Part 6>>>The Shadow of Love (an LoF adventure)

[Larry_OHF]

OOC>>>This should make it interesting.


For Marcos's Clan

The apparition stared at the four living bodies that had just entered the dining hall, and did nothing more for several moments. Some of the four began reaching for and gripping their weapons in an attempt to defend themselves if the ghost proved vile. However, without seeming malicious, the ghost floated a little closer to Marcos, then dipped its head as if bowing or submitting.

Then it spoke.

"Young Lord Snowdale! You have finally come! Please...except my apologies for this tragedy! It was my fault! My mind was not my own when I helped them do it! When death took us, I forced myself to stay and accept the responsibility...and the punishment at your hand! Please! Forgive your servant Manessah Fortlight for this treason!

The ghost sank low to the floor, its head again bowed, it supernatural light dimmer than when it was speaking.

[Morgeruat]

Yevaud

Yevaud raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked questioningly at Marcos.

[Elif Godson]

Vincent Pathfinder 98/98

" Mani " he spoke in Marcos' direction titling his head a bit.


( Mani= What? )

[Legolas]

Inquisitor Marcos of Snowdale - 98/98

If Marcos was caught off-guard, his inquisitorial training prevented him from showing it. He was certain that this was not anywhere near his family home, and that the castle Lesismoore had been standing in this very spot for as long as he could remember. His first thought then was that this must be some illusion, an attempt to trick his mind using perhaps the surface thoughts which had slipped free of his mostly guarded mind, and he should ignore the trick-spirit. From the deaths of the castle guards, he was all too aware that there was something out here that was ready to butcher.

But the illusion persisted, and from the responses of those around him they either witnessed the same thing, or he was failing to respond to the threat of something dangerous approaching. The inquisitor detected confusion, but not alarm, and concluded there was, most likely, no immediate peril. He was confident his other senses would warn him when something more malicious approached, and decided to see what he might learn.

His common sense suppressing the belief that this scene, as the spirit described it, held any relation to actual events, Marcos' response was void of emotions.
"What happened here, Manessah?"

[Larry_OHF]

Larry and Joseph:

"Will you three please suspend your bickering for another time? We have already concluded that applying haste to our steps is the essential factor for our success in getting into the tower of this tyrant. If you are ready to go, then please allow me to provide the pathway for which we must travel. I will need but a moment to prepare it."

Larry heard the older, and obviously wiser of them all rebuke their arguing and ask for a moment of peace so that he could prepare the pathway. It seemed that the old guy knew how to conjure a portal of some kind to get them to the tower quickly. Larry hushed up and watched as Joseph began.

As Larry looked on, he saw Joseph exercising his fingers much like he'd seen musicians do just before performing at the One-Eyed Wolf tavern. He stretched them in different directions, getting them ready for his spell-casting. He even hummed a note or two to get his speech-tone at the proper key. Larry was thoroughly intrigued by it all. One usually never saw a mage prepare so. When he had completed his exercises, he turned again to the three that stood by him.



"Listen very closely as I explain what is about to occur. My spell shall bring us to the very edge of the Prime Material Plane, which borders on the Plane of Shadow. This spell does not involve shadow-magic, which our young friend here is used to seeing, so do not be afraid of it. There will be no malice hindering us as we make the walk. The only potential danger will be if you do not stay close to me, and wander off the path that I set. It is not hard to lose your way, and you could either stumble back here where we started and be left behind, or you could find yourself in another plane of existence where you do not belong at all. As I said, no harm shall befall any of you if we stick together...just as long as that power-hungry presence does not come back before we are through. If that happens, watch for my queue and go where I lead.

Now if there are no questions..."

Joseph paused in mid-sentence to give somebody the chance to ask a question or relay a worry.

[Larry_OHF]

For Team Marcos:

The ghostly form in front of Legolas resumed its up-right position and began.

"I can sense your confusion, Lord Snowdale. Let me explain briefly some of the castle's history and then the tragedy that struck it.

The Castle that stands above us at this time is the second Castle of Lesismoore. It was built about 300 years ago. Before that, this castle was above the ground, and there was no swamp. The Commander of the Knights of Lesismoore, Kivmor Snowdale, was an ancestor of yours, an outcast from his own family. I was a lesser knight.

There came to our castle a man who claimed to be a righteous and powerful wizard and asked for permission to trespass in our tombs where the dead lay to this day a little bit North-East of here. He claimed that under the gravesite was a cavern that had been discovered by evil men long ago, and that a secret of terrible power lay buried there still, and that he wanted to nullify the danger to us. Our king would not allow the desecration of the tombs, nor believed the old man, and sent him away. However, some of us that had come to the knowledge of this secret desired to learn the truth. We went to the graveyard one night. I was placed on watch and my cohorts went into the graveyard to find the entry to the cavern. It appeared that they found it, but never come back out again. I was too scared to go looking for them, and so left them there to their fate. A day later, Kivmor asked me if I had seen the two missing men, and I told him that they had told me that they were going to go investigate the wizard’s claim about the graveyard. He instructed me to come with him, and the two of us went in together, to find out where the men had gone. We found their bodies, and saw that they had been attacked by undead. Kivmor quickly killed the undead that yet walked, and then explained to me that something down in that hole must have disturbed their sleep, because undead do not just rise for no reason. We continued onward until we found it. A huge green emerald, worth more than a kingdom. The moment I saw it, I wanted it. Kivmor, of course, saw it as an evil item and wanted to be rid of it. I could not allow him to destroy such a beautiful thing, and so stabbed him as his back was to me. Then I managed to haul the emerald up from the graveyard and hide it away where I could easily get to it again.”

The phantom stopped for a moment, silently floating there with no legs to its ghostly torso to hold it up. It continued...

“When I returned to reclaim the emerald and sell it to a buyer that I had secured, the thing was gone. Somebody had stolen it from me. I could tell no one of the theft because it was linked to the disappearance of Kivmor, who people were still wondering about, sadly. So I went back to the castle to suffer my regret at having lost my precious jewel.

A week later, the castle began to be surrounded by water. It made the earth muddy and trees began to die. It was very unnatural to happen so rapidly, and so my king suggested we locate a priest to lift whatever curse had befallen us. Already a disease spread by flies had began to plague the people as well as large leeches took up habitation in our own back yard. A summons was sent by pigeon for any clerics in the area to please come to our aid. A group of clerics did come, but they had a strange feeling about them. They were not from any church that we had ever heard of. They said that the very stones of this castle were cursed and that there was no saving the castle, but that the Gods themselves demanded that it be taken by the Earth and buried. My king from that day forward had a strange look about him, almost glassy-eyed, and we supposed that it was due to his emotions at losing his castle. The clerics told us that we could build a new castle over the remains of the old one, and that they would consecrate our new building to the Gods. Our king became ill and could not talk anymore, but his last command had been to listen to what the clerics said and save Castle Lesismoore. We assumed that he was cursed just as the castle was. He was confined to his quarters. We did as we were commanded, and several men went on a journey to find building supplies outside of the swamp, and men to help us with the work. One of the men to go was the son of the king. Only sixty of us remained.

The clerics came to us two days later, and said that they were instructed by the Gods to hold a feast in honor of the king and his new castle to be built on this now consecrated spot. They promised that as soon as the men who were sent to find building material and workers that they would have all of us stand aside as the old castle was taken by the swamps and then we could begin working immediately on the new castle. They said that in the same hour, the king would be made whole. We were all thrilled to hear it, and all of us came to this reception hall to celebrate.

The last thing I saw with my mortal eyes was a green glow in the room, and then we were all dead. Yet, I was aware of myself. I looked about, but no other had risen as I had. I wondered what strange powers had granted me undeath. I could not leave this room, however. Then I heard speaking. It was the clerics. They were talking back and forth about the success of the mission, and how the emerald was more powerful than they had anticipated. Then I learned that the very jewel that I had found now sat in the throne room of this very castle, to the employment of these evil men who had slain us. I approached them in my ghostly form, and they laughed at me, and explained to me that the crystal had needed the lives of us all in order to activate, and that I must be a ghost because I had come in contact with the jewel, and they mockingly thanked me for helping them discover it. I tried to attack them, but they stood against me and I found that I could not harm them. I then realized that I had caused all of this, and vowed to apologize one day for my acts of treason.

Before the men on the mission returned, the clerics sank the castle in the swamp they had created, explaining to me that they needed a place to work where it would be hidden from spies. They placed wards of magic around the castle that I do not understand. One of the clerics transported to the surface to be the one to spin a lie about the whole thing, and later I learned that his explanation given to the prince and the men were that we had slurred the name of the Gods at feast while drunken, and that the Gods had claimed the lives of everyone inside, including all of the clerics except him, who was given the order by the Gods to explain the situation. He then had instructed them to build the castle and live there in peace, but not disturb the final resting place of the Damned. Therefore, many of the people dared not even tell their children what lay under their feet out of fear.

For 300 years, this secret has been buried and forgotten, until today. The same clerics that created this place have dedicated this swamped castle to something that they worship, but they never let me learn of it. They live elsewhere, but visit here when they come to pray or whatever. I do not know what they do down there, but I have heard that an accident has caused something to happen to one of them. I also do not think they are human, though their appearances seem to be. I just do not know.

Therefore, Lord Snowdale, my final act of service to your ancestor in penance for what I did to him and this castle will be through you. I implore you to destroy that emerald. Doing so may cause the swamp to recede, I can find my eternal rest, and the plot of the clerics will be stopped before they accomplish whatever mad scheme they are trying to bring about. I do not know what to expect down there, so I cannot warn you any further than that.”

The ghost hovered silently in front of Marcos…his tale, ended.

[ 07-13-2005, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Bozos of Bones]

Kynnen 73/85

After rummaging through the corpse, Kynnen started to be annoyed by the babbling. "Shut up." he said, again in drow. The head continued it's ravings. "I said" the drow started again, reaching for the shirt on the skeleton and ripping it off "shut up!" and forced the cloth into the mouth of the head. The muffled babbling was a welcome improvement.
So, something killed these men. And it probably still lurks here. Kynnen, never the one to shy away from a challange, continued forward. If for nothing, then to do something to pass the time until nighttime. It was good to be underground again, shielded from the light. If the area wasn't as cold as it was, he could almost make himself believe he was in the Underdark, home again. But being home does not imply being relaxed in the Underdark.

[Legolas]

Inquisitor Marcos of Snowdale - 98/98

An evil magic at play then. This was greater than what he had been trained for so long ago, but so was the testing of Silverfall, as it had turned out. He was well aware he had a greater mission and must not get distracted from it, but that trail had gone cold and this turn of events seemed more than mere chance. Surely this was a test of the gods to determine his worth after the earlier failure which he still needed to confess.
But great as the mystery was, there was something more here, better anchored in recent events. This was the only way through, and the spirit might have the answers.

"Sir Manessah, what befell the men who entered this castle not an hour ahead of us?"

[Skydracgrrl]

Liam?

The muddied pawprints followed the gruesome army for a distance before apparently losing interest and meandering eastward. The tracks end at the edge of a ruin of masonry, which might have once resembled a great tower. A cold wind whistled through the broken stone, whipping the fur of the muddied creature. It hunkered down further into itself for warmth. The wind was a welcomed change from the sweltering heat of destruction that still flitted across the animal's memories.

Inhaling to sigh, it paused and inhaled again. Blinking slowly, it's keen tawny eyes scanned the havoc before it. A thought struggled through it's muddled thoughts, linking to a familiar scent. Picking it's way delicately over the precariously balanced rubble, it pawed to get closer to the smell that hovered teasingly in the air. The confused creature knew that somehow the scent was important, the being the smell originated from. It continued to nose through the dust and debri, searching...

ooc- larry, if you wish to post saying what liam does or doesn't find, that's fine, or you can wait til I make another post... I currently have no voice and a horrible cold, and I have to lie down.. hopefully my post makes some coherent sense, cuz the words are swimming right now and doing the backstroke. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Larry_OHF]

"Oh yes...those guys. Those that entered here came in with hearts set upon thievery. They set off a trap that the priests installed in this room, in the event that somebody might actually find a way into this place. Trying to go beyond this room into the next woke up the guardians. There are two of them. I think you call them helmed horrors. They react to anyone opening the doorway out of this room, or if they visually spot you in the event that you walk in on them. They are stationed down that hallway, one to the left and one to the right."

The ghost pointed a ghostly transparent finger to the east wall, where there was a hallway but no door.



[ 07-19-2005, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]