Conall was standing over the Lady Evie giving his shield and body as protection but his eyes were scanning the room like a mad man. He had lost sight of Cynil. Realizing his only hope to find out what has happen to her was to make it past this room to the next. He placed his head down and now completely gave all to the protection of the Lady Evie and her voice that it might bring an end to this death trap.

It had been a long eight months in the lives of some of these adventurers, most notably the Cleric Cor, the Paladin Conall, the young Fighter/Mage Haila and the Thief/Mage Ulthok these four the only original members yet living.
From the adventures start in Celebrimbor, the capital city of Shana’Tara, to rescue the Princess Althena from her captor’s in the Mountains of Steel, to the start of the quest to reclaim the evil sword, to this moment in time amid a room of crystal death. So much had happened and so many fellow friends and adventurers had fallen.

The parties first leader the Bard/Druid Drusilia Liadon along with the Human female Ranger Taila Torran, the male Gnome Thief/Illusionist Flit, and the male Elf Ranger Hawk all lost to the enemies within those same mountains. Yet they did manage to rescue two new friends the Firbolg Giant Samson Skullcrusher and the Elvin Druid Cynil Shadowdancer, one destined to find love among her rescuers, the other destined to die in their service.

With the death of the Lady Drusilia the King called upon the last six surviving original members to reform a new unit. The Cavalier Alasdair MacKenzie he made its new leader, The Paladin Conall Glendower he made the Lady Althena's personal bodyguard and second in leadership to Alasdair. The Dwarven Cleric Cor Trollhammer was promoted to the rank of Knight and became a Knight Cleric of Shana’tara and high cleric of the new unit. Af'Til Fallendill a male gray Elf Ranger was given a keep of his own but remained a member of the unit. The female Human Fighter/Mage Haila Torran was offered wealth and a choice of opportunities, but having just lost her sister in Althena’s rescue she as had the others decided to stay The last original member, the thief Ulthok, was given the choice to stay with the new unit or to become a noble of the court but decided in the end to also stay.

Then the rest of this new party slowly formed, a Dwarf, Magma Ironclaw, a representative of a nearby Dwarven King and ally of Shana’tara, who had been found among the few surviving dwarves, was declared as third in leadership. Then the Giant Samson and his friend the Lady Cynil were asked to join the party and having seen the courage of their rescuers did not hesitate and the party, now numbering 10 were told the tale of the Steel Maiden, a sword of great intelligence and great evil that had the power to corrupt and control any who would carry it and the need to recover it before the dark king himself did so. Althena herself then revealed to the party the truth about her linage, that she was over 1500 hundred years old, the King of Shana’tara and the Kings before him were in truth her caretakers/step fathers sworn to do this as a lasting service to Althena’s father, Allanan, and why rescuing her had been so important.

Agreeing to undertake the mission to retrieve and bring the sword back to be destroyed they were taken to just outside the City of Helm's Dike. There they all boarded a ship and set sail for the next port of call, the Port City of Chard Rush. After a few days travel they entered a bad storm losing the ships main mast and then found themselves in the calm eye of the storm. It was here the party was attacked by 4 black sailed ships and by the battles end and aftermath the party ended up losing its first member in this new quest, the Giant Samson.

The ship badly damaged from the battle was adrift for days but they were was saved by a passing friendly ship and after sinking the damaged one were taken to the port city of Chard Rush in the Country of Ravenshorn. Then while in the port city they realized they were being watched by someone or something clearly evil and a little later after that realization Althena had a vision of a disturbing nature and so the party decided to depart Chard Rush in the middle of the night. The parties escape of the watchers for the moment successful the watchers rage was such that by mornings end the port of Chard Rush was in flames, all its people dead. The watcher was a member of the Shadow Wraiths named Soulcatcher and it was her wraith at losing the trail of the party that caused her and the other Wraiths to destroy the town.

From Chard Rush the party then moved north on horseback/pony back and traveled for two days without any incidents until they reached the fort of Panzer. Here it was that the party decided to rest for a few days and here finally it was revealed the deep nature of love that had grown and been kept secret till then between the Lady Althena and the Lord Alasdair as both shared pisionic abilities, the only two to have such abilities they were linked by that and from that the love in their hearts grew.

So upsetting was this, once out in the open, the couple making no secret in their displays, that the Paladin Conall feeling he had failed in his duty left in the night with only his weapons and armor leaving all else behind. With the morning upon them having realized that Conall had left before them everyone mounted and did give chase to find him confronting a number of foes. But before they could join him from beneath the earth arose a great beast, an Earthquake Beetle and with its first breath all of Conall’s foes but he and their leader were slain.

In the course of the battle, the party eventually victorious, though none of the party were killed the leader of the brigands was slain and having revealed to Conall his true nature as that of a fallen Knight, was sent off with a prayer of good faith by the Paladin.

But the battle thought done was not, as the Ranger Af’til while searching the belly of the beast did release a new foe, a deadly gem with beams of light so terrible that they caused death instantly. And so it was that the Ranger Af’til’s luck did run out and the party its second member After their defeat of the gem without any other loss the party continued north. Where they were met by a messenger from the King, a female Elf Ranger/Cleric named Rayne Fireheart, flying a Pegasus caught up to the party and decided to continue with them after delivering her message. And so finally the party reached the River city of Star Falls in the dwarf’s land of Erebor where the mode of travel was to change from horse to canoes.

It was here that disaster once again struck and the party lost yet two more members, their leader Alasdair and the dwarf Magma inside a bordello of Devil sold souls during combat with two major Devil’s the lord Mammon, ruler of Hell‘s third plane and his consort, Glasya the Princess of Hell. Not knowing that the bordello was in reality located on the Third plane of Hell and was run by the two devils they attempted to rescue Ulthok’s Brother, the Halfling Fighter Divot Rydenham who was trapped there due to gambling debts though he had not sold his soul. In the course of the battle, the party having pretty much been defeated, Alasdair being the only one of the party members not dead, badly wounded or out cold, used the last of his psionic power to teleport everyone but himself to safety and then from inside closed off the Hell plane from the Prime Material plane. Of the characters the only one not saved by healing was the dwarf Magma who they buried with honors. But having rescued Ulthok’s brother the party was only down by one member.

Then it was to the canoes and upriver to Drow Mountain where the sword per Althena was hidden during the course of the river trip Althena was in a dazed state due to the death of Alasdair and unable to walk without guidance or do anything. A clearing found by the riverside and while camped there for the night the party got into a fight with cannibalistic Tree Men demanding one of the party for a sacrifice and Althena came back to herself and helped save the party. During the course of the fight Cor and Conall were separated from the rest and each other due to a massive magical forest fire that had been caused by the battle. Here it was that Conall lost his leg in a poisoned pit trap and was almost killed by the Tree Men who had fashioned it. If not for the intervention of a Asian Human Male Samurai named Tomiki Kenji the Paladin would have died. With Cor’s arrival the battle was quickly won and Conall taken to the town of Main to die as the poison was yet killing him and at the time Cor did not have the power to heal his friend.

During this time the rest of the party also reached Main and all were reunited and Kenji accepted into the party as a member. On the night before Conall was to die Cor went to the small church in the town and prayed to his god Odin for help and such was his devotion that Odin granted him the one time ability to cast a high level spell that would heal all damage, restore Conall’s leg and purge the poison from the Paladin’s body for good thus saving his life. The spell cast and successful over the next few days Conall healed and with his love for Cynil realized, in almost a ironically sarcastic twist of fate they like Althena and Alasdair had also fallen in love, by his side the party was ready to go. So it was new canoes bought, the other ones having been destroyed in the fire, and northward again until they reached shore, walked a few days to Drow Mountain and finally ended up where they are at present. The only thing of note is that sometime in the days before they reached the ledge Divot and Haila having gotten lost took comfort in each others arms and one thing led to another and they made love.
Then the party went up the mountain through its hidden doors to find themselves bleeding and dying hoping for a victory of sound here in this crystal room of death.

With the spikes yet flying and the wall still spinning the party had called upon the plan to use sound to shatter the crystal death trap around them, however the first try a failure due to too much sound it was time to try with just the voices of two.

As Rayne moved to heal Haila and Tomiki stood watch Conall above and almost seemingly smothering Evie protected her with his whole body, her voice raising above the sound of the wall spinning and the spikes slamming into the walls around them. A sound that strangely had seemed to be getting less loud. It was here that Cor noticed for the first time that the walls seemed to mayhap be slowing down and incredibly the spikes seemed less in number, but as the parties plan of sound was already in motion, he chose to say nothing watching as Evie did her thing.

The Bard’s voice rose in cadence the decibels pure, but though the walls around them seemed to tremble they did not crack, the Bards voice still not enough somehow.
However having recovered her footing on the wall of crystal her claws dug in to hold her steady the Bat joined her voice, or more like her screech, to that of the Bards singing and things began to happen. The slowing wall trembled, it cracked and as the stress finally became too much, exploded into millions of tiny crystal shards. The force of the explosion’s concussion, turning the crystal shards into tiny missiles of death, slammed into the party at a speed faster then a charging knights mount to rip them apart leaving none standing, leaving for the moment, none to tell the tale.........................

FADE TO BLACK...........................................

Cor remembered hearing the singing and seeing the walls cracking and finally millions of beautiful crystal pieces. Beautiful and deadly as it turned out, then all went dark.

Now he was not sure where he was. 'Am I dead?' he wondered? 'If so, where is Odin? Should I not be standing in his presence for judgment?' His mind searched for answers, or maybe it was his soul that was searching he could not be sure. Thinking back on his days at the temple and his training he remembered one detail in particular. When a cleric of Odin died, his soul journeyed to stand before Odin and hear whether it would be granted eternal bliss or eternal torment. Surely if such was the fate of regular clerics then no less could be expected for the only knight-cleric ever blessed by Odin. Pondering this conundrum for what seemed a long time but in truth could as easily have been the blink of an eye, Cor came to one conclusion. 'I have been a faithful servant of Odin; all servants of Odin must stand before him for judgment when they die; Odin is not standing before me; I must not be dead.'

Who knew the truth? Perhaps no one but for now logic favored the old dwarf, then once again he was awake & aware.

He stirred, he moved, his small compact body a mass of pain, missing skin where the crystal shards had ripped it away, blood pooled underneath his body in a large circle, his armor and clothing soaked in it. Like something out of a horror movie the Dwarf Cleric gingerly stood covered head to toe in blood, drops of it falling from his yet open wounds.

His gaze at once traveling around the room he noticed that the spinning wall of crystal was gone, an open door was now 5 feet to the right and 5 feet below of where the false door had stood, the hole thought to be its keyhole positioned as if truly it had been and then his gaze fell upon his fellow party members, lying all around him, covered in their own blood, unmoving. Were they all dead? Was he the only survivor? There was only one way to find out. Moving quickly among them, his own wounds forgotten, However to his dismay he found only three yet living............

The Paladin Conall, The Ranger/Cleric Rayne, and the Samurai Kenji, all unconscious, all bloody, but each one alive!!

(DM OOC: Ok ya beat the trap but it cost ya lives, at least for the moment. Its now up to your leader/Knight Cleric as to what he wants to do next. Check the Trilogy Character thread for your characters status at this time. Any questions feel free to post them in the Q/A or PM me with them.

So a little bit of an explanation on this ending as I am sure a few of you are wondering, WTF?? & HUH??

The ruby was indeed the key to ending the test but like a ceiling fan when you turn off power to it, it still continues to spin several minutes until it stops. Same with the walls and spikes, the slower the turning of the wall the less spikes flying to the attack. Three rounds from the Ruby being inserted into the keyhole the wall would have slowed to the point of no spikes then the next round it would have stopped and would have revealed the hidden door out. Due to the exploding wall each member of the party took 60 points of damage and the force of the concussion knocked everyone out cold. By luck of the dice it was Cor who woke up first and as Keeper had already posted a nice WHA HAPPENED?? post I incorporated it within this one.

AS to why I did not post all this in one post Sat night, thats easy. With all the season finales last week on TV I thought a Trilogy cliffhanger sounded cool .

Ok Next Post, Next Sunday, depending on what Keeper does some of you may or may not be able to post this week. However if you are able to post please, please do so as you do have a say in what happens next.)

Paladin Conall, The Ranger/Cleric Rayne, and the Samurai Kenji

Cor began to feel pain; not an annoying kind that can be brushed aside but rather one that demanded attention now. Opening his eyes, the elder dwarf took in a scene of utter devastation. None moved save him. For the moment he managed to push the pain deeper and began to check on the others. Only three showed signs of life. As he finished checking on the last member of the party the pain came roaring back. For a moment, Cor was not sure he was going to remain conscious and he took a knee. Knowing that he was badly injured and that if he passed out again there might be no waking he cast a full Heal spell on himself.

Now that he was whole again, Cor set to work on the others. The living took priority and seeing as there was a great need for healing, Rayne was his first patient. Using his last Heal spell, he returned her to full health. As she recovered he explained to her what happened as best he could. "Now Lass, see to Kenji while I fix up Connel. Then we can set about trying to revive the others. I can bring back one today. Much as I hate the thought of taking such a chance, we must sleep and regain spells if we are to help the others."

Cor moved to Connel and took stock of his wounds. Like his own, the wounds to the paladin were severe. "This is gonna take a bit of time lad." Cor began to heal his friend: first he cast a cure serious which brought Connel around and allowed him to hear the explaination of what happened. In short order, Cor cast a Sure Srious, a Cure Moderate and two Cure Lights on Connel. "That should do you lad."

Finally Cor moved to Cynil. "We need the healing you can provide so come back to us lass." Cor offered a prayer to Odin that his spell would suceed. When he finished, Cor cast Raise Dead on her and waited. If he was sucessful, he intended to cast two Cure Serious, two Cure Moderates and a Cure Light on her to ensure she was fully healed.

"Rayne, raise who you wish. I will not tell you who to choose only remind you that whoever is raised today can rest tonight and memorize new spells. Without rest, there are no new spells and I fear one night may be all dare try. I do not wish to tempt fate and let the sword gain control of another."

OOC: Fate of the elvin cat?

DM Answer: Dead Unless you raise him too I guess? does not say you cannot

Rayne returned to consciousness wary of the echo of pain of of minute flying crystal shards that tore into her repeatedly regardless that she tried to duck down and cover herself and then all was black and the pain gone into nothingness. She heard Cor before she saw him he deep voice rumbled rather gently it seems to her. She gritted her teeth and cautiously raise up on her arms, relieved when she felt now searing pain. She looked down at herself, blood all over her, clothes shredded.

As Rayne recovered Cor explained to her what happened as best he could. Rayne was staggered for a moment by his words and all those that were lost. "Now Lass, see to Kenji while I fix up Conall. Then we can set about trying to revive the others. I can bring back one today. Much as I hate the thought of taking such a chance, we must sleep and regain spells if we are to help the others."

“Thank you, Cor.” I have healing spells and one Raise the Dead left.

Rayne nods in simple agreement and then makes her way over to Kenji carefully avoiding the bodies strewn about the walkway, They will deal with the fallen as soon as the living were healed. . Kenji is as cut up and bloodied as she was. The crystal slivers had wrought horrendous damage on them all. Once to Kenji’s side, she wasted no time. Rayne quietly invokes her Deity’s divine power. She feels the flow of divine power granted her this day and then lays her hands on Kenji to cast one Cure Critical, one Cure Serious and one Cure Light.

While Cor works to raise Cynil next, Rayne calls out, “Conall, adding your voice to pray and being there with her will help.” Rayne waits with Kenji until he regains consciousness. She is ready to offer a hand if needed though she is not sure how much assistance he will allow her to give him. What she knows of him indicates to her a quiet reserved man, who keeps much to himself and is not the sort to complain of pain and hurts. So she will keep a eye on him quietly,

Once Kenji was up Rayne moved over to Haila she could raise her today but not her familiar still Haila would need to rest to regain her spells. Rayne had to consider what was good for them all and not just Haila. However she silently promised that she would make every effort to raise Haila’s cat when the rest had been raise that could be. Rayne prayed first, a simple heartfelt prayer for the successful Raise Dead to bring back her companion so recently lost to them and now returned only to be lost again. “Corellon, Great One. I call on you to aid me to raise my companion. I have served you faithfully for many years. My need is great.” Then Rayne cast her Raise Dead and waits. If successful, Rayne will cast two Cure Serious and three cure light on her, if she needs them all.

Kenji stood his ground hovering protectively around where Rayne tried to tend to the dying Haila and even though he knew he was already gravely injured and that many more hits from those deadly spikes might just finish him off he was not afraid. Death was the ultimate end of the Samuari, death in service to a cause, usually it was his Daimyo but in this case it was a worth cause. He had given up serving Lords and hence was now called a Ronin, outcast of his clan, his people, his own country; but he had found other causes which he had considered worthy to die for and this one was such a cause.

His eyes grew large as the crystal walls began to crack and then as the cracks widened and the walls trembled, he suddenly thought ‘maybe this wasn’t such a good idea’. He had seen crystals break before and knew they often shattered and with their close proximity this could be trouble.

“Look out!” He cried as he turned his face away and covered Rayne and Haila with his body, but his cry was too late as thousands, perhaps millions of razor shards rip through all of them and as consciousness and possibly life slipped from him, he thought that today was a good day to die.

His eyes fluttered open and he wondered at what was happening as they focused on the face of Rayne bending over him. He offered her one of his rare little smiles, “If I believed in such things as Angels, I would think I was dead.”

He slowly sat up, waving off her offer of help as she might have suspected, and looked about, “But since I don’t….. we must still be alive somehow.”

“Thank you!” He said and gestured that she could tend to other more in need.

He sat there for a moment to clear his head somewhat, then reached out and picked up his swords and sheathed them before rising and looking about them at the carnage. Though he couldn’t help in the healing of people, once Cor and Rayne managed to heal someone enough that they would live, Kenji would offer his assistance to help them rise or aid them in any other way possible.

Green.

Every color of green imaginable and then some more that there were no names for, some soft and welcoming, others like emerald and viridian were vibrant, vivid, and all encompassing, spring and summer at their height, in a verdant environment. Splashes of bright color were shouting out from amidst the green, from patches of flowers growing in profusion, from bright birds and butterflies that flitted from tree to tree, and from flower to flower as she looked about. The awe and wonder of this green world surrounded and enveloped her, beckoned her into its outstretched branches, there was bright fruit hanging from laden trees, the full faces of the flowers turned their heads and seemed to nod to her like old friends. An iridescent blue butterfly lighted on her hand fanning its wings which flashed with purple and magenta, before it took off to feed on an upturned head of a bright red-orange flower.

Cynil took a step and then another on then deep thick grass and soft cushioning moss which dampened her footsteps. She took in a deep breath of this Green World and her body was filled with a plentiful treasure of scents. With those came an all pervading peace. She felt light as thistle down and ready to fly off into the green, losing herself in it, without a care to know where she was, nor why. The green feeling was indescribable.

Song birds wove intricately beautiful melodies, the sounds of insects and the calls of unseen animals filled her hear so that she no longer heard her heart beat. Even as she wanted to lose herself in the green she held back. The others must see this, amidst all the heartache and anguish of their trials, they too need the tranquility of this place.

Singing, such beautiful singing. Evie sang, and it most certainly sounded much better than when all of them had tried harmonizing their voices together. First, little cracks started to appear, and with what Ulthok could only think of as Cynil starting to screech her supersonic waves, for every halfling and the tall folk surely knew they wouldn't be able to hear a bat's screeching, the walls trembled even more and the cracks spread and then...BOOM!

Ulthok could only watch as each the wall became many upon many little shards of crystal, reminding him of once when he fled an elven forest. They didn't like him too much at that time. Their hail of arrows had blackened out the sun, but a quick teleport had saved him. He, however, knew that would not be the case here. Too much time would be needed and it was in the far reaches of his mind where as at that time it had just been on the tip of tongue.

The halfling's mind raced through everything, all his memories flashed before him in a mere moment in time. His first meeting of each of those that stood with him now. His watching as his friends died around him time and again and he escaped the reaper's scythe. But this time, this time of all times, Ulthok knew that it was unavoidable, that these shards of crystal would shred him into tiny pieces while he hoped that it wouldn't feel any worse than a cat's claws scratching him. Cause everyone knew that it hurt enough when a cat scratched you.

"Oh my..."was all that Ulthok was able to mutter as the shards ripped into his tiny little body, and he could not help but to think. Would these be his last words? Would they go down as being famous last words? Would anybody know that he said them if none of the group survived their scything? These were just the the thoughts that a halfling's inquisitive little mind would be thinking in this kind of situation, and then it all just went black.

Ulthok opened his eyes to standing in a green meadow barefoot, soft grass cushioning his feet. What is this place? Where am I? He could not help but to think on these matters as he heard laughter and saw the other halflings runnin and frolicking through the meadow, chasing each other and just having a jolly good time. I hope the others found their own places to be happy. Hopefully there will be others to keep Trilogy nice and good. These were his last thoughts as he took off after the others and decided to join in on their fun.

You are alive,” Rayne adds. Cor woke up first, then he found that three of us were still alive. He healed Conall and me; I healed you. Now, Cor and I will work to raise those who have died.”

While Cor and she worked to raise the dead, Rayne thought that giving the warrior something to do would be good for him since he seemed uncomfortable the first time she raised Divot.

“If you will help me, I would appreciate it. If ou will remove any of those crystal shards left that you can find.” Rayne suddenly reconsidered that he might also not want to be shunted off doing simple tasks. He was a proud man, he had never talked about himself much, or bragged in any way but it was he very quiet confidence that spoke louder than any works.. For that reason Rayne amended her earlier request. “If not, you could help me while I attempt to raise Haila. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow after I have prayed for the divine powers that my God grants me each day.”

Rayne gets up to move over to Haila, Leaving Kenji to make his choice as he will. She like this strange warrior. She had even though about showing min more of her world when they were through with this quest—in they survived. She wounder what a he would make of flying on the back of her Pegasus, visiting the capital city, or even visiting a true elven wood.

The thought of her Pegasus and her animal companions brought her a pang of their loss. Had they returned to the wild thinking her dead? She tried to work out the number of days they had been down here so far. It shouldn’t be that many days, perhaps three or four. Ir just seemed that the unremitting tests that made it appear like they had been here a long time.

With so many of the party dead the question for Cor, after fully healing Rayne, Conall and himself, was whom to Raise first. With only one Raise Dead spell in his inventory he chose to use it on Cynil as being a Druid she too had the ability to heal.

Rayne having just the one Raise Dead herself chose to use it on Haila, bringing the young mage back. Without any asking she fully healed her then turned to Kenji and using the last of her spells for that day did the same for the Samurai.

With both healing spells and Raise Dead spells depleted the only thing to do next was sleep to recover more and though at first it was hard getting there, the adrenaline still pumping through veins, and the fear of being dominated by the sword as Haila had been yet lurking in minds, at last sleep did come. Of course everyone having a healthy sample of Dwarf spirits, offered by Cor with refusal not an option, perhaps in the end did more then anything to help speed the process.

With the proscribed 8 hours over and for the first time the sword’s voice not in their minds as they slept, perhaps those same Dwarf spirits helping to block it, and all living party members fully healed it was time to Raise the last four, including the most important one, the Lady Althena.....................

(DM OOC: Ok short post but I wanted to get something up as promised. Sorry about the delay but with being tired over the weekend and surgery on my Toe yesterday to remove two ingrown toe nails on the same toe I was just not up to posting. Ok short week I know but next post this Sunday.)

“You are alive,” Rayne adds. “Cor woke up first, then he found that three of us were still alive. He healed Conall and me; I healed you. Now, Cor and I will work to raise those who have died.”

“If you will help me, I would appreciate it. If you will remove any of those crystal shards left that you can find.”

“If not, you could help me while I attempt to raise Haila. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow after I have prayed for the divine powers that my God grants me each day.”
Kenji adjusted his sheathed swords in his obi and turned to Rayne as she finished speaking he looked around the ruined chamber and at the fallen comrades who were still down.

“I don’t think the crystal is going to hurt anyone any more,” He said and turned his gaze back to her, “besides, I would like to…. watch.” He nodded his head to Haila who she was about to raise from the dead.

The Samurai was still a little uncomfortable with the whole ‘Raising the Dead’ thing, but he was learning more about this strange land and it’s strange people and there even stranger ways. Their magic was greater than anything he had seen before in his homeland; oh they had casts of magic too but they were not as prevalent and most warriors had no real use for them. Killing from a distance with spells was not honorable; but he would never tell that to his new comrades.

He recalled his shock when they had Raised Divot from the dead and he had been leery of some evil designs but the Halfling had been no further trouble, well no more than he had been before dying.

Kenji had seen much in this new land and he realized that if he was going to make a life for himself here then he had to learn and except their strange ways. He stood guard as Rayne cast her Raise Dead upon Haila.

After what could be done today was done, Kenji would offer to take the first watch on guard. He had drank some of the dwarven spirits offered by Cor, but not enough to impair his abilities. The warm liquor had help to ease some of the pain and discomfort that still lingered from his brush with dead.

When it was his turn to sleep he sat against a wall, his swords at his side, lowered his chin to his chest and closing his eyes was asleep within minutes. His sleep was undisturbed and he awoke feeling refreshed and much better. Rising he broke out some of the meat he still had from the kills he had made earlier. The salted meat would not be as good cold but should still be quiet tasty if a little salty. He would offer it around to the others, especially those that were injured or newly ‘raised’. Since there was only a little left, he made sure that the others had their portions, forgoing any for himself and if asked he would indicate that he was ‘good’ hoping they would take to mean that he had already had some when he was instead giving up his share to those in need.

"Haila," Rayne gently shook Haila after cast her only Raise Dead spell she had that day and gave her healing.

(reply Haila)

Rayne found a comfortable place to sit down and she prayed to he Deity. She knew that beside a bless or two most of her spells would be the healing spells and two Raise Dead.

"Thank you for you Divine Powers that you grant me each day they have helped to keep many good people alive in this trying quest. We seek to destroy and evil that should not be allowed to continue in this world. May my service to you and all you hold true be found favorable in you sight."

Rayne rest first and then took the second watch after Kenjo and rested again after Cor to take the last watch. She felt secure with these two on watch guarding them all while she and Haila rested.

The one great relief she had this night was the incessant voice of the sword was stilled. and her rest was peaceful.

She woke early though it was really impossible for her to know the time outside. She dug out her rations. Kenjo had alreadys when she joined him. HE had stood his swords next to him ready for actions if necessary. Rayne had prayed for enough time without interruptions to finishing Raiseing the others. At his offer of sharing his salted meat with her she nodded and responded with sharing her elven trail rations with him. The paste of nuts, dried, fruits and honey, and the elven waybread, had the advantage of being tasty.

"Thanks you." Kenji. Now you must share some of my rations as well. This is elven way bread, and this is a sweet paste of fruits and nuts and honey."

Rayne passes him a piece of way bread and spoons out a thick dollop of the paste to spread on the bread. It is held to be very sustaining and keeps well.

"Cor when you are ready I askes for two Raise Dead for today. and the rest of healing except for one bless. I will Bless out endevors.

IF you will raise Althena and Haila's cat I will do the same for Ulthok and Divot.

Rayne moves over to the small forms of Ulthok and his brother who had been laid close to one another. She Cast Raise Dead on Ulthok first, as he ws a user of magic, and then on Divot. (If they both raise then she cast cures on both until they are as full as she can get them.)

While Cor, Rayne, Haila and Cynil slept Conall and Kenji stood guard having been fully healed they saw no reason to do so, instead one napping while the other kept watched, each taking a four hour shift.

With sleep the voice of the sword for whatever reason did not come, instead replaced with the needed spells. Cor was glad of it as he, along with Rayne, were each granted by their Gods those necessary to bring life back to the party members yet dead. With two Raise Dead spells each it seemed that there would be no problem to raise the last four members of the party and at first that was so with Cor raising Althena and Rayne raising Ulthok. However as Cor moved to Evie’s side and again attempted the spell he found he could not cast it, something prevented its being used. Four times he tried and each time the spell did not cast perhaps, Cor thought quietly, somehow this was a sign that Odin father of all the Gods did not want him to raise the female Bard. Turning to the dead Niamedris he instead cast his second Raise Dead on the elfin cat not sure if such would work on such as he. But to everyone’s amazement the cat did live once more, and once aware of it, did quickly hurry to Haila’s lap once more.

However his attention on Rayne once more the Dwarf Cleric found he was not alone in this dilemma as Rayne too found she could not cast the spell to revive Divot. As had Cor before her Rayne attempted the spell six times and as had happened with the Dwarf the spell refused to cast. Why were these two fellow party members not to be raised, what magic stood between life and death as to block the spells, neither Dwarf nor Elf had the answer, and for now the two remained dead.

For the rest of the party with life did come the need for more healing as all were low in that, once again Rayne and Cor set to work healing all those now living up to full. Once completed the two Cleric’s were again out of spells of healing so it was decided to let the two rest and regain spells one more time before continuing on. Though this meant a total delay of sixteen hours it could not be helped clear to all that to continue forward without the needed healing was tantamount to slow suicide.

As the two Cleric’s laid themselves down to rest the others begin to set up small camp and soon had a fire burning and food cooking as it was to be another eight hours till Cor and Rayne would once again be ready to move. For the moment the biggest question among them, if after a second eight hours of sleep both cleric’s were still unable to raise Divot and Evie, what to do with the bodies. The two’s gear of course would continue on those that wanted an item could claim it, with the rest spread equally among the survivors for later use or sale.

But for now they waited, camped around a small fire, on two of the three most important party members before once again moving forward.

(DM OOC: Ok there you have it my post. Next post, Next Monday night please post as everyone still in the game is up and able to do so.
I dropped Fletch for not posting in over a month to the game and not responding to a sent email asking of his status.
I have one feeler out for a Divot replacement, however if the answer is no then Divot will not be able to be raised and the character, like Evie, will leave the game for good.)

"Thanks you." Kenji. Now you must share some of my rations as well. This is elven way bread, and this is a sweet paste of fruits and nuts and honey."
Kenji bowed to Rayne and took a piece of the way bread; he was not fond of bread usually as it wasn’t a staple of his diet back home and it’s thick consistence had a tendency to feel heavy in his gut but he wasn’t going to insult her by not accepting her offer.

He tried the bread and found it nothing like the others he had tried and nodded his approval. It was different and it gave him a rush of energy probably from the sweet honey and other proteins. He decided he liked this elvin bread after all.

While the others rested, Kenji took the time to find himself a spot away from the others, as much as this place would allow, and drawing his katana he moved though some iaito sword kata to loosen up and to focus his mind and be one with his blade.

When he was done he would settle down into a cross-legged position to meditate for awhile. Even though he might not appear to be alert, during these times of concentration and meditation, he was superbly attuned to his surroundings.

(OOC: If called upon for anything he will assist if needed, otherwise he is on alert and will stand guard and wait for them to move on.)

[i]The Bard’s voice rose in cadence the decibels pure, but though the walls around them seemed to tremble they did not crack, the Bards voice still not enough somehow.
However having recovered her footing on the wall of crystal her claws dug in to hold her steady the Bat joined her voice, or more like her screech, to that of the Bards singing and things began to happen. The slowing wall trembled, it cracked and as the stress finally became too much, exploded into millions of tiny crystal shards. The force of the explosion’s concussion, turning the crystal shards into tiny missiles of death, slammed into the party at a speed faster then a charging knight’s mount to rip them apart leaving none standing, leaving for the moment, none to tell the tale.[/i]

Haila’s vision had faded quickly turning black as her life was being played back to her in reverse, remembering the most recent events first. The reunion. The betrayal. The tasks. Each progressing much faster, as if her life were naught but a movie being rewound without stopping. Watching her life as an outsider, from the eyes of whatever Gods watched over them. Laying motionless where the blast had landed her, until the echo of a familiar voice pulled her from her current state now fast forwarding through the same memories she had just viewed.

“Corellon, Great One. I call on you to aid me to raise my companion. I have served you faithfully for many years. My need is great.” The words echoed into her mind as Rayne’s voice penetrated through the depths of the underworld and pulled me from its deathly grip. Consciousness returned slowly as words were heard but not comprehended. A sharp breath drew in as the woman’s lungs begged for air. Filling the lung, her eyes were slow to flutter open, as her eyes had to adjust to her surroundings. Her whole body ached, it felt as if she were submerged in a pool of lava. Head pounding, her vision was cloudy as only silhouettes were first seen. A woman was near her, and blinking away the foggy feeling she finally noticed it to be Rayne. A familiar feeling washed over her body as her friend had cast healing spells upon her. Thankful yet her lungs not fully replenished from the air, she drew in several deep breaths for her starving lungs. When finally she was completely aware of her surroundings Haila turned to Rayne and hugged her “Thank You Rayne.”

Feeling refreshed though a slight breeze swept over her body, a chill ran through her. In that moment she realized what had happened. Confused and cold, she realized that Rayne had summoned her God, to raise her from the depths of the underworld. In that moment she vowed she would one day return the favor of saving her companions life. Twice now she owed a profound debt to this spellcaster, and she was a woman of her word, she would find a way to release herself of this debt. Having realized that she had died, she went to work sorting out which spells she would memorize. Thinking hard on all the tasks in which they had passed, trying to find a pattern in which to perhaps foreshadow what awaited them through the next task.

After a moment she chose some spells to memorize, and she had fallen asleep quickly, as her pain and discomforts had washed away. The night passed quickly while she slept, and was awoken to the aroma of food. Her stomach growled in anticipation of the food to come. Slowly her eyes opened and fluttered several times as her eyes adjusted to the lighting anew. Haila rose stiffly from the uncomfortable ground and greeted her company with a nod of acknowledgment. Since the explosion her ears had been ringing, but after the sleep it was easier to hear clearly, just as last night it was easier to see clearer after a moment’s time. The smell teased her senses as she thanked her friends who were awake. After a quick morning snack, she sat up feeling refreshed yet still stiff from sleeping on the floor. Slowly finding her feet the woman stretched her throbbing limbs trying to replenish the blood flow from sleeping cramped up in a tight ball. Sitting back on the floor to await the rest of the spells to take effect, she contemplated their adventure a little while longer.

Lost in thought, her eyes shot to her lap as a sudden weight landed upon her lap. In that same moment a surge of happiness flooded the maiden. Her cat had been resurrected, and her world was slowly returning to the happier place it had been. Last night she was heartbroken when the “Raise Dead” spells failed to resurrect her love interest. Her heart breaking slowly at the realization that even at this point, Divot remained still, breathless, lifeless. Yet on the brighter side, she had her familiar, and for the moment, that comforted her sorrow filled heart. Patiently she sat, silently plotting as she waited through the night for the spell casters to wake. Dreading the thought of what lay ahead on their path to complete this task.

After a long moment her eyes floated to Kenji and she studied him gently, watching as he meditated. A small smile spread across her lips and her eyes closed as her head dipped low allowing her body to relax as she awaited the word that they were ready to move. A small part of her heart still hoping that Divot would live, yet she knew should he die, she would seek revenge, and she was sure even Death would not be able to claim her until her thirst had been quenched. Patiently waiting her eyes remained closed praying it was all a bad dream and that Divot would be awake when she opened her eyes next.