eyes to guide me" she finished.

"Are you okay? Before crossing I noticed something wrong with your
eyes, but now I can tell if was just a trick of the night" she
whispered

(Arlon:)
"Why, what's wrong?  My eyes feel fine, I just feel a little tired -
like the last time I was in here.  This place seems to drain my
strength as well as stop my magic."

(Tatiana:)
She shrugged her shoulders. Must have been a trick of the light as she
crossed the dead zone border.

(Silver:)
As they entered the dead zone, Silver saw everyone become visible one
by one. This must mean she was cut off from Mielikki again, and she
shivered in the cold night air. Tatiana stumbled as she became
visible, but Arlon was there, right by her. Silver smiled - there was
something very special there, between those two. She squeezed Shade's
hand and smiled at him, before preparing herself to move. She
unhitched the owl-headed staff from where it rested on her back.

(Keilan:)
After we enter the dead zone, in an odd tone, "Silver, did you bring
those bandages I bought for us?""

(Silver:)
"Yes of course. Shade packed them, and I have them now. Why ? Have you
stubbed your toe on a tree root ?" she asks, trying for a hint of
merriment in the midst of danger.

(Arlon:)
"What is your idea for the bandages, Keilan?"

(Keilan:)
"Oh, never mind.  It probably wouldn't help."

(Silver:)
Silver frowns. Keilan didn't take the bait - this wasn't like him.
Even in the midst of adversity, the Ranger was always ready with a
quick retort. Still, she gives a little mental shrug, and turns back
to the business at hand.

(Keilan:)
A few footsteps and a leaf rustling tell you Keilan is moving away
from the main group.

(Falrun:)
Falrun then starts to lead the group to the temple staying as far
ahead of the group as he can and still be seen by Arlon and Shade so
that they may follow.

Once he is in range of the next native line, he will stop the party
and wait for the natives to react to something or other before
continuing, hoping that Keilan distracts them and not alerts them to
our presence.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana ran as best she could with Arlon's guidance.  The dark night
without a moon and without Tufts magically enhance vision made the
effort difficult.

(DM:)
When reaching about 40 meters from the second line of natives, Keilan
gets spotted. The rest of the party are still 60 meters away from the
line and some way to the side of Keilan.

Keilan whips out his bow, and downs to natives that are rushing him,
and the commotion widens as more and more natives rush for Keilan. The
others see the area before them being cleared, as the natives there
rush off towards Keilan, however, natives from farther right keep
streaming back in.

By now about fourteen natives are rushing Keilan, who drops another
two with the bow, but then has to put it away for hand to hand.

(Keilan:)
Back in the forest, Keilan approaches the native line crouching behind
tree and stump, vine and the giant roots.  Silently he slips his sling
from his waist and takes a stone from the ouch at his side.  "Just a
little closer," stepping for the next tree trunk and readying his
shot.  Suddenly there is a small cracking of wood and one of the vines
hanging from the far heights of the canopy goes taut, a loop snaring
his ankle and sending him sprawling to the floor.  A quick glance up
tells him, his stealth is gone and natives are rushing toward their
victim.  "Sharra, I beg for Your strength," as he yanks the vine down
against his weight and gains enough slack to stand.  He whips a stone
in one motion toward the closest native, the missile bouncing of his
head with a dull thunk.  He drops the sling and takes his knife to the
vine, but the thick woody thing resists his blade.  He takes his bow
and lets loose arrows quickly, but the natives are too numerous and he
is soon forced to cast it aside in favor of his sturdy axe.  Moments
pass and Keilan is hard pressed to stand his ground, half pinned by
the vine still entangling his leg.

(Falrun:)
Upon seeing Keilan get into trouble, Falrun leads the charge to aid
him yelling something to the effect of, "I knew that fool would get
himself killed, pulling a stunt like that!"

(Silver:)
As Keilan starts making his distraction, Silver moves forward
cautiously. The plan was not working all that well - the distraction
was drawing yet more natives right across their path. Wait just a
moment more, perhaps there will be a gap we can get across. Risk a
glance over at Keilan - and find he's not going to get out of there
alive.  "No !" Silver mutters, and moves with Falrun to help.

(Tatiana:)
Keilan started his distraction, and Falrun lead them to his aid.
Which although was against the plan, proved to be beneficial.  It
saved Keilan's life and they broke through as a group as well.

(DM:)
The rest of you rush for the same spot as where Keilan is, who is by
now heavily engaged with the natives, who are threatening to overwhelm
him.  Using weapons in both hands, he whacks about him, and stabs
another native that got too close. However, the natives did get in a
few hits themselves, particularly a thrown knife and some minor cuts,
for a total of 12hpd.

The others now also reach the natives surrounding Keilan, and the
natives scatter, unwilling to fight such a large number. Realizing,
that the natives will be calling for reinforcements from the camps,
you run ahead, being slightly faster than the shorter natives in
sprints. You are lucky that the temple is only some 800 meters away,
because you know the natives definitely have better endurance at this
sort of thing than you do.

(Keilan:)
As his companions arrive, Keilan takes the opportunity of the natives
scattering to place his tied foot against the trunk of a tree and
slash through the vine in one blow with his axe.  He is bleeding from
several small wounds but seems in fair shape still as the party dashes
its way madly toward the temple.

(Silver:)
Silver picks up Keilan's bow and they ready themselves to make a dash
for it across the cleared area, heading straight for the temple.
Silver hands Keilan back his bow before making the run, and keeps her
head low to avoid any missiles as they charge forward.

(DM:)
You all run crashing through the forest, Tuft fluttering up ahead,
keeping Tatiana informed as to where to go to run between two camps,
the rest of you following, tugging at each other, shouting, spurring
each other on.

Behind you hear the soft footfalls as the natives try to keep up with
your headlong flight. Then Tatiana shouts that the native camps are up
ahead, the end of the magic dead zone near. Suddenly you burst into
the open, the forest giving way to a large open glade, with another
500 meters ahead the Temple proper, a shambles of tumbled black
granite pillars and stone blocks.

(Falrun:)
After clearing the natives and saving Keilan's hide, Falrun, once
again, leads the charge on the temple.  After reaching the open area,
Falrun begins to tire and wonder if they'll ever make the temple
grounds.

(Tatiana:)
The break from the magic dead zone was a welcome relief, and her
vision became acute instantly.  Tuft was flying ahead of the group by
a large distance.  The need to guide them no longer necessary.

(Arlon:)
As Arlon exits the anti-magic zone, his strength returns, and his
speed increases as his fatigue diminishes.

(Tatiana:)
"I'm okay now" she huffed to Arlon.  "Get in front of me." She told
him.  She wanted to make sure no native would get between her and
Arlon.

(Arlon:)
OOC: And they say chivalry is dead ... well Tatiana is a women of the
     90's :)

(Tatiana:)
She turned her attention to Tuft as she ran across the open stretch
towards the Temple

* Don't fly near us!  I don't want the natives to link us together! *

* What do you think I'm doing! * Tuft thought back has he flew away as
if startled from the jungle.

* Stay on the outside so you can give us reports on what goes on out
here while we are in the Temple * she told him while she ran.

(DM:)
As you run past the surprised natives, who are arming themselves and
preparing to pursue, a fiery explosion rocks you all. One of the
Shamen on duty cast a FIREBALL!!!! You are all shaken by the blast,
but (hopefully) not too seriously hurt, the explosion was targeted
badly, and happened behind you guys more than amongst you. (22 hpd or
half if saved)

(Tatiana:)
OOC: Failed saving through, I rolled a 10.  I rolled for my equipment
     as well since I failed.  All saved except my clothes and bedroll,
     silk rope and blanket.

She caught a flash of light coming towards them from one of the native
encampments.  Then it exploded around them.

"AAAAAAaaaaaa!!" she screamed as she was thrown through the air.

She hit the ground with a roll, and stood up surprised not have broken
anything.  Then the pain started!  She was on Fire!

She screamed louder and dropped to the ground rolling in the dirt to
extinguish the flames.  Lucky she put them out fast.

(Arlon:)
Arlon gets thrown forward by the blast; but only gets singed, perhaps
due to Tatiana partially shielding him.  He quickly gets to his feet
(smoldering a little) a locates Tatiana, who is on fire, he screams
"NO!" and runs towards her while pulling out a length of cloth.  When
he gets there she has already put herself out and he helps her up.
"We must continue to run like never before."

(Tatiana:)
With Arlon's help she stood up on wobbly legs and ran for the Temple
again.

(Keilan:)
Keilan is thrown hard to the ground by the blast of the fireball and
doesn't move.  Then he stirs and rises feebly to stagger forward (if
not helped) toward the temple.

(Falrun:)
Their fate appeared to be sealed as a native shaman starts to cast a
spell in their direction.  Picking up the pace, Falrun is able to
avoid the worst of the blast from the strange spell.  "These natives
must be very powerful, indeed." he thinks to himself as he helps the
fallen Keilan to his feet.

(Silver:)
She doesn't see the danger of the native spellcasters ...

As she gets lifted of her feet and thrown sideways by the full force
of the fireball, she remembers her Elvish tutors words 'never look
away from danger'. Flashing images of children screaming and charred
flesh cross through her mind as she crashes down on the hard-packed
earth.

Silver tries to ignore the fire and starts to run again, but as the
heat reaches her, she falls once more, screaming as the pain hits her
completely. She cannot remember the last part of getting to the temple
- just hands grabbing her roughly and pulling her to safety.

(DM:)
As you rush past the native camps, you spot a line of poles with
skeletons impaled upon them ringing the temple complex. They appear to
have been newly put there. The natives try to pursue, but refuse to go
past the ring of stakes. When you get past, you see the warriors of
the natives give up, as well as most Shamen.

(Falrun:)
Soon he cannot take anymore as Keilan and he fall to the ground inside
the poles.

(Keilan:)
Keilan falls to the ground after the party stops inside the stakes,
and can do little more than sit and try to catch his breath.  It is
obvious, especially to the healers among you, that he is very nearly
dead.  If the temple had been much farther, he might not have made it
at all.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana collapsed inside the ring of stakes. Why were they safe out in
the open like this?  She wanted to get back up and run to the Temple
entrance for safety but was too tired and hurt.

(DM:)
One shaman, who is garbed in extremely garish colours and has very
involved tattoos, designating him some bigwig, seems pissed off, casts
a spell at you. You guys have fallen to the ground in exhaustion some
50 meters inside the ring of stakes, and look at the Shamen in horror,
realizing there is little you can do to stop the mage. When he
finishes casting, a large bolt of lightning appears crackling in his
hands, he laughs maniacally, and stretches his hand out, prepared to
hurl it at you. The bolt flies ....

(Arlon:)
As Arlon collapses with Tatiana inside the line of stakes he looks
back and sees the shaman preparing a spell "OH ..."  he then
frantically tries to prepare a spell himself.  Seeing the shaman
complete his spell, Arlon knows he is too late.  He looks at Tatiana,
rolls over to her and holds her.  "I guess its better to go together."

(Silver:)
She opens her eyes from within the line of impaled skeletons, and sees
the bolt of lightning in the hands of the Shaman. With a lunge which
costs her dearly, she pushes herself up and positions herself between
the party and the Shaman. She places the heel of her staff in the
ground and points the owl-head at the native as he releases the
energy.

Averting her eyes as the bolt is released, she tenses herself for the
blast of energy ...

(Falrun:)
Once again he thought their fate was sealed as the shamen started
casting again.  Now there was no escape.

(Tatiana:)
The shaman cast his lightning bolt. "Holy Lathander! Please let me see
the morning light!"

(DM:)
The face of the Shamen expresses realization, and a dawning of horror.
As the bolt reaches the ring of stakes, it is somehow repelled, and
the bolt bounds back onto the Shamen. He lets out one last high
pitched shriek before dying in a shower of sparks.

(Arlon:)
He then watches the bolt reflect back at its originator.  "Oh .. my .."

(Tatiana:)
And the lightning bolt bounced! "What in the nine hells?" She turned
to Arlon. "What happened?"

(Arlon:)
"I'm not sure - looks like it hit a wall."

(Silver:)
She nearly falls with amazement as she sees the Shaman writhing in his
death-throes.  Confused, she looks up at the night sky and mouths a
silent 'Thank you' to Mielikki.

(Falrun:)
His eyes went wide with mixed relief and wonder at the sight of the
spell rebounding off of some invisible barrier to strike the caster
who sent it.  However, he couldn't help but look to the temple to
wonder what might wait within if this is what was to be found on the
outside.

(Keilan:)
He is heedless of the lighting ball as it is thrown at the party, only
to be bounced back at its caster.  He is exhausted and has no breath
to spare for words.

(Silver:)
OOC: Well, I suppose there's a first time for everything !  ;-)

(DM:)
You see the others just watch you in hatred, and see the camps spewing
warriors who take up positions to deny you any way of egress from the
area.  However, you are all 'safe' together and near the temple, and
out of the magic dead zone. What next?

(Silver:)
Something catches Silver's eye, and she glances down to see that quite
a chunk of her hair has been burnt away by the fireball. Looks like
she'll be having a shorter hairstyle when she gets back.

Silver collapses down to the ground, and only then has a chance to see
how the fireball affected her. Her robe was the most noticeable
casualty - it hung in useless, charred tatters. She tore the larger
bits off and stuffed them in her pack. At least her boots and armour
were ok, even if she was showing a _lot_ more of herself than she was
used to.

Checking her pack, she pulled out a broken scimitar. *Must have broken
it when I hit the ground* she thought. Dropping that on the ground,
she adds a charred mass of cloth.  "Bandages, and my twine" she
mutters to no-one in particular. "And _damn_! My comb." She runs her
fingers through her partly-burnt hair and drops pieces of a broken
ivory comb on the ground.

(Falrun:)
"We should at least move to the cover of the temple structure so that
the natives won't try using their grub arrows on us.  There we can
assess our damage in safety of at least one foe, perhaps we can find a
spot to rest also."

(Silver:)
"Yes, Falrun" says Silver, and slowly stands, checking herself over,
and then moves cautiously towards the temple. Alert for any movement
amongst the rubble, Silver will scan for any immediate signs of danger
as they approach.

(Arlon:)
"Come on, we need to get under cover."  Arlon will wrap his cloth
around Tatiana to make sure none of her 'features' are exposed.  They
make their way toward the temple.

"Fireball and Lightning Bolt?  They possess some of the lost magic.  I
wonder the origin."

(Shade:)
The drow casts a sideways glance at Falrun. "I wonder if Falrun was
right, something makes me think there is an entity or an artifact who
is strongly opposing the natives from inside the temple...."

(Silver:)
"Yes, I think so too."

(Arlon:)
Mumbling, "Like to get my hands on one of their spellbooks."

(Falrun:)
"Anybody else badly hurt?"

(Shade:)
OOC: Shade failed his save so he got 22Hpd, of the items he lost his
     cloak, some (3) daggers and he now has a sleeveless shirt.

He trembles a little while he stands back and he detaches a long strip
of skin from his left shoulder "Well, I'm quite overcooked, but as I
was already black noone will notice the difference...."

(Silver:)
Silver looks up from where she is sitting on the ground. She stands
quickly, holds her head as if dizzy, then rushes over to Shade. From
where her robe has been destroyed, large burned areas can be seen down
her right hand side. Her cloak covers her back.

Looking at the wounds on Shade, she turns and gestures at the watching
natives, shouting "DAMN YOU! By all I hold dear you shall PAY for
this!"  With fire in her eyes, she turns back to examine Shade's
wounds and calls out

    "My sweet Mother, the most vital part of me is hurt,
     without Your help I cannot serve You with my heart.
     Help me soothe my soul and lessen his pain"

OOC: 17 hp cure from 4 cure lt wounds

Reaching in her pack she says "Damn them ! No bandages !" Pulling out
her shreds of robe, she makes some temporary bandages for Shade.

(DM:)
You guys catch your breath as best as possible, while some may do some
healing. Dithion heals some of his own damage (tho he did make his
save) and then depletes the rest of his healing on Keilan (Dithion
already used some before the dash to recover from his nasty fall),
giving Keilan an additional 25 hps from 4 CLW's.

(Shade:)
He takes a short circular look at his friends and nods as Dithion
takes care of Keilan.  Then, he worriedly looks at Silver "How are you
dear? Will the healer heal herself?" - he smiles slightly.

(Silver:)
Touching his now almost healed arm lightly, she says "I will not allow
myself the luxury yet. There are others ..."

OOC: Assume Tatiana got hurt worse than Arlon, so ...

"'Ana, let me check your back." A sharp exclamation, then "That must
hurt ! Let me help you a little." Again, asking Mielikki for her gifts
of healing, she passes her hands over the worst of Tatiana's injuries,
then bandages the worst of the remaining.

OOC: Cure Serious 11hp cure.

Silver stops moving any further in to the temple ruins, and looks back
at where Dithion is still tending to Keilan. She frowns, and then
looks back at the temple again.

(Keilan:)
After Dithion finishes curing Keilan, Keilan stands and murmurs a
quiet "Thank you."  He turns and faces the natives beyond the stakes
to see what they are up to.  When the party heads inside the temple,
Keilan remains silent but looks around with interest.  Dithion's magic
has done much to restoring the ranger to good health.

(Keilan:)
Apparently the ranger was a bit closer to the fireball than he
thought.  As he takes stock of what is now useless, before heading
into the temple, he finds that his armor is split and cracked and that
the straps are burnt.  It is a useless wreck.  Taking what remains of
it off, he finds his tunic is badly burnt as well.  The shield slung
across his back still smolders a bit and Keilan tosses it to the
ground in disgust.  More items are tossed into a growing pile:
handaxe, 7 arrows, the rest of his tunic, a cloak from his backpack, a
waterskin now burst.

Finally he stands over the pile and takes a ring from his finger and
looks at it critically.  "Arlon?  Magic should work again, shouldn't
it?"

(and after the answer he already knows)

(softly) "Damn."

And he adds the ring to the pile.  He turns away for a moment and then
turns back and tosses his gloves as well onto the top of the pile.  He
takes a jade knife from the backpack and places it through the loop
where his axe hung before.  He shoulders his pack on his (now bare)
back and waits for the others to move toward the temple.  His eyes are
cast downward away from anyone's gaze.

(Silver:)
Seeing Keilan dropping all his items on the floor, Silver bites back a
flippant comment and looks at him with pity. But quickly her
expression turns neutral - pity is one expression Keilan would never
get from Silver.  He would hate that above all, she guessed.

(Arlon:)
Arlon will watch as everyone is being healed.  "If anyone has healing
power left after treating the heavily wounded - I could use a touch."

(Silver:)
"And now you, Arlon" says Silver, her voice softer, none of the harsh
tone she used when screaming at the natives. "I shall ask once more
for Her gentle touch ..."

OOC: Cure Light, 8 hp cure.

(Arlon:)
"Well Tatiana, it looks like I'll have to take you clothes shopping
when we get back."

(Silver:)
Turning to Falrun and Shade, she says "I could try to locate where
those items which belonged to the Darkhaven Dozen are at the moment -
but it will take some time, even if Mielikki grants Her gifts at all
in this forsaken place ... ten minutes at the least, I would guess.
But at least it would give us an initial goal ..."

OOC: If that is agreed ...

That said, she crouches down and withdraws a small piece of metal from
her satchel, saying

    "All-knowing Mielikki, I ask just for a small fraction
     of Your boundless knowledge. Guide my thoughts, as
     You always do, and direct me toward that which I seek"

OOC: Locate Object on the DD Items as described before we left

(DM:)
The locate object fails to give you an answer, the items are either
out of range, or the interference from all the anti magic zones and
barriers is too large or cloaking the items from the searching
magic....

(Arlon:)
Wondering how Silver's locate object is going "Do you sense the DD's
items nearby, Silver?"

(Silver:)
"I can't feel the presence of the Darkhaven Dozen's items anywhere
near. But the fault is almost definitely mine - I was not exactly very
calm when I asked Mielikki for the gift of knowledge" she says with a
wry half-smile, "and we can't afford the time for me to try again."

(DM:)
Once all the healing is done, you guys stumble over to the field of
fallen blocks and pillars. As you get closer, you are amazed that the
ancient ruins have not been overgrown by weeds or other grass.

(Falrun:)
While everyone is assessing damage and current condition, Falrun will
search this area of the temple for any traps, secret doors or anything
else that may be of interest.

(DM:)
As you wander in among the ruins, you stare amazed at the artwork. It
truly remarkable, and the images carved into the blocks and pillars
seem to speak of a great exodus, and the arrival in a new land. You
truly believe you have found an edifice of the refugees from the
Corewars. There is only one inconsistency. The exodus described is one
by land......

(Arlon:)
Arlon is very interested in all the writings and/or graphics.  He
looks around trying to decipher as much as possible, if he can
(Ancient Langs./History).

"By LAND!?  They got here by a land route!?  This is very strange."

(Silver:)
When Arlon remarks on this, Silver asks, frowning "So what is the
significance of that ? I don't understand what is so remarkable ?"

(Arlon:)
"It took many days for us to get here by boat.  There is no evidence
of any land route to get to this continent.  It was assumed that the
exodus was by sea; but this indicates they came by land.  The question
is, where could this route be and does it still exist.  I must
continue to look at these to see if any other information can be
obtained.  Tatiana, do you recognize anything?"

(Silver:)
Silver will continue to look amongst the ruins for an entrance in, or
some place where others might be hiding or waiting. Suddenly she asks
"What ... or who ... do you think the Darkhaven Dozen wizard was
referring to when he said 'she was alive !'"

(DM:)
While Falrun was looking around, he suddenly exclaims 'hah!'.  And he
spots a block that only partially covers some sort of opening in the
ground. Others get near, and also spot the dark crack in the floor of
the Temple Complex.

(Falrun:)
After checking the stone for traps, Falrun will test the weight of the
stone trying to determine if it can be opened by one person or if it
will take more.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana paced the floor nervously. *What are the natives doing Tuft?*

*Watching the Temple closely.  They look real nervous, almost as if
they are willing to enter.  I'll let you know if they do though*

Tatiana walked back out to the front of the temple.  She looked out
from the opening at the natives.  Some jumped back and pointed at her
in surprise.  She desperately wanted to communicate with one of the
natives but she felt that they weren't to receptive at the moment.
She hated being misunderstood, worse yet she hated not knowing what
was going on.  The natives knew something, if only they would talk to
her, the hostility didn't have to continue.

She waved at one of the natives she thought was a spell caster.  Again
the natives jumped, but not the spell caster.  He narrowed his eyes
wondering what Tatiana was up to.

She pointed to her mouth then to the Native and back to her self
hoping he would understand she wanted to communicate.  The native just
stared and cocked his head in wonder, his eyes were still narrowed
with hatred though.

She shrugged and went back into the Temple, her burns still hurt badly.

(DM:)
The stone block is a block that is not meant to close the hole, merely
a building block that happened to have fallen largely over it. It is
quite a large stone block, and will take several people to move.
(Combined Str of 80)

(Silver:)
After Falrun tries to move the stone and realizes that it will not
easily move, he calls for volunteers. Silver positions herself along
one side if the block, wearing once more her padded green gloves.

She presses her side - the one which was not burnt so badly by the
fireball - against the block, and on a count of three pushes as hard
as she is able.

(Keilan:)
Keilan stands looking at the carvings and paintings while the
searching of the temple goes on.  When Falrun asks for help with the
stone, he puts his shoulder to the task without comment.

(Tatiana:)
She walked in on the group pushing a stone aside revealing a stair
case down into the depth of the temple.

Her soft boots finally fell apart, so she stopped and pulled her
slippers out of her backpack.  She put them on to protect her feet, as
well as give her the opportunity to check out high places easily.

She put on her gloves as well.

(DM:)
When you shove away the large granite block, you stare in the
darkness, and see steps leading down.... From the hole the stench of
stale air greets you.

(Silver:)
As the block slides across the ground, Silver coughs and wrinkles her
nose at the stale smell coming from down below. "If this thing is down
there, then there must be some other way in."

(Shade:)
"I think it would be a good idea to get some protection from evil.."
The bard waits for the other's reactions to his proposal.

(DM:)
When you look back at the natives, you see them get agitated at the
opening of the hole, and mill around, but they do not dare cross the
boundary of skeleton toting poles.....

(Silver:)
"We could invite some of our hosts here ..." indicating the angry
natives "... to join us on our venture" Silver mutters. She is
picturing what would happen if one or two were dragged forcibly
across the skeleton boundary.

(DM:)
Those studying the engravings and carvings, get an eerie feeling as
realization strikes.  Those depicted here are not all human. Those
from whose point of view the carvings seem to be were humanoid, but
had slightly pointed ears (not as much as elves or other known races),
and seem to be from some as yet undiscovered humanoid race. Some
pictures do include humans. Much searching even yields a picture of
humans landing from the sea!

The eerie feeling comes from those scenes where both the humans and the
humanoids are depicted together. They are invariably scenes of battle
or slaughter. Many seem to depict defeats by the humanoids, and
gruesome victories followed by slaughters by the humans.

If one of these beings was awakened, you can imagine why it blasted
the first human face it saw......

(Arlon:)
After he finishes looking at the scenes "Oh, this is encouraging" he
says with sarcasm.  "I don't know what everyone will think about this;
but if we do go in, judging by these scenes, it might be best if the
elves went first followed by the humans.  To the extreme, just the
elves; but if this being has an immense hatred of humans, the latter
could be the most advantageous."

(Falrun:)
After looking around at the state of the party, "Of course, Arlon, I
shall lead the way.  Any first contacts will probably be with me."

(Silver:)
"You don't expect us humans to stay up here, surely ..." Silver says
with an incredulous tone, looking from Arlon to Tatiana and back
again. He can't be serious !  However well intentioned he is, 'Ana
would _never_ stand for being left out on such an occasion. Hmm.  It
must be the ears, she thinks, that makes them act like they do.

(Arlon:)
"I am not expecting anything and I know well the implications of my
_suggestion_."  (he looks from Shade to Silver) "The first reaction is
critical and it might be better if humans were not even near us - plus
it would give us the opportunity to keep an eye on the natives. You
may of course do as you feel."

(Silver:)
"And I wouldn't worry about the natives. Tuft is nearby, watching
quietly, isn't he ?"  Silver asks Tatiana.

(Falrun:)
"I guess I didn't make myself clear.  I meant that everybody can
follow, if we run into something that does have something against
humans it shouldn't matter too much because their first contact will
be with me."

(Silver:)
"Oh sorry, Falrun. No, it was Arlon's suggestion that in the extreme
just the elves went down. No, I understood you perfectly. And yes, I
would have you lead us now, above anyone here."

(Arlon:)
"Actually Falrun, I was thinking Shade should lead us.  He is the
furthest thing from a human in appearance, in our group.  Followed
closely by you then me and then anyone else."

(Silver:)  [PROVISIONAL]
"I hate to disagree with you Arlon. That's Keilan's job, after all"
she adds with a smirk and a glance at the ranger. "But the natives are
dark-skinned, possibly have some sort of heat-vision, and the pictures
here ..." she indicates the fallen blocks "... show this unknown race
as fair-skinned."

OOC: I hope I got that right. I made some assumptions in that bit  ;-)

(Arlon:)
OOC: I am assuming, given the description of Drow, that Shade is still
     *much* different looking than any native.

(Silver:)
"I vote for Falrun leading. You next - you might even be able to talk
to it, with your knowledge of ancient tongues."

Pulling the hood of her cloak up over her head to hide her human
features, she says in Elvish "Us Elves had best stick together, eh ?
'Celeb' at your service, although some call me 'Telep'" and bows in
traditional Elvish greeting.

OOC: Celeb is in the Sindar language, Telep in Quenya

(Arlon:)
"I wouldn't do that Silver, if this being is able to see through your
'disguise', which is very likely, it could imply we are being devious
and 'she' may become extremely hostile."

(Silver:)
Silver pulls back down her hood.  "So you counsel approaching with no
aggression. Why not send one elf in there alone, unarmed ?"

(Arlon:)
"That was a viable alternative; but one I thought had no chance to be
accepted, so I did not bring it up."

(Silver:)
She shakes her head. "No matter - how do you propose to explain this
to Dithion - that he should stay where he is, rather than venture into
the unknown on a great adventure ? And who looks less like an elf than
him ?"

(Arlon:)
"I can only share my thoughts and the logic for those, it is up to him
and his faith what he does with them.  I would not try to stop anyone
from going in."

"I trust your judgment on this Shade. What course do you suggest ?"

(Arlon:)
"Also the warriors should keep their weapons at their sides.  The less
hostile we look the better."

(Silver:)
"Without question !"  To Falrun she adds "Let us hope we can greet
this creature as a 'Mellon'" (sp?) and then limps slightly as she
moves with Shade toward the new-found entrance.

(Keilan:)
At Arlon's suggestion of non-hostility, Keilan puts away the knife he
had inadvertently drawn.

(Arlon:)
"Well since it seems we are set on everyone going in, lets go.  It
looks like you have the honours Falrun." Arlon will follow behind
Falrun.

(Shade:)
"You are right, Arlon," - he turns to his friends - "are you ready?"
He casts a protection from evil spell muttering "malius est abundare
quam deficere...."  then he cautiously slips in the hole.

(Falrun:)
Once everyone has agreed, or at least accepted, that we all head down,
Falrun will cautiously head down the stairs keeping to the sides of
the walls and trying to be as careful as possible while still not
taking _too_ much time checking for any traps.

(Tatiana:)
As the others decided how to penetrate the depth intelligently,
Tatiana took the opportunity to walk up the walls and get a vantage
point on the room.  Perhaps there was something to see from the top of
the ceiling that couldn't be seen from below.  Often she had found a
hidden ledge that way.

(Silver:)
As people seem to be avoiding the edges of the stairs going down,
Silver will follow their lead and do the same.

(DM:)
You slink down the stairs, into the darkness, careful not to trip in
the dark, careful not to appear being too sneaky or provocative. You
reach the bottom of the stairs without trouble. You figure you are now
about three stories down, or some 12 meters below ground.

(Tatiana:)
OOC: As the last member enters the stair case down

Tatiana finally came down from the ceiling and joined the others.

(Keilan:)
Keilan blinks a bit at Tatiana walking up the walls again.  He rubs
his eyes and turns away.

(DM:)
At the end of the stairs, it becomes a corridor. The corridor is about
three meters wide, and continues for about 40 meters. While walking,
you hear nothing but the footfalls of your fellows and your own
heartbeat.

Then the walls widen, and you are suddenly blinded by light. Somehow
you entering the room triggered lights in the complex.

(Arlon:)
Arlon will say nothing as they walk down the passage; but when the
lights suddenly come on, he puts his arm in front of his eyes and as
if getting a hard pinch he will exclaim "AAAHHH!  I hate it when that
happens"

(Silver:)
As the light is triggered, Silver throws her forearm across her eyes,
but not quite in time. Screwing up her eyes, she stops where she is
for a few moments, resting against a tunnel wall, until the stars
stop.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana was at the rear of the group and the sudden light wasn't near
as bad for her.  She approached warily as the others made room for her
to enter.

(Falrun:)
"Arlon, what manner of magic is this?  Is this a taste of this races
magic, or is this something any wizard would be capable of?"

(Arlon:)
"This is nothing special.  There are several spells that are triggered
by 'events'.  Given the right knowledge many wizards could be capable
of this."

(DM:)
Revealed by the light which seems to emanate from the air itself, is a
circular chamber.  In the centre of the domed and circular chamber,
stands a tall statue on an octagonal pedestal. The statue is that of a
young girl from the strange new race, who is on her knees, her hands
and arms stretched to the sky, her face angled upwards and in an
expression of grief and supplication. The artwork is exquisite, and
all but the most hardened among you can feel the pain and suffering
extracted by this vision.

(Keilan:)
Keilan looks at the statue impassively, circles it once as others
inspect it also, and then ignores it to look at the rest of the room
and the other corridors leading out.

(Silver:)
Because of waiting for her eyesight to return to normal under this
light, Silver is one of the last to enter the chamber. The statue is
the thing which draws Silver's attention. She moves closer to it,
looking all around it.

(Shade:)
The bard stares amazed at the statue "Oh Gods," - he mutters - "what
was the cause of the grief of this girl? Even in her stone immobility
she makes my heart bleed..."

(Silver:)
Silver shakes her head, and moves next to Shade. "She really was
beautiful. See how she reaches to the sky ? She does not deserve such
pain."

(Tatiana:)
She looked at the statue. "This is too good." she said skeptically.
"This is magical in nature I'm sure.  Maybe truly are or perhaps a
Medusa or Basilisk came upon her."

(Arlon:)
He waits for his eyes to adjust to the light and then looks at the
statue.  He will walk around the statue but he will not touch it or
the pedestal.  He whispers "She was alive."

(Tatiana:)
"My thoughts too Arlon.  If we could restore her to flesh we might
know more.  If she was truly alive then returning her to the Fort
would probably be smart"

"I'd be wary folks" she said as she took care to try to identify
things before looking directly at them.

She paused a moment as she realized Arlon wasn't referring to the
statue but to the last words of the now dead last Darkhaven Dozen
member.

"What do you think it means Arlon?"

(Arlon:)
"Probably another reminder of those desperate and painful times.  It
helps to stir the spirit.  Like your bardic tales would."

(Dithion:)
Dithion looks about looks over the statue with a look of sadness.
"Interesting, very interesting."

(Keilan:)
As others discuss the statue Keilan ignores them in favor of a
moment's rest leaning against one wall.

(DM:)
As you circle the statue and look closer to it, you get to better
appreciate the workmanship. The statue is from white, almost
translucent alabaster, and a perfect rendering of the girl. Tears can
be seen running down her cheeks, and her clothes are ripped to shreds
largely. She seems to have sustained wounds you would think must have
been made to represent those as if made by swords and similar weapons.

You remember from the scenes up above suddenly, that the aliens mainly
used magic, and as weapons only staves and clubs and similar items.
This girls represents innocence destroyed by humans, which is clear to
those aware of the destructive capability of the human race.

As you stand around looking and waiting, nothing happens. The light
remains unwavering, but nothing and nobody comes looking for you, and
you cannot make out any sounds coming from anywhere. It is obvious
that nothing has noticed you, or does not care right now.

(Falrun:)
OOC: Can the statue be moved?

(DM:)
You push and shove, but the statue remains where it is.

(Dithion:)
Dithion looks at the statue, "She was alive, hmmm."  He pauses, and
says, "Have any of you heard of golems?  I wonder if this could be
one...I have an uncle who made them, but none so fine as this."

(DM:)
The chamber has four exits. One from which you came, and one across,
and one on the left and one on the right. The light also shines in all
those corridors, as well as in the one through which you all just
arrived.

(Arlon:)
"Decisions, decisions.  I'd say there is a good chance that _whoever_,
knows that we are here and may be watching and even listening to us.
We may be able to send our greeting from here and hope _she_ will come
here instead of us trying to find her."

(Falrun:)
"I suggest we go with staying to the right, once again.  Any other
suggestions?"

(Tatiana:)
"My feelings too.  An easy method to retrace our steps if we need to
escape."

(Dithion:)
He looks over the statue again, and then says, "To the right, then!"
He lumbers in that direction his club balanced upon his shoulder.
Dithion stops suddenly, and says, "I guess I could check to see if she
is magical.  What do you all think?"

(DM:)
Just before you guys leave to go to the right, Dithion casts his
detect magic on the girl-statue, and detects zip. It is just an
extremely well done statue, or whatever magic it may once have had has
long faded.

(Silver:)
After the statue has been checked for magic, and traps, Silver will
take off her gloves, reach into her satchel, and take out two small,
yet beautiful miniature roses, one starting to bloom, the other just a
bud. She will climb onto the pedestal and place the rose stems in the
statues outstretched hands, kiss the girl's forehead and get back
down.  Silver is obviously very moved by the plight of the girl.

(Arlon:)
As the group starts to make its way toward the right hand passage,
Arlon will hesitate.  He puts his staff on the ground, looks up and
has his arms slightly away from his side with palms turned up, as if
to show he is unarmed.  He then begins to speak in a loud voice but
not yelling, he turns slowly as he talks.

"Greetings, protector of this temple.  We come in peace, we mean no
harm.  We have come here to seek knowledge and to make contact with
you.  We understand that previous visitors may have been hostile
towards you and your ancestors.  We are saddened by the murals on the
temple and the statue here.  The pain of that time must have been
great.  We don't want that to happen again.  We want to understand you
and you understand us.  We come in peace, we mean no harm."

Arlon will make one final turn after he ends.

(DM:)
You do what you do - plant the roses and the kiss, call out loudly
that you intend no harm and apologize for the atrocities of the past,
etc.

All that happened was that your voice echoed throughout the domed room
and came back from the various corridors leading out. You wait, and
after some time still nothing has happened.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana watched Arlon and shrugged when there was no response. "Nice
try" she said kindly.

(Arlon:)
Arlon will pick up his staff and follow the others.

(DM:)
As you tramp into the right corridor (or move in as silently as
possible :) ), Falrun and Shade in the lead, you see the corridor
continue, but on both your left and your right there are archways .
They appear to be leading to rooms of some sort, but you will have to
get closer to investigate.

(Silver:)
Silver does not answer Falrun when he asks about moving out down the
right-hand passage, but bows her head, and with a backward look at the
statue, follows the party out of the room. She has now put her gloves
back on again.

(Arlon:)
Arlon seems a little disappointed that the being didn't show up after
his greeting.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana followed the others out through the corridor and peeked into
both rooms, but didn't enter either.  She waited patiently out in the
hall.

(Keilan:)
Keilan brings up the rear as the party heads down the right passage.

(Falrun:)
Falrun will approach the archway on the right and peer in around the
edge to see what is inside.

(DM:)
When reaching the archways left and right, you choose to enter through
the right one, making sure to tread carefully, and be prepared for
anything.

You enter what appears to be a spacious office of sorts. You are
confronted by a solid looking, tho somewhat disheveled by age, desk
with an empty chair behind it, facing you.  Behind the desk and chair
are three wooden and copper shod chests, all closed, lining the far
wall. A quick peek into the archway across reveals a similar setup in
another room.


                       Corridor
                     continues on
     _______________|    |_______________
    |               |    |               |
    |__            |    |          __|
    | |    ___      |    |      ___    | |
    |_|   |   |     |    |     |   |   |_|
        |_    |   |     |    |     |   |    _|
        | | / |   |                |   | \ | |
        |_| \ |   |                |   | / |_|
        |_    |   |     |    |     |   |    _|
        | |   |___|     |    |     |___|   | |
    |_|             |    |             |_|
     |               |    |               |
    |_______________|    |_______________|
                |    |
                     Entrance from
                       Domed Room

(Silver:)
As Falrun calls out that there seems to be no immediate danger, Silver
will approach the room with the desk. Silver will be walking next to
the downcast Keilan.

"Hi Ho, Lone Ranger" says Silver.

OOC: Been waiting ages to say that  ;-)

(Keilan:)
OOC: You got me.  Now it's time for me to invoke that classic spell,
     Jedi's Mind Trick: 'No, these aren't the druids you're looking for.'

Keilan stops walking, turns, looks Silver up and down, and then
continues down the passage.  He steps into the other room (the left
one?) and looks about.

(Shade:)
"Falrun, do you think it's wise for you to have a check of those
chests?"

(Silver:)
Looking over the shoulder of someone already at the doorway, Silver
will suggest "I think we ought to continue on and find if there is
anyone around in this temple. If we are trying not to offend anyone,
opening chests might make them think we were common thieves and base
despoilers of tombs ..."

(Keilan:)
"But we are."

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana nodded her silent agreement with Keilan's opinion.

(Arlon:)
"I agree with Silver, 'she' may be watching, trying to ascertain our
true intent before she reveals herself.  We should disturb nothing
unless it seems absolutely necessary.  Let's move on."

(Silver:)
Silver thinks for a moment, then adds as an afterthought "But, what if
the items we seek that belonged to the Darkhaven Dozen are in there ?"

A pause, then "But they can't be, can they ? It was the natives who
took the items, wasn't it ? And the natives seem not to be able to
come beyond the line of skeletons erected above. Very strange ..."

(Falrun:)
"I agree with Silver, there may be the items in these chests that we
are looking for.  I will check the chests, if 'our' items are there we
have a right to them, and from looking at our current condition, we
very much need them.  If there is nothing that belongs to us, then we
shall leave the contents undisturbed."

Falrun then proceeds to check the chests for traps.  If they are
trapped, he will attempt to disarm them, if locked, he will attempt to
open them.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana took a few steps away from the door way.

(Arlon:)
Emphasizing the first three words, "Forget the chests.  Silver was
right the first time, we should not disturb them.  If this being does
indeed have the items, we can ask for them when we meet her.  We need
to act as if we are in someone's home and have respect for it.
Disturbing the chests will probably give us more troubles than
solutions.  Lets move on and try to find 'her' quickly."

(Falrun:)
"And what do you suggest we do if this 'lady' isn't as friendly as you
think she'll be?  Wouldn't you like to have some way of defeating her
if it is necessary?  After all, she wasn't very friendly the first
time, what makes you think she'll be this time?  I _will_ check the
chests."

(Keilan:)
Keilan smiles a little at Falrun's rejection of Arlon's idea, but
since he's in the door way of the other room, it's unlikely either see
this.

(Arlon:)
"These items sure did the DD a whole lot of good, didn't they" (said
sarcastically) "and I don't know if she'll be friendly or not; but I
do know this - the more we act like robbers and despoilers the more
likely she WILL be hostile."

(Dithion:)
Dithion, silent until now, says, "I must agree with Falrun on this
one.  By Des, this is an ancient abandoned...well, maybe abandoned
temple ..."

(Arlon:)
"Yes, I am sure it was an illusion that blasted the DD and scares the
natives so much that they don't come into the temple."

(Dithion:)
"... if there is anything in these chests, they are doing no good
there."  He looks over to Falrun, and says, "If you wish to open them,
I will stand ready with a spell that will stop poison if need be."

(Falrun:)
"Yes, that would be appreciated.  Des knows, I don't want to die in
some forsaken temple of some forsaken god."

(Dithion:)
Dithion chuckles at that and says, "I don't think Des would think that
such a bad way or place to die."  He chuckles again, and adds quickly,
"Although I don't think he would do anything to hasten such an end."
He laughs again...

(Arlon:)
"Well Fine, you do as you wish.  I will not be apart of it."  he turns
and starts to walk back toward the statue room "Keilan, I am beginning
to think you are right about us."

(Keilan:)
"Naturally."

(Arlon:)
As he walks he will continue to talk; but more in mumbles and you may
pick up a word every once in a while: .. killed .. why .. abandoned ..
arrgghh ..

(Falrun:)
"Now that I think about it, Arlon, what are the chances that the DD
was referring to the statue of the lady in the entry chamber?  Isn't
it possible that they did something to awaken or activate the statue
that we didn't or are not capable of?"

(Tatiana:)
"You must have been out of the room when Dithion detected magic and
found none on the statue.  It is extraordinary, but normal."

"Did the Darkhaven dozen have any females in their organization?
Maybe one of them was captured alive and is in dire trouble now?"

"Aren't sacrifices needed to free trapped demons?" she asked Arlon.

(Silver:)
While waiting in the corridor with Falrun in the right hand room,
Silver will look around at each of the others. Noticing Tatiana, she
will ask "How's Tuft ?", raising her eyes as if to signify the world
outside. "And how are the natives ?"

(Tatiana:)
"All's quiet so far.  They are settling down and organizing a means to
insure we don't get out alive."

"Tuft can be a pessimist sometimes.  They probably are wonder what I
was doing up there.  Someone might have figured out I was trying to
communicate with them."

"They are probably just discussing that."  she said hopefully.

(Keilan:)
Keilan waits for Falrun to begin inspecting the chests in one room.
If he finds no traps and they are unlocked, Keilan will step to the
other room to see what waits inside the other chests.

(Silver:)
If Falrun takes a while looking at each chest and other items in the
room (such as the desk), Silver will move a little further along the
corridor. She will be looking around at the corridor walls, floor and
ceiling as if to determine anything else she can about the plight of
the girl defined in the statue. She will not stray far - at most to
the next junction.

As the discussion about opening the chests continues, Silver wanders
further along the corridor. As she reaches the next junction or
doorway or whatever, she takes a cautious look.

(DM:)
The next junction, is two more arches, and two more rooms with the
same setup as the other two. The corridor continues up ahead, and
there you spy another arch at the end of the corridor, through which
you see book- shelves filled with various colourful books.

(Silver:)
As she waits there for the rest of the party to catch up, she murmurs
"I wonder if She would grant me that. I wonder !"

With her back to the party, something occurs, but everyone is either
involved in investigating other things or too far away to see exactly
what.

(DM:)
Falrun checks around carefully for traps, with Dithion standing by
with magical aid if necessary, and Keilan anxious to know if he can
open any others without problems.

Falrun peers all over the chest, and touches it in several places. The
chests have no locks, but might still be booby trapped. Finding
nothing, Falrun carefully opens the first chest, ready to jump away
from any nasty surprises that might occur. None happen.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana stood quietly out in the hall way watching for anything
unusual to occur.

(DM:)
Looking inside, you spot the dull gleam of pearls. Thousands of them,
filling the chest.  Keilan is quick to open the other chests (The desk
is basically just a table, i.e. no drawers or other places you can
look for stuff in, you give them a quick glance and touchover to make
sure no hidden gimmicks or double bottoms or whatever might be there,
and you find none.)

Opening the other chest reveals the same as the first. No traps are
activated, and an abundance of pearls gleams dully at you. The pearls
come in many colors. More than you imagined existed for pearls.

(Silver:)
Returning down the corridor, you can see she has taken on a very
strong, yet not quite exact, resemblance to the girl depicted in the
statue - almost as if she is that girl's sister. She wears clothes
similar to those depicted in the murals up above - simple togas, with
a strange design of belt. She does not speak as she approaches the
party.

OOC: Clothes are a guess. Shapechange cures 13hp

(DM:)
Noted, and a good assumption. Her clothes were a simple tunic, and
they appeared to have symbols on it similar to those of Celtic origin
in our real world.

(Keilan:)
As Silver returns in her newest form, "I really hate shapechangers..."
and he proceeds into the opposite room to examine its contents.

(Dithion:)
OOC: Can Dithion hear what is said in the hall?  Mainly in regard to
     Keilan's last remark about shapechangers.

(Keilan:)
OOC: Certainly.

(Silver:)
OOC: Yes, for sure. Also, he hears no reply from Silver.

(Silver:)
Silver looks at Keilan's retreating form, sighs sadly and looks down
at the floor. She shakes her head and turns her hands upwards
slightly, shrugging her shoulders. Soon, her peaceful and almost regal
smile appears once more.

(DM:)
When Keilan goes into the other rooms to check on those chests, he
finds that those also all contain pearls.

(Shade:)
As the transformed Silver approaches Shade stares intensely at her for
a moment, then "Hmmm, you are a very nice 'alien' dear, but I really
love your original self much more."

(Silver:)
Silver will move close to Shade, then hold his head and kiss his
forehead lightly, still smiling.

(Shade:)
"Besides, never trust disguise too much: being deluded to have tricked
your antagonist may be deadly dangerous."  He shudders "I usually
think it's better to be your real self.."

(Silver:)
Still smiling, she soundlessly shakes her head slowly, then shrugs her
shoulders as well.  She does not say anything, but does not seem
worried in the slightest about Shade's comments.

(Falrun:)
After examining the chests and finding only pearls, Falrun says, "Ok,
if that's all, we can leave these here, as Arlon requests, and
continue down the hall."

(Dithion:)
Dithion says, "Aye, no need to take them."  He joins the others....

(Tatiana:)
As the others move out of the way she moves into the room and opens
the chest to look at all of the pearls. "Wow! Look at all of them.
They are beautiful."

She bent over the chest to look closer, and ran her fingers through
them.  "So many different colors!"

Scooping up a few and letting them fall through her fingers.

"Like you said this place is deserted.  I'm taking a few of them."
she said as she picked up a hand full and put them into her belt
pouch.  Then a second hand full.

(DM:)
Still in the first set of chambers, Tatiana tries to grab some pearls,
but to her surprise they crumble to dust at the lightest touch. The
pearls have become extremely unstable and dehydrated over the
millennia. The place definitely has a very abandoned and unused feel to
it.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana ran her fingers through the pearls admiring their beauty.

"So many colors, I had no idea they could be so varied."

They clattered back into the chest as they ran through her fingers.

"This place is deserted and long forgotten anyways.  Taking a few
certainly wouldn't hurt anything." she said as she started to put a
handful into her belt pouch. But before she could complete the motion
"Ouch!"  she cried, jerking her hand back letting the pearls fall from
her hand, but they had turned to dust.

Her eyes went wide with awe.  "I don't think this place is so deserted
anymore."

(DM:)
Done with these, you move on, deeper into the corridor, to come upon
another set of archways, left and right. Peeking through them, the
same setup as for the previous rooms is discovered. From your current
position, you can already spy the end of the corridor, which ends in a
single archway, leading to a largish room that appears to be filled
with tomes and books of all kinds.

(Arlon:)
When Arlon hears the group starting to move down the hall again, he
will make his way back to join up.  He has no idea what Tatiana was
doing. "We're finished with our mischief are we?"

(DM:)
You would guess a library of sorts. Those who check the chests in the
two side rooms find them also filled with pearls, and these are in
just a poor condition as those in the previous set of rooms...

All this time, those who are perceptive to this sort of thing, have
the feeling of being trespassers into somebody's home. Though
abandoned and long disused, you still have a lingering feeling that
this was once a bustling place from a friendly and goodly society,
which has been wiped off this earth for all you know.

You are not sure (yet) whether this was really a temple, but it was
definitely a hallow place of sorts.

When moving her hand through the pearls disintegrating beneath her
hands, Tatiana gets a feeling that that is her just dessert for robbing
from a place such as this. She felt a shiver run up her spine when
touching the multi coloured pearls.

As you move on to view the room with the books, your eyes are opened
to a wonder. You have never seen so many books in a single place
together. It is a large rectangular room, with the side and far wall
filled with books. They come in all kinds. Thick coloured leather
bound volumes with golden and silver scripts on their backs, to tomes
of metal plaques in satchels of Dragon Leather and similar arcane
materials. Some books look like they might require two people strain
to lift it, some have but single digit page numbers.

(Falrun:)
When Falrun enters the room, he will search the walls for secret
doors. He knows how wizards love to have secret doors in their
libraries.

(Tatiana:)
She got back up with a worried look and followed the others down the
hall into the Library room. Her eyes flicked from place to place
nervously. "This place is giving me the creeps.  It's too quiet."

(DM:)
No matter the difference in all the books, at first glance you cannot
find a single tome that has symbols on it any of you can comprehend.
Strange runes and characters stare at you, and you are certain that
many languages are represented here.

(Arlon:)
When the library is entered, Arlon will become wide eyed.  He will
look around at all the books. "Now this is real treasure!  I could
stay here a while!  The question is, where to start."

(Tatiana:)
"Well I'm not touching them.  Apparently, my greed has offended
whoever lives here."

(Falrun:)
"Huh, we're not going to disturb anything, are we Arlon?  We wouldn't
want to offend anything or anyone who may live here, now would we?"
Falrun says with obvious sarcasm.

(Silver:)
Silver, still in her strange alien form and ancient style of clothing,
moves over in front of Falrun, so that she can more clearly see his
face. She searches his face as if looking for something hidden. Seeing
that he was perfectly serious when he spoke in his sarcastic tone, she
averts her eyes, and with her joyous smile slightly diminished, leaves
the room.  She shakes her head slightly as she goes.

(Arlon:)
"This is a very different situation, these books are out in the open
and quite accessible.  A library tends to be that way - the books are
supposed to be looked at.  I don't mean to take them but to learn from
them.  They may give us a clue to what we're dealing with.  If we
could only find the right subject."

Arlon will look around to see if there are any signs or writings that
may indicate the books have been placed per categories.

(Silver:)
Moving into the chamber of books, Silver takes a quick look around,
but seeing nothing she immediately recognizes, she will look around
the room for any other items or things of interest.

(Tatiana:)
She looked for a place on the wall that was bare of fragile looking
objects and walked up the walls to the ceiling to get a different
perspective of the room.  Her hair dangled down to the floor and her
equipment hung strangely, but she had done this many times in the past
and knew how to pack her things now.

OOC: How tall is this room?

(DM:)
The ceilings in the corridor and the rooms discovered so far is about
two and a half meters high (just over 8 feet)

(Silver:)
If nothing else of interest is found, she will move silently back down
the corridor to the room with the statue, look once more with
compassion on the girl depicted there, and move around to the next
exit to the right.

Silver realizes that others will want to study the books, yet she can
do nothing to help them. She believes that this place is truly
deserted, and will act as such - being very curious, and careful not
to touch anything so as not to damage it. This she has learned from
seeing Tatiana turn the pearls to dust.

She will move as quietly as she can, preserving the hallowed nature of
the place. After a short while, she moves out of the library and back
down the corridor.



And so, Arlon and Shade look around at the books while the others look
around at other things ...

(DM:)
Arlon seems the only one interested in the books, though Shade is
probably also at least partially intrigued by them. Giving the books a
better scrutiny, and testing each spine for their content, Shade
suddenly motions the searching Arlon.

"Come over. Look here. I think I recognize this."

Shade pulls the book off the shelf, and with some difficulty due to
the age of the script used, finds it written in readable ancient
common, the kind some of you understand. The tome is particularly
ancient, and somewhat scratched and weathered. The runes used are very
embellished and more difficult to read than usual for the time. Some
of the words used seem arcane to even the old common, and may make use
of some secret or special tongue. The words not recognized sound dark
and ominous, Shade seems to recognize one as being similar to a word
in the Chaotic Evil alignment tongue as used by the drow priests in
ancient tome copying.

As far as -------------------------------------------

"A brief and true history of the weeks following the landing in the
Shining Lands."

The name of the author is not on the spine of the book. The book is
made of parchment and bound by black leather from some rare animal,
and with silver straps and a silver lock closing it. This lock is so
small and well constructed, you doubt that anyone currently alive has
the skill necessary to make a similar one. The whole book is quite
exquisite. From it's overall style and condition, you believe that it
must have belonged to humans from the Main Continent who landed here
some 2000 years ago.

(Arlon:)
OOC: Is this a typical way to have a book, with a lock on it or is it
     very unusual?

(DM:)
No, a lock on a book is not very common, though not extremely uncommon
either. Important books or books carrying secret information usually
have them, though you do marvel at the high level of technology put
into this particular lock, which you can not remember ever having seen
before.

(Arlon:)
"Maybe we should detect for a more subtle magical protection on this
book before we try to open it."

"If we do get it open I'll be ready; but I want to look around for
other interesting titles."

Arlon then casts a spell - Comprehend languages.  He starts scanning
other books on the shelves.

(DM:)
You cast the spell, and now you can clearly see the title on the book
in Shade's hands. He agrees with you not to violate the book if not
necessary.  As you scan for other interesting titles, you get dizzy
from looking at them.  You feel as though a net draws around your
thoughts, blocking them, and turning your thoughts back to yourself.
You have a feeling that the books are either protected from divination
magics such as comprehend languages, or that the writings themselves
are somehow magical in nature, and defy the magics of your spell
thusly. Either way, only the book in Shade's hands is currently
understandable, but that book is still locked....

(Arlon:)
Arlon, after casting his spell and looking around, grumbles under his
breath in elven.  He rubs his eyes.  "Mmm, that's going to give me a
headache.  These books seem to have some protections that block my
magic."

(Silver:)
While the others searched the library and examined the outside of the
book that Arlon and Shade had found, Silver moves back down into the
room with the statue. Looking at the statue once more, she crossed the
room to the corridor opposite, and explored that passage.

(DM:)
Silver explores the passage carefully, taking some time over it, only
to find that the corridor had collapsed. On further investigation, she
finds a skeletal hand sticking out from under the rubble. On the ring
finger bone, she finds a sigil-ring.

Unknown to Silver at the moment, since she left the library before the
book was examined, the sigil on the ring is the same as the one under
the name of the mage on the opening page.


However, while Silver explores that passage, the others leave the
library, book still locked, and venture down the only passage which
has not yet been explored ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ End of Chapter 28 -----------------------------
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*'``'*,..,*'``'*,..,*'``'*,..,*'``'*,..,*'``'*,..,*'``'*,..,*'``'*,..,*
Lance Dooly
[e-mail]                         "Not I," said the cat.
Physics/Chemistry/Philosophy   (PCP?!)