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Ember's Tale 84: Into Darkness


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#1 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 30 October 2007 - 11:04 AM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).

Chapter 84: Into Darkness


The tracks left behind by Merella and her adventurer companions led straight into the forest to the north of Imnesvale. It was a very old forest, dominated by massive oak and beech trees that had spent centuries stretching skywards, creating a dense canopy that didn't allow much light to pass through. There was little undergrowth and few young trees except in the occasional spot where one of the older trees had died or been uprooted, tearing a hole in the dark green forest roof with its absence.

The gloominess of the forest intensified the deeper Ember and her friends went into it, aided by a low fog that crept in between the trees, chilling the air and blocking out even more of the light. Wreaths of mist draped themselves around the branches, and water droplets gathered on armor, clothing, and exposed skin. Ember wiped moisture from her cheek with her hand, and stared at her wet palm. It was just water, completely harmless, but there was something deeply unnerving about this midday fog, especially since it'd been a perfectly fine, sunny morning when they left Imnesvale.

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.

"No, it's not," Ember muttered. The entire forest seemed empty, somehow, as if there was nothing in it but the trees, the fog, and themselves. It made her skin crawl.

"Such a darkened glade could hide horrors of all manner," Anomen said, eyeing the trees suspiciously. "We must watch our backs!"

"Boo heartily agrees! There could be spiders, or ankhegs, or even basilisks! Anything could be lurking around the next corner!" Minsc sounded almost cheerful at the prospect of running into something.

"The woods have no corners," Edwin snapped. "(I am surrounded by imbeciles!)"

"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc. "Come, my friend, and lead the way. My skills may be of little use here, but you will spy anything that might approach us, no?"

Minsc laughed happily. "Evil cannot hide in fog forever! Not when Minsc and Boo have eyes and ears and a big sword ready for them!"

By mid-afternoon, it was almost as dark as it should be around nightfall. Even with one of Edwin's magelights, it was difficult to see anything that was much more than ten feet away; their only consolation was that the densest part of the strange fog never descended below the level of the treetops. Ember was about to suggest they start looking for a campsite when Valygar raised his hand and quietly called for a halt.

The sound of crackling leaves and snapping twigs came out of the gloom ahead of them. They hurried towards the noise, trying not to stumble over roots and fallen branches as they ran. Something moved in the darkness, shuffling along the forest floor, then stopped.

It was a giant wolf, more than twice the normal size, with a ragged coat of brown and grey fur. It had the gaunt look that so many of the wolves on the sword coast had had the previous year, but unlike those starved creatures, it did not lunge at them; instead, it stood perfectly still and regarded them warily, as if it was assessing them. It stood crouched over a human body, which it appeared to be dragging through the woods. Parts of the corpse's torso had been ripped away and more than likely eaten.

"Vile creature!" Anomen cried. With a start, the wolf came to life and ran off in a loping gait, leaving the body behind; it would have escaped easily if not for Edwin, who sent a volley of magic missiles after it. The spell struck the wolf's hind quarters, and it fell to the ground in a graceless, whimpering tangle of limbs. A ripple ran through its fur; moments later, a naked woman, emaciated and with painful-looking burns on her back and thighs, lay where the wolf had fallen.

"Man-things!" the woman snarled. "Curse you and curse the world! Let me have my last meal in peace!"

"Wolfwere," Valygar said, drawing his katana. "You and your kin have preyed upon the innocent for the last time."

The woman barked out a harsh laugh. "My kin? Hah! No longer, fool. They have fallen to the shadows. Your hunting has gone awry."

"I suppose it was the shadows, then, and not you who ate from that corpse you were dragging with you?" Edwin asked sardonically.

The mottled brown and grey hair at the back of the woman's neck bristled. "I speak the truth."

"Explain yourself," Valygar said. "What do you know of these shadows?"

"The forest was not always like this. All was well until a few tendays ago, when the skies darkened at high noon. The pack gathered so that I might calm them, but I knew no more than they. Then, a man made of shadow came among us. My wolves froze in terror at the sight of him. I changed form and leapt at his darkness, but he merely laughed at my attack. He brushed me aside as easily as a leaf, and killed my wolves, my children, one by one with a single touch... and once they were all dead, his darkness reached out to the corpses of my children and animated them as shade wolves." A low, keening sound, somewhere between a sigh and a howl, escaped her throat. "Numb with terror and sorrow, I ran."

"This is not right!" Minsc cried. "Wolves are meant to be wolves, not shadows! Even Boo agrees about the rightness of that and the wrongness of this!"

"Didn't one of the villagers say that her child was talking about shadows in the woods?" Ember asked Valygar. He nodded.

"Is it these shade wolves, then, who have brought terror to the village of Imnesvale?" Anomen asked. Ember noticed that the squire was staring at a point somewhere above the naked woman's shoulder, even as he addressed her.

"Yes," the woman said. "As we were, we would never attack man-things except to defend. Your flesh is not to our taste."

Edwin looked pointedly at the dead body.

"That man was dead when I found him. I took his body only to gather strength to face the shadow man."

"You wish to confront him again? Dangerous business, that," Yoshimo said. "I fear you won't fare better than the first time."

"It matters not. He has taken my family and my home from me. There is nothing left for me but revenge. Will you stand in my way?"

Valygar shook his head. "No. We will come with you, and confront this shadow creature."

"Yes!" Minsc roared. "The shining blades of goodness must be raised against him!"

Ember kneeled down beside the woman and said a prayer of healing over the burns caused by Edwin's spell. Lines of pain smoothed away from the woman's face as the wounds faded away.

"I thank you," the woman said.

"Do you have a name?" Ember asked gently.

The woman looked at her with large, yellow wolf eyes. "You may call me Anath."

---

The group shared their food supplies with Anath, who eagerly devoured everything they gave her, even dried fruit. While the wolfwere ate, they dug a makeshift grave for the dead man under the roots of a toppled tree. There was a signet ring on the man's right hand; Anomen bent down and gingerly removed it just before they covered the body with a mix of fallen branches, dead leaves and dirt. "If Helm wills it, we may perchance bring news of his fall to his family," the cleric said somberly, turning the ring over in his hand.

They rested for a couple hours in Anath's cave, and set out again long before dawn; in this forest, there was no point in waiting for the sunrise. "The ruins of an ancient temple lay to the east of the den," Anath told the group. She had spent the night as a wolf, but had changed into a human again in order to talk; as a concession to her companions' modesty, she wore Ember's cloak draped around her. "It was holy ground once, but now it is fouled, and the ruins have long been a place of foreboding to my pack. We do not- did not go there." She growled quietly, as if the very thought of the place was unpleasant. "A few days before the darkness came, we heard muted rumblings that seemed to come from the ruins. It sounded like falling rocks; we paid the noise little heed. But the shadow man came from that direction, and when I have seen the... the shadows of my flock, they have also come from the same place."

"So, we will seek them there first," Yoshimo said.

"Yes." Anath handed the borrowed cloak back to Ember. "Follow me closely," she said, then reverted to her wolf form. She sniffed the air carefully, looked back at the group as if to reinforce her order to follow her, and headed eastwards into the forest.

Less than an hour passed before the group saw Anath's former wolves for the first time. As they walked along a rough path formed by the bed of a long-gone stream, a series of strange, echoing howls rang out from the woods ahead of them. Anath stopped in her tracks, and snarled at the trees. Moments later, a half dozen shadowy forms bounded towards them, all headed straight for the wolfwere.

"No!" Minsc bellowed, and ran towards the shade wolves. "You will not," he kicked one of them away from Anath, "attack," he raised his sword, "the wolf lady!" With a fierce roar, he brought his blade down on one of the shade wolves, cutting it in half. Ember used her staff to knock another shade wolf off its feet; Anath lunged at it and somehow ripped its throat out with her teeth.

Suddenly, a white light surrounded them; as one, the shade wolves turned to stare at Anomen. The Helmite had raised his hand, and seemed to be holding a sphere of pure light. The shade wolves trembled as if in pain, and hissed at him.

"In Helm's name, begone!" Anomen shouted. The light in his hand brightened, and the shade wolves melted away to nothingness.

"(Why should I have to light our way when he can do that?)" Edwin muttered, quenching an almost-cast spell by closing his fists.

"Ah, but you make it look so easy, o mighty wizard," Yoshimo said, giving Edwin his broadest grin.

Ember hurried towards Anomen, who was leaning against a tree and breathing deeply. "Not as easy... as skeletons," he told her, panting. "A stronger will... binds them to this plane. I am well, my lady; please, attend to Anath."

Yalygar and Minsc were already inspecting the wolfwere. Other than a few scratches on her snout and a shallow gash on her left flank, she was unharmed, and a small healing spell was enough to set her right again.

"Minsc is very sorry about the little wolf lady's friends," Minsc told Anath. The wolfwere gave him a mournful look and howled once, then shook herself thoroughly and started down their makeshift path again.

Two hours laters, after destroying two more groups of shade wolves, they finally reached the temple ruins. The ruins looked old, old beyond imagining; there was almost nothing left but a jumble of broken rocks, an uneven, lichen-encrusted marble floor with several holes in it, and a few crumbling walls and pillars. One of the largest holes seemed to be created by an entire slab falling out of position, and a lower level of the temple was visible through the gap. A faint ray of light shone upwards through one of the smallest holes.

The area immediately around the hole with the ray was the only part of the temple grounds that was not utterly swarming with shadows and shade wolves.

With an enraged snarl, Anath rushed into the temple grounds, flinging herself at one of the shade wolves. Within moments, she was buried under a writhing, growling mass of shadowy wolf bodies.

Moving as one, the rest of the shadow creatures slowly turned towards Ember and her friends.

---

The fight was not going well, Edwin thought grimly as he sent several flame bolts into the mass of shadows. The boorish Helmite's fancy pyrotechnics were not enough to deal with this many undead spirits; apparently, all he could do without completely exhausting himself was keep the raving horde from charging them all at once. Edwin was tempted to suggest that the cleric would be more useful if he'd just grab his hammer and swing at the shadows like everyone else was doing, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see what would happen if Anomen stopped trying to repulse the undead. (After all, there were advantages to not being attacked by a dozen of those things at once.)

He flung a volley of magic missiles at one of the shades. The blazing spheres were perfectly reflected in the surface of a pillar that stood beside the faint beam of light.

Curious.

With a brief gesture, Edwin sent his magelight towards the pillar (it wasn't as if they needed it where they stood, with Anomen showing off). The pillar's surface was metallic, slightly curved and perfectly smooth.

A mirror.

Why?

He directed the magelight to the base of the mirror. There appeared to be some kind of mechanism there (yes, of course!) that allowed the mirror to be repositioned. It looked as though it might still work, even though he couldn't see any reason to-

Wait.

Edwin looked at the beam of light, then at the mirror, then at the light again.

He grabbed the shoulder of the closest person, who happened to be Yoshimo. "You!" he said. "Do you see that mirror?"

"Mirror? I... Ah, yes, I see it."

"Do you think you could get to it?"

"I am Yoshimo!" the Kara-Turan said, as if such a silly statement was an answer. "But why?"

"If my deductions are correct (and they usually are), the mirror can be moved to reflect the light. The very light, I might add, that these shadows are avoiding."

"I understand," Yoshimo said. "Cover me."

Edwin blazed a path towards the mirror with a jet of flame. The Kara-Turan sprinted up the trail and stopped just beyond the beam of light. A few shadows followed him, but they stopped in front of the beam, hissing and snarling. Edwin threw a few magic missiles at them just as Yoshimo reached out to adjust the mirror, letting it catch the faint rays that came from the ground.

Within moments, the shadows and shade wolves were incinerated by a flash of brilliant golden light.

---

The shade creatures were all destroyed. Edwin was walking around the strange mirror, which was still glowing faintly, and was muttering about how fascinating it was.

Minsc sat crouched over Anath's body, sobbing. The wolfwere was dead; the shadows of her children had torn her to pieces.

"Why did the pretty wolf lady do that?" Minsc asked plaintively. "Why? Boo does not understand!"

"I don't know," Ember said quietly. "Maybe she panicked. Maybe the sight of them all was too much for her." Maybe she just wanted to die.

"We must avenge her! We must bring light to her little ones, and put the shadow man in front of the candle of justice!"

Ember squeezed his hand. "We will."

After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.

#2 Guest_Theodur_*

Posted 30 October 2007 - 01:25 PM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


Eeek. :cry: Good to hear you’re doing better.

The gloominess of the forest intensified the deeper Ember and her friends went into it, aided by a low fog that crept in between the trees, chilling the air and blocking out even more of the light. Wreaths of mist draped themselves around the branches, and water droplets gathered on armor, clothing, and exposed skin. Ember wiped moisture from her cheek with her hand, and stared at her wet palm. It was just water, completely harmless, but there was something deeply unnerving about this midday fog, especially since it'd been a perfectly fine, sunny morning when they left Imnesvale.


I can just envision the creepiness. :)

"Such a darkened glade could hide horrors of all manner," Anomen said, eyeing the trees suspiciously. "We must watch our backs!"


Somehow the way Anomen said this in the game, made me feel even more paranoid and certain that someone is going to ambush us soon. :)

"The forest was not always like this. All was well until a few tendays ago, when the skies darkened at high noon. The pack gathered so that I might calm them, but I knew no more than they. Then, a man made of shadow came among us. My wolves froze in terror at the sight of him. I changed form and leapt at his darkness, but he merely laughed at my attack. He brushed me aside as easily as a leaf, and killed my wolves, my children, one by one with a single touch... and once they were all dead, his darkness reached out to the corpses of my children and animated them as shade wolves." A low, keening sound, somewhere between a sigh and a howl, escaped her throat. "Numb with terror and sorrow, I ran."


It is quite obvious why she kills herself so gladly. :( :(

Suddenly, a white light surrounded them; as one, the shade wolves turned to stare at Anomen. The Helmite had raised his hand, and seemed to be holding a sphere of pure light. The shade wolves trembled as if in pain, and hissed at him.


"In Helm's name, begone!" Anomen shouted. The light in his hand brightened, and the shade wolves melted away to nothingness.


I <3 Turn Undead. :)

"(Why should I have to light our way when he can do that?)" Edwin muttered, quenching an almost-cast spell by closing his fists.


Aww, someone is jealous? :D

The spot where the ray was was the only part of the temple grounds that was not utterly swarming with shadows and shade wolves.


The double ‘was’ here reads a bit unfortunate. Perhaps ‘where the ray fell’ or ‘pointed at’?

With an enraged snarl, Anath rushed into the temple grounds, flinging herself at one of the shade wolves. Within moments, she was buried under a writhing, growling mass of shadowy wolf bodies.


Oh yes, she’s dead. :?

The fight was not going well, Edwin thought grimly as he sent several flame bolts into the mass of shadows. The boorish Helmite's fancy pyrotechnics were not enough to deal with this many undead spirits; apparently, all he could do without completely exhausting himself was keep the raving horde from charging them all at once. Edwin was tempted to suggest that the cleric would be more useful if he'd just grab his hammer and swing at the shadows like everyone else was doing, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see what would happen if Anomen stopped trying to repulse the undead. (After all, there were advantages to not being attacked by a dozen of those things at once.)


I can think of several advantages as well. ;)

He directed the magelight to the base of the mirror. There appeared to be some kind of mechanism there (yes, of course!) that allowed the mirror to be repositioned. It looked as though it might still work, even though he couldn't see any reason to-


Wait.


Edwin looked at the beam of light, then at the mirror, then at the light again.


Nice to see the most intelligent person figuring things out, as he is supposed to. :)

The shade creatures were all destroyed. Edwin was walking around the strange mirror, which was still glowing faintly, and was muttering about how fascinating it was.


I think he will expect to be praised and admired. ;)

"I don't know," Ember said quietly. "Maybe she panicked. Maybe the sight of them all was too much for her." Maybe she just wanted to die.


May she find her peace in death… it was unlikely she would ever find it again in life.

After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.


I take it that Mazzy is coming up? Meh. Any chance you’d swap her and Merella places?

#3 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 30 October 2007 - 02:50 PM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


Eeek. :P Good to hear you’re doing better.


Thanks, me too...

"Such a darkened glade could hide horrors of all manner," Anomen said, eyeing the trees suspiciously. "We must watch our backs!"


Somehow the way Anomen said this in the game, made me feel even more paranoid and certain that someone is going to ambush us soon. :P


Yeah, he is in no way a forester :P

"The forest was not always like this. All was well until a few tendays ago, when the skies darkened at high noon. The pack gathered so that I might calm them, but I knew no more than they. Then, a man made of shadow came among us. My wolves froze in terror at the sight of him. I changed form and leapt at his darkness, but he merely laughed at my attack. He brushed me aside as easily as a leaf, and killed my wolves, my children, one by one with a single touch... and once they were all dead, his darkness reached out to the corpses of my children and animated them as shade wolves." A low, keening sound, somewhere between a sigh and a howl, escaped her throat. "Numb with terror and sorrow, I ran."


It is quite obvious why she kills herself so gladly. :P :D


She quite literally has nothing left. Even her prey animals have fled the forest :D

Suddenly, a white light surrounded them; as one, the shade wolves turned to stare at Anomen. The Helmite had raised his hand, and seemed to be holding a sphere of pure light. The shade wolves trembled as if in pain, and hissed at him.

"In Helm's name, begone!" Anomen shouted. The light in his hand brightened, and the shade wolves melted away to nothingness.


I <3 Turn Undead. :?


It's very useful, even when it's not quite strong enough to explode whatever undead you're using it on :P

"(Why should I have to light our way when he can do that?)" Edwin muttered, quenching an almost-cast spell by closing his fists.


Aww, someone is jealous? :D


Ohh yes :wink:


The spot where the ray was was the only part of the temple grounds that was not utterly swarming with shadows and shade wolves.


The double ‘was’ here reads a bit unfortunate. Perhaps ‘where the ray fell’ or ‘pointed at’?


Duly noted.

He directed the magelight to the base of the mirror. There appeared to be some kind of mechanism there (yes, of course!) that allowed the mirror to be repositioned. It looked as though it might still work, even though he couldn't see any reason to-

Wait.

Edwin looked at the beam of light, then at the mirror, then at the light again.


Nice to see the most intelligent person figuring things out, as he is supposed to. :(


Poor Anath got to be 'dumbed down' a bit, but I wanted her to be a wolfwere, not some kind of hyperintellectual professor that happened to spend most of her time as a wolf.

The shade creatures were all destroyed. Edwin was walking around the strange mirror, which was still glowing faintly, and was muttering about how fascinating it was.


I think he will expect to be praised and admired. :P


Of course, once he is done looking at the mirror mechanism :(

"I don't know," Ember said quietly. "Maybe she panicked. Maybe the sight of them all was too much for her." Maybe she just wanted to die.


May she find her peace in death… it was unlikely she would ever find it again in life.


Exactly :D

After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.


I take it that Mazzy is coming up? Meh. Any chance you’d swap her and Merella places?


You wish :roll:

#4 Guest_Tenfoot_*

Posted 30 October 2007 - 03:41 PM

The gloominess of the forest intensified the deeper Ember and her friends went into it, aided by a low fog that crept in between the trees, chilling the air and blocking out even more of the light. Wreaths of mist draped themselves around the branches, and water droplets gathered on armor, clothing, and exposed skin. Ember wiped moisture from her cheek with her hand, and stared at her wet palm. It was just water, completely harmless, but there was something deeply unnerving about this midday fog, especially since it'd been a perfectly fine, sunny morning when they left Imnesvale.


Blech. It's a good description of the creepy environs. I especially like the detail of the condensation on their faces, and wiping it away. Really kind of brings it home, when it's directly affecting what they do, I think.

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.


I coulda told you that!

It was a giant wolf, more than twice the normal size, with a ragged coat of brown and grey fur. It had the gaunt look that so many of the wolves on the sword coast had had the previous year, but unlike those starved creatures, it did not lunge at them; instead, it stood perfectly still and regarded them warily, as if it was assessing them. It stood crouched over a human body, which it appeared to be dragging through the woods. Parts of the corpse's torso had been ripped away and more than likely eaten.

"Vile creature!" Anomen cried. With a start, the wolf came to life and ran off in a loping gait, leaving the body behind; it would have escaped easily if not for Edwin, who sent a volley of magic missiles after it. The spell struck the wolf's hind quarters, and it fell to the ground in a graceless, whimpering tangle of limbs. A ripple ran through its fur; moments later, a naked woman, emaciated and with painful-looking burns on her back and thighs, lay where the wolf had fallen.


This reads really well. I think you have the perfect structure and pace with the appearance, the brief description, then the reactions and the description of the burns though the change... it's cool. :roll:

"Yes," the woman said. "As we were, we would never attack man-things except to defend. Your flesh is not to our taste."

Edwin looked pointedly at the dead body.

"That man was dead when I found him. I took his body only to gather strength to face the shadow man."

"You wish to confront him again? Dangerous business, that," Yoshimo said. "I fear you won't fare better than the first time."


I quite like this Anath. Edwin and Yoshimo's reactions are also great, but I love just how upfront Anath is about... well, everything, really. I think it's a great juxtaposition.

"No!" Minsc bellowed, and ran towards the shade wolves. "You will not," he kicked one of them away from Anath, "attack," he raised his sword, "the wolf lady!" With a fierce roar, he brought his blade down on one of the shade wolves, cutting it in half. Ember used her staff to knock another shade wolf off its feet; Anath lunged at it and somehow ripped its throat out with her teeth.

Suddenly, a white light surrounded them; as one, the shade wolves turned to stare at Anomen. The Helmite had raised his hand, and seemed to be holding a sphere of pure light. The shade wolves trembled as if in pain, and hissed at him.

"In Helm's name, begone!" Anomen shouted. The light in his hand brightened, and the shade wolves melted away to nothingness.

"(Why should I have to light our way when he can do that?)" Edwin muttered, quenching an almost-cast spell by closing his fists.

"Ah, but you make it look so easy, o mighty wizard," Yoshimo said, giving Edwin his broadest grin.


Hey! It's a mixture of :P action and :wink: dialogue.

A mirror.

Why?

He directed the magelight to the base of the mirror. There appeared to be some kind of mechanism there (yes, of course!) that allowed the mirror to be repositioned. It looked as though it might still work, even though he couldn't see any reason to-

Wait.


Aha! I love the shortness of these. It does seem to imply a rather frantic process of deduction.

Minsc sat crouched over Anath's body, sobbing. The wolfwere was dead; the shadows of her children had torn her to pieces.

"Why did the pretty wolf lady do that?" Minsc asked plaintively. "Why? Boo does not understand!"


Poor Minsc. I'm with you there, buddy. I liked her!

#5 Guest_Ananke_*

Posted 31 October 2007 - 11:00 AM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).

Glad to hear the latter bit. :P

The tracks left behind by Merella and her adventurer companions led straight into the forest to the north of Imnesvale. It was a very old forest, dominated by massive oak and elm trees that had spent centuries stretching skywards, creating a dense canopy that didn't allow much light to pass through. There was little undergrowth and few young trees except in the occasional spot where one of the older trees had died or been uprooted, tearing a hole in the dark green forest roof with its absence.

I'm happy to announce that I wouldn't recognise an elm if it went out of its way and bit me, but... They grow together with oaks? :wink: I've always thought that they grew in different types of forests! On wetter lands, in the elms' case, for example.

As Ember's a druid, and I'm, admittedly, an ignoramus when it comes to phytosociology, I should probably shut up. But it's sort of interesting. :P

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.

"No, it's not," Ember muttered. The entire forest seemed empty, somehow, as if there was nothing in it but the trees, the fog, and themselves. It made her skin crawl.

It's Nightmare in the Elm Forest, after all! (Cool chapter to post around Samhain / Hallowe'en, by the way. :D )

"Such a darkened glade could hide horrors of all manner," Anomen said, eyeing the trees suspiciously. "We must watch our backs!"

Oh, definitely. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of forests?

Sam Vimes: A copper, that's who.

"Boo heartily agrees! There could be spiders, or ankhegs, or even basilisks! Anything could be lurking around the next corner!" Minsc sounded almost cheerful at the prospect of running into something.

"The woods have no corners," Edwin snapped. "(I am surrounded by imbeciles!)"

"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc. "Come, my friend, and lead the way. My skills may be of little use here, but you will spy anything that might approach us, no?"

Minsc laughed happily. "Evil cannot hide in fog forever! Not when Minsc and Boo have eyes and ears and a big sword ready for them!"

Sigh. And so, Minsc spoiled a wonderful horror-movie moment with his cheerful optimism. Shall I ever forgive him?

"Man-things!" the woman snarled. "Curse you and curse the world! Let me have my last meal in peace!"

And now, a werewolf! :roll:

Hello to you, too, Anath.

With an enraged snarl, Anath rushed into the temple grounds, flinging herself at one of the shade wolves. Within moments, she was buried under a writhing, growling mass of shadowy wolf bodies.

Moving as one, the rest of the shadow creatures slowly turned towards Ember and her friends.

...and good-bye to you, too.

I think... I'm not sure, but I encountered this problem when writing this part: the Umar Hills really don't lend themselves to describing fighting. Either you let the shadows close, and in, and then, they should win, by sheer numbers (and that's how your Anath died); or you don't, and then, you're describing a fight where the characters aren't at all in danger; can be exhausted, as you wrote Anomen, but can't be wounded - and it's rather hard to get any tension out of this! Even if you describe Anomen's exhaustion and Anath's death, even as you write Edwin's comments:

he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see what would happen if Anomen stopped trying to repulse the undead. (After all, there were advantages to not being attacked by a dozen of those things at once.)


it just... ain't the same thing, to me, somehow. It's lacklustre - I don't feel the danger.

Have you felt a bit like this, too, or do you think I'm rather projecting some... oh, some frustration of my own, and should better shut up?

"If my deductions are correct (and they usually are), the mirror can be moved to reflect the light. The very light, I might add, that these shadows are avoiding."

"I understand," Yoshimo said. "Cover me."

Edwin blazed a path towards the mirror with a jet of flame. The Kara-Turan sprinted up the trail and stopped just beyond the beam of light. A few shadows followed him, but they stopped in front of the beam, hissing and snarling. Edwin threw a few magic missiles at them just as Yoshimo reached out to adjust the mirror, letting it catch the faint rays that came from the ground.

Within moments, the shadows and shade wolves were incinerated by a flash of brilliant golden light.

...but this was an effective show of Edwin's smarts, a use for Aganazzar's scorcher, cooperation of a group and Yoshimo's skills, in one. :P

After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.

And what horrors will lurk in the heart of a temple? :P

#6 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 31 October 2007 - 12:09 PM

The gloominess of the forest intensified the deeper Ember and her friends went into it, aided by a low fog that crept in between the trees, chilling the air and blocking out even more of the light. Wreaths of mist draped themselves around the branches, and water droplets gathered on armor, clothing, and exposed skin. Ember wiped moisture from her cheek with her hand, and stared at her wet palm. It was just water, completely harmless, but there was something deeply unnerving about this midday fog, especially since it'd been a perfectly fine, sunny morning when they left Imnesvale.


Blech. It's a good description of the creepy environs. I especially like the detail of the condensation on their faces, and wiping it away. Really kind of brings it home, when it's directly affecting what they do, I think.


I wanted to add a bit more to the darkness than just 'it's dark' :roll:

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.


I coulda told you that!


Valygar: But you... were not there... to do so. So I did.

It was a giant wolf, more than twice the normal size, with a ragged coat of brown and grey fur. It had the gaunt look that so many of the wolves on the sword coast had had the previous year, but unlike those starved creatures, it did not lunge at them; instead, it stood perfectly still and regarded them warily, as if it was assessing them. It stood crouched over a human body, which it appeared to be dragging through the woods. Parts of the corpse's torso had been ripped away and more than likely eaten.

"Vile creature!" Anomen cried. With a start, the wolf came to life and ran off in a loping gait, leaving the body behind; it would have escaped easily if not for Edwin, who sent a volley of magic missiles after it. The spell struck the wolf's hind quarters, and it fell to the ground in a graceless, whimpering tangle of limbs. A ripple ran through its fur; moments later, a naked woman, emaciated and with painful-looking burns on her back and thighs, lay where the wolf had fallen.


This reads really well. I think you have the perfect structure and pace with the appearance, the brief description, then the reactions and the description of the burns though the change... it's cool. :P


Thanks :P

"Yes," the woman said. "As we were, we would never attack man-things except to defend. Your flesh is not to our taste."

Edwin looked pointedly at the dead body.

"That man was dead when I found him. I took his body only to gather strength to face the shadow man."

"You wish to confront him again? Dangerous business, that," Yoshimo said. "I fear you won't fare better than the first time."


I quite like this Anath. Edwin and Yoshimo's reactions are also great, but I love just how upfront Anath is about... well, everything, really. I think it's a great juxtaposition.


I tried to have her think more like a wolf and less like a human.


"In Helm's name, begone!" Anomen shouted. The light in his hand brightened, and the shade wolves melted away to nothingness.

"(Why should I have to light our way when he can do that?)" Edwin muttered, quenching an almost-cast spell by closing his fists.

"Ah, but you make it look so easy, o mighty wizard," Yoshimo said, giving Edwin his broadest grin.


Hey! It's a mixture of :P action and :wink: dialogue.


As I was writing this, I saw the seeds of a beautiful something for Edwin and Yoshimo (it remains to be seen if it'll pan out, of course) :P

A mirror.

Why?

He directed the magelight to the base of the mirror. There appeared to be some kind of mechanism there (yes, of course!) that allowed the mirror to be repositioned. It looked as though it might still work, even though he couldn't see any reason to-

Wait.


Aha! I love the shortness of these. It does seem to imply a rather frantic process of deduction.


This is how I imagine Edwin thinks.

Minsc sat crouched over Anath's body, sobbing. The wolfwere was dead; the shadows of her children had torn her to pieces.

"Why did the pretty wolf lady do that?" Minsc asked plaintively. "Why? Boo does not understand!"


Poor Minsc. I'm with you there, buddy. I liked her!


Sometimes, you just can't stop someone from doing the foolish/desperate thing :D

#7 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 31 October 2007 - 12:27 PM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).

Glad to hear the latter bit. :D


Thanks :P (With luck, I'll get my neck checked by a specialist next week)

The tracks left behind by Merella and her adventurer companions led straight into the forest to the north of Imnesvale. It was a very old forest, dominated by massive oak and elm trees that had spent centuries stretching skywards, creating a dense canopy that didn't allow much light to pass through. There was little undergrowth and few young trees except in the occasional spot where one of the older trees had died or been uprooted, tearing a hole in the dark green forest roof with its absence.

I'm happy to announce that I wouldn't recognise an elm if it went out of its way and bit me, but... They grow together with oaks? :wink: I've always thought that they grew in different types of forests! On wetter lands, in the elms' case, for example.

As Ember's a druid, and I'm, admittedly, an ignoramus when it comes to phytosociology, I should probably shut up. But it's sort of interesting. :?


Ember may be a druid, but I never had a botany class :( I think my reasoning was that I wanted a tree that was not ash to go with the oak. Anyway, I looked up elms and most of them like proper drainage. Then I thought about it, and replaced the elms with beeches due to better canopy-forming qualities.


"No, it's not," Ember muttered. The entire forest seemed empty, somehow, as if there was nothing in it but the trees, the fog, and themselves. It made her skin crawl.

It's Nightmare in the Elm Forest, after all! (Cool chapter to post around Samhain / Hallowe'en, by the way. :D )


Completely accidental; I started the damned thing almost a month ago :P

"Such a darkened glade could hide horrors of all manner," Anomen said, eyeing the trees suspiciously. "We must watch our backs!"

Oh, definitely. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of forests?

Sam Vimes: A copper, that's who.


:P :P :P


Minsc laughed happily. "Evil cannot hide in fog forever! Not when Minsc and Boo have eyes and ears and a big sword ready for them!"

Sigh. And so, Minsc spoiled a wonderful horror-movie moment with his cheerful optimism. Shall I ever forgive him?


I hope so, especially since he got a downer moment towards the end.

I think... I'm not sure, but I encountered this problem when writing this part: the Umar Hills really don't lend themselves to describing fighting. Either you let the shadows close, and in, and then, they should win, by sheer numbers (and that's how your Anath died); or you don't, and then, you're describing a fight where the characters aren't at all in danger; can be exhausted, as you wrote Anomen, but can't be wounded - and it's rather hard to get any tension out of this! Even if you describe Anomen's exhaustion and Anath's death, even as you write Edwin's comments:

he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see what would happen if Anomen stopped trying to repulse the undead. (After all, there were advantages to not being attacked by a dozen of those things at once.)


it just... ain't the same thing, to me, somehow. It's lacklustre - I don't feel the danger.

Have you felt a bit like this, too, or do you think I'm rather projecting some... oh, some frustration of my own, and should better shut up?


Well, the headache wasn't the only reason this chapter took so long.
Bear in mind that the non-spellcasters have to step within range of the shadows to hit them, so Anomen is the only one who is completely safe from the ones he's repulsing. I wanted the fight to seem difficult, that even if they weren't losing, they weren't winning, but I kind of reached a point where I just wanted to get the thing done without making it far too long. Edwin could probably think something along the lines of neverending hordes of shadows, but he got distracted by shiny things...


Within moments, the shadows and shade wolves were incinerated by a flash of brilliant golden light.

...but this was an effective show of Edwin's smarts, a use for Aganazzar's scorcher, cooperation of a group and Yoshimo's skills, in one. :D


I think those two might work well together in the future :(

After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.

And what horrors will lurk in the heart of a temple? :roll:


Not just shadows, for one thing, but the layout will be that of a temple, not so much that of a dungeon :D

#8 Guest_Futurist_*

Posted 31 October 2007 - 04:30 PM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


I hope it is better now.

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.

"No, it's not," Ember muttered. The entire forest seemed empty, somehow, as if there was nothing in it but the trees, the fog, and themselves. It made her skin crawl.


Has to be bad for a druid actually.

"Boo heartily agrees! There could be spiders, or ankhegs, or even basilisks! Anything could be lurking around the next corner!" Minsc sounded almost cheerful at the prospect of running into something.

"The woods have no corners," Edwin snapped. "(I am surrounded by imbeciles!)"


:wink:

He is scarily enthusiastic.

"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc. "Come, my friend, and lead the way. My skills may be of little use here, but you will spy anything that might approach us, no?"

Minsc laughed happily. "Evil cannot hide in fog forever! Not when Minsc and Boo have eyes and ears and a big sword ready for them!"


Put those Ranger skills to use!

"Is it these shade wolves, then, who have brought terror to the village of Imnesvale?" Anomen asked. Ember noticed that the squire was staring at a point somewhere above the naked woman's shoulder, even as he addressed her.


Well, he is supposed to be knight material. :roll:

"No!" Minsc bellowed, and ran towards the shade wolves. "You will not," he kicked one of them away from Anath, "attack," he raised his sword, "the wolf lady!" With a fierce roar, he brought his blade down on one of the shade wolves, cutting it in half. Ember used her staff to knock another shade wolf off its feet; Anath lunged at it and somehow ripped its throat out with her teeth.


Seems they don`t make shadow beasts like they used to.

"I am Yoshimo!" the Kara-Turan said, as if such a silly statement was an answer. "But why?"


The best kind of answer. :P

After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.


To dragons and shades and Mazzy...

#9 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 05 November 2007 - 10:16 PM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


I hope it is better now.


Long story short: :lol:


"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.

"No, it's not," Ember muttered. The entire forest seemed empty, somehow, as if there was nothing in it but the trees, the fog, and themselves. It made her skin crawl.


Has to be bad for a druid actually.


It would probably have been even worse if she'd been raised one, but yes.


"Boo heartily agrees! There could be spiders, or ankhegs, or even basilisks! Anything could be lurking around the next corner!" Minsc sounded almost cheerful at the prospect of running into something.

"The woods have no corners," Edwin snapped. "(I am surrounded by imbeciles!)"


:shock:

He is scarily enthusiastic.


Well, someone has to be :shock:


"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc. "Come, my friend, and lead the way. My skills may be of little use here, but you will spy anything that might approach us, no?"

Minsc laughed happily. "Evil cannot hide in fog forever! Not when Minsc and Boo have eyes and ears and a big sword ready for them!"


Put those Ranger skills to use!


He likes doing that. It makes Boo proud of him.


"Is it these shade wolves, then, who have brought terror to the village of Imnesvale?" Anomen asked. Ember noticed that the squire was staring at a point somewhere above the naked woman's shoulder, even as he addressed her.


Well, he is supposed to be knight material. :shock:


I figured if anyone was going to react to the wolfwere being naked, it was him :lol:


"No!" Minsc bellowed, and ran towards the shade wolves. "You will not," he kicked one of them away from Anath, "attack," he raised his sword, "the wolf lady!" With a fierce roar, he brought his blade down on one of the shade wolves, cutting it in half. Ember used her staff to knock another shade wolf off its feet; Anath lunged at it and somehow ripped its throat out with her teeth.


Seems they don`t make shadow beasts like they used to.


Well, these are just the little wimps that run around the forest...


"I am Yoshimo!" the Kara-Turan said, as if such a silly statement was an answer. "But why?"


The best kind of answer. :shock:


Especially since it is the kind of answer Edwin Odesseiron, the greatest wizard of all time, might be inclined to use himself :lol:


After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.


To dragons and shades and Mazzy...


Something like that, yes. I really hope I won't spend as long on the next update as I did this time, but so far... let's just say I was going to write this weekend, but was instead forced to spend it glued to the couch being sick :lol: So I'll just have to see how things go.

#10 Guest_AlphaMonkey_*

Posted 06 November 2007 - 01:36 AM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


Erm... like literally three weeks, or just, y'know, lots of annoying little stuff that piled up over the course of three weeks? Because... if the former, um... well... um... you know... see a doctor. ;)

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.


At least he didn't say the fog had a sense of... evil... about it. ;)

"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc.


Raven: "Totally. Do you feel like a unique and beautiful snowflake? I feel like a unique and beautiful snowflake."

Harlequin: "Oh, f#$* yes." :)

"This is not right!" Minsc cried. "Wolves are meant to be wolves, not shadows! Even Boo agrees about the rightness of that and the wrongness of this!"


It's endearing how thoroughly UNcomplicated Minsc can be.

"Is it these shade wolves, then, who have brought terror to the village of Imnesvale?" Anomen asked. Ember noticed that the squire was staring at a point somewhere above the naked woman's shoulder, even as he addressed her.


Imoen (Enara variant): (Chuckles) "Sometimes I think he's afraid of boobs."

Enara: "Yeah, no, that's definitely not true." ;)

Anomen (Enara variant): (Coughs and clears his throat) "It is most assuredly untrue."

Imoen: (Smirking) "Uh huh."

"If Helm wills it, we may perchance bring news of his fall to his family," the cleric said somberly, turning the ring over in his hand.


I really do like the guy. He's a good sort deep down. That sort of thing wouldn't even occur to some folks. They'd see a corpse, take what they could from it and not give a second thought to the poor guy that had died. Not him.

"I am Yoshimo!" the Kara-Turan said, as if such a silly statement was an answer.


It is an answer. A good answer. Assuming, of course, you know that Yoshimo is made of win. If you don't have that foreknowledge, then yes, it wouldn't make much sense. :lol:

"We must avenge her! We must bring light to her little ones, and put the shadow man in front of the candle of justice!"


Damn right, you will. Bad guy's gonna get his halfway intangible butt handed to him. On a giant silver platter.

#11 Guest_VigaHrolf_*

Posted 06 November 2007 - 03:16 AM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


Glad to hear it. That sort of thing is just icky.

Chapter 84: Into Darkness


The tracks left behind by Merella and her adventurer companions led straight into the forest to the north of Imnesvale. It was a very old forest, dominated by massive oak and beech trees that had spent centuries stretching skywards, creating a dense canopy that didn't allow much light to pass through. There was little undergrowth and few young trees except in the occasional spot where one of the older trees had died or been uprooted, tearing a hole in the dark green forest roof with its absence.


There is really nothing more intimidating that dark, old growth forest. Walking through that, especially on a cloudy day

The gloominess of the forest intensified the deeper Ember and her friends went into it, aided by a low fog that crept in between the trees, chilling the air and blocking out even more of the light. Wreaths of mist draped themselves around the branches, and water droplets gathered on armor, clothing, and exposed skin. Ember wiped moisture from her cheek with her hand, and stared at her wet palm. It was just water, completely harmless, but there was something deeply unnerving about this midday fog, especially since it'd been a perfectly fine, sunny morning when they left Imnesvale.


Once again, a great description that really sets the mood.

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.


Bran: "V. You have no idea."

"No, it's not," Ember muttered. The entire forest seemed empty, somehow, as if there was nothing in it but the trees, the fog, and themselves. It made her skin crawl.


Something unnatural lurks here.

"Such a darkened glade could hide horrors of all manner," Anomen said, eyeing the trees suspiciously. "We must watch our backs!"


Fully understand such an impression. It's a great line from Anomen, and it makes so much sense. You've got a man used to formation fighting and large scale engagements stuck in a situation where none of that would work.

Case in point? Ask the Romans how they did in the Teutoberg Forest.

"Boo heartily agrees! There could be spiders, or ankhegs, or even basilisks! Anything could be lurking around the next corner!" Minsc sounded almost cheerful at the prospect of running into something.


Hehehe. I. Love. Minsc. He rockeths.

"The woods have no corners," Edwin snapped. "(I am surrounded by imbeciles!)"


Someone feeling a little bit... on edge?

"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc. "Come, my friend, and lead the way. My skills may be of little use here, but you will spy anything that might approach us, no?"


And you write a great Yoshimo. One of the best I've seen on this board.

Minsc laughed happily. "Evil cannot hide in fog forever! Not when Minsc and Boo have eyes and ears and a big sword ready for them!"


Once again. That's my boy Minsc. ;)

By mid-afternoon, it was almost as dark as it should be around nightfall. Even with one of Edwin's magelights, it was difficult to see anything that was much more than ten feet away; their only consolation was that the densest part of the strange fog never descended below the level of the treetops. Ember was about to suggest they start looking for a campsite when Valygar raised his hand and quietly called for a halt.


Another great description, Cel. Another great one. ;)

It was a giant wolf, more than twice the normal size, with a ragged coat of brown and grey fur. It had the gaunt look that so many of the wolves on the sword coast had had the previous year, but unlike those starved creatures, it did not lunge at them; instead, it stood perfectly still and regarded them warily, as if it was assessing them. It stood crouched over a human body, which it appeared to be dragging through the woods. Parts of the corpse's torso had been ripped away and more than likely eaten.


Ahh... I remember her. And that grizzly meeting.

"Vile creature!" Anomen cried. With a start, the wolf came to life and ran off in a loping gait, leaving the body behind; it would have escaped easily if not for Edwin, who sent a volley of magic missiles after it. The spell struck the wolf's hind quarters, and it fell to the ground in a graceless, whimpering tangle of limbs. A ripple ran through its fur; moments later, a naked woman, emaciated and with painful-looking burns on her back and thighs, lay where the wolf had fallen.


And down she goes...

"The forest was not always like this. All was well until a few tendays ago, when the skies darkened at high noon. The pack gathered so that I might calm them, but I knew no more than they. Then, a man made of shadow came among us. My wolves froze in terror at the sight of him. I changed form and leapt at his darkness, but he merely laughed at my attack. He brushed me aside as easily as a leaf, and killed my wolves, my children, one by one with a single touch... and once they were all dead, his darkness reached out to the corpses of my children and animated them as shade wolves." A low, keening sound, somewhere between a sigh and a howl, escaped her throat. "Numb with terror and sorrow, I ran."


This was one of the darker moments of the game... the Shade Lord and his dark power.

"This is not right!" Minsc cried. "Wolves are meant to be wolves, not shadows! Even Boo agrees about the rightness of that and the wrongness of this!"

"Didn't one of the villagers say that her child was talking about shadows in the woods?" Ember asked Valygar. He nodded.


Great reaction by Minsc... and good deductions by Ember. :lol:

"Is it these shade wolves, then, who have brought terror to the village of Imnesvale?" Anomen asked. Ember noticed that the squire was staring at a point somewhere above the naked woman's shoulder, even as he addressed her.


Heh. Boy was brought up properly.

"That man was dead when I found him. I took his body only to gather strength to face the shadow man."


Sometimes you gotta do what you do

"You wish to confront him again? Dangerous business, that," Yoshimo said. "I fear you won't fare better than the first time."

"It matters not. He has taken my family and my home from me. There is nothing left for me but revenge. Will you stand in my way?"

Valygar shook his head. "No. We will come with you, and confront this shadow creature."

"Yes!" Minsc roared. "The shining blades of goodness must be raised against him!"


Nice exchange. ;)

The group shared their food supplies with Anath, who eagerly devoured everything they gave her, even dried fruit. While the wolfwere ate, they dug a makeshift grave for the dead man under the roots of a toppled tree. There was a signet ring on the man's right hand; Anomen bent down and gingerly removed it just before they covered the body with a mix of fallen branches, dead leaves and dirt. "If Helm wills it, we may perchance bring news of his fall to his family," the cleric said somberly, turning the ring over in his hand.


Good job on Anomen. Nice touch with the signet ring. And the food supplies bit... nice. :)

"So, we will seek them there first," Yoshimo said.


Go for heart...

Less than an hour passed before the group saw Anath's former wolves for the first time. As they walked along a rough path formed by the bed of a long-gone stream, a series of strange, echoing howls rang out from the woods ahead of them. Anath stopped in her tracks, and snarled at the trees. Moments later, a half dozen shadowy forms bounded towards them, all headed straight for the wolfwere.


Incoming!

"No!" Minsc bellowed, and ran towards the shade wolves. "You will not," he kicked one of them away from Anath, "attack," he raised his sword, "the wolf lady!" With a fierce roar, he brought his blade down on one of the shade wolves, cutting it in half. Ember used her staff to knock another shade wolf off its feet; Anath lunged at it and somehow ripped its throat out with her teeth.


Anath in battle frenzy...

Suddenly, a white light surrounded them; as one, the shade wolves turned to stare at Anomen. The Helmite had raised his hand, and seemed to be holding a sphere of pure light. The shade wolves trembled as if in pain, and hissed at him.

"In Helm's name, begone!" Anomen shouted. The light in his hand brightened, and the shade wolves melted away to nothingness.


Now that's some connection to the Divine! A little divine pyrotechnics always plays well in the country districts. And is nice in dealing with the undead.

And I love chunking the undead with Turn. :)

"Ah, but you make it look so easy, o mighty wizard," Yoshimo said, giving Edwin his broadest grin.


Yoshimo you charmer.

Ember hurried towards Anomen, who was leaning against a tree and breathing deeply. "Not as easy... as skeletons," he told her, panting. "A stronger will... binds them to this plane. I am well, my lady; please, attend to Anath."


The Shade Lord is rather powerful and Anomen is still an only midlevel cleric.

Two hours laters, after destroying two more groups of shade wolves, they finally reached the temple ruins. The ruins looked old, old beyond imagining; there was almost nothing left but a jumble of broken rocks, an uneven, lichen-encrusted marble floor with several holes in it, and a few crumbling walls and pillars. One of the largest holes seemed to be created by an entire slab falling out of position, and a lower level of the temple was visible through the gap. A faint ray of light shone upwards through one of the smallest holes.


Ahh.. the temple of Amaunator... or at least one of them.

And I have to wonder why they chose so many temples of Amaunator in the game? I mean, the Temple Quest and this one... go figure.

The area immediately around the hole with the ray was the only part of the temple grounds that was not utterly swarming with shadows and shade wolves.


The last blast of sunlight...

With an enraged snarl, Anath rushed into the temple grounds, flinging herself at one of the shade wolves. Within moments, she was buried under a writhing, growling mass of shadowy wolf bodies.


I believe that's the textbook definition of futile frontal assault. I guess she couldn't live with the loss of her pack...

The fight was not going well, Edwin thought grimly as he sent several flame bolts into the mass of shadows. The boorish Helmite's fancy pyrotechnics were not enough to deal with this many undead spirits; apparently, all he could do without completely exhausting himself was keep the raving horde from charging them all at once. Edwin was tempted to suggest that the cleric would be more useful if he'd just grab his hammer and swing at the shadows like everyone else was doing, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see what would happen if Anomen stopped trying to repulse the undead. (After all, there were advantages to not being attacked by a dozen of those things at once.)


Edwin, without the Divine power watching your backs, the wolves would be making munchies out of you. Course, he knows it, but isn't really too happy about it.

He flung a volley of magic missiles at one of the shades. The blazing spheres were perfectly reflected in the surface of a pillar that stood beside the faint beam of light.

Curious.


An idea begins...

With a brief gesture, Edwin sent his magelight towards the pillar (it wasn't as if they needed it where they stood, with Anomen showing off). The pillar's surface was metallic, slightly curved and perfectly smooth.

A mirror.


It germinates...

Why?

He directed the magelight to the base of the mirror. There appeared to be some kind of mechanism there (yes, of course!) that allowed the mirror to be repositioned. It looked as though it might still work, even though he couldn't see any reason to-

Wait.

Edwin looked at the beam of light, then at the mirror, then at the light again.


Eureka!

"Do you think you could get to it?"

"I am Yoshimo!" the Kara-Turan said, as if such a silly statement was an answer. "But why?"


For Yoshimo, that is a statement of ability. :D

"If my deductions are correct (and they usually are), the mirror can be moved to reflect the light. The very light, I might add, that these shadows are avoiding."

"I understand," Yoshimo said. "Cover me."

Edwin blazed a path towards the mirror with a jet of flame. The Kara-Turan sprinted up the trail and stopped just beyond the beam of light. A few shadows followed him, but they stopped in front of the beam, hissing and snarling. Edwin threw a few magic missiles at them just as Yoshimo reached out to adjust the mirror, letting it catch the faint rays that came from the ground.


Now... that's covering fire! FIRE!

Within moments, the shadows and shade wolves were incinerated by a flash of brilliant golden light.


AND BOOM! No more shade wolves!


The shade creatures were all destroyed. Edwin was walking around the strange mirror, which was still glowing faintly, and was muttering about how fascinating it was.


Someone's impressed with themselves

Minsc sat crouched over Anath's body, sobbing. The wolfwere was dead; the shadows of her children had torn her to pieces.

"Why did the pretty wolf lady do that?" Minsc asked plaintively. "Why? Boo does not understand!"

"I don't know," Ember said quietly. "Maybe she panicked. Maybe the sight of them all was too much for her." Maybe she just wanted to die.


Poor Minsc... poor Anath.

And... after the lost of her whole family, I can see just wanting to die. And of course, Minsc couldn't completely understand it. Even if he could possibly do the same if he lost his witches.

"We must avenge her! We must bring light to her little ones, and put the shadow man in front of the candle of justice!"

Ember squeezed his hand. "We will."


*nods*

After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.


Great chapter Cel. Really great chapter. I enjoyed it a lot. :D

VH

#12 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 07 November 2007 - 01:52 PM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


Erm... like literally three weeks, or just, y'know, lots of annoying little stuff that piled up over the course of three weeks? Because... if the former, um... well... um... you know... see a doctor. ;)


Literally, and I am currently seeing a specialist (aka manual therapist aka neck breaker) about it.

(Neck breaking is scary. My brain thinks he's really going to snap my spine!)

"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.


At least he didn't say the fog had a sense of... evil... about it. :D


He's Valygar, not Ajantis :P

"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc.


Raven: "Totally. Do you feel like a unique and beautiful snowflake? I feel like a unique and beautiful snowflake."

Harlequin: "Oh, f#$* yes." :P


:)

"This is not right!" Minsc cried. "Wolves are meant to be wolves, not shadows! Even Boo agrees about the rightness of that and the wrongness of this!"


It's endearing how thoroughly UNcomplicated Minsc can be.


I'm happy I can make him that way :lol:

"Is it these shade wolves, then, who have brought terror to the village of Imnesvale?" Anomen asked. Ember noticed that the squire was staring at a point somewhere above the naked woman's shoulder, even as he addressed her.


Imoen (Enara variant): (Chuckles) "Sometimes I think he's afraid of boobs."

Enara: "Yeah, no, that's definitely not true." :)

Anomen (Enara variant): (Coughs and clears his throat) "It is most assuredly untrue."

Imoen: (Smirking) "Uh huh."


He is a would-be knight (and a virgin), after all :D

"If Helm wills it, we may perchance bring news of his fall to his family," the cleric said somberly, turning the ring over in his hand.


I really do like the guy. He's a good sort deep down. That sort of thing wouldn't even occur to some folks. They'd see a corpse, take what they could from it and not give a second thought to the poor guy that had died. Not him.


He's supposed to be Lawful Neutral at the moment, but somehow he keeps refusing to be purely neutral. I think I like him this way ;)

"I am Yoshimo!" the Kara-Turan said, as if such a silly statement was an answer.


It is an answer. A good answer. Assuming, of course, you know that Yoshimo is made of win. If you don't have that foreknowledge, then yes, it wouldn't make much sense. ;)


And, since Edwin believes he is the only creature in the universe (with the possible exception of Imoen) who is made of win... :D

"We must avenge her! We must bring light to her little ones, and put the shadow man in front of the candle of justice!"


Damn right, you will. Bad guy's gonna get his halfway intangible butt handed to him. On a giant silver platter.


That's the giant silver platter of shiny goodness, that is!

#13 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 07 November 2007 - 02:46 PM

Apologies for the excessive delay, which came mostly courtesy of a three-week headache (thankfully, it simmered down about a week ago).


Glad to hear it. That sort of thing is just icky.


Actually, this weekend was ickier (flu) and is the reason why my next chapter isn't done yet, as is the back spasm I had yesterday. Yep, my health is being ridiculous lately :lol:


The tracks left behind by Merella and her adventurer companions led straight into the forest to the north of Imnesvale. It was a very old forest, dominated by massive oak and beech trees that had spent centuries stretching skywards, creating a dense canopy that didn't allow much light to pass through. There was little undergrowth and few young trees except in the occasional spot where one of the older trees had died or been uprooted, tearing a hole in the dark green forest roof with its absence.


There is really nothing more intimidating that dark, old growth forest. Walking through that, especially on a cloudy day


You ever been in a forest with only spruce trees? Very dark, even if the forest is only 50 years old, and the needles that fall from them acidify the soil so much that few other things want to grow there.


The gloominess of the forest intensified the deeper Ember and her friends went into it, aided by a low fog that crept in between the trees, chilling the air and blocking out even more of the light. Wreaths of mist draped themselves around the branches, and water droplets gathered on armor, clothing, and exposed skin. Ember wiped moisture from her cheek with her hand, and stared at her wet palm. It was just water, completely harmless, but there was something deeply unnerving about this midday fog, especially since it'd been a perfectly fine, sunny morning when they left Imnesvale.


Once again, a great description that really sets the mood.


Thanks ;)


"This fog... is not normal," Valygar said.


Bran: "V. You have no idea."


Valygar: My mother... always called me... Captain Obvious.


"No, it's not," Ember muttered. The entire forest seemed empty, somehow, as if there was nothing in it but the trees, the fog, and themselves. It made her skin crawl.


Something unnatural lurks here.


No shit.


"Such a darkened glade could hide horrors of all manner," Anomen said, eyeing the trees suspiciously. "We must watch our backs!"


Fully understand such an impression. It's a great line from Anomen, and it makes so much sense. You've got a man used to formation fighting and large scale engagements stuck in a situation where none of that would work.


I think that forest was the first time I ever heard him say it.

Shortly after he said that, he asked my PC for a roll in the hay, as it were ;)

Case in point? Ask the Romans how they did in the Teutoberg Forest.


:D


"Boo heartily agrees! There could be spiders, or ankhegs, or even basilisks! Anything could be lurking around the next corner!" Minsc sounded almost cheerful at the prospect of running into something.


Hehehe. I. Love. Minsc. He rockeths.


Minsc: Did you hear the nice man, Boo? He said Minsc is a rocket! I don't know what that is, but it must be something great!


"The woods have no corners," Edwin snapped. "(I am surrounded by imbeciles!)"


Someone feeling a little bit... on edge?


I think that's his permanent state of being.


"Edwin, you have a manner that makes each of us feel beautiful and appreciated," Yoshimo said lightly, and approached Minsc. "Come, my friend, and lead the way. My skills may be of little use here, but you will spy anything that might approach us, no?"


And you write a great Yoshimo. One of the best I've seen on this board.


I lifted the first bit of that directly from their game dialogue, but thanks ;)


Minsc laughed happily. "Evil cannot hide in fog forever! Not when Minsc and Boo have eyes and ears and a big sword ready for them!"


Once again. That's my boy Minsc. :D


Minsc: *beams*


By mid-afternoon, it was almost as dark as it should be around nightfall. Even with one of Edwin's magelights, it was difficult to see anything that was much more than ten feet away; their only consolation was that the densest part of the strange fog never descended below the level of the treetops. Ember was about to suggest they start looking for a campsite when Valygar raised his hand and quietly called for a halt.


Another great description, Cel. Another great one. :D


Thanks :)


It was a giant wolf, more than twice the normal size, with a ragged coat of brown and grey fur. It had the gaunt look that so many of the wolves on the sword coast had had the previous year, but unlike those starved creatures, it did not lunge at them; instead, it stood perfectly still and regarded them warily, as if it was assessing them. It stood crouched over a human body, which it appeared to be dragging through the woods. Parts of the corpse's torso had been ripped away and more than likely eaten.


Ahh... I remember her. And that grizzly meeting.


Yeah :P


"Vile creature!" Anomen cried. With a start, the wolf came to life and ran off in a loping gait, leaving the body behind; it would have escaped easily if not for Edwin, who sent a volley of magic missiles after it. The spell struck the wolf's hind quarters, and it fell to the ground in a graceless, whimpering tangle of limbs. A ripple ran through its fur; moments later, a naked woman, emaciated and with painful-looking burns on her back and thighs, lay where the wolf had fallen.


And down she goes...


Well, I couldn't let her run off, and none of them could have caught a wolf otherwise...


"The forest was not always like this. All was well until a few tendays ago, when the skies darkened at high noon. The pack gathered so that I might calm them, but I knew no more than they. Then, a man made of shadow came among us. My wolves froze in terror at the sight of him. I changed form and leapt at his darkness, but he merely laughed at my attack. He brushed me aside as easily as a leaf, and killed my wolves, my children, one by one with a single touch... and once they were all dead, his darkness reached out to the corpses of my children and animated them as shade wolves." A low, keening sound, somewhere between a sigh and a howl, escaped her throat. "Numb with terror and sorrow, I ran."


This was one of the darker moments of the game... the Shade Lord and his dark power.


I always found the other Amaunator temple to be sadder.


"This is not right!" Minsc cried. "Wolves are meant to be wolves, not shadows! Even Boo agrees about the rightness of that and the wrongness of this!"

"Didn't one of the villagers say that her child was talking about shadows in the woods?" Ember asked Valygar. He nodded.


Great reaction by Minsc... and good deductions by Ember. :)


They both like to think, each in their own way :D


"Is it these shade wolves, then, who have brought terror to the village of Imnesvale?" Anomen asked. Ember noticed that the squire was staring at a point somewhere above the naked woman's shoulder, even as he addressed her.


Heh. Boy was brought up properly.


Oh yes.


The group shared their food supplies with Anath, who eagerly devoured everything they gave her, even dried fruit. While the wolfwere ate, they dug a makeshift grave for the dead man under the roots of a toppled tree. There was a signet ring on the man's right hand; Anomen bent down and gingerly removed it just before they covered the body with a mix of fallen branches, dead leaves and dirt. "If Helm wills it, we may perchance bring news of his fall to his family," the cleric said somberly, turning the ring over in his hand.


Good job on Anomen. Nice touch with the signet ring. And the food supplies bit... nice. :D


They weren't about to force her to starve, and I figured mr. Helmite would pay attention to details like that.


Less than an hour passed before the group saw Anath's former wolves for the first time. As they walked along a rough path formed by the bed of a long-gone stream, a series of strange, echoing howls rang out from the woods ahead of them. Anath stopped in her tracks, and snarled at the trees. Moments later, a half dozen shadowy forms bounded towards them, all headed straight for the wolfwere.


Incoming!


*ducks*


"No!" Minsc bellowed, and ran towards the shade wolves. "You will not," he kicked one of them away from Anath, "attack," he raised his sword, "the wolf lady!" With a fierce roar, he brought his blade down on one of the shade wolves, cutting it in half. Ember used her staff to knock another shade wolf off its feet; Anath lunged at it and somehow ripped its throat out with her teeth.


Anath in battle frenzy...


...and killing what was once her children :(


"In Helm's name, begone!" Anomen shouted. The light in his hand brightened, and the shade wolves melted away to nothingness.


Now that's some connection to the Divine! A little divine pyrotechnics always plays well in the country districts. And is nice in dealing with the undead.

And I love chunking the undead with Turn. :D


Oh yeah, there's nothing better than watching them go boom when someone uses that :D


Ember hurried towards Anomen, who was leaning against a tree and breathing deeply. "Not as easy... as skeletons," he told her, panting. "A stronger will... binds them to this plane. I am well, my lady; please, attend to Anath."


The Shade Lord is rather powerful and Anomen is still an only midlevel cleric.


Yes. He got his one moment of showing off, but he is by no means powerful enough to chase off any old undead. Not yet, at least.

And I have to wonder why they chose so many temples of Amaunator in the game? I mean, the Temple Quest and this one... go figure.


Good question. I guess the game designers liked the old sun god. I'd link them if I could, but I doubt I can, so it'll more than likely stay a coincidence :P


The area immediately around the hole with the ray was the only part of the temple grounds that was not utterly swarming with shadows and shade wolves.


The last blast of sunlight...


Or something like that.


With an enraged snarl, Anath rushed into the temple grounds, flinging herself at one of the shade wolves. Within moments, she was buried under a writhing, growling mass of shadowy wolf bodies.


I believe that's the textbook definition of futile frontal assault. I guess she couldn't live with the loss of her pack...


Yes, and yes.


Edwin looked at the beam of light, then at the mirror, then at the light again.


Eureka!


:D


"Do you think you could get to it?"

"I am Yoshimo!" the Kara-Turan said, as if such a silly statement was an answer. "But why?"


For Yoshimo, that is a statement of ability. :D


But of course :D


Within moments, the shadows and shade wolves were incinerated by a flash of brilliant golden light.


AND BOOM! No more shade wolves!


Well, there are a couple left inside, but... :D


The shade creatures were all destroyed. Edwin was walking around the strange mirror, which was still glowing faintly, and was muttering about how fascinating it was.


Someone's impressed with themselves


And also nerding out a bit about some intriguing bit o' magic.


Minsc sat crouched over Anath's body, sobbing. The wolfwere was dead; the shadows of her children had torn her to pieces.

"Why did the pretty wolf lady do that?" Minsc asked plaintively. "Why? Boo does not understand!"

"I don't know," Ember said quietly. "Maybe she panicked. Maybe the sight of them all was too much for her." Maybe she just wanted to die.


Poor Minsc... poor Anath.

And... after the lost of her whole family, I can see just wanting to die. And of course, Minsc couldn't completely understand it. Even if he could possibly do the same if he lost his witches.


I don't think he'd consciously go for a last stand, but he'd probably go permanently berserk until someone finished him off :(


After wrapping Anath's remains in Ember's cloak and carrying them out of the temple grounds, the group slowly, carefully, made their way down through the largest hole and into the ruined temple itself.


Great chapter Cel. Really great chapter. I enjoyed it a lot. :D


Thanks!

#14 Guest_CrazeeFfan_*

Posted 13 November 2007 - 08:38 PM

1) Your description of Anath worked really well. Normally she's a little ... bleh, but I think you managed to desribe her in just the way for me to, well, notice her as more than a tool for the party. :wink:

2)I love Edwin's thought process as he works out that neat mirror trick. It worked really well, and was oh, so Edwin. I also love the fact that it was Edwin who did it, not one of the others, because it's nice to see him put that 18 INT to use.

3) You have the very enviable skill of being able to actually include all of the party members at once. I need to start taking notes, because it's something I find extremely, extremely difficult.

#15 Guest_Cel_*

Posted 14 November 2007 - 03:28 PM

1) Your description of Anath worked really well. Normally she's a little ... bleh, but I think you managed to desribe her in just the way for me to, well, notice her as more than a tool for the party. :shock:


I wanted to make her a bit less exposition and a bit more horror/sadness.

2)I love Edwin's thought process as he works out that neat mirror trick. It worked really well, and was oh, so Edwin. I also love the fact that it was Edwin who did it, not one of the others, because it's nice to see him put that 18 INT to use.


He tends to turn out just like that whenever I write his thought processes ;)

3) You have the very enviable skill of being able to actually include all of the party members at once. I need to start taking notes, because it's something I find extremely, extremely difficult.


Thanks! But believe me, I have to work for it.




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