Chapter One - Part 4 - The Tor is Cleansed

[Okay, this part is not very well written at all. I was really rushing to get it finished before our next session. But here it is.]

As they were walking, XIII told Rayne all about the treasure he and Lirael had found and that Lirael had planned not to tell him about it. Lirael was shocked that XIII would say such a thing, but avoided confrontation for now.

The long stone hall ended in a stone chamber furnished only with cracked, moldering tables on which lay rusted implements of iron. Rain fell into the middle of the room from a shaft in the ceiling that must have run all the way to the top of the tor. From the bottom of the shaft dangled a rope, swinging slightly. A drain in the center of the floor allowed the water to escape, but old dark stains suggested that it was used to carry away other fluids long ago.

Suddenly, from a doorway on the far side of the room stepped two burly humanoids. Each stood more than 6 feet tall and had feral eyes and flat facial features. With a roar, the two drew their weapons and charged at Lirael, XIII, and Rayne. XIII intimidated the one on the left with a hellish taunt.

“Perhaps we should use these rusted instruments to torture the motivations for attack out of these hobgoblins…” Lirael suggested, his sadistic side creeping up to the surface.

As the left hobgoblin was cowering in fear of XIII, who used this moment of fear to evoke a dark crackling energy to bolt out of his fingertips and spiral right into the hobgoblin. The creature was no match for such power and he crumpled to the cold, wet dungeon floor. XIII leapt at his fallen prey and tore out his heart with fervor. 

Lirael feystepped to the second hobgoblin and pulled out his bloody sickle, tearing a deep gash in the throat of his foe. Rayne stepped in and with one fell swoop finished the beast off, until it too fell limp and lifeless to the floor. XIII took the liberty of severing its head and tying it to the short chain he carried around with him. He attached it to his arms and stood up, pleased with his work. 

Just then, Lirael spoke up, “XIII, I do not appreciate the way you made me seem to be an unfaithful friend to Rayne for keeping the secret of the treasure after you specifically asked me to keep it a secret.”

XIII merely crossed his arms, carefree.

Suddenly, Lirael’s eyes glowed with bright psionic power and a strange energy swept through the room, “All I ask, XIII, is that you end your foolish attempts to thwart the companionship that exists here. Your trickery is not welcome in this party.”

The power of the request dimmed to a halt and XIII seemed sufficiently impressed. He didn’t say anything but he decided he would honor Lirael’s request for less trickery.

“Well, now that that’s settled,” Rayne interjected, “Lirael can you have a look up this shaft to see if it’s safe? I wanna climb this rope to see if there is anything up there.”

Lirael assured him it seemed safe so Rayne attempted to climb the rope. The water from the rain caused the rope to be slippery and he fell. More careful, Rayne tried a second time but unfortunately, for all that effort there was nothing to be found but the abandoned remains of a hobgoblin camp. So the group continued on deeper into the tor.

They encountered a narrow hallway to their right but examining the dark, cobwebbed nature of the hall, they decided to proceed to the end of the hall. A long stone table dominated the center of the chamber they found there, and bright bits of gold winked up from within the dust that covered the floor. Upon the table lied a well preserved corpse of a tall humanoid wearing the tabard and belts of a knight. Suddenly, the corpse sat up, lifting an old rusted Morningstar in one hand and a javelin in the other. As it climbed off the table, its mouth opened to loose an eerie moan.

XIII raised his hand to reveal a gruesome eye which detached itself and multiplied into a pair. Beneath the eyes grew a Cheshire like grin and it flew forward to crunch into the enemy’s rotting flesh and right through his mental barriers. As he reeled under the mental assault, XIII vanished from his sight. Lirael also peered at the abomination and his eyes flare out as he sifted through the clear-cut mind of the undead bugbear and tore out any images of Lirael there might have been and proceeded to feystep until he was safely out of sight, behind his enemy. 

Seeing Rayne to be the only one left in the room, the monster hurled his javelin with a terrible enraged roar right at him. Fortunately, the old spear skidded across his shoulder armor, only grazing his arm slightly, and lodged itself securely in the wall behind Rayne.

Rayne, with trembling concentration, drew energy up from the earth to aid him in crashing his sword into the zombie warrior, shattering the wooden shield he clung to for protection.

Taking this new vulnerability opportunity, XIII moved under cover of shadow until he had a clear view of the foe. All of the sudden a shadow of himself wrenched itself free and glided over to the bugbear, biting into its neck and sapping the vital lifeforce to be found there, stealing it away for XIII. Lirael’s eyes flared again and this time his third eye opened, thrusting menacing psionic energy towards the zombie creature, unleashing a psychic assault on his mental pathways. At once, the beast began to shriek in pain and its eyes and ears began to bleed. It feel screaming, a look of pain encrusted on its hideous decaying face. 

Lirael lunged for the gold around the room, shoveling it into any space he could find in his clothing. He pointed out the wonderful potential for profit that old, abandoned ruins seem to have, gleefully.

XIII grinned, “Yes, I suppose you do look tasty. Perhaps I should stick with you a while longer…”

Back in the hall, XIII rushes into the final hall in the tor, the one they had skipped over before. Not noticing the gigantic spider’s web at the end of the hall, XIII got caught. He struggled madly against his bonds. Seeing the trouble, Rayne rushed forward, sword drawn. But upon striking the web in hopes that he would free XIII, his sword to became entangled in the sticky threads. He did shake the web enough, though, to assist XIII in his escape and so XIII was able to fall free of the restraining spider’s web. 

XIII decided to be chivalrous enough to try and help Rayne free his weapon. As hard as they tugged at it, though, the sword would not budge from the web. In a blood rage, Rayne mustered up his strength and wrenched the sword out just as soon as a huge spider crawled down from a dark corner of the ceiling of the chamber through the doorway the web had blocked off.

As he pulled out his sword, Rayne deflected an attack by the spider. He ran to the center of the room and summoned the strength of the earth. His skin became barky and his body contorted until he was the shape of a willow tree, his branches consuming most of the upper half of the room. Calling on the strength of the ram as well, Rayne used one of his branches to attack the monstrous arachnid fiend. But the spider was too quick. It scurried out of the way just in time. 

Lirael, who had still not even come down the hall yet, quickly got into a decent enough range to assault the beast’s mind but alas, a creature of the dark as hideous as that had devoured enough terrible things to be unaffected by the mind bending images Lirael conjured up for it.

Insulted and disgusted by the very existence of such an abominable creature, XIII muttered a few intangible Abyssal words, placing a curse upon the beast. Finally, he summoned a cascade of molten liquid fire up as if from the very depths of the Hells themselves and they consumed the revolting spider in a gigantic ignition causing an almost instantaneous death. The spider squealed in pain and turned over onto its back, cloaked in flame, to curl its legs in anguish. To finish off the deal, XIII sucked away the very last ounce of life force left in the oversized carcass as he squirmed under the idea that he had even been in the presence of such a thing. Once the last ounce of life had been drained from the monster, XIII ran around along the walls of the room in a frenzy to shake of the heebie jeebies.

The three relaxed themselves and gave a sigh of relief. They decided to return to the main chamber and rest for the night.

When they arrived, they noticed a note on the wall that read:

Tharizdun has been watching the three of you. He is pleased by your strength and animosity and wishes to present you with a generous opportunity. Meet me at the Broken Gaol in Harkenwold. I will be waiting for you. You will receive a hearty reward for hearing my offer.