Ulthok lead the party up the hall to the room.

"This is the place. We should enter and close the door. Sirene's warmth should stay in the room and help melt the ice holding the body. As it appears to weaken we can carefully chisel the body free. We won't know for sure but I feel it is something meant for us to do to try to bring this one back."

With the party agreed to move forward they once more stayed closely together arriving at Ulthok's searched room unchallenged.

"This is the place. We should enter and close the door. Sirene's warmth should stay in the room and help melt the ice holding the body. As it appears to weaken we can carefully chisel the body free. We won't know for sure but I feel it is something meant for us to do to try to bring this one back."

A quick look as the party entered showed them nothing had changed including the frozen corpse upon the wall. At Ulthok's suggestion the party found places to rest within the circle of magic warmth to wait for it to melt the body upon the wall. First an hour, then 2 then 4, the ice in the room slowly melting away. Drops of melted ice became puddles and soon the floor of the room was covered in an ever growing plain of water leaving no dry place to rest. Clear to the party after 6 hours that Sirene's warmth would take at least another half a day to melt the thick layer of ice upon the body. Even with cutting and chiseling at the ice it would still be some time till the body was free.

(OK took a few liberties here.)

With the water slowly raising Ulthok knew they needed to speed up the defrosting process. Asking all to move backward and opening the door behind them so as not to be caught in a wave of water or have the door hinges frozen trapping them within he cast Flaming Sphere holding it in place as the ice covering the body quickly melted away.

In only ten minutes the body was free of ice and falling to splash onto the rooms water covered floor. Quickly canceling the sphere he moved to the body and right away he saw what had caused his amulet to act as it had. For upon the body's chest, amid the tattered clothing and flash frozen skin, lay am Amulet of Life Protection much like his own but clearly older, much older in fact. However that was not what shocked him most, no the shock was that it was still active! That it had not crumbled to dust or returned to it's plane of alignment when unfrozen, but sat as pristine as his own amulet when holding his soul! If indeed it was yet working as it was meant to then this persons life essence could yet be inside the amulet waiting to be restored.......

(DM OOC: Ok my post for this week, just one thing to be aware of. As the melted water reaches a place it is not protected by Sirene's warming spell it at once freezes again. You have a medium sized wall of ice at a little past doorway to the room that continues to grow as more water reaches it and freezes. Just a head's up.

Also Kiki after tonight feel free to post once you feel comfortable in doing so. Again welcome aboard to you and a welcome back to Eol.)

The melting was taking much longer than Ulthok had anticipated. The mage had figured the melt would drain away, but there was no draining and floor was now flooding and would just worsen. "This is taking too long ,and it appears the floor drains are also frozen closed. Move away from the door, I'll open it to let this water escape." Trudging over to the door the Halfling swung it open to release the pond on the floor. When to floor was nearly clear he moved back to ice encased figure. "Now to speed up the process," Ulthok raised his hands and entoned a few words. A Flaming Sphere appeared beyond his finger and the mage then directed its movements to rapidly increase the thaw around the trapped figure.

In only ten minutes the body was free of ice and falling to splash onto the rooms water covered floor. Quickly canceling the sphere Ulthok moved to the body, there he saw what had caused his amulet to act as it had. Upon the man's chest, amid the tattered clothing and flash frozen skin, lay an Amulet of Life Protection. It was much like his own but clearly older, much older in fact. To his amazement however it was still active! It had not crumbled to dust when unfrozen, but sat as pristine as his own amulet when holding his soul! If indeed it was yet working as it was meant to then this persons life essence could yet be inside the amulet waiting to be restored. "This man may yet be revived. He has an Amulet that appear to be still protecting his soul......" Looking around find where the clerics had moved, " Valene perhaps you or Cor could cast a Heal on his body ,as you would mine, and see if indeed he can be returned. From what we have seem so far of the tower it is not a place of peace and goodwill so if he were imprisoned on that wall then he was a threat to that evil. What he knows of this tower could aid us greatly,.. Lothor you and Roan could lift him on to the table to get him out of the water..then maybe you'd wish to be ready to restrain him just in case." With that Ulthok stepped back to let the healers do their thing.

As Ulthok moved about the room opening the door and melting the ice, Lothor continued to stand watch. With the door open, he moved into the opening to keep an eye out in the hallway. (This assumes he is still protected by the spell, but the descriptions implies he is.) Let those with magic deal with this while those with swords kept watch. That seemed to be the way of things in this tower.

When Ulthok asked him to help lift the body he moved forward after a quick glance around the hallway. "Someone take watch on the door." After another party member took his spot watching the groups rear he moved to the body and, with the assistance of Roan, lifted it onto the table. He then stepped back 1/2 a step to let the others do their job, but ready to restrain the iceman when his soul returned to his body.

As he watched the others do their job to bring the iceman to life he could not keep himself from a small headshake. Returning a man frozen in ice to life - just another day in the life of an adventurer, right? In a cyclops tower with deadly cold temperatures that was bigger inside than out, all while over 2,000 years in the past and acting on the advice of a legendary figure from history. When you put it like that it almost sounded a bit odd.

Who would this iceman prove to be?

EVENTS HAPPEN IN REAL TIME
After the first War Of Darkness

As Talca moved forward through the islands thick forest he could see the party's destination in sight, the Cyclops Tower. With The Dark Kings defeat the party of four, five with the mage, and six with himself. he led had been hired as escort to said mage to recover some sort of powerful item that the mage said was rumored to be here. Though all five members of the party agreed, outside of the mage's hearing, that it was most likely bulls*** none complained. At 10,000gp's a day they did not care if the story was true or false so escort him they were happy to do.

There was the male Human Mage and leader by hiring named Scandrick, a high level one with a tendency to the casting of spells of fire.
A male Dwarf Fighter named Beard, thanks to his facial hair actually touching the ground when not braided.
Two Elf siblings, the male Chennell a cleric, his sister Mondaye a Druid. One was easily mistaken for the other and they were known to use this to play pranks on occasion.
Last was the Female human Thief Orlandia, arrogant and full of herself she was at times quite annoying. Yet with her curves, black hair, green eyes and fighting/thief skills she had every right to be.

Now after two weeks of travel they were here before the entrance to this supposedly deserted tower, however with four huge Hobgoblins guarding the front door, it was clearly no such thing. Turning to the rest of the party Talca began to inquire of the mage as to what next, but was too slow, as the mage incanting words of a spell quickly made the choice for them all. In a matter of minutes following the mages casting of two fireballs the six gained entrance to the tower and its hallways. Moving quickly they made their way deeper into the tower only to find that they had made a bad choice as the tower was inhabitant by a major clan of mixed Ogres. Orc's, Hobgoblins all led by giant Cyclops intelligent enough to have gained a high level of magical skill. In only a short matter of time the six were five then three then only Talca was alive.

Scandrick was a powerful mage and, in the end, that had been his undoing, the undoing of them all. The man had been intelligent, no doubt, and that intelligence had served him well on his path to gathering vast magical power and earthly riches. As intelligent as he had been, though, the mage's wisdom suffered as his wealth and power grew. Had Scandrick's common sense been even half of his intellect, perhaps, he wouldn't have been so brash in assaulting the Cyclops' Tower, perhaps he might have asked his escorts for better, safer options, As it was, though, Scandrick's power (and his lust for whatever it was he sought in that damned tower) overcame his wisdom and, believing that his power made him nigh invincible, simply incinerated the four Hobgoblins guarding the towers entrance and plunged them all, headlong, into their dooms. The tower had been nowhere near as deserted as Scandrick had told them it would be. In fact, it was just the opposite; the place was all but overrun with a mixed horde of Ogres, orcs, and hobs, all of the mage's intelligence, wealth, and power combined could never have saved the party from what was to come.

Orlandia had been the first to die. The beautiful thief had a knack for finding and disarming traps of the mechanical variety and, in a fight, her skill with a blade was formidable, Those skills had done her no good, though, when the trap she had inadvertently sprung was a magical one which saw her suddenly surrounded and swarmed by the vile creatures the trap had been designed to summon. Her blades swung with a fury, cutting swaths in the chittering death that surged like a black tide against her, but there were millions more of the flesh-eating beetles for each one her wild swings managed to crush. Her screams had cut sharper than her blades in the end.

Unprepared as Scandrick had been for what his party faced and, even in the light of the she-thief's horrible demise, the wizard insisted that the group press forward, unrelenting in his pursuit of the artifact he so desperately sought, The Dwarven warrior, Beard, was the next to fall to the horde, The party had made it to a large chamber with doors on all sides and, as choices were being made as to which path to take, all of the doors had burst inwards at once admitting what seemed a never ending flood of trog-flesh in all its varieties, Orc, Hobgoblin, and Ogre, all bristling with weapons, all mad with bloodlust. Beard had made a valiant stand against the onslaught; fighting fiercely to hold the creatures off as an escape route was secured. Battle-hardened as the dwarf was, though, the wounds he suffered in that encounter had been far too gruesome to have been survived. Even though the party had managed to drag his body along with them as they made their retreat, Beard couldn't be saved even by the best combined efforts of the cleric, Chennell and, his sister, the druid, Mondaye, Talca's friends and countrymen, the Elvin siblings were the next to die.

Despite having already lost Orlandia and Beard (and under vocal protest from all three elves), Scandrick refused to be turned away from his long-sought prize and insisted that the rapidly diminishing party continue on, deeper into the terror the tower had become. Forward progress had been much slower and fraught with skirmish after skirmish, but, for a while, it was progress and, better yet, the fates had actually turned in the party's favor, After hours of arduous advancement through the tower's perils, the party found a place in which they might tend to their injuries and, hopefully, rest for a time before moving on. The tiny nook like room seemed safe enough, or so they thought. As Scandrick sat pouring over his spellbook, Mondaye and Chennell set about administering to Talca's wounds with their healing magicks and skills in herblogy. The fatigued group had only just started to feel comfortable in their temporary hideaway when an eruption of shadowy tentacles burst forth from the darkness of the tiny room's corners, unceremoniously snatching both the cleric and the druid away to only gods and demons knew where. Thus, of the six who had entered the Cyclops' Tower, only Scandrick and Talca remained and, as the pair fled the shadow-plagued room, the mage finally succumbed to the mote of wisdom he still had left and decided that it was best to abandon his quest, and would see to it that Talca got all of the gold he'd promised to the others in the party if the pathfinder wouldn't abandon him, here, in the depths of the tower's dungeons.

As Talca backtracked as best he could, leading the mage toward escape and, with luck, the light and breath of another day in the sun, things seemed to have quieted. There were very few, if any encounters with the horde, no magical interference or intervention, it was almost as if they were being allowed to leave. This, of course, did nothing but bolster Scandrick's heretofore waning determination, though, and it wasn't long before the mage started voicing opinions about, perhaps, turning back and finding some way to claim the prize he sought here. After hearing one too many of these suggestions, Talca turned on the mage, set to tell the man that, if he wanted to go back, he'd be going by himself (and curse the round-eared spellslinger in every language he knew, as well). He never got the chance to utter a word, though, for, when he turned, he saw the Cyclops materialize behind Scandrick. Talca's mouth fell open to scream a warning to the mage but the Cyclops' mouth opened a bit quicker, whatever spell the beast uttered hit the Pathfinder in the chest like a stone from a siege engine and blasted him into another room all together. Talca fought to regain his breath and charge back out into the corridor to aide the beset Scandrick but, to his horror, he found he was unable to move, He was pinned to the wall as securely as if some invisible giant's hand held him there, And then came the screams of Scandrick as the mage paid what certainly must have been a horrible price for having invaded the Cyclops' Tower. In only moments the Cyclops was back advancing on the elvin Ranger hanging helpless on the wall.

Then suddenly the tower shook as if some massive quake had occurred! The Cyclops's advance towards him was stopped, the creature looking very surprised, and in an instant was gone, leaving Talca still magically secured to the wall. Slowly the air seemed to get colder, as if beginning to freeze. After hour of ever increasing cold, his body feeling frozen, his breathing heavy, Talca's eyes grew wide as a floating ball like creature entered the room. With a huge central eye and six smaller eye stalks Talca knew right away he was dead for the creature before him was a Beholder. However this was no beholder he had ever heard of, for at the end of its stalks were not just eyes but fully fanged faces with hair. All of the faces and stalks bore a different color and were gruesome to look upon.

A mouth full of fang like teeth and a green central eye were the last things Talca saw as the blue faced stalk turned towards him and he died......


Written jointly by Eol Fefalas & TannTalas

Cor watched the body thaw and saw that the individual inside appeared to be an elf. "Tis elvin blood ran in those veins and I dunna see any signs of Drow so he is unlikely ta be evil. With the amulet holding his life force, it should be a simple matter of healing and not restoring life ta bring him around. Of course I'd suggest we remove his weapons before we do any reviving." Cor looked to Rayne, "I believe you have a Heal spell and I did not take one so if you will do the honors."

Cor's words called Lothor back to action. Removing the weapons made sense now that they could see what they were. The big warrior removed the elven bow and arrows. The machetes were a surprise - the corpse in front of them was clearly an elf, but since when did an elf use blades like these? But they weren't a weapon he had every heard of being associated with evil, and he had heard of them as jungle weapons, so perhaps that was a hint? He took a closer look at the typical leaves in the designs on the elf's clothing. Jungle plants or temperate? He did this as he further examined the body looking for anything additional that might prove dangerous. Once finished he stepped back, but remained ready to restrain the future no-longer-dead elf if it proved necessary.

Roan Fenstrider listened as decisions were made and the entire party moved on to the room where the body was frozen to the wall. He stayed alert and weapons to hand; just because the room had been searched and was clear didn't mean it had remained so while they party was elsewhere. But, surprise, the room was the same, even the frozen body was still stuck to the wall.

The magical warmth from Sirene was protecting them and melting the ice in the room. As others took up a place to rest and try to stay out of the water that was beginning to flow across the floor from the melting ice; Roan stood the first guard to let others rest and recover as needed.

As time passed the water continued to rise as the ice melted, but the ice on the body was still pretty thick. It appeared that it would take more heat then was being provided by Sirene. Ulthok decided to try something; asking everyone to move back he brought a flaming sphere into being and used it to melt the body carefully. In minutes the body was free and fell to the water filled floor. Observing the body, Roan saw that it appeared to be remarkably preserved despite the signs of frostbite upon the skin and the tattered clothes that hung from the body.

"This man may yet be revived. He has an Amulet that appear to be still protecting his soul......" Looking around find where the clerics had moved, " Valene perhaps you or Cor could cast a Heal on his body ,as you would mine, and see if indeed he can be returned. From what we have seem so far of the tower it is not a place of peace and goodwill so if he were imprisoned on that wall then he was a threat to that evil. What he knows of this tower could aid us greatly,.. Lothor you and Roan could lift him on to the table to get him out of the water..then maybe you'd wish to be ready to restrain him just in case." With that Ulthok stepped back to let the healers do their thing.

Roan nodded and, lifting him under the arms, helped Lothor raise the man up onto a table. He stood there just above the man's head, one hand resting upon each shoulder ready to restrain him he he could indeed be returned. Being a Cleric as well as a Ranger, Roan knew that about such things, but he had little actual experience with Amulet of Life Protection. He knew the basic idea, but this body looked like it had been here quite awhile and he had his doubts whether or not it could be returned to the living after so long a time. He also thought that perhaps the Amulet might have suffered damage after having been frozen in the Ice for so long a time. He was anxious to see it all work out; he would like to hear this strange Elf's story of how wound up frozen to a wall. Roan stood quietly, as Lothor removed the body's weapons at Cor's suggestion, and was ready to restrain the man if he was revived and was startled by his strange surroundings and new companions.

The party moved into the room that Ulthok had discovered the body. Standing back bow ready, in case anything happened, Rayne and the party awaited the man to thaw with the heat from Sirene's spell. Several hours passed. The spell was working, but it was taking an exorbitant amount of time. When 6 hours had passed, the knew that the process was taking too long. They were hardly on a quick vacation after all. Plus, standing in the water was hardly a pleasant feeling. Even though they were warm, wet shoes were not something pleasant. This would be made worse the next time Rayne stepped in some slush left behind when they walked over and melted some ice. She grimaced at the future walk, which, if the current rate kept up, would be long. At least cold wet feet wasn't life threatening.

Ulthok chose to use flaming sphere to cut it out instead. This was much faster, merely tanking 10 minutes. The body splashed to the floor. For a brief moment, nothing happened. Roan and Lothor both moved up to lift the man onto the table, as Cor watched they removed his weaponry. Being awoken by a band of strangers probably wouldn't be without alarm.

Cor looked to Rayne, "I believe you have a Heal spell and I did not take one so if you will do the honors."

Rayne nodded to him and advanced forward. Moving her hands over the disarmed elf, she glanced at the 3 others, making sure they were ready. She breathed, "Corellon, grant me your strength for this man," then cast Heal onto the frozen elf.

Valene looked to Ulthok his words ringing lightly into her mind, watching as the party members moved around, She watched as the other healer casted their healing spell, then drew attention to Ulthok. Her eyes watched as she moved coming to Ulthok's side whispering " it has been some time since i cast a spell" a bit of shame feeling her as she at once made a mental note to become reacquainted with her spells again. She looked to the small familliar of Ulthoks and soon moved to help one of the other party members for if the healing spell worked. Blankets, perhaps a hot drink.. food even for the man in ice

( Rough post and i apologize i have been dealing with bad news irl ... hoping to get better acquainted with the chara ^.^)

Hours passed and the ice melted leaving tiny rivulets to flow toward the doorway. Still the summer sun would take many days to melt the ice of winter's heart, magic or no. In the end it was Ulthok's magical fire that freed the dead man from the ice.

With the man prone upon the floor Siréne joined the others to gain a closer look. Her cerulean eyes traced along the contours of the man's angular face. The chiseled lines of his chin, the almond slant to his eyes, and his pointed ears all spoke of elvish blood. Even the curving lines of his verdant garb bore the mark of the fair folk.

His hair was dark. Not dark like hers, not touched by the night, but still dark enough to have grown under the shadows of the forest. Siréne looked to Rayne who was painted with the colors of the dawn that told the story of the high elves flight from Faerie to seek out the sun. Her own coloring came from the deep mystery of Faerie and sang of the ancient world. They were like night and day, two sides of the same magic. She wondered which would be revealed when life returned to the fallen man.

Siréne smiled to Rayne as she knelt to heal the fallen elf. Soon he would stand among them and all would be revealed.

"When the warmth of life returns to him, will he be painted with the pale milk of the high elves or will the shadows of Faerie paint him darker than sunlight ever could?" Siréne spoke softly, almost to herself. Then reaching out, she laid a hand on Rayne's shoulder. "We two should stay close. Let him see those of his own blood when he wakes, it might ease the shock, if only a little."

Though they had defrosted the elf and taken his body off the wall, all in the party could see that he was clearly very dead. However it was Ulthok having moved to examine the body first found that amid the tattered clothing and frozen skin, lay an Amulet of Life Protection. Much like his own but clearly older, much older in fact. To his amazement however it was still active! It had not crumbled to dust when unfrozen, but sat as pristine as his own amulet when holding his soul! If indeed it was yet working as it was meant to then this persons life essence could yet be inside the amulet waiting to be restored.

"This man may yet be revived. He has an Amulet that appear to be still protecting his soul......" Looking around find where the clerics had moved, " Valene perhaps you or Cor could cast a Heal on his body ,as you would mine, and see if indeed he can be returned. From what we have seem so far of the tower it is not a place of peace and goodwill so if he were imprisoned on that wall then he was a threat to that evil. What he knows of this tower could aid us greatly,.. Lothor you and Roan could lift him on to the table to get him out of the water.. then maybe you'd wish to be ready to restrain him just in case."

As Lothor along with Roan helped to place the elf's body upon the table, it was the lone dwarf of the party that urged caution.

"Tis elvin blood ran in those veins and I dunna see any signs of Drow so he is unlikely ta be evil. With the amulet holding his life force, it should be a simple matter of healing and not restoring life ta bring him around. Of course I'd suggest we remove his weapons before we do any reviving."

Taking Cor's words to heart Lothor quickly gathered up bow, arrows and machete's. Machete's? when did an elf use blades like these? The human fighter thought to himself taking a closer look at the elf's body and really not finding anything of evil about the manner of his clothing. With the body on the table, the Elf's weapons safely secured it was time to cast a spell of healing to bring this stranger's life essence back to his body.

Cor looked to Rayne, "I believe you have a Heal spell and I did not take one so if you will do the honors."

Rayne nodded to him and advanced forward. Moving her hands over the disarmed elf, she glanced at the 3 others, making sure they were ready.
She breathed, "Corellon, grant me your strength for this man," then cast Heal onto the frozen elf.

Sirene having moved to stand beside Rayne spoke softly as if a whisper only to be heard by herself. "When the warmth of life returns to him, will he be painted with the pale milk of the high elves or will the shadows of Faerie paint him darker than sunlight ever could?" Siréne spoke softly, almost to herself. Then reaching out, she laid a hand on Rayne's shoulder. "We two should stay close. Let him see those of his own blood when he wakes, it might ease the shock, if only a little."

As Rayne said the last words of the Heal spell, all of the party watched to see if anything would happen. With seconds turning into minutes the elves body remained cold and dead, then suddenly as if hit by a burst of electricity his eyes opened and a hellish scream of terror erupted from his lips. Eyes open in fear and a gaze full of horror, Cor's caution was well founded as the elf fought to be free of the hands holding him down.

The elf's scream carried into the halls and rooms of the tower moving ever deeper into its abandoned interior fueled by the walls of ice, finally reaching a huge cavern dark and deep, undisturbed for over thirty years.

And somewhere in that dark and deep place, eyes began to open....

(DM OOC: Ok as I had enough people posts to do what I wanted I posted a day early. Next post will be in two Sundays on June 9th. However with the influx of new players how would you all feel about returning to an every Sunday posting schedule. Let me know

As Cor had expected, the newly revived elf fought to be free and screamed out in terror. The newly alive often picked up where their mind last remembered. It was obvious that he was terrified of something just before he died. What that something was and if it still hunted this place were yet to be determined.rnrn "Calm yerself lad. Tis nae but friends here." Cor tried to distract the elf's confused mind and allow it to reset.

Screams of pure terror rose from the awakened warrior. His eyes were wild with fear as they fought to hold him down. What horrors had he seen in his final moments? What had taken his breath? Was he still in the moment of death or had they pulled his soul from paradise?

Siréne leaned in with elvish pouring from her lips. The lilting tones remembered the moon and the stars, and vibrated with a presence not wholly of this world. There was a bit of magic in even the simplest of words in the language of Faerie. Beneath the words spoken the elvish song carried the mystery and the power of the dawn of time. After all this time, it felt good to speak her native tongue, to speak it fully to one who might understand what was being said.

"Seere i' giliath caela yele lle eska ar' lye naa sinome. No' i' mori mor, eller naa me'a ar' ta sila no' lle. I' ithil ar' giliath caela brought lle sinome ar' amin will kwara lle varna tenna' i' dae waana."

(OOC Translation - Be calm, the stars have called you home and we are here. Even on the darkest night, there is light and it shines on you. The moon and stars have brought you here and I will hold you safe until the shadow passes.)

In that moment with the word pouring from her, Siréne was a priestess of the mysteries once again. Her voice held the memory of Faerie and the call of the Goddess. It was her birthright, her being. Here in this frozen hell, she found a piece of joy.

The scream echoed through the room and down the corridor. Lothor felt it roll through his bones and he cringed at every note. There was nothing quite like announcing your presence to everything within miles. He could almost feel the dragon waking, the guards jumping to attention and the heads turning towards the source of the sound. He glanced briefly at the door willing his companions to keep a look out.

Still, you had to feel for the guy. How long had he been frozen to the wall? What had killed him in such a way? However he had died, it had not been peacefully, that was sure. But gentle or not, he did not release his grip. With the strength of a hill giant he gently held the elf in place attempting to smile in a reassuring way. He did not speak himself, instead putting his faith in the words of this elf's kin.