TRANSCRIPTION DATE 10-3-89

THE DEFEAT OF OLEANTH

HISTORY (Based on original run notes)

Kalarina of the Stag: Knee high doeskin boots, doeskin clothing,

one stone dagger and one iron dagger, flame necklace?, long

black hair tied in a ponytail, gray eyes, app-16, very lithe,

5'-5", 115lbs, agile, 15 yrs old.

NOW: Arm guards, leg guards of leather, doeskin outfit same

as before, no longer has flame necklace, two wrist sheathed

daggers, thigh sheathed dagger, bandoleer with 3 of 5 one

silver, 2 iron daggers, hair is shorter, nape of neck, new

scars, thinner, looks older, more worn, less carefree, more

experienced, does not know how to use a crossbow, face

painted in red, black and yellow, triangle in middle of

forehead point ending at bridge of nose, black vees on either

cheek with three red stripes under either vee.

John Mendor: As a person nondescript, black hair, brown eyes,

tanned skin, 5'-9", fairly strong and extremely dexterous (in

book describe him doing something gross sometime, like the

android on Aliens), "the man who never missed", older 33 yrs

but looks to be about 23, when Kalarina met him he was

dressed as a captain of the Flaming Swords (which he removed

immediately), he kept only the longsword he was given when he

became captain, brace of throwing daggers, soft black mid-calf

leather boots which had a dagger hidden in his right boot and

in his left sleeve he had 4 finger throwing daggers, at this

time no other hidden weapons (note this will change

drastically after time with our group), under his shirt a

holy symbol of Loki, he wore a light leather vest which acted

like armor, black shirt, black pants.

Wei-Lee: Small looking, 5'-4" high, 136lbs, muscular and much

stronger than he looks, agile, odd appearance but quite

attractive to other Dal-kon (app-17); straw colored hair

pulled back into a pony tail, always clean shaven, loose

clothing of indeterminate origin colors probably grey or

brown, large side pouch, q-staff, fighting dagger, usually

barefoot, green eyes, yellowish skin, almond shaped eyes,

massive livid scar across throat.

NOW: Clothing is now judges clothing obtained from the

monastery, baggy gray pants and heavy knit brown wool sweater

with high collar over baggy gray shirt of a silky finely

woven material, brace of five steel throwing daggers, one

hand crossbow strapped to thigh holster, ten bolts each

holster, fighting dagger, two black chain gauntlets,

Houndmaster's armored thigh-piece magical +5 plate, iron bound sandals, medium

crossbow, iron gorgette, Trevon's magical collar of warding,

red cloak from red guard,

Maeve Sunshard: Beautiful (app 14), 5'-10", 26 yrs old,

painfully straight posture, walk as if leaning into a stiff

wind or swaggering, medium build, strong with no fat, face is

set, she seems driven, an etched face lined from years of a

grim life, features rarely broken by levity, straight

platinum blond hair cut at shoulder level, straight nose,

high cheekbones, solid jaw, light green eyes and straight

brows, Elfcleaver, girhka: a heavy handled knife which comes

out straight and 1" wide for 3" and then bends upward 45º and

widens to 2" until the end where it narrows to a point and it

is thrown point in like a boomerang, usually she guts people

with it, garrote on wrist, pale skin lightly tanned, dark

green hooded ranger cloak with a triangular gold clasp which

looks rather old and has been mended several times, non

descript clothes on tunic, pants, boots, belt, no pouch,

brown (bursts out of her clothes frequently), no scars,

flawless skin, speak Kernish, some common.

Maeve Bear: Huge, whitish/blondish hair, polar bear, 4' at

shoulder, 10' tall on hind legs, 1400#

NOW: Wearing scale mail shirt that fits tightly about her

figure, comfortable, magical from Kay's supply house and ends

just below her knees, hagul's helmet with a pointed top,

loose brown buckskin trousers stuffed into soft doeskin

boots, two handed sword 6' long, sheathed across back, wire

wrapped hilt, iron, Damocles magical but properties unknown

obtained fron Kay also, Maeve’s bow, color coded arrows,

quiver on right side, Maeve’s hair is now at her nipples (Pam

slaps Alex), garrote, girhka is lost, white cotton shirt

that accentuates her breasts in a manner pleasing to the

male eye, Maeve has a hat (pilgrim's hat but narrower at the

top)

Raec of the Stag: (Both Kalarina and Raec are related as

cousins) 5'-6", but square built, massively strong, agile,

expert horseman, plain tunic and pants and vest made from

heavy buckskin (almost armor), black slightly curly hair,

App-11, Grey eyes don't stand out, think apache Indian,

mahogany skin, large boned, 19 yrs old, lasso, two large and

three small bolos, war clubs, daggers

NOW: Broken heavy crossbow with special back holster, 10

bolos, one longsword (the assassins), two maces one iron, one

meteorite steel both hitched at his side on his belt, three

daggers in a bandoleer, a belt pouch and belt sack hanging in

back, (ask Hauke where is the stag head?), 35 foot lasso on

left shoulder, very short hair, painted face with red, black

and yellow

Kilsorana Moonmist: Speaks Kernish, (looks like a dead fish

according to Maeve), green elf = « wood elf, « sea-elf(87%)

which increases the magic potential in those rare cases where

the green elf survives being born, 4'-6", 78lbs, 166 yrs

old, slight build, huge black pupilless eyes, thick coarse

blue-green hair rooted down below her shoulder blades, app-15,

look dexterous, agile (esp in water), intelligent, gills on

the side of her neck, her knees can bend in both directions,

this aids swimming but makes walking difficult and awkward

(she is slow on land) but permits some fairly spectacular

backward jumps, thick heavily muscled legs, must immerse in

water at least once per day or become dehydrated (more in

dryer climates, though sharkskin armor helps retain fluid),

face thinner than a humans and tapers down toward the mouth,

scant (bony?) lips, large ears very close to the head and

tapered, hands have webbed fingers and feet can open up in

water to form flippers, skin sparkles silver in sunlight,

greenish blue with light scaling over it, her focus is a

seashell in her throat, white scallop shell, green ranger

cloak having a wave on the back (air brushed on), gold sunset

clasp (sea ranger based on the feudal symbol of ranger a full

sun), black boots with no heels can spread to allow foot to

open into flipper, grey sharkskin tunic and gloves tucked in

her belt, sharkskin belt at waist, buckle is two dolphins

meeting in a jump, cloak is a waxy, thin nearly translucent

material, grey pants of a similar material, irith at side

(thin sword made of a highly flexible steel, 1" wide at its

widest, a slashing, piercing weapon similar to an epee), hilt

is sharkskin bound, elven silver dagger, harpoon and trident

on back.

NOW: Bandoleer of darts around chest, trident is lost,

irith, harpoon, silver two daggers, several belt pouches with

mysterious contents, crossbow and backpack.

Amud Aleth: NOW: 5'-8", 150 lbs, light build, medium boned,

app-19, looks young, used to have a small beard below his

chin which is now shaved off, moustache, glossy black hair

which he keeps fairly long (neck length) and swept back

(feathered), magically well groomed, most agile person in the

group, moves very swiftly and flexibly, carries almost

nothing on him, wears a white shirt, now somewhat torn and

blood stained, he has taken some damage, wearing a black

vest, wears a red sash about his waist through which is stuck

two scimitar sheathes, the scimitars are of steel of the

finest quality, fairly tight black pants, kneehigh black

leather boots soft and always well shined, dark smooth skin

(ie. hispanic), long dirk stuck through his sash but kept

behind him and to the right. Magical longsword tucked in his

sash.

Gunther Brightblade: Large man, 6'-4", weighs 225lbs (16stone),

big bones, bright blue eyes and thick straight black hair,

moustache carefully braided and drapes down on either side

of his mouth, he looks strong and tough, (app-13), old 35,

chain hauberk, over which he wears leather furs (long heavy

trappers jacket), heavy leather arm guards for lower arms and

leather leg guards for his lower legs, heavy mid calf boots

of a hard brown leather, samurai’s bow of excellent quality

and quiver strapped to his back, two handed sword, a pack

rests on his back over the sword and the bow is on top of the

pack, the pack is huge and bulky but he is good at carrying it

as if he has done this many times, pack contains rope,

grapples, climbing spikes and other unknown items, he has a

large fighting dagger, no crossbow,

Maeve tells Gunther that they have taken Daniel. He looks at

Maeve as if she had grown a third head, since she has never

spoken to him, not ever. "Who has taken Daniel?" "Kohl

Greenbaugh's men and they shot Martha." Gunther looses his

temper. So he smashes her head into the wall. "What do you

mean?" "Ow! They have taken Daniel you big dolt! We have to

get her." He smashes her head against the wall again.

B E G I N (see notes for previous encounter)

A small man dressed in gray and brown sits, his back to a

tree, holding a well worn book in his lap. The book's leather

cover is blackened by much handling. His right hand holds a

quill, carefully sharpened to an extremely fine point. The man's

hand moves deftly, with swift short strokes, filling the page

with intricate glyphs in precise rows. Occasionally, he pauses,

either to consider or to dip the quill into a small uncorked

flask of ink set carefully beside him on a small flat stone.

The cool damp post dawn air of early morning is still. Two

birds warble to each other in the treetops, discussing the weather

or whatever birds discuss as the sun pokes up over the horizon.

Otherwise the only other sound is the scrabble of the quill

against paper. The air is heavy with the scent of decaying

vegetation and sweetened by the fragrances of small flowering

plants scattered beneath the protective leafy canopy. A chipmunk

rustles through the dried leaves foraging for breakfast.

Movement from within the camp startles it and the chipmunk races

to a hole beneath piled stones. From the relatively protected

spot the creature scolds the cause of its alarm. Slowly other

forms begin to move within the camp, preparing for the coming

day.

After more than half an hour of creating tiny patterns of

marks on the fine pages of the book the man looks up from his

work. He rubs his temples as if remembering a recent, but now

healed head injury. Spread about him the man sees a small

campsite. Perhaps twenty feet away a huge man dressed in furs

begins to start a small fire. He hears the chink of flint on

steel and sparks fly.

Gunther Brightblade bends low and blows carefully, nursing a

particularly promising spark. A wisp of smoke curls out from the

tinder. Soon a flame dances brightly at the center of a pile of

twigs. Steam hisses from a damp piece of wood and every so often

a knot pops, showering sparks out over the damp earth. Gunther

adds more wood and then drives two forked stakes into the ground

with the butte of an axe.

The smell of smoke reaches Wei-Lee and he realizes that he is

quite hungry. Carefully he tucks the quill in the front cover of

the book resting in his lap. A piece of fine well oiled leather

wraps the book, protecting it from moisture. Carefully he corks

the flask of ink. He tucks these items into a small pouch

hanging at his side from a woven cloth belt. The entire procedure

is carried out in almost ritualistic fashion. Anyone watching him

would have thought that he performed some sort of religious

ritual by his precise actions.

A very broad man dressed in buckskins strides up to Gunther.

Over one shoulder a small deer is slung. Raec's immense muscles

bulge and ripple as he lowers his prize to the ground. Weapons

hang about his bulky frame in profusion, like the deadly fruit

of a poisonous tree. He confers briefly with Gunther and then

moves off toward a girl, dressed in doeskins, who is occupied at

that moment trying to perfect a peculiar dance movement.

Kalarina moves with practiced grace, surefooted, each motion

economical yet beautiful. Nearing the end of the dance she leaps

into the air, spinning and then lands lightly, poised as if

listening. Wei-Lee knows that it is called the Dance-of-he-who-hunts

but his tongue cannot quite manage the Phelosian equivalent. He

watches as Reac says something to her in Phelosian. She smiles, 5

vaguely pleased and begins talking to him in animated fashion.

To his left Wei-Lee sees the kneeling form of a tall platinum

blond woman. Unaware of the activities around her, she sits,

Communing with the forces of Nature to which she has pledged

herself. Before her rests a long box, lid to one side. Within the

box lies a huge sheathed two-handed bastard sword, WindReaver.

The Sword looks relatively innocous thus bound within its

beautifully detailed ornate sheath. Wei-Lee knows better, having seen

its wielder command the very winds with that Sword in hand.

Behind Maeve, and several feet to her right, the green elf

Kilsorana Moonmist waves her arms briefly above her head. A fine

mist appears in the air, soaking her gray sharkskin armor and the

translucent blue-green gossamer cloak she wears. She regards Wei-Lee

with her huge black pupilless eyes.

"Good morning, Wei-Lee. How do you feel?"

Wei-Lee considers briefly. "I believe that I am fully recovered

from the demon's attack. Still, memory does not fade quickly." Wei-Lee

stands and stretches. "I still have no recollection of what

happened over the past week."

"I will fill you in when we have more time." The mist

disappears and Kilsorana approaches Wei-Lee. She is nearly a foot shorter

than him and he barely breaks five feet in height. More softly

she says, "The party nearly ripped itself apart, however. Your

absence was sorely felt."

"As much as to be expected. Everyone is somewhat nervous. I

think that we are ill prepared for this venture. We know next to

nothing about Oleanth or the possible defenses he might have."

"Everyone at Heimdella seems to think that he is pretty weak

and helpless now. After all, his main temple has been destroyed

and all that remains of his minions are bottled up in that keep

ahead of us." She pauses, thinking. "We will have much help from

our allies to defeat him. Now that Maeve holds WindReaver Oleanth

cannot escape."

Wei-Lee made no reply. All too soon they would see just how well

prepared Oleanth was to defend his property and his very

existence.

Kilsorana, misinterpreting Wei-Lee's silence hastened to add, "I'm not

saying that we shouldn't still have some sort of plan. I just

think that he is probably very hurt now, in light of recent

events."

"Are not the wounded beasts the most dangerous? But it is of

no consequence now, it is too late for us to turn back."

"What do you mean?"

Wei-Lee sighed. "Oleanth has been set against us for years now.

Whether he somehow anticipated this moment or, by his actions

caused it to come about, none can say. But after all this time he

knows much about us, both our strengths and our weaknesses. What

have we learned about him? The crux of our problem is that we

cannot plan, except in the most basic way, because we do not know

anything about our enemy."

"We know where that bag of hot air is," Maeve adds

confidently as she stands and buckles the sheathed blade

WindReaver to her back, "that is more than enough."

"Good morning Maeve," Wei-Lee nods at her. "I truly hope you are

correct."

"What's wrong?" Maeve looks concerned. Then with sarcasm,

"Did those demons steal away your dauntless courage O wondrous

and mighty Wei-Lee?"

Despite his concern Wei-Lee smiles. "I cannot stand here all day 6

wasting time with the likes of you two. Look Gunther needs my

help to prepare breakfast."

Inwardly Maeve groans. Not again, she thinks. We really need

something good in our stomachs if we are to successfully destroy

an aspiring god. Despite her inner qualms she smiles, "What a

good idea. I'm quite hungry."

Gunther looks up. "Hello Wei-Lee. How are you today?"

"Much better."

Gunther has removed several venison steaks from the deer

carcass. The fire burns brightly, grey smoke curling up into the

trees. Gunther represses an involuntary shudder as Wei-Lee begins to

pull various dried leaves and tubers from his pouch.

"Wei-Lee, I can manage. I have had cooking duty for the past few

days, one more surely will not kill me. Why don't you use this

opportunity to rest up?"

"Actually, I feel fine. Now I have some wonderful spices

here..."

Gunther looks around frantically for something else for Wei-Lee to

do. He spies Amud at the edge of the clearing, steel scimitars

flashing; a gleam of sweat on his brow. With phenomenal agility

Amud bounces from opponent to imaginary opponent, puffy white

shirt billowing out over a bright red sash about his waist. "Wei-Lee,

Amud has been anxious for your recovery. He was hoping you could

practice with him."

"Very well. Here, I will leave these here for you. Call me if

you need help." Wei-Lee walks off toward Amud.

Gunther breathes a sigh of relief and turns back to the task

of preparing breakfast.

Wei-Lee waits patiently for Amud to finish a flurry of whirling

slashes, swift parries and devastating chops. Amud is amazing to

watch. Wei-Lee has never seen him use any other weapon. Bare handed

he would be somewhat helpless. But put two scimitars in his hand

and watch out. He becomes a whirling dervish of sharp edges.

Finally, Amud stops moving and turns to face Wei-Lee. Always the

gentleman, he bows before he speaks, "It is good to see you up

and around, Wei-Lee. We have sorely missed your company."

Wei-Lee returns his bow. "I am better, thank you. May I join in

your practice?"

"I would be honored," Amud regards Wei-Lee. "Perhaps you should

warm up some. I do not wish to have unfair advantage."

Wei-Lee nods and moves away from Amud. He calms his mind and

quiets the small internal voice that would jabber incessantly

were he to permit it to do so. After a moment of meditation Wei-Lee

begins to stretch out and practice various movements.

Amud watches as Wei-Lee begins one of his personal kata. Wei-Lee moves

with precision, some movements are slow and very tightly

controlled, and others are executed in lightning swift staccato

fashion. Each technique flows smoothly into the last; now Wei-Lee

seems to contract, becoming smaller; now, without warning, he

exhales violently exploding up and out in a great leap. While

flying through the air his hands move and his foot lashes out.

Amud has seem this technique remove mounted men from their

saddles. After having sparred with Wei-Lee on numerous occasions he

still marvels at how this harmless appearing little man has

turned himself into a living weapon.

Wei-Lee returns to his starting point and turns to face Amud.

Together they bow again and drop into defensive postures.

Amud moves in swiftly, the gleaming blade in his left hand

arcing across Wei-Lee's abdomen; right blade held back to parry.

Wei-Lee steps in to the attack, his gauntleted left hand sweeping

aside Amud's slashing sword and his right foot leaping up toward

Amud's face.

Extremely agile, Amud twists away from the attack and brings

his right hand scimitar up for a downward slash. "Ah-ha!" he

shouts as he senses a killing blow.

Wei-Lee, aware of the danger ducks under Amud's attacking arm to

avoid the slice and gain the advantage of a flank attack.

"Uh-oh." Amud, losing sight of his opponent spins away,

dropping low both scimitars held defensively. A shadow passes

above his head as Wei-Lee's body flies over him. Amud feels the air

move as a foot passes through the spot where his head would have

been if he had not dropped low. Amud knew that Wei-Lee had a lot of

tricks and he was used to fighting him.

Thus they fought, evenly balanced, neither wishing to truly

harm the other and both enjoying this test of skills.

"Come and get it!" Gunther shouts. The group gathers around

the fire, anxiously awaiting something good to eat. Unbeknownst

to Wei-Lee peoples' appetites had improved dramatically during the few

days he spent unconscious. If Wei-Lee is aware that Gunther left his

bag of spices untouched, he does not show it.

Now the time for action rapidly approaches. Everyone feels a

tightness in their stomachs. The normal bantering dies out as

each person does what is necessary to prepare for battle.

Note: probably brief descriptions here; concentrating on

weapons.

"Can we devise any plans of attack?" Gunther asks no one in

particular.

"Why don't we form teams like we have in the past. Having a

person to watch your back or help you out of a tight spot is very

effective." Wei-Lee looks around. "Kilsorana and I should work together."

"And I will stick to Maeve," Gunther adds.

Reac and Kalarina pair off together.

Amud, the odd man out, now that John Mendor no longer travels

with the party looked around.

"Amud, you should stay with us," Wei-Lee motions at him.

"Kilscarana needs as much protection as she can get."

"Now that this is settled, how do we get in?" Gunther points

to a huge pack on his horse. "I have the equipment necessary to

scale the walls but that is not much fun when people shoot down

at you and pour hot liquids on your head."

"I'll just change a portion of the wall to sand so that we

can gain entry without having to use the main gate or climb the

walls."

After several more minutes of hurried discussion, no new

ideas arise. People break up and mount their horses.

Wei-Lee travels on foot. He is not comfortable on a horse and the

distance is slight.

As the group approaches its goal the leafy deciduous trees

give way to a forest composed solely of conifers. The arrow

straight trees soar high overhead. The air is laden with the

sweet aroma of pitch. A golden carpet of dead needles deadens

their sounds of travel. Occasionally, through the tall trees

someone will catch a glimpse of a tall spire, the central tower

within Oleanth's keep.

Raec rides barebacked, in the lead, a heavy crossbow cocked

and in his hand. He has seen no signs of wildlife since

breaking camp. The woods are completely still. He halts.

A red falcon swoops by overhead.

Maeve waves to it and begins to sing Kernish war songs under

her breath.

Raec dismounts and studies the ground intently.

"What is it?" Kalarina asks.

"The tracks of a stag. They parallel the direction in which

we travel." He remounts his horse. "It is a good omen."

Farther along a white stag suddenly bounds out ahead of us.

As the party travels it stays ahead, just in Raec's view. "The

great stag leads us safely through our enemies territory."

For an hour the group travels thus following Raec who is

guided by the white stag. No other signs of life are apparent.

A breeze sifts through the pines.

Kilsorana shifts in her saddle uncomfortably. "That breeze was

slightly magical. Perhaps Oleanth knows we are here."

"No doubt," Gunther says with conviction.

Again something happens but this time Wei-Lee stiffens. His mind

well attuned to his body, immediately notices any changes within.

He vaguely perceives an enchantment encircling the party. Within

him he feels it affecting his perceptions of goodness, fairness

and law.

A blast of wind hits the party and Maeve draws Democles. She

sees a large figure in gold baroque armor appear, kneel and drive

a flaming sword into the ground in a small clearing just ahead of

the party. The wind stops and the ornately armored figure

vanishes.

Wei-Lee, preparing for an attack, immediately sets up a mind block.

Kilsorana sees a blast of gold and white power fill a small clearing

ahead of us.

"What was that?" Gunther strained to see what was causing the

commotion.

Maeve sheathed Democles. At the clearing she dismounts from her

horse and studies the forest floor. An area several feet in

diameter is scorched. At the center of the burn mark, the ground

was pierced by a pointed object of some sort. Beneath the carpet

of needles Raec uncovers the imprint of a huge armored foot and

the rounded depression caused by an armored knee.

Maeve looks up, "If we have time, I would like to Commune."

Gunther meets Wei-Lee's gaze and shrugs. "Go ahead Maeve," Wei-Lee

advises her. "It might give us clues at to what we might have to

deal with later."

Maeve kneels and prepares herself. She begins to commune.

As he waits for Maeve Wei-Lee probes the Gauntlet. Completely

introspective now Wei-Lee concentrates on the primal sentience

attached to his left arm. Detecting a flicker of recognition, he

attempts to will the Gauntlet to protect itself from scrying.

Gauntlet of Sarek, do whatever you must to protect us in the

upcoming battle. We must work together now. Wei-Lee is uncertain if

his efforts accomplished anything. "Kilsorana, would you look at the

Gauntlet? I wish to determine if it can be scryed now."

Kilsorana grabs hold of Wei-Lee's arm and concentrates. Wl's life force

ends at his elbow. The gauntlet is not represented by its

characteristic red glow. In fact, looking at it on the astral

plane it does not seem to exist. She concentrates harder.

In a blindingly fast motion, before he even knows what he is

doing, Wei-Lee's arm pivots, Gauntlet on top of Kilsorana's arm now. It

grasps her wrist, snapping it like a dried twig and spins her

around preparatory to throwing. Stepping in and around in a

peculiar fashion Wei-Lee hurles Kilsorana through the air. She lands heavily

several feet from Wei-Lee.

She climbs to her feet nursing her broken wrist and looking

with shock at Wei-Lee.

Wei-Lee, mortified at what he had done to his friend, teacher and

companion stood speechless, gaze switching from Kilsorana to the

Gauntlet covering his left hand.

"Wei-Lee, are you all right?" Kilsorana asks tentatively, backing away.

"I did not expect that--I tried to activate one of the

Gauntlet's abilities. I had no idea it would react to your probe

like that. I'm terribly sorry." Wei-Lee seems more shaken than Kilsorana. The

last thing he wanted to do was hurt any of his friends.

"Don't worry," Kilsorana says just a little doubtfully. "Just warn

me next time you decide to do something like that."

"Will you be o.k.?" Gunther asks her.

"Give me a moment." Kilsorana begins casting. Minutes pass. She

tests her wrist. "It is fine now."

Maeve, oblivious to the recent activities of her companions

opens her eyes. "I think someone just intercepted an attack

meant for us." She stands and remounts her horse.

"That's all you can tell us?" Kalarina asks.

"If I knew more do you think I would tell you?"

"Maeve," Gunther admonishes her, "we are curious too."

"I couldn't tell exactly what happened, alright!" Maeve

exclaims with annoyance. "There is too much power flying about

right now. Everything is obscured." She glares at Gunther.

"Calm down Maeve. It is important for us to work together."

"We should be moving, otherwise we may lose the stag," Raec

warns the group. He urges his mount forward tracking the stag. The

terrain remains fairly constant. At another clearing the stag's

track's circle around, as if the stag was avoiding some unseen

danger.

Wei-Lee looks within himself again as he walks. He is puzzled by

the Gauntlet and also extremely intrigued. He senses the primal

power active within the Gauntlet. Less noticeable is the odd

flame which burns subtlely within him since the time of his

healing in the temple. Vaguely, he feels a mind or something

groping for him. He is uneasy. There it is again. A presence,

searching, looking for his unique aura, or perhaps that of the

Gauntlet. He continues to block it out, worried for reasons he

cannot explain.

Reac noticed that the stags footprints ended suddenly. He

dismounts again to examine the tracks. The two rear footprints

seem to be sunk more deeply into the soft loam. "I think that the

stag jumped over something here." He looks around.

"There they are ,the stag landed over there." Maeve points to

a spot a little more than 12 feet away. This particular area is

covered with dense waist high shrubs which grow in clusters.

"We will be forced to leave the horses here." Gunther says.

"Anything you need you will have to carry on your back."

Raec begins to clear the area around the last hoof marks of

the stag. He removed small bushes, stones and branches.

"Who can get over there?" Gunther asks.

Raec looks at Kalarina as Wei-Lee steps forward.

"I can make it across." With a running start, Kalarina

leaps. It is a perfect jump. She lands exactly in the stag's

hoof-prints. "The ground looks perfectly o.k. from this angle. I

wonder why the stag jumped?"

"We don't want to find out," Gunther says as he removes rope

from his pack.

"Yes we do," Maeve says as she kneels down out of the way and 10

prepares to commune.

"Must you always refute what I say woman," Gunther looks

annoyed.

Maeve, tranced, does not reply.

Gunther tosses several coils of rope to Kalarina. "Stay on

the stag's hoof prints. We do not know what it was trying to

avoid."

Kalarina ties the rope to a nearby tree. "Try this."

Wei-Lee wraps Gunther's end of the rope around a thick branch and

braces himself. "O.k. Gunther."

Gunther climbs up the tree and hangs from the rope. "This

will work." He drops to the ground and begins putting items back

into his backpack.

Intrigued, Kilsorana looks on to the plane of energy for clues to

this puzzle. Two items attract her attention immediately. Before

her a brightly glowing yellow wall rises up above her head and

extends down into the earth as far as she can probe. It gently

curves away from her in all directions, as if she were standing

next to a great sphere centered on the keep. Above her head

hovers a large blue sphere attached to a thin blue tether which

rises straight up disappearing into the distance. As always, when

looking onto the astral plane, Kilsorana sees the black sheet of

physical earth beneath her feet. Around her, glow the familiar

life forms of her friends. She drops her Vision.

"Well, we are being watched," Kilsorana says matter of factly. "Give

you three guesses as to who it might be." She looks around. No

takers.

"Did you see what we are to be afraid of?" Wei-Lee asks.

"No. An extremely powerful ward rises up before us here. It

probably extends entirely about Oleanth's keep, both above and

below. I could not see through it."

At that moment Maeve opened her eyes. "I sensed great

unnaturalness in this area. Before us is a great ring of

emptiness ten feet wide and generally twenty feet deep. It

encircles the keep entirely. We cannot see it because it is

covered by one inch of soil. Some powerful magics hold it

together. Probably only living creatures trigger this trap since

boulders, shrubs and even small trees do not fall through the

thin layer of soil."

"Kilsorana, get on my back. We must get across this now."

Gunther squats down. Kilsorana wraps her arms about his neck. With Kilsorana

hanging from his back Gunther begins to climb hand over hand

across the taut rope. Just as it seems that he will make the

crossing without mishap one of his hands misses the rope. He

dangles, swinging from side to side like a human pendulum.

Kilsorana jumps up from Gunther's back to grasp the rope with one

hand to help steady Gunther. Her movement was unexpected and ill-

timed, coinciding with his desperate lunge to regain his grip.

Flailing wildly Gunther once more swings out of control.

Fearing for her safety, Kilsorana pulls herself on to the astral

plane. Etherial, she need not fear falling into a hidden chasm to

meet an uncertain, but certainly monstrous demise. Overhead soars

the huge yellow dome of the clerical ward. Before her, coincident

to the tower within the keep, she clearly sees a massive source

of pure power shaped in the form of a cylinder set upright on one

of the flat ends. Around that, at some undetermined distance

away, another yellow ward glowed. This one also encircled the

keep but only to a height of twenty feet. Near her she sensed

Gunther's and Kalarina's life forces. Odd. Near Kalarina she

perceives five sparkly coronas. As if something made of energy

was covered by something meant to hide it. That's it, like the

corona life forces generate but with no corresponding life force.

What would cause that?

She attempts to drop back to the physical plane. Strange. Why

is this so difficult? She considers herself. Panic wells within

her as she sees great chains of yellow power binding her to the

astral plane. Even as she watches the bonds become greater. She

gathers power about her. In a blast of energy she shatters the

arcane fetters and drops back to the prime material plane.

Gunther climbs across. "I wonder where Kilsorana is now?"

As if in answer of his question Kilsorana suddenly appears in the

air near him and falls unconscious to the ground at his feet. She

looks sick and she seems to be in shock.

On a hunch, Kalarina empties the contents of a water flask

over Kilsorana's body. She has been somewhat dissicated. Immediately she

begins to recover. Her nictitating membranes flutter and she tries

to sit up. "I saw several life forces over there," she indicates

a direction with a wave of her hand. She begins to cast a

material shield about herself for protection.

Several things happen at once. Amud and Wei-Lee see three

excellently camouflaged men holding heavy crossbows stand up

perhaps twenty feet from Kalarina.

Wei-Lee drops his end of the rope and prepares to defend himself

while pulling his crossbow from his back.

The rope gently drapes across the thin soil covering the trap.

With a hiss Amud draws both scimitars and turns so that he

presents the narrowest target possible.

Kalarina, aware of danger behind her begins to tumble away. A

crossbow bolt passes through the air where she had been standing.

She completes her tumble with throwing dagger in hand. Her dagger

sinks into the left arm of one of the attacking crossbowmen.

"Shit," Gunther exclaims as a crossbow bolt appears in his

abdomen.

Maeve pivots behind the tree and pulls her bow from her

back. She peeks out and sights on a target.

Immediately after Kilsorana's material shield went up a heavy

crossbow bolt passes through it and bounces lightly off her

forehead.

Wei-Lee's bolt hits the man wearing Kalarina's dagger in the

chest. He staggers back, unbelieving. One of his partners is less

fortunate, however, as a heavy war bolt from Raec's crossbow

pierces his heart. The momentum of the bolt carries him back into

the bushes.

Behind Gunther two men, who by their garb can be identified

as Black Cloud assassins, draw longswords. Surprise lost, they

desire to attack swiftly while the group is split up by the trap.

Sheathing his scimitars Amud races past Wei-Lee and dives for the

rope draped across the hidden chasm. His leap takes him three

quarters of the way across before he hits the fragile surface and

falls through. A blast of frigid air erupts out from the hole

made by Amud. Wei-Lee watched, concerned. Slowly, hand over hand Amud

pulls himself from the chasm. He appears to be covered by frost.

Gunther turns to face his opponents. They fight as a team. He

leaps between them feinting an attack at one and pivots about his

hips to avoid the lunge of the assassins' partner. Grabbing the

man's wrist, Gunther slams him into the ground attempting to keep

him held. The man, well trained and agile twists so that he lands

face up. Daggers snap out from spring sheaths above his hands.

Gunther holds the assassins arms in an attempt to keep the

weapons away from his exposed face. In control, Gunther begins

to head butte the assassin.

Raec's bolos wrap around the head of the other swordsman

attacking Gunther and knock him the the ground. As the assassin

sits up an arrow from Maeve's bow clangs against plate armor

concealed beneath his robes. With a wrist dagger the assassin

begins removing Raec's bolo from his face and throat.

Wei-Lee leaps across the chasm. He overshoots his target and

stumbles to his knees next to Kilsorana.

The third crossbowman, noting that their ambush was not at

all proceeding as expected grabs another crossbow and scrambles

on all fours to escape Kalarina's attack as she closes with

him. In his haste the tip of the bolt snags in the ground causing

the crossbow to accidentally fire. The cocking mechanism is

rammed back into his face. The crossbowman pulls back on his

knees holding his face.

Seeing her opportunity, Kalarina kicks her kneeling opponent

in the shoulder. Pain lances through her foot as her boot impacts

on armor hidden beneath his tunic. She may have broken her

opponents collarbone. Before she has the chance to attack again

a man dressed in black heavy studded leather erupts from nowhere

behind her, longsword drawn and lunges immediately. Kalarina

twists away from his thrust and as she turns to face her newest

opponent a pair of bolos wrap around his neck lifting him off his

feet and tossing him back into the bushes from which he emerged.

Amud crawls from the trap and into nearby shrubs. He drags

his legs behind him as if they are not functioning properly.

Kilsorana begins to cast. Her her high pitched voice singing the

runes necessary for the wizardry alteration. Wei-Lee stands near,

ready to defend their mage with his life. An assassin drops from

the tree above them and charges on Wei-Lee in an attempt to get near

Kilsorana. The assassin wears six pointed poisoned claws. Wei-Lee rushes

toward him skipping sideways at the last second as poisoned claws

scrape across his gi top leaving black trails of poison. Behind

the assassin now, Wei-Lee's foot snaps out but the assassins back is

no longer there. Wei-Lee upgrades his initial assessment of his

opponents skill.

Kilsorana completes her spell. She successfully directs the mass of

ordered energies toward the assassin facing Wei-Lee.

As his opponent spins away, Amud erupts from bushes nearby

and both his scimitars flash, slicing into plate armor beneath

the black robes. The assassin, reacting superbly from Amud's

surprise attack, jumps back toward Wei-Lee, who is closing on him from

behind. Though he was still facing Amud, something in the Black

Cloud's stance alerted Wei-Lee to the danger. As the assassin lands he

rams his elbow, sporting a long and poisoned spike back toward

Wei-Lee's chest. Sarek, formed into a claw, rips at the attacking

elbow and throws the assassin to the ground, hard. Wei-Lee's hand

draws back and once again Sarek strikes, this time the claw rakes

across the man's face, breaking the nose and destroying one eye.

Blood pours from the wound yet the man attempts to roll to his

feet. Something is odd. Smoke begins to pour from beneath the

Black Cloud's robes. Suspecting another trick Wei-Lee pulls away.

One of Amud's scimitars slices across the assassin's throat. He

crumples. Wei-Lee watches in fascination. Smoke is billowing from the

dead body. Soon it bursts into flame. Several metal objects

appear to be glowing red with heat.

Maeve focuses on the man Gunther sits on. Abruptly, the

assassin bucks and almost dislodges Gunther. He twists his right

arm free and tries to drive the poisoned blade into Gunther's

throat. Maeve fires and her arrow embeds itself in the Black

Clouds face. He screams, thrashing violently. Gunther grabs the

arrow and shoves. And then the man ceases to struggle.

The fight is over as abruptly as it began.

"Thanks," Wei-Lee says to Amud. He notices that Amud's pants are

dripping water and pieces of ice occasionally fall from his

clothes as he moves. "What happened to you?"

"It is very cold there inside that trap. Even as I crawled

out I could feel my legs freezing. Fortunately," Amud smiles and

performs a little jig, "as you can see, no permanent damage was

done."

"Your dance partner was not so lucky." Wei-Lee indicates the flaming

body. "He should have dressed casual." Several small explosions

occur. One of them flips the assassins metal chest plate off of

the corpse. It glows white shimmering with intense heat. Wei-Lee and

Amud, aghast, step back.

"Is everyone unhurt?" Kilsorana asks.

Several voices respond affirmatively.

"Actually, my friend here got a little hot around the collar

when I belted him. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"

"Who, me?" Kilsorana regards Wei-Lee innocently. "Why should I know? Do I

look like a mage or something?"

Gunther moves back to the hole made by Amud when he fell into

the trap. He pulls the rope up to find that it ends at the edge

of the hole. He examines the smoking stump. "Well, now we know

why we do not want to fall into this trap." He looks at Raec.

"Throw my pack across."

Raec grabs Gunther’s pack and heaves it over. He collects

Amud's and Wei-Lee's crossbows.

"Toss them over too." Gunther pulls more rope from his

backpack. "Watch out for more trouble." He warns everyone as ties the

ropes together and throws the coils over to Raec.

Reac ties the rope firmly to the other tree. Both he and

Maeve cross without mishap.

Once again, the group tracks the stag. This time everyone is

on foot. Less than 100 yards from the point where we crossed the

first ward Kilsorana raises her hand. "Raec, you are approaching a ward.

We cannot go further until we figure how to cross it safely."

(Describe tower here). The group looks toward the keep. The

stag had brought them to the edge of a ten foot wide path which

led directly to a gate in the wall surrounding the keep. From

the looks of the trees it appeared that at one time, many years

ago the path had been more like a field. For twenty or thirty

yards to either side of the path small pines, none much higher

than twenty feet, grew densely. Out beyond the growth of small

pines was a forest of massive conifers. The demarcation between the

different sized trees formed a line somewhat parallel to the path

which led to the keep. A circular wall that looked to be no more

than twice a man's height, judging by the nearby trees, protected

the keep. Centered within the wall was a wide tower, constructed

cunningly from a dull black stone, which rose to perhaps ten

times the height of the wall. A walkway of indeterminate width

completely encircled the tower roughly three quarters of the way

up to the top. A short, crenellated wall gives some protection to

anyone on the walkway. The nose of a massive ballista peeks out

between two crenels. Behind the ballista, a man in black armor

stands immobile before a wooden door set in the tower wall;

watching, waiting for something. The wooden door seen above the

walkway seemed to be the only opening in the tower wall.

"Something is moving over there," Wei-Lee points off to the side.

Without a sound, the white stag steps out from the shadows.

Maeve's dog runs up and the Stag nuzzles it. (Maeve's dog, with

each person who knows of its existence its power decreases

slightly, thus it attempts to remain out of sight at all times).

Everyone stands immobile, transfixed. Carefully the stag

approaches Maeve. It nods at her in greeting/acknowledgment/best

of luck. The stag nods at Raec as it moves past him. It steps

widely around Kilsorana and then bolts back down the path.

Kalarina realizes that something is different now. Finally it

dawns on her. She has had a feeling inside her since just before

she talked to the old woman and began the long journey which lead

her to this point. Sometimes it was strong, urging her on. Other

times it smoldered like embers in a banked fire. It was

ever present, guiding her footsteps. Since she crossed the first

ward this morning that feeling has been gone.

It leaves her slightly hollow inside.

Kilsorana studies the ward before her. "It seems to have been

recently cast. Nicely designed too. Umm, it is powered by a spell

battery located in the tower and has several components." She

studies the spell's construction hoping to determine how it

operates. "I think this spell is triggered by anything that

attempts to pass through the field generated by the ward. From

the nature of the runes involved I would guess that anything

passing through the ward would be the recipient of a bolt of

lightning."

"How do we get past it?" Gunther asks.

"I do not know," Kilsorana says reassuringly. "Yet."

"Great," Maeve says. "Why did we bring you along, you are no

help at all."

Kilsorana sticks her tongue out at Maeve.

"Well if you didn't notice it O mighty mage, someone on the

tower is pointing a very nasty looking weapon at us. I

personally think that he doesn't like us. If I'm right, you had

better figure a way to cross, quickly."

As Kilsorana ponders the newest obstacle Maeve removes Malcom's bow

from her back and proceeds to nock an armor piercing arrow. She

draws her arm back; tension sings in the bowstring. It is an

impossibly long shot.

Gunther, Wei-Lee and Raec watch her Maeve mild interest.

And then, the arrow is away, glinting in the sunlight as it

arcs up high above the ground. As it passes over the wall

surrounding the keep it flares orange for a moment. Unaffected,

the arrow pierces the black armored man's left arm, pinning him

to the wooden door. He slumps from view.

Everyone shouts at the excellent shot and Gunther slaps her

on the back.

"Good shot Maeve."

Maeve kneels down placing her bow beside her. "I am going to

see if we can go under this ward." She closes her eyes and begins

to Commune.

"What are you talking about Kilsorana? I only see one wall."

Kalarina looks puzzled.

Kilsorana walks up to a point in the path that looks no different

from any other and draws a line in the dirt. "Just beyond this

line is the ward of which I speak."

Kalarina picks up a stone and tosses it over the line drawn

by Kilsorana. Less than a foot beyond the mark the stone explodes in a

flash of light. The report rings in everyone's ears.

Maeve startled asks, "What is happening?" as she scrambles to

her feet.

"Kalarina threw a rock through the ward to see what would

happen."

"Oh. Well, the ground here is tainted but the ward ends where

it hits earth. We should be able to tunnel beneath it."

Gunther pulls a small shovel from his backpack and walks

toward the ward. At the line he begins to dig vigorously.

"I will cover you," Wei-Lee says. He is not sure from what,

though. "Let me know if you get tired," he adds as sweat begins

to run from beneath Gunther's helm.

"Look!" Maeve says.

The man on the tower had regained his feet. Holding his arm

so that all could see he snapped the point off the arrow and

pulled it from his arm. Then tossing the arrow down he raises his

good arm in a rude gesture.

Maeve annoyed that she did not have the last word, nocked

another arrow. This time it flew wide of its mark, bouncing

harmlessly off the dull black stone high above her antagonist's

head.

He moves to the ballista.

"Retreat!" Maeve shouts.

Everyone drops what they are doing and heads for cover.

After a moment the man turns away from the ballista and

enters the tower.

"All clear."

Gunther resumes digging. The hard-packed earth resists

digging. Cursing, Gunther pulls a pick from his backpack and

loosens the dry clayey soil. "There must be a better way."

Maeve looks up at the tower. Damn. There he is again.

"Hey..."

Before she is able to complete her warning the ballista

fires.

Wei-Lee looks up in time to see the massive wooden bolt hurtling

down at the path. He raises the Houndmaster's thigh-piece in an

attempt to shield Gunther, who is now knee deep in the hole.

In a brilliant burst of light the ground heaves and Maeve and

Kalarina are thrown to the ground. Wei-Lee, taking the brunt of the

blast on the shield, is hurled through the ward. Fortunately he

is able to extend his gauntleted left hand through the ward

first.

Another flash and a massive jolt and Wei-Lee flips through the

ward, landing on his feet. His clothing smokes a little and he

feels somewhat fried but otherwise not seriously hurt. He senses

the power recede within the Gauntlet, as if it was recovering

from the massive attack it received. He hoped it would not prove

to be permanent damage.

Gunther looks out of the hole amazed. "Maeve, are you hurt!"

Maeve sits up dusting herself off, an impossible task since

chunks of dirt and a fine dust continues to settle out of the

surrounding air. "Only my pride."

"Wei-Lee, you found a way through the ward!" Kilsorana says jokingly.

"Sure did. Come on, Kilsorana, it is very easy. Next time he fires

just jump in the way of the bolt. If you plan it right the

ensuing explosion will blast you through the ward. Now if you

survive that you can follow me and attack the keep."

"He is reloading the ballista," Raec shouts as he runs for

cover.

At his warning, everyone begins to scatter, but not before

the ground beside the path erupts into the air. Amud, the closest

to the blast, tumbles head over heels before falling limply

several feet from where he had been standing.

Once again, Maeve is knocked down.

Kilsorana runs over to the unconscious form of Amud. Blood runs from

his nose and ears. "I have to heal Amud." Quickly she casts.

Amud sits up. His head feels like it is splitting and he is

somewhat disoriented.

"How do you feel?"

"I have been better. This has been a rough week for me."

"Find some cover, Amud. I think I know how we can get by this

ward."

Km runs up to Gunther. "Get out of the hole Gunther."

"What?" He continues to dig frantically.

"You do not have to dig a hole. I can make one more easily."

Not waiting for him to move she begins to sing.

Gunther, aware that she is casting, grabs his tools and dives

from the hole.

Moments later a large area of the ground begins to bubble

beneath the ward. Steam hisses and waves of heat wash out.

Gunther steps back further, uncomprehending.

Abruptly, the bubbling soil drops away in a cloud of hot

smoke. Km stopped singing.

"What did you do?" Gunther inquires.

"Lead is denser than soil or stone. I altered the soil

beneath the ward here into lead."

Steam still rises from the very square, newly made hole.

"Why didn't you do that before?"

"I didn't think of it. Besides, before that ballista began to

fire we had no reason to rush."

Gunther sighs, grabs his backpack and jumps into the hole. He

feels heat seeping from the hard floor through the thick leather

soles of his boots. The lead base of the hole is roughly six feet

below the path, ten feet wide and ten feet long. The rest of the

group jumps into the hole with Gunther.

"Kilsorana, you will have to look for magical traps for us. Raec,

keep an eye on the tower. Kalarina, Amud and I will watch for

opposition on the ground. Wei-Lee seems to be unhurt; he is already

out there waiting for us." Gunther studies everyone intently.

"If I think that the ballista will fire I will yell.

Everybody splits into the woods to either side of the path

staying in their teams." Reac reloads his heavy crossbow.

"Ready?" Maeve asks when he has completed his task.

Heads nod.

"Let's go, then."

The party climbs from the hole and moves swiftly down the

path.

There doesn't seem to be anyone manning the ballista right

now."

"It could be a trick, Raec. Keep sharp." Maeve carries

Democles in her right hand. At her side WindReaver stays

sheathed. Quiescent.

"Hold it!" Kilsorana is alarmed. "Just before us is a ward of some

sort."

"Yuo did not see it before?"

"No. It was hastily erected." Kilsorana studies it using an identify

spell. "Fairly complex. I'm not sure what would happen if someone

tried to walk through this. However, a portal can be opened in

this ward with a magical keying sequence."

"What do you mean?" Gunther asks, confused.

"Well, the portal component of this spell accepts a specific

sequence of spell power at varying levels to key its activation."

"Can you figure it out quickly, or must we tunnel beneath

this ward too?"

"Give me a minute." Kilsorana sings softly and reaches out with one

hand. Nothing happens. "Go. Right here! I don't know how long it

will remain open."

The entire group passes through the portal unharmed.

Three hundred feet from the wall around the keep Wei-Lee detects a

trap in the path. Kilsorana discovers that some sort of very powerful

mind resides within the carefully camouflaged trap.

The group moves up the wall. Eerily, the gate creaks open

as we approach.

"This could be some form of elaborate trap," Kilsorana warns. "I

can't see much here, very powerful magical energies are making

Vision difficult. Like staring into the noon sun."

The group cautiously moves forward.

Amud, near the rear of the group emits a groan. Then, without

further warning, draws a scimitar and attacks Raec.

Wei-Lee realizes that Amud has been possessed. From behind he

grapples

Amud, attempting to subdue him. Amud struggles. Gunther and Raec

help subdue him.

Maeve, angered at this attack, draws WindReaver. The great

bastard sword slides from its sheath with a tremendous peal of

thunder.

"Oleanth, I have come to slay you! Are you afraid? Come out

and face me, I command it!" Maeve saunters forward, alone. A

pillar of confidence, arrogant, WindReaver a driving force,

thrumming with power in her hand; singing a song of death that

could not be ignored.

"Wait! Maeve! Wait for us." Gunther shouts concerned about

Amud's condition and the danger inherent in dividing the group.

Wei-Lee and Kilsorana race to keep up with Maeve.

Maeve feels wards of immense power fall before the sword. And

then she stands at the base of the black tower, facing a massive

ironbound wooden door.

Air elementals flit about howling, commanded by the arcane

powers of the Sword; unable to leave.

Maeve touches WindReaver's tip to the door. With a sharp

crack the door splits asunder, shards of wood flying in all

directions. Without hesitation, Maeve strides in.

Close behind Wei-Lee and Kilsorana race to keep up with Maeve. Above the

sound of the wind Wei-Lee hears an ominous grinding sound. Glancing up

into the alcove just beyond the shattered remains of the wooden

door Wei-Lee spies a large section of the stone ceiling detach and

begin a rapid fall. Hoping that it is not the last decision he ever

makes, Wei-Lee picks up Kilsorana and leaps into the hallway.

With a terrible sound of finality a large slab of stone slams

into place completely blocking the doorway they passed through,

heartbeats before.

Outside Amud breaks free. In the ensuing brief struggle, Raec

and Kalarina are forced to knock him out.

Gunther pushes against the stone slab, worried. Raec and

Kalarina join him. It doesn't move at all. Disconsolate, he

desperately looks for another way in.

Raec pulls out his magical mace and steps up before the stone

slab. Holding on with two hands he strikes the barrier a mighty

blow. The mace rings from the impact, shards of stone fly away

and a series of minute cracks radiate away from the chipped area.

As he winds up for another devastating strike a bolt of lightning

strikes him from behind shattering the crossbow on his back. Raec

staggers back, surprised but unhurt.

"How do you feel?" Gunther eyes the shattered crossbow. "I

think you were lucky."

"I am o.k." Raec, more cautiously this time, begins rain

powerful two-handed blows against the stone.

Meanwhile, Maeve, Kilsorana and lastly, Wei-Lee run down a series of

steps carved out from the stone foundation beneath the tower. At

the first landing another slab slams down from above. Wei-Lee leaps

back, narrowly avoiding being crushed.

Pitch.

Wei-Lee runs his hands along the impenetrable barrier before him.

Darkness and silence descend upon him like a blanket. Dust in the

damp cool air tickles his nose. He squats down feeling at the

base of the slab. The seam is perfect. Not the smallest crack to

slip fingers beneath. Wei-Lee stands, wondering what to do.

Wham! Automatically, Wei-Lee closes his mind as a powerful mind

enfolds his. He feels increasing pressure against his hastily

erected defenses.

"Judge, why do you resist me? I wish merely to explain my

side of this argument. Is it not true that you are to be an

impartial participant in pursuing your duties as Judge? Yet you

have not considered what I might have to say. What have I done

that brings us together with such enmity?"

Wei-Lee recoils from the voice within his mind. Possession?

Never! He redoubles his efforts to seal his mind.

While Oleanth speaks within Wei-Lee's inner ear, he attempts a

more subtle mental attack. Not a direct assault on the strong,

well shielded mind. Rather, a fine mental probe, delicately

winding its way through the multiple layers of the cleverly

constructed shield. Oleanth, after all, was a master of

possession. All he needed was time. In time Wei-Lee could become a

powerful servant. As it turned out he would have plenty of

time...

Wei-Lee noticed that Oleanth had paused, as if sensing that

his words had no effect. Perhaps loath to relinquish such a

potentially useful individual Oleanth tried a different tack.

Still Wei-Lee was surprised by Oleanth's next words.

"Ah, I see. How cleverly you have fooled everyone. You are

not what you seem..." Oleanth's voice became conspiratorial. "Do

you not know how powerful you could become with my aid? What can

the Judges offer you that I could not provide tenfold? Or Thor!

That buffoon. Please realize that the Gauntlet you sport is but a

childs toy compared to the weapons I have at my disposal.

Shall I remind you that WindReaver was mine before it was given

unto Maeve Sunshard's hands by that bastard son Sir Riva

Amadaeus Kay. I will predict this to you now Wei-lee, it shall

again be in my possession when this day is finished."

Wei-Lee ignored Oleanth's babbling. Oleanth knew not what he

desired; what he sought. Wei-Lee laughed to himself. How could he? Wei-Lee

did not really know himself.

Oleanth perhaps somehow sensed Wei-Lee's laughter. "So, you mock

me. Laugh in the face of death; for that is what you face..."

Wei-Lee senses a little disappointment in Oleanth's thoughts.

Good. But where was Kilsorana and Maeve? Were they in some danger now?

Wl realized how cleverly Oleanth had separated the group.

Something didn't make sense about this whole thing. If only he

had more time to think.

"You will regret not accepting my gracious offer to you. Do

not forget that I have your friends at this moment. If you

would only let me show you the future you would realize that you

cannot help them..."

And then the stone slab before Wei-Lee dissolved into a heap of

sand. A thin, silvery scaled arm snaked forward catching the

fleecy material of Wei-Lee's sweater. "Come on, Wei-Lee. Maeve will not

stop for anything. What are you waiting for?"

Oleanth's hold broken, Wei-Lee followed Kilsorana wordlessly down the

stairs two at a time. After several minutes they reach Maeve

standing beneath an archway leading into a vast chamber.

They look around speechlessly. The walls of the dome curve inward

at either side of the arch, lit dimly by a faint green light. The

far side of the chamber is lost in gloom. At the center of the

chamber rises a massive set of stairs carved into the face of a

pyramid-shaped monolith. Set on a flat area atop the pyramid was

what appeared to be a large dish holding a glowing object. The

only light within the chamber seemed to emanate from that emerald

glowing object within the dish.

"That is it. Oleanth!" Maeve holds WindReaver out before

her, pointed up at the strangely glowing dish.

Km studies the glowing object, confused. It looks to her

like a fancy spell battery sitting atop a smooth sided mirrored

pyramid with the upper six feet removed to provide a flat

surface. She watches as Maeve runs toward the glassy slopes and

somehow begins to run to the top.

"What is wrong, Kilsorana? Let's go!"

"How can we climb that? It is perfectly smooth!"

"What? Look I'll carry you." Without hesitation, Wei-Lee picks her

up and begins to run up the slick looking mirrored slope. From

this vantage it appears to her as if his feet are sinking into

the face of the pyramid a little with each step. Odd. She watches

her reflection stare at her and wonders why she has to use such

an embarrassing mode of travel when her friends seem to have no

difficulty whatsoever. It just was not fair! Who was the powerful

mage here anyway?

Back outside the tower Raec, Gunther and Kalarina continue to

struggle with the slab. Now it is shattered but the pieces are

wedged together, just as effectively blocking entrance. Kalarina

pries at a the stones with her dagger. Small pieces come loose;

then larger ones. Without warning the slab crumbles before her.

Leaving Amud behind they charge down the dark stairs; hoping that

they would not be too late. At the first landing Kalarina slips

on something and nearly falls.

"Watch out! The stairs are covered with dirt here."

Gunther and Raec follow Kalarina carefully. After winding

their way down several flights of stairs in almost total darkness

they abruptly find themselves passing through an arch into a

great chamber.

Before them they see a mirrored pyramid rising perhaps ten

times the height of a man above the smooth stone floor of the

chamber. Halfway up the unusual surface Wei-Lee runs, somehow clinging

to the glassy surface. Kilsorana, who seems to be casting, rides on his

back. Ahead of them Maeve races for the top brandishing

WindReaver as if expecting armed resistance at any moment.

ahhh what the fuck...

go to young Wei-Lee

It is a nice day. The sky is a perfect, clear bright blue

without a single cloud to mar ifs perfect beauty. The air is

completely still. There are pine trees rising all about us.

Near the main entrance approach the pines are rather short,

perhaps 10 to 20 feet and increase in height farther away

from the path until the trees are towering 100' high. Before

us is a stone wall that encircles a huge tower which is

currently collapsing behind us. A slain body lays before the

main entry gate. To the right a large stone brick building, a

barracks collapses as well as the ground shaves and heaves

violently. Currently, we find ourselves running out of the

front gate of Oleanth's keep. The sound of collapsing stone

and shattering wood behind us. The earth occasionally

shudders under our feet and a great cloud of smoke and dust

rises into the air obscuring the sky. Great cracks open up

the earth around us. Leading from the gate is a clearly

marked path leading between the young pines which dot the

grassy areas on either side of the path.

(maeve had been healed with 100 points of power previously by

Kilsorana, what wound? See notes.) Wei-Lee carries Kilsorana. Wei-Lee is somewhat bruised

and battered but nothing too serious. Amud is hurt (htk) from

pummeling to the ground when he was possessed, Raec has a small

wound (3htk). Maeve wears Hagul's helm. She draws Democles

(Alex what does it look like?), the sword given to her by Kay

since she cannot use WindReaver subtly. The accompanying

pyrotechnics are at best annoying. Kalarina warns us to look out

for the animal pit as she bounds ahead to take the lead. Then

Amud (breathing very heavily), Raec, Gunther stays together with

Maeve, Wei-Lee carries Kilsorana on his back out the gate, they are last out.

While Wei-Lee carries Kilsorana she casts a detect mind spell, just

before her she sees a fairly powerful, fairly disciplined,

tightly defined mind, before him is an even more powerful mind,

Maeve's, next to her is a very carefully organized shield,

shielding a mind(Gunther), Amud ahead of him his frayed aura

streaming everywhere, pulsating as if damaged somehow from the

disastrous effects of the mental attack by Oleanth. Raec mind is

a blob and so is Kalarina's, much farther ahead is an alien

life force (in the pit). She senses extremely powerful minds

leaving, the gods, behind us, yes, traces of Oleanth's mind,

still very powerful but the barest fraction of what she saw

minutes ago. She also detects human minds, maybe three or five

dozen, behind us. KERASSSH! A huge section of the tower falls.

Kalarina picks up several stones.

"There is an undead presence in the pit!" Kilsorana shouts. "She

adds a moment later "and several dozen humans behind us inside

the keep!" Wei-Lee keeps running. He figures that he can move much

faster with her on his back than she can on her awkwardly jointed

legs. A little exhaustion is a small price to pay to ensure her

safety. The tower disappears in a huge plume of dust and smoke.

We pass through the gate.

Kalarina spots the stone markers. "There is the hole!" We

reach the first invisible ward after several moments of running

headlong down the well maintained path. Kalarina throws a stone

ahead of her. Ka Boom! The stone vanishes in a flash of light and

puff of smoke half way across the artificial hole made by Kilsorana when

she changed a large volume of soil to lead.

Wei-Lee stops, Kilsorana still on his back, and looks back. He studies

their handiwork. Something is odd. The action seems to be

stopped, the clouds of dust just hang there, hunks of stone hang

motionless in the air, not moving at all. Then things move

normally again. Wei-Lee shakes his head wondering if Oleanth had

gotten to him somehow. He stands there a little worried and

somewhat perplexed, facing the cloud of dust which now flows over

the wall like a living entity. Kalarina, Gunther, Amud and Raec

all jump in the hole and scramble up on the other side.

"Wei-lee," Maeve shouts. "Come on!"

"Wei-lee, what are you looking at?" Kilsorana shouts in his ear.

Wei-lee is not sure if he saw anything. Concentrating, he

does not answer. He thinks back to the trap in the dark

stairwell. Something very important had happened there. What? Had

Oleanth somehow tipped his hand? What was it that he had said?

Damn, he had been working so hard to keep Oleanth out, he could

not remember; he was certain that it was extremely important that

he remember. Why? It flitted frustratingly just at the edge of

his grasp. Think. Oleanth had mentioned Kay. Yes, and Thor! No

that was not it. Something else...

Everyone is confused. Amud looks dazed. He stands there

blinking, looking back at the cloud of dust now obscuring

everything.

Raec looks back, there is the tower. No, what is he thinking.

It is gone. Look at the cloud of dust. But he is certain that the

tower is there, behind all the smoke and dust, images of stones

falling. He sees indistinctly a man standing on the tower near

the ballista, watching the group. "The tower is still there, I

see a man watching us!"

Everyone studies the keep now in indecision, breathing

heavily from the headlong flight. Kilsorana enters a trance. She

attempts to study the keep magically. She meets some very strong

resistance. More power, a different spell. Suddenly, things begin

to unravel about her in her mind's eye as she probes with more

determination. All about her are silver strands of power linking

the ground and the air in a dense web. The power is so dense near

the keep that it practically obscures objects of the physical

world. The power is centralized about the tower. Some immense

spell of enormous scope is at work here, she is certain of it

now. Some object, completely obscured by silver webs of energy

lies nearly 100 yards away from us up the path. Kilsorana

recognizes this as an illusion spell of unimaginable power. It is

several magnitudes more powerful than the spell used to possess

the entire herd of deer during Oleanth's mysterious attempt on

their lives so long ago. She is awestruck.

Raec is quite certain now that the dust and smoke is fake.

Bomeone may have thrown a lot of dirt and stone in the air but

the tower still stands. Raec speaks to Kalarina in Phelosian. She

can see the tower as well.

"What are you doing?" Maeve asks in an exasperated tone.

"Wei-Lee, get me to safety on the other side of this ward. We

must decide what to do." Kilsorana says softly.

Raec says resignedly, "We have to do it again."

"What do you mean, do it again?" Maeve states anger rising in

her voice. "We don't have WindReaver."

"No listen," KN says reassuringly, "It may just be part of

his magic. It does not mean that he in not dead."

"Wait a minute. Why would he do this. It seems to me that he

might have spread himself out so that it looked to Kilsorana that he had

been defeated. Is it possible that this is some exceedingly

elaborate spell designed to fool everyone into leaving him

alive?"

Raec sees two men step up by the loaded ballista. He also

sees six men crouched low, moving very rapidly down the path out

of the gate. They are carrying a short stretcher between them. <