The gaunt form of my best friend peered down into the pulsing shard. He couldn't really see me. At least, not the me that was standing there talking to him. He couldn't see the ?me? I currently inhabited, he focused instead on the large uncut crystal resting on the stand ? the means by which we were conversing. To my eyes the jagged flawed quarts crystal, about the size of a persons head, glowed and pulsed with white light. Though once being on the other side of this ritual I can tell you it didn't look that way to him. I could just make out my own limp figure reflected in the shard where I lay asleep on the stone floor of the long abandoned ruins. My head reeled so I looked away quickly. Staring at my own sleeping form still unnerves me, though this isn't the first time I've done so. There were two other times...
A quick glance around the room reveals familiar clutter. It's hard to make out in the fickle light of the stone, but everything looks nearly as clean and neat as when I left. That is a minor miracle all by itself. He must have finally broken down and let his apprentice clean up the work room.
I turned back to my friend considering my response. Illuminated to my eyes from the stone's spurts of light his form seemed rather sinister, though I can attest he is harmless. Well, as harmless as a wizard can be.
?No, no progress on the blue flower,? I said while sitting down native style on the floor (no old bones in this form to complain) ?In truth, old friend, I'm really starting to question our first interpretation of the vision. If it is a healing herb the people around Caldron have never used it. Nor, indeed, have any of the local apothecaries ever seen it.?
Shaking his head back and forth he answers, ?The healing angle is all yours. Don't saddle me with this one. Besides, if it's not for some outbreak why the sick children? You're still sure of the vision??
He couldn't see my nod so I mumbled in agreement.
?So medicinal is still our best guess. My advice remains the same; Seek it till you find it, then collect as much as you can.?
I nodded uselessly again. ?Yes, that is still the plan. Though I've been side tracked.?
?Yes, I see you've joined some others underground somewhere. It was a real bitch tracking you down this time. I finally had to follow your signet ring.?
?Well, I'm still here in Caldron as I wrote in my last letter, but under the city currently...?
?Yes, I know,? he emphasized the 'know'. ?Under the city, under water, under ground, in old lava tubes. It's amazing that I found you at all.?
I started to respond but couldn't finish, ?Well, your scrying has always been particularly good, remember you were the one...?
?What about the blade Josua. Do you still mean to see it destroyed??
I sighed both to myself and aloud. ?You know how I feel about it. The damn thing is evil. And, it gives me the creeps.?
His reply was the same as it has always been, ?Josua, I still think that if used by the right person, if used by someone with the right kind of inner strength, it could be used for great good. You have never misused the blade. It could be a great tool.?
?We have already agreed to disagree my friend.?
It was his turn to sigh. Then he changed the subject. ?Eric came by again.?
I answered his unspoken question. ?No news of her around these parts. I've checked in with every major temple and guard station. If she is around here... hell, it's been almost 10 years. She's not using her sir name or her house name. She hasn't married, been bought, sold, indentured, incarcerated, buried with effects, given rights, bought property, sold property, done banking or anything else that would leave a trail. I'll continue to look, just as you'll continue to look. But we both know the truth.?
?We'll never find anything till she wants to be found.?
?When was the last letter?? I asked. The answer made me wince. She hardly ever goes that long without writing...
?She's not dead. I still can't pinpoint her location; but she is not dead. Hell if he could just get word to her. Tell her its safe to come back.?
?How is old Marcus doing anyway. Did word come back about the execution request yet??
He cocked his head to the side and stared into the ball. ?Sorry old friend but we will have to cut this short. Your about to have visitors.
Someone let out a yell and the door I'd been sleeping in front of slammed into my poor side - again. I rolled as quick as I could out of the way. My knees protested as I came to my feet and I used my left hand to brace myself against the wall.
I let my hand slide down the the hilt of the sword but just then the door tore through my bedroll which had until then been holding the door. It pivoted smoothly and knocked over my pack scattering my things around the floor. And, my staff, which was resting atop my pack clattered to the stone floor and rolled towards me.
Yanking my hands away from the hilt I scooped up the staff and fell back against the wall. Coming through the doorway were more creeps in black trews with red sashes. Why do the bad guys always dress alike? It was only a moment more before they flooded into the room. Less than 15, more than 6. The Soul Blade bull rushed into them calling forth his manifestation cutlery and the blood started to flow. A quick rake to the one on his right then his foot kicked out rather clumsily to knock one of the geeks back into his companions. He turned away while two other sashed bandits grabbed the other under the armpits and hoisted him back up. It looked like every tavern brawl in history. With his turn to the left he engaged those coming through the left side of the doorway creating a bottleneck. The trapfinder chap all in worn leather moved up beside him then. But two brigands did manage to break off and move farther into the room and towards me.
The oriental looking girl in black jumped them before they could reach me and I moved up at her side. I harried them, forcing one to turn towards me. As soon as the goon did she hit him on the back of the neck and he fell without even a twitch.
The small trickster with us moved up to help but his small knives could not do much against the bandits. He did not attempt to cast anything and I've been around wizards enough to know why. Catch them in the night after an exhausting day and they can't remember a damn thing.
The two of us dispatched the second goon in black and then we moved up to help the Soul Blade and the Trapfinding chap. They had begun to surround him so the first thing we did was split to push back their flanks. They were forced to back off or be surrounded in turn ad so we created a little breathing room. The Soul Warden, I mean Soul Blade, he doesn't know about the Wardens yet I think, but he was looking the worse for wear. I disengaged, tossed the staff to my left hand and moved back behind him. Without prompting the Trapfinding chap took over my position. My right hand trailed along his shoulders till it rested over his spine, then I let the power of Vie flow down my arm. It isn't quite a spell, and it isn't quite being an instrument. Its a little of both. But what is true for both the healer and the healed is the feeling of warmth. I have healed in both the snows of the high north and on the sands of the east deserts. It feels the same anywhere. A comforting warmth, not to be confused with heat. Its a warmth of the spirit.
The bandits lost some heart when they saw the Wardens wounds nit closed. They didn't have a healer amongst them. They usually don't. When the heart left them we started to push them back. I saw our little escaped prisoner. No prisoners this time. He knew it to. He was the last to fall. I'll give him this much. He didn't run. A stupid waste.
When we awoke the next morning, or rather evening (I had some vague notion as to the time because I saw my friends water clock in the dreamscape) we awoke and broke our fast. The wizard was again studying his books mouthing the syllables silently as he reviewed. Occasionally he would lift his hand an munch on the cheese rolls we were all eating and tear a large chunk off. Even while masticating he continued to mouth the words. If you have never watched a wizard study his spells in the morning you really ought to. It's quite fascinating. As you know Vie is the patron God of all Magus. So I have better occasion than most to see them. Those traveling in the midlands around Kisten are occasionally guided to the small shine I keep to Him.
But thats not how I met my friend. No I've known him since we were both children. I'm quite a bit older so naturally back in those days....
....and actually made him swim down in the well and fetch it back! It's still one of the most popular stories up in our parts. I can't for the life of me though remember the traveling wizards name. But we both learned a great lesson from him: Wizards is tricksy.
We stripped the bodies the next morning. Mostly rapiers, though good quality, and some padded and chain armor. While we were stripping them the warden comes up to me and hands me the mace he carries around his waste. It thrums softly with power and I can hear it rise and fall as he explains.
?I don't really need it anymore and its to good of a weapon to let it go to waste.?
?It's a princely gift my friend. I don't believe you quite realize how much I appreciate this. I will wear it always for your protection, my friend.?
Unused to such flattery, or perhaps just embarrassed he walks away. I attach the mace to my side. Then I warp the sword in cloth and stow it away in my pack. I feel better already knowing that it is a little harder to reach. A little harder to draw it forth and use it's power.
Most of our travel that day through the warren of tunnels was uneventful and routine. We checked every door and every passageway. We found a few traps but mostly once inside the rooms were safe. With a few exceptions. Around midnight (or 6 chimes of the bell after waking) we came into a room that had two exits to the outside. Thinking it might be trapped for that very reason we proceeded cautiously but still one of our party ended up in the drink.
The floor collapsed underneath him. He splashed down in a rancid pool of slime with slick walls and no hand holds. I fetched a rope out of my pack, and running out of the room back to the passageway I wrapped it around one of the pivoting stone doors.
When I got back to the trapped room the other end of the rope was already over the edge. My companions down in the pool (when had the second fallen in, I can't remember) complained that the jellyfish were attacking them. The wizard fellow climbed down the rope and tied himself to it muttering about oozes. This had the unfortunate effect of shortening the rope so that it no longer reached the waters edge. Instead, the rope now dangled some four feet above the water. The girl with us let on with a blistering tounge at the mage and I quite agreed with her. What did the fellow think he was doing? He started throwing spells at the pool while the others tried to stay out of there way. There were still being attacked by these jelly like oozes though. I did my best to keep the blood loss and acid pattern burns from rendering them unconscious. I can heal from a short distance. It's an ability that was born from necessity, ask me one day about Eric and the trapped gate, but its not as potent as if I were actually touching them.
The oriental girl started to shake the rope trying to dislodge the wizard. But, the fool hung on gamely. I moved around the room, hugging the wall where I could, until I reach the far side of the pool. I used a spell thats one of my particular favorites to get everyones attention, including (I hoped) the jelly oozes. Unfortunately the oozes were not affected and my friends all stared at me dumbly. Tough crowd? I went back to healing.
The wizard did eventually untie himself from the rope where he joined them in the pool. It took a few more minutes for everyone to leave the pool and we spend some time pealing jelly oozes off everyone. We did locate one of the wands we were searching for in the pond, but on the whole, it was a minor disaster.
The second rigmarole of that day was when we found the training room. The door to this otherwise non distinct room was trapped with razor sharp barbs. When attempting to cross into the room the Trapfinding fellow discovered this trap in the worst way. The dor slammed closed on his left arm, left shoulder, and left leg. He managed to twist his torso out of the way so he was not eviscerated. But all in all he was skewed and quite stuck.
The Warden started pushing on that side of the door trying to haul it back open. I moved to the other side, used the new mace to knock off the barbs on that side of the doorway and used my staff as a lever to keep the door from swinging any more closed. The oriental girl, the wizard, and even the poor Trapfinding fellow put as much muscle into as they could. Whenever they moved the door I jammed my staff further in to keep it wedged open. In less than a minute we loosed him from the jaws of the trap. I healed him up as best I could and we made our way further in.
We ended up webbing the door open so we could cross safely. The room was empty but for a few practice weapons and an empty chest. Another minor disaster. The room made me wonder though, could they be retreating further into their defenses? Why the empty chest?
We ended the day in a storage room. It looked like a likely place to put a secret passageway or secret entrance as it was moderately private (you could close the door, and how many people would you have in a storage room at one time) and as it was situated in what our map indicated was a central point in the labyrinth of tunnels. I was not disappointed. The far wall opened into a hidden room filled with shinny ingots of...bad guys? Didn't these guys stash there treasure anywhere. What did they do with all their gold.
The three turned towards us as we opened the door. The Trapfinding fellow took the lead and with his looted red sash and all leather getup he looked the part.
?Were here to relieve you,? I almost blew the whole thing then as I came near to choking on my laugh as I swallowed it back down. Relieve you, I never figured the chap would be so glib as to bluff them with a double entendre.
?I don't know you..? trailed off what had to be the leader.
The rogue then started to pull a hand crossbow on the sly. ?Were new recruits.?
?I didn't hear anything about any new recruits...? He was interrupted by the bolt through his head.
The rest of them died almost as easily. The room overlooked a long hall. It was an ambush point. There were murder holes that opened up and crossbow mounts. It looked like it was well planned.
?Told you there was a secret door here.? I said. The rogue put down his hand cross bow and smiled.
?Ok, so there was a door.?
?Think you could jimmy it so it didn't open from the outside? I'm just about exhausted. I need a break to get some energy back before we continue on.? And I was dog tired. I didn't think I could work up enough to cure a lame beetle.
?No problem.? he said. So I took a nap.