Friday April 19th 1428 Imperial Calendar
Calais heart was beating in his chest. He could see the opening that Enzo had made in the wall. A few strides would have him through the hole and rejoined with the others. At the moment he was ready to hurl himself into the hall and through the hole another thought gripped him. Back during the retreat from the bone naga, Calais has acquired the glasses of true seeing from Casper. It was his hole card. How he played it could change the fortunes of all.
Fate it seemed was playing to his hand. The serpentine sorceress had chosen his side of the hall to cross through. Burying his shoulder blades into the wall of the recess he held his breath. In a moment she passed by him unaware of him. He knew he alone could see her movements and when she stopped in front of the hole that Enzo had made she would soon make herself known to them. As she prepared to unleash dark magic on his friends on the other side of the hole, Calais could see his window of opportunity shrinking. Exposing enough of himself to draw his bow he reached for a trio of magic arrows. Feeling the near empty quiver an empty feeling loomed in his near conscious. The surprise attack disrupted the spell forming on the naga’s lips. Each shaft burring itself nearly half its length into the body of the naga. She craned her head menacingly toward Calais. A cold shiver gripped him. Enzo and Celeste took the initiative striking at the naga without relent. The wounds were visible now even in the shadowy half-light shining through the ice. She never stopped looking a Calais as she flew over the railing out into the darkness. Enzo desperate not to let the naga recover and renew her attack spat acid with all the force he could muster. Even though she was invisible to his eye he heard the acid splash against her scaly skin. A shriek in the darkness confirmed his attack. Seconds later he heard a sickening thud on wood and stone some distance below. The naga was dead.
Celeste took stalk of her party. Their wizard had been robbed of his reason and their cleric was dead. If they were going to complete this quest one or both of them would be necessary from a purely practical point of view. The loss of fellowship was not factored in to her reasoning. Dropping to her knees she called on her patron saint for guidance. Catherine was obliging considering what was at risk.
In a moment Celeste stood behaving like a woman possessed. With the simple announcement of “Follow me.” She started down the balcony into the darkness. Calais barked out orders to form up the group to protect her Celeste continued unwavering as she make her way down the hall. At the end of the hall she turned and started down a set of crumbling stairs. Mouse ran ahead of her trying to scout for traps. Celeste stopped before a set of doors marked with the symbols of the Inquitorious. With a cursory check for traps the group moved inside. The chamber beyond was horrific, by design. Black walls and a hard stone floor set with manacles framed a tall judge’s bench. Behind it a re curtain gave the courtroom a hellish visage. Here many had been judged and sentenced to suffer. This chamber seemed out of context in this holy abbey.
Crossing the room Celeste brushed aside the curtain revealing a door. Once inside she walked past an aging bed in this once posh bedchamber to a spot against the wall. Placing he had upon a stop a door opened in the wall. Inside she withdrew several items including a scroll, a communion wafer among other things. The wafer was able to restore Casper’s shattered mind, but the scrolls required an expertise beyond that of the paladin. With no other options, Celeste attempted to read the spells directly from the paper. The first fizzled without result. Two more chances. The second too failed. Last chance. The third worked. Life was restored to the Vorseman cleric.
Exhausted by the ordeal the group chose to recuperate here in the inquisitor’s bedchamber. Guarding in shifts each taking a turn. In the early hours before dawn Calais took his turn at watch. Propping himself up in the inquisitors chair out in the hearing room he marveled at the waist of time and energy.
Then a familiar smell permeated the room. Something akin to delicate heather after a morning cloudburst. The smell was intoxicating. Then across from him at the desk formed a shadow. Reveling itself to be the supple form of a woman. Not and ordinary woman but a succubus. Lilith had appeared, but not to see Enzo she said she was here to see him. He form was undeniable in its attraction. Calais was wary of the demoness, but intrigued at the same time. It wasn’t until she forced her hand in commanding him to return to his seat that her enchantment was broken. Drawing on the Madrigala blade he slashed at the demoness. He knew he had hurt the creature as she departed with haste. Something seemed off about the encounter. Lilith had never taken an interest in him before and he had never seen her use magic to hold sway over anyone. The noise of the fight brought Silverhawk and Celeste bounding into the room. After a brief exchange Celeste departed satisfied that the encounter was isolated and complete. Silverhawk on the other hand took advantage of the moment alone with Calais. Troubled and flattered by the succubus’s ruse of using her form to woo her fellow ranger.
Before the two of them had opportunity to really engage in conversation the temperature of the room dropped sharply. Undead! Calais whispered. The alarm was sounded. The remaining time before the dawn was spent putting a dread wraith and a Moorg to rest. Their tortured souls the result of the chamber beyond. Tortured and slain in the purification rooms of the Inquitorious. |
