Bane the Barbarian – Session 19
DAY 91
We stayed hidden up in the rocks for a couple of hours while the others discussed what we should do. I listened and wondered why any of them was really there.
From what I could make out, Muratis wasn’t happy about the discoveries we had made, or that emissaries of Evil had spread through the region and he was pre-disposed to do what he could to help safeguard the area around his home. It seemed to me however that, due to an overly optimistic belief that magic would ultimately save him from any fate that befell the rest of us, he was having difficulty viewing the Dark God’s return as a personal problem. I had the impression that he was biding his time, hoping that he could find a spell to get him out of it. I think it was hard for him to accept that, despite all the sorcery at his disposal, his arse was in the fire just like everyone else. That’s the problem with wizards, they always seem to think they’re above the rules.
Sol was harder to understand. I was fairly certain that the little fellow had not grasped the magnitude of what we were up against. He always gave the impression that he was along for the challenge and the adventure, but I had my suspicions that this was mainly bravado. Actually, when you got to know him, he was a bit of a softy. It seemed to me far more likely that he was just trying to do the right thing, but I couldn’t really tell.
Amelorn had volunteered to accompany us in order to gain experience. He was predominantly serving his god. Though I welcomed his aid, I imagined that he would soon be wishing he were back in a nice safe temple in Brindinford. I didn’t think that he really understood what was at stake here either.
And as for Lucian, I found his motives as mysterious and hard to fathom as he was. I had remained slightly wary of him and I was beginning to suspect that his reasons for being with us were not those he had revealed. On a couple of occasions he had seemed particularly interested in the dark spire at the centre of the crater, and my instincts told me that he had some hidden reason for going there.
As I wondered about my companions I began to understand that our fellowship was close to losing it’s way, and once again found myself wishing that someone like Tangrel were there to guide us. For my own part I knew that the Dark Powers had to be stopped and while I drew breath I would continue to strive against them, but I was no leader of men, no maker of plans. I possessed some courage and a strong arm, and I believed that what I was doing was right, but maybe that would not be enough.
In the end a decision was reached. It was agreed that we would attempt to use subtlety and talk our way in this time. Oh goody! I paused briefly, pulling up my hood to conceal my face, and then joined the others as they set off up the trail.
At the last moment Muratis came to the conclusion that it would be better if he were invisible, though better for whom exactly I was not sure, and Sol scurried off and vanished from sight. So to anyone watching it appeared that only Lucian, Amelorn and I, approached the orc guards that waited warily outside the mine.
When we were within shouting distance one of the orcs came forward and demanded that we identify ourselves. Lucian, who had volunteered to do the talking, replied that we were messengers going to the Temple of Air, and to my relief after a brief exchange he was able to talk us inside.
The orc escorted us to the crossroads and then left us to make our own way from there.
We passed through the Earth Temple, descending into the darkness until we reached the ziggurat room. There were three orcs, a dwarf and two humans there. It appeared that they were making plans to restore the ziggurat.
Since our deception had been successful thus far, Lucian elected to continue with it and bluff our way through. He strode forward heading purposefully toward the Dwarf, but he was intercepted by one of the orcs who moved to bar his path.
The orc grunted something at him in orcish.
“What? Can’t you speak a proper language?” Lucian snarled, fixing the orc with a withering glare. From where I was standing Lucian’s face was obscured, but the orc visibly paled. The creature began to look quite uncomfortable and seemed to be having difficulty returning Lucian’s stare.
After a moment the Dwarf interceded. “What do you want?” he said.
“We’re only passing through” Lucian replied, instantly becoming less threatening. “What happened here then?” he added, gesturing toward the rubble that was strewn across the floor.
The Dwarf appeared to size us up for a moment while considering his response. “The chamber has been destroyed. We are rebuilding it” he answered.
“And who are you?” Lucian ventured.
“Before I answer that question I should like to know who you are?” the Dwarf replied a little gruffly.
“We are here to deliver a message to the Temple of Air” Lucian declared.
“Then I think you best be on your way” the Dwarf concluded. “If it’s all the same to you I’d rather keep my business to myself”
“Very well. Good day to you” Lucian curtly acknowledged.
And we walked on past.
After a while Lucian stopped.
“Phew! That worked better than I thought” he said. “Is everyone OK?”
Everyone was.
“What now?” I asked. The plan from this point onward seemed a little unclear to me.
“I think we go on and see what has happened at the Air Temple” said a disembodied voice that I recognised as Muratis.
“Then what?” I said.
“Then we finish them” replied Lucian, almost gleefully.
I looked at him slightly strangely. “So the plan is to destroy the Air Temple?” I asked.
“Well yes” said Lucian. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“It’s just that I thought we’d decided to try and gather more information about what’s going on here, and I don’t really see how destroying the Air Temple is going to achieve that.”
Lucian considered the point for a moment. “Very well” he said “We can try to find out more, assuming you’re not going to kill everything in our path.”
I thought that was a little rich, coming from someone who had shown no hesitation in dispatching the fleeing Grey Render the day before, but I let it pass.
After further discussion, we headed on through the passages leading to the Air Temple, having agreed to try and be more circumspect about who we killed this time.
When we reached the area where we had fought the chimera and the three-armed giant, we discovered it was deserted. It had been partially cleaned up, or at least all the bodies had gone, but myriad blood stains still covered the floor.
For a moment I remembered Halgar and how he had died there. I paused to offer up a short prayer and then moved on.
We searched around but all the rooms were empty, save for an assortment of furniture; divans, chairs, tables and large tapestries of men riding dragons. Muratis was in his element. Though he was still invisible, I could almost see him rubbing his hands at the prospect of being able to sell all this stuff back in Brindinford and Verbobonc. And every now and then I thought I could hear the scratching of an invisible quill on invisible parchment… but perhaps it was just my imagination.
As we worked our way through the many rooms, I began to discern the sound of water gently lapping and it soon became clear that the corridor we were travelling along ended at the head of a long causeway that led out across the grey and stagnant waters of the Stalagnos toward the centre of the crater.
We did not go that way; a magical barrier barred our path. And, even had it been clear, we knew too little to risk the crossing at that point.
I noticed Lucian staring out across the dark waters and followed his gaze toward the unsettling and oppressive presence of the spire, rising like a dagger toward the turbulent sky. There lay the heart of the Evil that festered in this place.
We took another passage and continued searching through the rooms. They were all empty save for their furnishings; ornate padded chairs, red and gold carpets, curtains and drapes. Muffled exclamations of delight emanated from Muratis as we discovered each new item.
In one room a great mural of a vast army destroying a city adorned one wall. Among the invaders the black triangular symbol we had seen before was prominent and many of the victims appeared to be Knights of St Cuthbert.
We also found an incomplete letter that spoke of “bullying from the Earth and Water Temples” and the “guarding of the Outer Thane”
Reading it Lucian proposed an interesting theory. He drew our attention to the fact that as yet we had found no clerics and no altar. Perhaps, he suggested, this was not the Air temple after all. It could in fact be an independent group charged with guarding the bridge. I think he may be right.
It was almost Midday before we encountered anything.
Around a corner ahead of us came faint sounds of growling, and after careful investigation Sol reported two large feathered creatures were there.
I thought from the description that they sounded like Owlbears but I could not be sure.
We prepared ourselves for an assault.
When we were ready, Lucian cast a couple of spells on me… one was Haste I think, and Muratis summoned an ape and let loose a fireball.
There was a scream of pain from around the corner and the ape charged. I followed.
When the creatures came into view I could see that they were indeed owlbears, as I had suspected. Moving much faster than normal, thanks to Lucian’s magic, I charged up to the first owlbear and swung at it with my sword. I got in three rapid blows and it fell. It had hardly had time to react. I turned on the second owlbear, which was being kept occupied by the ape, and finished that too. It was all over surprisingly quickly.
I felt an urge to do some more damage while I had the benefit of Lucian’s enchantments but there was nothing else around. Strangely, whenever I’m really pumped up with magic the opposition doesn’t seem to be that potent.
We went onward again, following a long passageway down to the edge of a lake inside a large cavern. The still, black waters stretched out into the darkness. There was a small boat moored nearby, so it was a fair bet it was some distance across.
The water filled me with foreboding and it was only when I remembered the Spiderclimb boots that I was wearing that I felt a little reassured. I looked up at the ceiling. At least I had the option to walk across. From the faces of my companions they were not looking forward to a boat ride either.
Lucian bent and picked up a small stone. He gestured and muttered some words over it and it started to glow brighter and brighter. Then he opened his palm and the stone rose into the air, moving out into the darkness. It swept back and forth across the water’s surface piercing the gloom. The far shore was indeed some distance away.
As the light mapped out the cavern there was an instant when I was certain that I had seen a large shadow moving in the water, but it disappeared and did not return.
Since no one was prepared to risk crossing the open water in the boat, we pulled back and sought refuge in a rope trick while Muratis studied his spell book for some appropriate spells.
Over the next few hours the discussion about how to proceed raised it’s head again. I was convinced that we had to decipher the Dark One’s plan. I felt some urgency about doing this that I could not explain.
Sol suggested going back to the Earth temple and getting some information out of the orcs. It seemed a worthwhile idea. But when we began talking of capturing and interrogating an orc shaman, the little guy started to become a bit squeamish.
“What if the Dwarf and the Humans got caught up in it? What if they weren’t Evil? What if they were just being paid to rebuild the temple? What would we do with the shaman once we were finished?” and so on. He went on and on about it, raising an assortment of moral concerns.
He made some good points but in my mind dwelling on such things could only hinder us. I did not like the idea of killing the orc shaman in cold blood anymore than the next man, but if it was necessary, if that might prove to be the difference between defeating the Dark One and failing to prevent his return, then I would. There were times when you could not afford to be lenient.
With Muratis’s support, I explained that we had no intention of killing everyone out of hand but that anyone who stood against us was abetting evil and would be treated as an enemy. If we did take prisoners then we would instruct them to leave on pain of death, and if we saw them again we would kill them.
Sol did not seem satisfied with this however. He complained that if we murdered people, even if they were evil, then we were as bad as they were. Perhaps he was right, and maybe once as a child I had been that innocent, but now I could not help thinking of my mother and father, and of Tanyara, and what had been done to them. In truth I did not believe that evil deserved redemption. I thought more about how I would feel if an evil creature that I had spared subsequently did harm to another. I did not want that on my conscience.
It made me think of Rae and the Hu-Ren Dai. And I wondered if that was how it had started for them? … But no. I still had a long way to go before I became as they were, and I had no intention of following their path.
In spite of my conviction my thoughts grew troubled and I retired from the debate to try and get some rest. I drifted in and out of sleep. My dreams were only peaceful when I dreamed of Tanyara.
