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| | {{Infobox RPG session | | {{Infobox RPG session |
| − | | Title = {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|27}} | + | | Title = {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|28}} |
| | | Campaign = Rise of the Runelords | | | Campaign = Rise of the Runelords |
| | | Image = {{Rise of the Runelords logo}} | | | Image = {{Rise of the Runelords logo}} |
| − | | Episode = 27 | + | | Episode = 28 |
| | | Date = 2009 | | | Date = 2009 |
| | | GM = [[User:Starfox|Abbe]] | | | GM = [[User:Starfox|Abbe]] |
| | | Characters = [[Dorothea]]<br>[[Honeypot]]<br>[[Nathaniel]]<br>[[Nell]]<br>[[Velicia]] | | | Characters = [[Dorothea]]<br>[[Honeypot]]<br>[[Nathaniel]]<br>[[Nell]]<br>[[Velicia]] |
| − | | Prev = {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|26}} | + | | Prev = {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|27}} |
| − | | Next = {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|28}} | + | | Next = {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|29}} |
| | | Episode list = [[Nell's diary|'''''Rise of the Runelords''''' chapter list]] | | | Episode list = [[Nell's diary|'''''Rise of the Runelords''''' chapter list]] |
| | }} | | }} |
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| | [[Category:Rise of the Runelords]] | | [[Category:Rise of the Runelords]] |
| | <!-- Tag --> | | <!-- Tag --> |
| − | ''In this chapter {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|27|summary}}.'' | + | ''In this chapter {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|28|summary}}.'' |
| | | | |
| | <!-- Synopsis --> | | <!-- Synopsis --> |
| − | == {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|27}} == | + | == {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|28}} == |
| | | | |
| | Early in the morning I was woken by Velicia. She was unbearably spirited. | | Early in the morning I was woken by Velicia. She was unbearably spirited. |
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| | on. The weather kept the same or worse and even though it didn't rain we | | on. The weather kept the same or worse and even though it didn't rain we |
| | still got wet from the fog. As we got closer to the coast we noted that | | still got wet from the fog. As we got closer to the coast we noted that |
| − | on a small rise there was a manor standing near the edge of the sea. As | + | on a small rise was a manor standing near the edge of the sea. As we |
| − | we approached it got colder. Before we reached the manor we stopped to
| + | approached it got colder. Before we reached the manor we stopped to |
| | prepare ourselves. Honeypot cast some rituals including message and | | prepare ourselves. Honeypot cast some rituals including message and |
| | after some discussion, protection from necromancy on Nathaniel. | | after some discussion, protection from necromancy on Nathaniel. |
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| | As we thought the sobbing came from upstairs we took the stairs to the | | As we thought the sobbing came from upstairs we took the stairs to the |
| | immediate right in the hall room. | | immediate right in the hall room. |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Upstairs ===
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In the hallway beyond the stairs there were several doors. The first we
| |
| − | opened were double doors past several other doors. Dorothea and Velicia
| |
| − | entered, while I stood in the hallway by the door. There were a lot of
| |
| − | paintings all covered with cobweb and dust. Velicia used her magic to
| |
| − | clean them off and suddenly it got very cold in the room. So cold that
| |
| − | there were ice crystals forming on the walls and the paintings started
| |
| − | to change. There were three on the right wall and five on the left. On
| |
| − | the right there were paintings of two women and a man in the middle.
| |
| − | Small name plates read Lorei, Vorel and Cassandra. In the paintings
| |
| − | their faces rotted away. Vorel burst out into the whole room. On the
| |
| − | left the names were Cyralee, Traver and three children, Zeeva, Aldern
| |
| − | and Sandeli. When those changed Traver's throat was cut and blood
| |
| − | poured from the picture. Cyralee, a beautiful woman with red hair,
| |
| − | looked like she got burnt and broke. Aldern turned into monster, but the
| |
| − | girls didn't change. I suggested that perhaps that's what have happened
| |
| − | to the people in the paintings.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Continuing on through the room and another set of double doors in the
| |
| − | other end there was the master bedroom. When entering I noted a shaving
| |
| − | kit with a very beautiful silver shaving knife, that I thought moved. I
| |
| − | felt a massive feeling of loss, like I had just lost someone very close
| |
| − | to me. I couldn't quite explain it as I've never had anyone to loose. I
| |
| − | reached for the knife but Nathaniel had already taken it and was looking
| |
| − | at it. I still wanted to hold it. Velicia got to look closely at it but
| |
| − | not me.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Velicia somehow didn't like my curiosity and took me back out to the room
| |
| − | with the paintings. As I didn't like that room I continued out into the
| |
| − | corridor. Next we looked into the last room with double doors. In the
| |
| − | room there was a couch facing the sea with several large windows, but
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| − | they were painted with scary pictures, blocking the view. There were also
| |
| − | some instruments. I didn't like the windows so I left for the corridor. I
| |
| − | walked left, from where we came, and stood outside a door. There was no
| |
| − | one there and I hesitated and returned to the doorway to the music room.
| |
| − | I didn't want to be alone. The others were finishing up fooling around
| |
| − | with the instruments. Dorothea said I should check some other rooms so I
| |
| − | returned to where I came from.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I went back towards it and suddenly it felt like I had been there before.
| |
| − | It felt very familiar. Nathaniel followed out into the corridor and kept
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| − | an eye on me. As I opened the door I could hear a child crying. I entered
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| − | and Nathaniel joined me. I realized that it was me crying and I knew that
| |
| − | outside the room, further down the hallway, my parents were fighting.
| |
| − | They weren't just screaming at each other but physically fighting each
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| − | other trying to kill each other. I knew that whoever would win would come
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| − | into the room and kill me too. I hid under the bed. Then my father walked
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| − | up to the bed and leaned down to look under it. He held a knife in one
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| − | hand and reached in under the bed with the other trying to grab me.
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| − | Suddenly I realized that it was Nathaniel holding his sword and grabbing
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| − | my leg pulling me out from under the bed. I could have sworn that it was
| |
| − | my father, and I hardly remember what my father looked like. I was
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| − | breathing heavily and had tears in my eyes. Nathaniel said I looked like
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| − | I had seen a ghost. I stuttered some vague answer that I thought I heard
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| − | people fighting in the corridor and got scared.
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| − |
| |
| − | Dorothea joined us and looked at me stranger than normal. Then she told
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| − | me to follow her and dragged me into that room with the paintings that I
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| − | didn't like. She stood me against the left wall next to the paintings of
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| − | the girls, and backed away. Velicia joined us, and Dorothea asked me<br>
| |
| − | "What did you do when you were three years old?"<br>
| |
| − | "I don't remember that. Do you remember what you did when you were three?"<br>
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| − | I answered. The others seemed to think that I might look a little like an
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| − | older version of Sandeli, but I protested by telling them<br>
| |
| − | "But I'm from Magnimar."
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| − |
| |
| − | Velicia said that something was part shadowfell. I have no Idea what she meant by that.
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| − |
| |
| − | The next room was a guest room filled with mold. Dorothea put a
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| − | handkerchief over her nose and mouth and entered. She said that the
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| − | mold attacked but she knew it was an illusion. Velicia said that I still
| |
| − | looked pale and very shook up and consoled me.
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| − |
| |
| − | [[Image:Undead rat.png|left|thumb|Ghouls in front of Foxglove manor.]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The next room we looked into was a bathroom. In the middle there was a
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| − | heavy looking iron bathtub. Someone wondered<br>
| |
| − | "How strange to have a bathtub on the upper floor."<br>
| |
| − | Velicia entered the room to look in the bathtub, but before leaving the
| |
| − | doorway she heard some creaking and grabbed hold of the door post as
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| − | the floor gave way. When the dust settled we peeked down. It looked as if
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| − | there was a bathroom below too and the tub landed on another tub. There
| |
| − | were strange scratching sounds coming from below. We figured it was a rat
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| − | trapped in the other tub, and sure enough soon a rat found it's way out
| |
| − | and sat up sniffing upwards toward us. It was horribly disfigured,
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| − | missing half it's face and obviously ghoulish. Velicia quickly filled
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| − | both rooms with her magical fire burning everything in there, instantly
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| − | killing the rat.
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| − |
| |
| − | Then we continued along the hallway which ended in two doors. Dorothea
| |
| − | tried the left one but it was locked. Nathaniel, Velicia and Honeypot
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| − | tried the other and found a room where all the furniture was smashed to
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| − | pieces. Most of the room was broken as if hit by someone with a sword in
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| − | rage, but a painting looked to have beem spared, but hung the wrong way,
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| − | facing the wall. Dorothea unlocked the door and told us there were stairs
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| − | leading further up behind it. Velicia used her magical hand to turn the
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| − | painting on the wall from a distance. It was a painting of a woman that
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| − | looked different from most of the others of the Foxglove family. She had
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| − | raven black hair and a definite rhenne look.
| |
| − |
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| − | [[Image:Iesha Foxglove.png|left|thumb|The painting of Iesha Foxglove.]]
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| − |
| |
| − | Nathaniel, Honeypot and Velicia went up to the painting to get a closer
| |
| − | look. Suddenly Velicia backed away and Nathaniel struck out at Honeypot,
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| − | missing her wildly. Then he snapped out of it. There was a name on the
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| − | painting, Iesha Foxglove. It seemed to be no older than a few years.
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| − | Velicia turned it facing the wall again.
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| − |
| |
| − | We continued up the stairs. The first room we looked into had a broken
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| − | roof. There had been some repairs done, but there were much still needed.
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| − | Then there were several storerooms, followed by a bedroom for servants.
| |
| − | Those had not been used for a long time. The next room was some kind of
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| − | study. There were a desk and chair. Two windows were facing the sea and
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| − | as before were painted. There were a knocked over telescope and a
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| − | trapdoor in the roof that had been tied down with several wraps of rope.
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| − | The room had probably been used as an observatory earlier.
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| − |
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| − | The next room was yet another bedroom for servants. The sobbing was
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| − | coming from this room. There was a mirror leaning against the wall. In
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| − | front of it was a woman sitting staring at herself in the mirror,
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| − | sobbing. Dorothea who had been first, entered muttering something about
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| − | taking care of our own. She tried talking to the woman but she seemed
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| − | unresponsive. I asked if she was a ghost but Velicia or Dorothea
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| − | answered that she wasn't insubstantial, whatever that is, and that she
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| − | probably was some other sort of undead being. Nathaniel moved the mirror
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| − | and turned it facing the wall. The woman screamed in anger and swore a
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| − | curse at Aldern. I readied my dagger and got prepared to defend myself in
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| − | the doorway where I stood. Iesha, as we had guessed that the woman was
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| − | stood up and walked out of the room with firm steps. When she approached
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| − | me, I opened the door behind me and backed into the room taking cover
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| − | behind the door post. She walked right past me and the others followed
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| − | her closely. Velicia stopped in front of me and stared into the room I
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| − | was in. I looked behind me discovering that it was a library with magical
| |
| − | things and quickly left, dragging Velicia with me.
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| − |
| |
| − | She led us downstairs, through the entrance hall, where I noted a strange
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| − | monkey head with something in it's mouth and a big mold spot on the
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| − | floor. Avoiding stepping in it we continued down into the cellar. As
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| − | Iesha stopped slightly opening a door we were attacked by hoards of rats.
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| − | They came from everywhere flooding the room. I didn't stay to check but I
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| − | guessed they were as disease ridden as the one we saw earlier so I threw
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| − | my dagger killing one, making the rats next to it hesitate a little, and
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| − | then retreated back up the stairs. There were some fighting downstairs
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| − | and I saw Nathaniel move into view below the stairs. He was sweeping wide
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| − | with his burning sword killing several of rats with each sweep. Velicia
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| − | also did something similar with her elven longsword and soon lots of rats
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| − | lay dead all over the floor. I returned down the stairs and threw a
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| − | dagger into another moving rat as I moved on following Iesha. But before
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| − | I could catch up Honeypot ran past me. Soon I was back to second to last.
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| − |
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| − | We followed her through a room with more painted windows. There were a
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| − | lot of broken glass and cages with dead rats in them. As we went down
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| − | another corridor I noticed an increase in stench of rotten flesh. I felt
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| − | a chill and called out a warning, but I don't think anything happened up
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| − | front. The corridor led to a structure that was older than the rest of
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| − | the house. A new set of stairs spiraled down.
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| − |
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| − |
| |
| − | === Downstairs ===
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| − |
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| − | The stairs ended in a cave. Iesha continued on and we gathered closer
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| − | around her. I had a bad feeling about those caves and sure enough there
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| − | were ghouls hiding along the walls trying to ambush us. I threw my dagger
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| − | into one making his black blood pour out. I then moved to the other side
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| − | of our group next to Nathaniel. The ghouls gave out a cry and charged us.
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| − | One attacked me, his strike pinning me in place with fear, but my new
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| − | cape made sure I disappeared and appeared a few yards away. It completely
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| − | fooled it making it vulnerable to my attacks. I used it's confusion to
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| − | throw my dagger into it's back causing a deep wound spilling some awful
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| − | goo. Nathaniel easily killed the heavily wounded monster. Honeypot played
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| − | a melody that made every one of us dance. Even I stumbled a few steps on
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| − | my limp legs.
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| − |
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| − | We were killing off the ghouls and winning the battle, but Iesha never
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| − | stopped or cared about the battle and we were loosing contact with her.
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| − | I threw my dagger again but lacking any good opportunities I missed. I
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| − | looked around but couldn't see any more enemies. That gave me my strength
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| − | back. But soon there were more ghouls coming from the way Iesha went.
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| − | Honeypot ran past me into the middle of the new ones and exploded in
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| − | light. Nearly all of the four new ghouls were dazed by the effect. I
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| − | threw my dagger into one of the affected ones wounding it severely and
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| − | used the confusion to sneak into a corner of the rock walls and hid.
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| − | The ghoul I wounded charged passed me. Velicia joined our fight charging
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| − | past me as well and into the middle of the remaining ghouls attacking the
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| − | one that avoided Honeypot's effect. Velicia was bleeding and looked very
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| − | worn down so I moved quickly around a ghoul to get to her, once again
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| − | thanking Honeypot for the lightness of my feet, pouring the last of the
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| − | healing potions I got from the group in her. While throwing my magical
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| − | dagger into one of the ghouls I saw Honeypot disappearing into the tunnel
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| − | following Iesha. Nathaniel joined in and struck down one of the ghouls
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| − | and I stabbed the last one felling it. I quickly and quietly followed
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| − | Iesha and Honeypot into the darkness.
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| − |
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| − | The tunnel soon opened up into a big cavern with a strange glowing pool
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| − | deep down in the middle. Honeypot had whispered that there were goblins
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| − | in it below the surface, but I didn't see any. There was a way leading up
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| − | from it spiraling around the whole cavern and a door half way around.
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| − | That was where Iesha and Honeypot was heading. I quickly sneaked along
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| − | the wall catching up with Honeypot. Nathaniel stormed into the cavern
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| − | lighting it some with his burning sword. Iesha had reached a the door and
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| − | tried to open it but it was locked, so she beat it down with surprising
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| − | ease. Honeypot followed Iesha in but I threw a dagger in the back of one
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| − | of the goblins when they exited the pool rushing toward Nathaniel, before
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| − | I followed her.
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| − |
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| − | [[Image:The Skinsaw Man.png|left|thumb|The Skinsaw Man.]]
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| − |
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| − | When inside the door I hid and continued down the tunnel toward a
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| − | candlelit cavern where I heard fighting. When I peeked around the rough
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| − | stone wall next to Honeypot I saw Iesha furiously attacking a strange
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| − | looking monster that vaguely reminded me of Aldern. He had no hair, big
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| − | pointy ears, greenish skin and a very long tung. He had obviously turned
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| − | into a ghoul, but still wore fine clothes. From next to him he grabbed a
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| − | painting and held it up to Iesha. It was very much like the one we had
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| − | seen hanging facing the wall. Iesha screamed and lost most of her spirit
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| − | when faced with the picture of herself alive. I thought of throwing my
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| − | dagger into him, when Honeypot stepped right out into the room. Aldern
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| − | said<br>
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| − | "You came to me! Let us consummate our hunger."<br>
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| − | "What are you doing with that wench?"<br>
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| − | she answered him, approaching him. Hopefully she had some kind of plan.
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| − | I was still hesitating when I heard something behind me. Quickly I
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| − | stepped out into the tunnel throwing my dagger into a surprised goblin
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| − | ghoul killing it. Nathaniel joined us in the room but stepped straight
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| − | into it and didn't hide.
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| − |
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| − | Iesha seemed to cower from the painting and lost some initiative in the
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| − | fight she had been winning, but still managed to tear at him with awful
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| − | looking claws. Aldern on his part didn't loose spirit as he called his
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| − | minions to come to him and assailed his dead wife with blows and tung.
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| − | Honeypot used that moment to trick the painting from him saying<br>
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| − | "Would you prefer her to me?" holding it up next to her and then turned
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| − | and ran behind Nathaniel who advanced to attack.
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| − |
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| − | The goblin ghoul I just killed raised up, but I was too much in the fight
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| − | to get scared then. I ignored it, taking a few steps forwards, while it
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| − | flailed wildly missing me. Instead I concentrated on my dagger,
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| − | activating it's magic. I threw it hard, hitting Aldern in his belly. As
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| − | it returned I immediately threw it again this time hitting him square in
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| − | the chest. He fell to the ground gurgling.
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| − |
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| − | "Argh... Save me... The Hunter is coming for me... He's riding me... Help me..."<br>
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| − | He reached a hand toward Honeypot who couldn't resist but ran up to him
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| − | taking his hand. Noting that the fight was over Nathaniel left the room,
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| − | telling me<br>"Make sure he's dead."<br>as he passed. I ignored the
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| − | goblin ghoul who tried to attack me and joined Honeypot at his side.<br>
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| − | "Where are your sisters?"<br>
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| − | "The Skinsaw cult own me... They manipulated me..."<br>
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| − | "Your sisters? Tell me!"<br>
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| − | "One married and moved to the Greater Kingdoms... The other was taken by Ironbriar..."
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| − |
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| − | Then he was interrupted by Iesha attacking him, killing him and as he
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| − | died she turned to dust. Honeypot ran out to the others. I followed with
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| − | a heavy heart and killed the goblin ghoul on the way out. I was filled
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| − | with questions.Was I the little sister of Aldern?<br>
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| − | Was there any truth to Dorothea's joke?<br>
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| − | Have I just killed my own brother?<br>
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| − | What about my parents in Magnimar?<br>
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| − | Was my memory from the nursery my real memory and not one of the
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| − | strange spooky things this house did to us all?<br>
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| − | I ''was'' taken by Ironbriar, but I escaped.<br>
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| − | It might just be true.
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| − |
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| − | In the large cavern Velicia and Dorothea had had a hard fight against
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| − | the other goblin ghouls and all the ghouls we had killed before that
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| − | had been raised by Aldern earlier, but they had been victorious.
| |
| | | | |
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