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The Shadow Dwarves
They are blinded and the light burns. But they do not turn aside. Fingers tighten their grip upon the handles of their weapons and the warriors of the vanguard step forward. They cannot see the light but they can feel it and they grow more uncomfortable with each step, but they step forward all the same. Behind them are others, stronger than they, whose eyes while hurt are not blinded. And these eyes watch the progress of their fellows with great interest. The singing has stopped but the rhythmic beating of the drums continues filling the stairwell with its sound and making it impossible for any to hear the movement of the dwarves as they approach the light.
Forward the step and into the light. They are dwarves and so they are resistant to enchantments of all kinds. The very substance of shadow has been infused into their being and so spells often simply dissipate against their dusky forms. Each of them is an accomplished warrior, neither one to be trifled with nor to be overcome easily. Mere magery and mere light should be as nothing to them. But this is no mere magery nor is its power merely that of light and to pass through this wall is as if one passed through not spell but seven. Where resistance holds once it may not hold a second time, let alone a sixth or a seventh, and those who seek passage through the barrier must prove themselves against each, and all, of its colored layers. One simply falls before the shimmering pattern, his body drained of health as colors flash about him. Another is thrown backward and then stands rooted to his place an unmoving block of stone. A third falls dead and then simply vanishes – no trace of his life to found anywhere within the realm of IronWorks. A fourth turns toward his fellows, his speech little more than gibberish and his face stretched taut with madness. Another two follow behind them and these two liewsie are destroyed by the barrier which itself remains unchanged and unaffected.
Axes are thrown and crossbows are fired but neither axe nor bolt passes through the barrier before being destroyed.
Still the dwarves press forward, willing to try themselves against this obstacle, until a command from their leader halts them. All is silent before the shimmering barrier save the drums whose beats thunder with the mounting anger of a resolve that will not be mastered be it by magery or by light or by any other obstacle placed before it.
[ 02-13-2006, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]
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