Cor took stock of Althena's wounds and found that it was not the actual bite that had nearly done her in but the poison from the bite. "Cynil, I need you aid las!" he called out. "Tis poison from the wee beasties that has her in such a predicament. Alas I was shortsighted and did not ask Odin for a way to combat it. I believe you mentioned having such a spell. If so, would ya be so kind as to get the poison situation all straightened out. Then we can see about healing her up." Looking at the others he added, Keep watch for who knows what may yet lurk beyond the flames"

The old man felt a sting in his side and groaned in pain. The flame that once danced from his hand faded away and his grip on this time and place faded. As the poison slipped through his veins, the old man’s body attempted to repel and fight off the affects but to no avail. The old man’s body stiffens and he fell.

Maggot opens his eyes and there before him is a crystal clear blue lake. Upon that lake is a small boat. Only a dot in the far off distance but it draws closer. Silence is around him as he waits. The time has come to slip the bonds of this life and move unto the next part of his journey. The old man faces it with pride and dignity.

A soft voice brakes the silence, “So you mean to go then?”

The old man looks to his left, there stood a woman. Her beauty is beyond compare. Her gaze is also toward the approaching boat. “Yes, I must move on now.”

“But what of me? How will I live with out you?” she turns to him. Her hair is as black as the night sky. Her eyes… a man could loose his soul in those eyes. The old man turns and now is facing her. “You don’t have to move on. You can stay here with me. Nothing or no one can bother us here. This can be our space in all this.”

“That can not be. You always ask of such things. Only the lost and wandering souls are here. Your soul is not lost...”

She stops him, “My soul is lost, but with you here, with me it does not wander. Please stay with me?”

“You know I can not.” Maggot looks out at the boat that is now only yards from the shore. The cloaked figure beckons for Maggot to join him.

She lifts here hand and places it upon his face, a tear runs down her cheek, “One last time I ask that you stay but I will not force you. Go now or stay and never look to these shores again. Walk with me forever.”

“I will never give up on you. I will always long for you. I will always fight for your being. But here in this place I can do none of those things. I will go and one day you will join me and in the after we will be together.” The old man turns and steps toward the boat.

It is at that moment a wind blows the boat away and a sheik that would make a banshee shrivel in fear brakes the stillness.

Maggot draws his blade and turns. Where the beautiful woman once stood now stands a figure great and powerful. Her beauty was still, but now an evil glow encompassed her. “YOU FOOL!” her voice was booming, “I am willing to give you everything and free you from the evil that will be. I will have you, you will be mine, and you will ask for my love when it is all over!”

“You have me not, nor will you ever. As long as you follow this path you have chosen to follow. Even as you spit your words upon my unwilling soul, the life that once filled my body slips away. In this place I grow stronger and in the next I will grow even stronger still. If you could not poses me then, why do you hold to the belief you can poses me now?” Maggot then smiles and waves his hand sky ward, the sun is now a full moon with a red glow that fills the now night sky, “Under a killing moon my love?”

For the first time in as long as she could remember she felt fear. Not even the Dark Lord she calls master strikes fear in her as this one does. Her voice trembles, “I do not want you to stay like this.”

Maggot’s eyes are now a red glow, “Choose quickly my love. The gates of Heaven soon shut to me, and you are the one who closes them. An innocent is a love you cannot have, so take what you can. Take what only you have left behind.”

She once more shrieks and Maggot responds with an inhuman roar. The two then throw themselves at one another.

The body of Maggot lies lifeless. The smell of burnt flesh can almost be smelt if any move close to it.

As Cynil watched, the last of the extra large roaches was killed by Sirene, she heard Cor’s call for the need of spells to combat poison and at once rushed to join the Knight Cleric at Althena’s side. Laying her hands on the semi-conscious women’s forehead, she muttered a few elvish words and cast her spell of Neutralize Poison.

“Quanta yassen ‘kshapsa”

Within moments, the greenish tinge from Althena’s skin began to fade. Looking around the female Elf Druid spotted next that Maggot too had fallen. Wasting no time she stood to go to him but was beaten there by Sirene, who took the old man gently into her arms.

As the green tinge slowly faded from the Ranger/Bards skin Cynil sat back, sighed a breath of relief, and readied a spell of Cure Moderate Wounds if needed and waited on Sirene's next move...............

(EDITED: To reflect Lady Dark's following post)

Sirene pressed her heel into the roach's crunchy exoskeleton and used this as leverage to pull out the scimitar from the fallen foe. Heaving a sigh, she wiped it free of goo with the hem of her skirt, and surveyed the battleground. Seeing Althena attended to as the call went out, she espied Maggot's fallen form and moved to him, the smell of burnt reaching her nose easily. Wrinkling her nose in response, she knelt by his side, and reached out her hand, cupping the side of his face.

"You have done well, my friend. Your part in this has most impressive. But you are not yet free to go. I will tether you to this plane if I must, now rst easy."

It was easy to see the mark, and the shallow rise and fall of his chest relieved her only a little. It was a grievous wound, and she had to concentrate.

And so she began to incant her spell of Neutralize Poison, intent on saving Maggot's life.

Kenji went back to the party and requested of the party for healing.

"If I may inquire of someone for healing?"

"How is everyone holding up? says as he puts his blades back in to their scabbards after cleaning off by waving them to the side.

He looks at the party and reflects back to when he had no one to journey with. He would have been alone for weeks if he had not found them; now moreover, he felt as if he belonged and he would protect Althena if it meant his life as she was the target it seemed.


Kenji waits until everyone is standing and looking prepared to move on. He thinks to himself

"We can't go back, so the only way is forward"*looks back to the party*"At least we are all alive right now"

"I am on my way master Kenji lad. T'will be but a moment." Cor saw that the druids had the healing of poison well in hand and so he moved to help Kenji.

As the two drew close, the sky flashed with color! Orange, blue, red, and purples chased each other around the sky as the sunrise was fallowing the setting of a sun and not the moon. At the moment the two blades would have meet her blade encountered nothing. She landed and spun around and looked to where he should be.

The sky had grown calm, only the sun could be seen. She closed her eyes and sensed for him. He was far away she could not tell where as it was most of the time but she could since he was now among the living again. Her eyes snapped open and she went into a rage! The sun exploded into the sky and dotted the blackness as if all the sands in the world were but stares in the night sky. The lake began to boil. The wind ripped through the nearby trees like a warrior through his weaken foe. Again she let out a scream of unworldly origin “Where has he gone!” upon black wings she flew skyward and away from this place…

At the moment the two should have fallen into a dance of death, Maggot felt a tug upon his very soul and all was dark to him.

Maggot’s body was now on its back. The rising and fallowing of his chest quickened a bit. The wound on his side began to seep with poison. He could hear the laughter of children playing in the distance. The darkness turned to twilight and things began to take shape. The laughter turned into the soft voice of a she elf. A figure now floated above him.

His stomach wrenched and his back began to burn like hell. Maggot sat up at once and stared to role to his left… there was a woman there so he rolled to his right. Now on his hands and knees he evacuated the poison from his body along with the last little bits of food he had eaten. “Out of the fire and back into the pan.” The old man began to laugh as bits of green goop and food still fell from his mouth.

From the relative security of his invisibility Ulthok prepared to continue the defense of Althena and his fellow travelers. Replacing his bow he drew his Sword of Lightening Quickness and stood ready to fall upon any foul beasty the may try to make its way to Althena. But as he watched, the skill of his companions manifested in a rally that dispatch the remaining bugs.

With the battle well in hand Cor, Cynil and Sirene stepped up to aid the fallen Althena and brave old bard. The sickly green paler of their skin clued the healers to the presents of poison and the need to quickly dispel the vile effects. As the sweet savor of live flowed back into the valiant adventures Ulthok froze.

A scream as if in rage roared from the roaches beyond the walls and they lunged once more in a united charge into the Walls of Fire desperately trying to reach the party within only to die as they had before. In minutes it was over the hundreds, thousand’s of the smaller roaches dead, burned to a crisp. Mass suicide or something more?

This time the quiet that descended did not go away and the only sound left for the party to hear was the burning of the magical flames surrounding them.........
Ulthok relaxed as the a silence and calm filled the chamber. Now other senses noted a sickly smell wafted across the safe zone that the wall of fire had provided. Ulthok though the mass of burnt inserts had left off a stench that rolled in, but the mumbling retching of the Old Bard proved to be the source of the disgusting smell.

Then from seemingly empty space Ulthok voice carried to the party, “We’re glad you’ve decided to remain with us old friend, but….. Ewwwwwww…..!“ Chuckling he said,” We will need to move from this spot sooner now.”

Ulthok had wandered over to see how the curious old man was doing. Willing the rings power to disperse the Halfling reappeared near Maggot and standing by Sirene’s side. “I fear our saving fire wall has rendered the stairs too hot to climb for now.” The diminutive mage pointed his sword toward the now near glowing metal stairway. “Perhaps as it cools this would be a good time to explore these rooms for clues and perhaps aids. I believe I saw a pair of grand doors that had been hidden by the insect nest. It may be significant that they should build such a structure to hide what may of value. When Althena and the Bard are well enough to move we should explore. The insect threat appears to be gone so when we are ready to move the wall can be dispersed” Ulthok looked around the members of the party to see if there may others with ideas.

The battle ended swiftly thanks to the teamwork that was set forth. The wall of fire removed the majority of their enemies, and those that had made it through unharmed by the magical abilities were cut down quickly. Unfortunately not quickly enough as two members had fallen during the battle.

The battle seemed as if it were over, but Haila having no healing spells decided to keep watching over head and upon their surroundings. Numerous times she considered casting continual light, but so long as the wall of fire burned she refused to cast the spell. The woman had no idea when they would be given the next chance to rest to recharge or memorize new spells and it was because of this that they had to be careful with their spell casting.

The wall of fire would not last much longer, and therefore they could not rely on such a thing to offer protection to them while they slept. As she considered it more and more, she decided she would use the spell ALARM next time they decided to make an attempt at sleeping. Haila also agreed with the statement by her friends that they would have to focus on protecting Althena now more than they ever had. Slowly she made her way over to Ulthok, Sirene and Maggot so that she could express her idea to them.

"We are in a large enough room that we should walk with Althena in the middle and that we form a circle of protection around her. We should keep a fighter at the 4 points, north, south, east and west, and the spell casters should position themselves between the fighters and move as a single unit protecting Althena. I think that we should have one spell caster walking with Althena at her side who will be supervising overhead so that we don't have any surprises. All points would be covered, and we move with extra caution from here on out friends. It will be more and more challenging as we near our destination. We must move as one unit, but send two people as scouts before entering the next room, one fighter and one spellcaster. The fighter would stand guard as the spellcaster casts a spell to see if there are any traps that await the group. What say you my friends? Are we ready to continue to explore this evil place to find our way?"

"While you are right that we should organize ourselves in that form or fashion, what say you we take time to rest up before the next advancement. That will give Althena and Maggot time to recover some strength."

Kenji waited after he said this for others to respond.

(input waiting dialogue and actions after this)

With the roach threat over and combat for the moment done, rounds turned into turns and within a short time the Walls of Fire ended. The first floor of the pyramid descended into darkness and only the glow from the red-hot stairs kept it from being total, however the darkness lasted only a moment, as Cynil was the first of the party to light her bull’s-eye lantern. Using its light she quickly made her way to the closet of the pyramid walls lighting the few torches there until the first floor again semi lit. Though a few surviving roaches yet lived, none seemed willing to offer combat and scurried away at her approach.

Moving back to rejoin the others she awaited the parties next move. As to that next move it was still in question, as Kenji wanted to rest, Ulthok wanted to scout the empty rooms, Maggot, though healed of the poison, was still unconscious and Althena was just now coming back fully to her senses. Alasdair looked at them all and seemed lost in thought; turning to Cor, he asked the Dwarf his thoughts.

“So Cor my dwarf friend what do you think is our best bet, I think those that need it rest, while the rest of us search the six rooms. However, that means splitting the party possible in half. Which could be very dangerous indeed, your thoughts?”.....................


(DM OOC: Ok I ended my post here, as I have no idea what you all plan to do next as ideas were offered, but no real orders were given.
Next post, next Sunday as normal. Good posting everyone.

Also just a reminder to Takley and Lady Dark, there is in the Q/A section of the Inn a Character Thread listing all the characters in this game, hit points, damage taken and such. Feel free to blame it on me but I am not sure if I ever said anything to the two of you about it. )

"Well it seems that for teh moment the wee beasties have run off. That is good as we have work to be done. It seems Althena will be just fine but both Kenji and Maggot require a bit of healing. Then there is the matter of replacing those speels used, especially the neutralize poisons in case we run into more of those roaches. I know some of you wish to explore and others to rest. Splitting the party is not going to happen. If there is one things we should have learned so far is that it takes us all working together. I will not risk losing anyone as that might spell failure for our mission. The rooms will be there in a couple hours after we rest. Those we require sleep see to your bedrolls. The others will take shifts to watch and clean weapons. Are there any objections?" Cor waited.

As the last of Maggot's innards were removed with some force from his body the old man moved to one knee and with a small grunt went to stand only to release the rest of his body did not wish to do as he commanded.

As he regained his feet, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He reached out for a nearby command only to find air and the old mans world was dark again and he was on his back. This time the old man was fine only unconscious.

Haila listened to Cor`s idea and nodded as it was the most logical answer. The spellcasters would need to try to prepare for whatever might lay ahead. If they were able to sleep the required amount then the stairs should be cool enough to use when they woke. The fighters would stand guard, and spell casters, and those who were injured would rest.

Glancing towards those who were injured she ensured that they were being taken care of before scanning the area. Haila did a quick sweep of the room, searching top to bottom until she was assured nothing seemed amiss in their immediate surroundings.

The woman decided she would cast alarm as an extra precaution against whatever might be lurking in the proximity. After casting her spell, she laid down and let herself fall into the world of dreams after decided on what spells she would possibly need to overcome the unknown.

hears as Maggot's innards come out. He says.

"Don't worry about me now Cor, a short rest will do me well."*turns head to Maggot*"Worry about him.Keep your strength for Maggot and other encounters."

Kenji sits down and cleans his blades. "All will be fine...for now. As long as we are all able to continue. That is what matters."

After he finishes cleaning his blades, Kenji falls into a nap saying "Wake me in a hour."