Draconomicon Pt1

September 11th, 2007

Players: Silvathien, Baldemar, Hengest, Pinnos, and Runa.

Silvathien is at the discussed meeting place, just a couple miles west of the city proper on a steep trail that heads further into nowhere. He is leaned back against a tree with his dog at his feet, arms crossed while he patiently waits. The hour is late and the sky is dark, setting a foreboding air to the night's task.

Runa arrives, blanketed in her heavy wool-lined cloak. Her cloak, in fact, is the only recognizable thing about her, since her head is buried in the back of her hood. "Good eve, Silvathien. How goes?" Her voice is slightly muffled from the thick hood.

Hengest is audible for some time before he actually hoves into sight, clanking his way through the evening to approach Silvathien. A glance goes to Runa. "Seems you must be the fellow looking for local vigilantes," he comments by way of introduction. "Hengest, a priest of the Lawgiver. Thought I'd come and look into matters, being much inclined to return what was pilfered to the rightful owner." A brief pause, then, and words somewhat less diplomatic. "What is reasonably proven to belong to the person in the first place, at least."

Baldemar is walking along on foot, arms and sleaves crossed in front of him to ward off the night cold as the large scholar makes his way towards where the other group is assembled. He looks to to Hengest and gives a small nod to the man. He then looks over to Silvathien and gives a small smile. "I heard you needed people to help find some stolen goods. Now lets get one thing clear, I won't do anything illegal, which includes attacking men, even if they are criminals." he says with a firm nod.

Why they had to do this at night, Pinnos is at a bit of a loss to say; besides he's hardly dressed for cloak and dagger raids. Still, his in not to reason why, just yet, and when he finally comes clattering up the trail, it is with a singular purpose. His eyes pick out those gathered, one by one, and quietly, he offers his greeting, tagged onto the trailing words of Hengest. "...and I am Pinnos, devout of Kunnia, and ready to lend another pair of able hands, if I might."

"Greetings all around," Silvathien says jovially, pushing off the tree that's been his resting spot. "Since you are all here I take it your interested either in a little money, a little justice or maybe both.

Here is the job... a scholarly friend of mine, ancient by human years, has recently had an almanac of draconic knowledge stolen from him. It is titled the Draconomicon, and is worth quite a prize to the right bidder. This book was stolen from his courier by a group of murdering bandits. The courier and his guard were left butchered." He takes a deep breath and continues, "Long story short, that scholar happens to have Scryed upon these thieves and, while too infirm to fetch his book back, has offered us four hundred gold to split... that's eighty gold a piece, plus whatever we find in their rat's nest. We're to retrieve the book and teach them a lesson. They are dangerous, so if you've not the parts for this," he shifts, "please exit now."

Runa grimaces slightly at the tall, raucous man approaching in the night, noting his lack of stealth. She nods in turn to each of the men as they arrive. She smiles as she lifts her hood up so that her face can be seen. "I don't see why we couldn't help with that. Being an apprentice locksmith, I may be of some use is they are hiding this book inside of something."

Hengest rubs his stubbled jaw with a gauntleted hand. "Well, that seems plausible," he allows at Silvathien's explanation. "Being as I'm doubtful that the average lot of mountain bandits has lawful title to a lot of reading material. I presume you know where we're supposed to go and what the book looks like. Might do well to explain both to us on the way. I don't know about the other fellows here, but I'm rather doubting I can read whatever's between its covers to tell what it is."

Baldemar gives a small smile. "I can, Draconomicon you say? I must confess I will be interested in reading it before we give it back to your freind." he says before he looks to Silvathien. "But I will not attack them! Mind you if they attack me, I will gladly defend myself, with deadly force if nessecary." he says with a small nod, glancing to the two lawfull clerics before he smiles. "How are we getting to them? I have not yet had time to purchase transport."

After listening to the others, Pinnos wets his lips, rendered dry by the frosted night air. "Might I ask," he begins softly, clearly eager that his voice, at least, should not attract undue attention, even if nothing can be done for the clanking of his platemail, "Are we planning to subdue these thieves and see them arrested, or simply..?" He makes a pass in the air, a final gesture, though by the expression on his face, he clearly prefers the former option.

"Indeed, Runa! That's why I asked you to come along. Been careful though. Hengest, you will recognize it for its scaly cover and dragonic script, which I'm guessing both myself and Baldemar can recognize.

Baldemar... he may be inclined to loan it to you after it is returned, but I will be seeing it swiftly back to his hands once we have it. The man does not have long left in life, after all." Silvathien nods at Pinnos, "If we can get them out of there without having to chop them to pieces then that is fine, but..." he shrugs, "we shall see. I am not sure if you humans can make it out in the dimness, but the house the book was seen in during the Scrying is right over," he points northwest, indicating an old home within bowshot that can, indeed, hardly be made out with human eyes at this level.

The large yet rundown farmhouse is typical in its makeup of pine, tar and mud bricks, but atypical in its state of long disrepair. The wooden shutters are wide open, permitting a furry bat to dart inside the second floor through a window. The door rests ajar, looking as if its latch was crudely snapped off. There is a single candle burning low on the porch railing, but everything seems to be unlit and dark inside. A woven goat -hair tapestry, long since fine, is draped over the railing near the candle. A large reddish-brown stain can be seen on it in the flickering candlelight.

Runa rubs her chin lightly in thought. "I am not certain how we would arrest them. We could simply try to knock them out, but if it gets rough, I am not willing to trade my life for theirs." Runa nods her head once firmly. She scans the house through the fog. "Perhaps I should take a look first at the outside? Being that I am dressed a little darker, and I am not clad in armor?" She raises an eyebrow, and looks to the rest of the group for approval.

"You seem to be the scout here," Hengest allows. "Given that the precious few 'locksmiths' I've met with an adventurous bent seem to be blessed common inclined to prowling around other people's houses in the dark. The Lawgiver knows I'm no good for sneaking. I say Runa sneaks up, scouts it out, and comes back to tell us how matters lie."

Pinnos doesn't ignore Baldemar's question -- it's a perfectly good one -- but after Silvathien explains, mounts are clearly not an issue. He nods to the words, and gives a quiet, brief smile to bespectacled fellow, before his eyes flicker off to track the outline of the distant house. Nodding his agreement with Hengest's suggestion, and Runa's notion of swift justice, the half-elf seems keen to remain simply watchful, for the time being.

Baldemar gives a small nod. "Though you had best be carefull... " he says as he reaches into his bags and draws a crossbow. "If you need us call for us and we will ...defend ourselves. And I am sure he won't mind lending me the book considering I saved it for him." giving Pinnos a small polite nod as well.

Silvathien nods a few times slowly, "Sounds like we are ready. Give it a look, Runa." He smiles slightly at her, but there is a little graveness to his words for once. "Be careful. It's not your time for the storm to claim you." Pulling out his sword slowly, he rests it against his shoulder and peers at the house around the tree. "Wave us up if it is clear."

Runa smirks at Hengest, and erupts into a smile. "Hey, we all gotta make money somehow!", she says with a wink. She lowers her hood back over her face, and sneaks off towards the house, looping generously to the side. Runa waves in the air, motioning for everyone to join her.

Hengest creeps up towards Runa as stealthily as possible at her beckoning, breaking into a more normal pace only if it becomes clear that no stealth is required. Not that stealth is available even if it _is_ required, the big man moving with all the grace and subtlety of an avalanche passing through a mountainside scrap dealership.

Moving as quietly as he's able, Pinnos follows with the group at Runa's signal, taking the opportunity to touch Hengest lightly on the shoulder and mutter a few words to him. In the crisp night air, it's not hard to hear his words, though: "Son of the Lawgiver, do we favour your lord's prayer tonight, with mine own reserved for the wounded?" Clearly, he's eager to avoid any 'double casting', should things get hectic.

Baldemar is creeping up as well and he makes a small gesture as he does, whispering incantations in draconic before he places his hand on his chest and for a second a glimmer of what looks like green translucent armour appears on him for a moment before it fades. He smiles as he notices the other Cleric doing the same.

"I'll stand back and screen the wizard over there," Hengest replies to Pinnos, gesturing towards Baldemar with his axe. "I'll save my graces for healing. I'd wager you're more inclined to front-line fighting than I am, anyway, being as I am of a sensitive and artistic temperament."

Silvathien gives credit to elven gracefulness as he moves towards the house, but he is moving more quickly than quietly. Upon reaching the porch, he picks up what is left of the candlestick and carries it with him to the door. Peering through the crack of openness for a few moments, he pushes the door open all the way with a long CREEEEEEAAAAAK. Candle in one hand and sword in the other, he advances inside slowly, motioning to the others that it is clear with a wave of his sword.

Runa creeps inside slowly, examining her surroundings carefully, listening for the slightest of noise. She peers at the floor, windows, door, scanning the room with care.

The inside of the farmhouse is completely ransacked. Here and there are telltale signs of combat as well - like a sword slash just under one of the windows and a mostly-rotted finger that sits dismembered in the middle of the floor. The stairs that lead to the second story are in ruins, with half of the chimney toppled over through them, making the way up difficult at least.

Baldemar nods to Hengest and Pinnos, locking his crossbow into place and he frowns as he see's the signs of combat...crouching down to look at the finger. "Hmmm... " he whispers slightly, now that is unpleasent.

Pinnos smiles quickly, nodding graciously to Hengest, before once again assuming a more sober, business-like demeanour. He unclips his heavy mace, hefting its weight into a balanced position, before quickening his step to assume a front-rank position. Once inside, his eyes flit from shadow to shadow, as he's well aware of the likelihood of ambush. Bandits are unlikely to fight with honour, after all.

Hengest keeps next to Baldemar, axe out and a watchful black gaze around in the dim light. "Looks like someone had a quarrel here," he murmurs in the same low sotto-voce. The attempt at quiet is noble, but even standing still the slow creak of Hengest's armor is a jarring note in the quiet. "Runa, you going to check upstairs, or do we search for a trail outside?"

"The tome is in here somewhere," Silvathien mutters. "Let us poke around for it. I shall make more light for us to search with..." Setting the candle down on the floor, he rises and waves his hand over his broadsword, speaking arcane words with a little more force than his common ones. His sword begins to glow like a steadied torch, and he doubles up his grip on it. "My friend would not be wrong. It must be here."

Runa nods to Hengest. "Let me see if I can get over that chimney...but first let's be sure to search down here thoroughly," she whispers, trailing off. She seems distracted, as she continues to look from place to place.

Hengest works methodically alongside Baldemar, gridding up the floor into precise sections and inspecting each with a craftsman's patient care. His creaking halts, however, next to a section of flooring. "Runa, could you come and take a look at this?" he asks over towards the 'locksmith'. He gestures towards the boards with his axehead, the ends of the floorboards matching up with a neat evenness unlike the surrounding flooring.

Perhaps sensing something not quite right, Pinnos crosses to one of the windows to peer into the night, whilst the others give the interior a thorough going-over. But then, with the arcane light flaring, he winces a little, night-vision impaired, and the knowledge that this shack is now something of a beacon to anything lurking in the surrounding wilds. Possibly he's just paranoid, but all the same, he looks for some discarded sackcloth to cover one of the windows.

Baldemar is not looking as well as Heng is.. his eyes constantly distracted by every creak or flicker of a shadow, jumpy one him but he isn't really tough enough to survive a suprise attack. He looks down to the books though and raises his brow. "Are all of these yours?"

Removing a coin from his pocket, Silvathien repeats the same spell over it, causing it to glow in an almost identical fashion before slips it into a pocket. Looking over at Hengest and then Runa, Silvathien bends his knees as if expecting to be attacked by whatever it is that Hengest has discovered. On the ground there are clothes and blankets and pieces of furniture, all which could cover the windows to some degree or another.

Runa approaches the floorboard Hengest has pointed out quietly. She kneels onto the ground, and runs the tip of a dagger across it and around the edges, as if half expecting something to jump out of the floor at her.

Runa catches the lip of the board, which appears to actually be a trap door. Upon lifting it, she draws in a sharp breath. "Pit trap here. But there is a tunnel. If we are careful maybe we can get around it."

A long, seemingly hand-dug tunnel extends southwest from beneath the trapdoor, light by small candles from small recesses in the stone and dirt walls. It is relatively straight, but the roughness of the surfaces keeps the light from spreading well, making the place rather dim and foreboding.

Baldemar gives a small frown as he looks down to it and steps back lightly. "Hmmm .....think what we are looking for is down there?"

"Lead the way, nimble locksmith," Hengest encourages Runa in pious tones. "We are not all gifted with... well, being small." He glances over at Baldemar. "Presumably the men who stole the book knew about this tunnel, which seems as fine a place as any to store something valuable. If it's still here, it seems blessed unlikely to have been tucked upstairs by whoever killed them."

Eying the bedding Pinnos just found, he gestures to it and offers, "Can we use this to cover the pit? If it's set to impale unwitting feet, we'd best do something about it." Clearly this is mostly meant for Runa, though he speaks to the group.

Silvathien just stands there watching, but he does smirk a good deal at Hengest's commentary. "Can we get around it, Runa? Or do we need to fix a rope?" He peers down into the tunnel and frowns, "I don't see a pit trap...."

Baldemar gives a small shake of his head. "Let her work, hopefully we can get around whatever...this is." he says as he stands and slowly walks away from the pit, making sure not to get in her way just in case it does trigger floor spikes. "Does that finger belong to the thief or to the people who killed the thief."

Runa slips on the edge of the pit entrance, and falls into the darkness. Runa tries to drop some boards carefully over the edge of the hole onto the pit trap. She looses her balance and slips into the darknes. It appears that Runa has fallen twenty feet. Luckily, she landed on some padding and didn't hurt herself too badly. Still, she is now in a twenty foot deep pit.

"Hammer and tongs," Hengest sighs as he reaches for the nearest lengths of blanket that don't look to be too threadbare. The big man twists them swiftly into a crude rope. "Silvathien, could you shine your light down there and fetch her up if she's hurt? I can haul the two of you up." The end of the rope is dropped down, the priest shifting to sit and brace himself at the top of the hole, with one boot on the far edge.

Baldemar gives a small wince and he leands over. "Are you hurt?" he says in a worried tone... "Well we might have to go down there but hopefully she hasn't hurt herself too much>;

Pinnos lets out a stifled gasp of dismay as Runa does her vertical disappearing trick. Hengest seems to have read the Kunnite's mind, however, and he moves to give the fellow a hand with binding them together. Seems these will prove useful after all.

Pulling out the coin he's just pocketed, Silvathien drops it after Runa with a wince. "All well down there?" He lowers his voice, "Alright," he grabs the end of Hengest's 'rope' and says. "Tell me when you're ready and I'll repel down and have her grab my legs or some such." Despite the situation, the elf grins widely.

Runa calls up, "I am fine - all that's really hurt is my pride!" A faint giggle can be heard coming from the bottom of the tunnel, followed by, "Ooh, that's gonna hurt in the morning..."

Baldemar frowns. "Wait wait..before we get her out, someone toss her a light. We need to make sure that we aren't all going to need to get down there in the long run."

"Looks like the young lady landed without breaking anything important," Hengest comments towards Baldemar as he leans, putting the end of the rope within Runa's reach. "Now to fetch up our locksmith and her makeshift lantern. We can get some good braces across that pit now and see what's down the tunnel."

"Our friend already did," notes Pinnos, with a nod to Silvathien. At the same time, he busies himself with tying the last few feet of blankets to a good anchoring point, such as a bedpost. This done, he's free to take some of the strain, and lower the star elf into the pit.

Silvathien looks down again, "Looks like it is long enough! We can just pull her up and then use this, uh, rope? to get across that pit and see where this tunnel leads. Ready, Runa?" He wraps his wrist around the rope and prepares to heave, "Everyone ready? Heeeeave."

Runa grasps the lit coin firmly in her hand, flipping it once. "Okay. Should I leave this in here so we know what to avoid?" She reaches up towards the top. "Ready!"

Hengest heaves along with the others. "No need," he answers, the big man's muscles like corded ship's cable. "We'll just tie this makeshift rope around your waist as you work, so you don't fall in again. Really, I should've thought of that before you took your tumble."

Baldemar gives a small nod before he moves to also try to pull on the rope, over at the end even though he knows he dosn't have too much strength for it.

Pinnos merely applies his own strength to the task of heaving, eager to get the woman out of danger, and on with the search.

With the men all giving a good pull on the makeshift rope Runa practically flies out of the pit, but the 'rope' does make a tearing sound at one point despite the fact that it holds together. Runa reaches the trap door safely.

Silvathien puts a hand on Runa's shoulder and smiles at her, almost the same height as the human woman. "Maybe I was wrong about the storm and you." Chuckling is restrained from growing into mad laughter. "Let us get around this...."

Runa smiles at everyone. "Thanks - I really didn't want to spend too much time down there. Maybe there is something a little better, and actual rope perhaps, upstairs? I would hate to have this rip in the middle of someone swinging over. If it tears at my weight, I can't imagine what it would do to someone else."

"Wish I would've thought to bring along some rope myself," Hengest grumbles as he scavenges among the debris, joining with the others in such efforts as they might make. "One of Kivi's simplest blessings is to make a rope obey, so you'd think I'd actually bring one...." He does what he can with what he finds.

Baldemar eyes the slightly torn rope before he looks back to the others there. "Hmm well we could always do the bit with the matress... or check upstairs and see if there is any manner of resources there?"

Pinnos eyes his own and Hengest's armour, afterwards giving the chain of blankets a rather dubious look. He's rather at a loss as to how he's going to get down there, as he's got no intention of stripping down to his quilted underclothes. "The mattress idea gets my backing," he nods grimly.

"Luckily there were no spikes. Definitely not kobolds down there... bastards put spikes in everything!" Silvathien randomly comments as he picks up a half of a wooden couch with a grunt and throws it down into the pit, demonstrating more muscle than most would expect out of the slender elven race. Looking at the others, he points out, "What Baldemar said. We should be able to just fill it up and throw a mattress on top of it, right? Unless it is a very /hungry/ pit." The corners of his mouth turn up at this.

Runa begins grabbing random furniture, clothing, boards - anything really - from the room and tossing them into the pit, following Hengest's and Silvathien's lead. "Hopefully now if someone does fall again, it won't be as far or painful!"

There is a fair amount of crashing as the wooden couch hits the bottom of the pit and breaks into quarters.

"I suppose that if you can't bail it out, you might as well fill it up," Hengest agrees in philosophical tones as he turns to aid in the pit- filling, most objects not too sturdily affixed to the floor enlisted in the labor.

Baldemar nods as he does so as well, trying to keep an eye to make sure he dosn't toss anything too valuable or old in there, last thing he wants to do is destroy a priceless antique.

With a resigned shrug, Pinnos grabs a few cushions and a handful of clothing, chucking it down the chute with little ceremony. With all and sundry clattering into the darkened depths, they probably take with them the element of stealth and surprise; but still, it's progress.

It isn't long before the main floor is practically empty of debris, minus some bricks from the chimney, and the pit is mostly full. It is now a mere eight foot drop to the ground - the height of the tunnel, it would seem. Silvathien turns towards Runa, "Do you think there are more traps down there?" He gives her an encouraging smile, "No more slippery boards this way, it would seem."

Runa lightly laughs, "If there was one here I am sure there are more. At least it'll be easy to get back down. I am going back down now." She grabs the end of the sheets, glances to Hengest, and asks, "Could you please hold on to this for me, just in case?" She tightens the makeshift rope around her waist, and slowly edges down into the pit.

Hengest keeps a firm grip on the makeshift cable, his shield-hand employed in the work. Small as Runa is, one hand is all the towering priest needs to be sure of the matter.

Meanwhile, the half-morthidar keeps a watchful eye on the entrance, looking quite pallid in the white light spilling from Silvathien's sword. The Kunnite's mace has once more been clipped to his belt, though his shield is readied. He'll likely be one of the last to go down, since all that heavy equipment will need to be passed down to waiting hands first. Let's hope it comes in useful, this night.

Baldemar is also standing near the entrance.. looking down at the rubble nervously...hands raised to fire off a spell if he notices anything coming to get the charming thief.

Sheathing his sword, Silvathien simply lowers himself into the hole until he is hanging from the trap door edge, then lets himself drop the last few feet onto the filled pit. The tunnel is long, and of particular interest sixty feet away, where bones can be barely made out by the humans due to their lacking low-light vision, but the half-elf and elf in the group can easily tell that there are a few full skeletons laying on the ground, one of which is a horse. The corpses are all surrounding a foreboding smooth spot in the tunnel floor. Silvathien draws his glowing sword again, allowing the humans to see as well as he and Pinnnos are.

Runa touches down and the furniture/clothing mound seems to hold firm. "I think everyone will be fine from this point. I am going to check for more traps and head down towards the tunnel." She wraps the "rope" further around her waist, and tucks the end into her makeshift "belt". She then heads to the tunnel entrance, checking for further traps.

Hengest hies himself down lastmost, big as he is, trusting to his simple size as he grips the edge of the hole and lowers himself. He keeps close to Baldemar all the same, axe out and shield ready as he screens the wizard.

Baldemar tries the same, gripping the edge and jumping down with a loud UMMPH... he sighs lightly as he glances down the length of the tunnel. "Hmm bones...and a horse, how in 3 of the 9 hells did they get a horse in here."

Passing his shield and mace down first, Pinnos clambers down to join the group; otherwise silent, his presence is announced by his distinctive metallic racket. His eyes scan the tunnel ahead, its shadows retreating from the arcane light of Silvathien's sword, and he notes the bones with a humourless smile. The 'smooth spot' is of particular note, though he leaves Runa to investigate for now.

"By being very burly fellows with notably large appetites?" Hengest suggests dryly as he keeps his eyes on the surrounds. "I'm thinking maybe they picked the wrong house to hide out in."

Silvathien shadows Runa protectively, staying a mere five feet behind her and looking more than ready to bring his sword down against some foe. He follows her towards the bones, eyes wearily watching that smoothness between all the bones.

Surprisingly, however, it is few steps before the smooth spot that Runa's foot depresses in the ground, sending a shower of dirt and an arrow from her left, which grazes across her left shoulder, just being a glancing blow.

Just a few paces behind Silvathien, Pinnos slows suddenly, cocking his head. A mailed hand is held upwards in a sudden gesture, and his hssts in that universal adventurer code for 'silence'. Two fingers extend and he stabs them off into the distance. "At least," he whispers, indicative their could be more.

Runa grabs her shoulder and winces slightly, jumping back. She looks up, looks down, and looks slightly confused. She holds back at Hengest's words, showing a little fear for the first time. She passes this area and cautiously proceeds down the hall.

Hengest does not move, the gesture enough to still him. Even so, he glances to Baldemar, plainly ready to get between the wizard and any unwanted company coming along the tunnel.

There is utter silence in the tunnel as the dust settles, exposing an arrow launching trap in the wall that shows no signs of resetting.

Baldemar makes a few small gestures and whispers and he touches the bolt on his crossbow before covering it with his hands, drawing said crossbow and looking in the dirrection the cleric pointed. If anything did try to attack from the darkness, it would soon become their lightsource.

Silvathien reaches out, placing his hand on Runa's shoulder that is /not/ shot up, attemptive to pull her back behind him with a shake of his head. "You have been beat on enough. I will take the lead for a bit,

I suppose.' He is whispering very quietly, eyes not leaving the darkness at the tunnel, which curves a little to the right another eighty feet away. He begins to walk forward, eyes ahead, when all of the skeletons around him leap to their feet... even the horse.

Since the arrow trap is spent, Pinnos steps cautiously past it, intent upon joining Silvathien's side, and most of his attention on the tunnel ahead. With a whispered prayer upon his lips and pass made to the open air about the group, he next draws his mace, hefting it and ready to strike out. There's a strange stillness in the moments that follow, a gentle thrumming not quite external but more of the mind, focusing one's thoughts to the battle ahead.

Baldemar gives a small grunt as he suddenly spots the bones begin to rise. "Dammit undead, swords and arrows are no good." even as PING he shoots his crossbow which misses terribly, the glowing bolt landing on the ground somewhere, giving some light behind them.

Silvathien, needing only a brief moment in surprise before he is ready to fight, taking a large step in and swinging his sword overhead in both hands, crashing it down towards the closest skeleton on his right, one of the humanoid ones, and shattering it back to a pile of bones on the ground. There are now three humanoid skeletons, one with nine fingers, and a skeletal horse.

Hengest steps before Baldemar just after he pulls the crossbow trigger, screening him from the restless dead about them. His axe is up warily, holding his ground against the skeletal creatures that approach.

Runa steps back and tosses a dagger in the direction of the skeleton nearest her. A plink sounds as it bounces off the sturdy bone.

Hengest's axe comes down as a man-shaped rattle of bones lurches for him, crushing the skull and ribcage with brute violence. The bony horse tries to sidle past the priest, but as its ivory flanks move by, he hacks it brutally in turn, bone chips flying- yet the horse remains standing.

The skeletons, once arisen, lash out at the intruders without thought or mercy. Silvathien dodges out of the way of one bony hand as another stabs into his torso, provoking a shout of rage out of the elven man.

The undead horse and another skeleton attempt to lurch past Hengest, the smaller falling as the larger takes a blow and widely misses Hengest's head with a pair of bony hooves. The last skeleton feebly swings at Pinnos, not even coming close to the half-elf.

The skeleton's feeble swipe give Pinnos little pause; he's fought worse undead than this. He brings his mace wide as the tunnel wall will allow, aiming to batter the abomination into next week. Sadly, he too connects only with the stale air.

Baldemar gives a small growl. "Blasted undead, who is foolish enough to toy with these." before he turns to the horse and makes a gesture with his hand, hissing something in draconic at it as a burst of blue light flies from his hand and strikes it in the ribs, knocking peices of some of them off but not really damaging its structure. Quickly his hands go back to his crossbow to load it up for the next volley.

"By the Lawgiver, they grow them big down here," Hengest grunts as he swings at the beast- yet dry bone gives no purchase to his axe, and his struggles don't seem to damage the skeletal horse any worse than it's already chipped. "Baldemar, keep behind me!"

With a pushing kick, Silvathien causes the clawed fingers to leave his torso, following it with another powerful downward stroke, taking out most of the ribcage of the skeleton that wounded him, but not felling it.

Runa steps back and tosses yet another dagger, which stops upon hitting the wall behind the skeleton. She appears nervous, looking behind her, as she is running out of space to move away.

The feeble skeleton fighting Pinnos finally manages to land a blow against his shield, to no avail. Silvathien takes a clawing to his exposed right shoulder once his sword hits the dirt. Pressed for space, the skeletal steed lashes out as Hengest with his teeth, not managing to find purchase but ramming the human with a considerable headbutt.

The Kunnite's kite shield is doing a fine job keeping at least one of the skeleton crew at bay, and away from the rest of the group. Sadly, Pinnos is entirely concerned with the task, and his mace swings remain perfunctory at best, right now.

Hengest curses in rolling Dwarvish tones as his ribs get loosened by a crash of the undead creature's bony skull. "Let me part your hair, you whore son misbegot of a circus gnome and a trained pony show," he snarls as he brings his axe down. He is not a graceful man, Hengest, but between his own wrath and the blessings of Pinnos' enchantment, the blade bites true, crushing the horse's forequarters into bony shrapnel. The beast collapses.

Baldemar gives a small grunt as he fires his bow and tries to move behind the man, the result however being a loud PING as his bolt deflects off the side of Hengesh's armour luckily not really going through. He reaches into his bag quickly, pulling out a small bottle of bright blue liquid.

"Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee!" Silvathien roars as he shoves his sword into one of the skeleton's eyesockets with two hands, then pries left, sending the skull bouncing down the tunnel as the rest of the creature falls to pieces. He whirls around behind the single remaining skeleton, which Pinnos has valiantly held off this whole time, flanking it.

Runa seems frustrated as she firmly throws another dagger at the skeleton that remains. It sticks in it's chest for a brief moment, then falls to the floor. Runa is 15 feet behind everyone else at this point.

Ting! Shlik! The feeble skeleton suddenly lurches forward towards Pinnos, managing only to grind its clawed nine-fingers against his shield ineffectively.

Spurred on by Hengest's victory of axe over bone, Pinnos shoves the skeleton backwards with a thrust of his shield, bringing his macehead round a second later to connect firmly with its head. The skull shatters on impact to fall about it as so much bone confetti, and there the body remains, briefly scrabbling at the cleric's shield, before collapsing into a pile of bones.

Hengest grimaces as he straightens from his fighting stance, ribs aching beneath the dull metal splints of his armor. "All right," he grunts, "who's bleeding the most around here?"

Baldemar watches the other men hack the bones to peices and he gives a small frown before he places the acid back in his bag, walking over to one of the skeletons. "I am fine, tend to the others." taking a shard of the bone and examining it closley.

Runa sighs in obvious relief as the last of the animated bones hits the ground. "That one," as she points at the last to fall, "must be the proud owner of the finger that is upstairs. I wonder who the nefarious person is that is controlling the will of the dead!?" She walks over and picks up her three thrown daggers from the ground. She then looks around, to see what direction the tunnel leads next.

Silvathien turns around to face the others with a mad smile, blood dripping down from his chest and one shoudler. "Best fight I have been a part of in WEEKS!" He takes a deep breath and exclaims loudly down the tunnel, "You hear that? We are coming for you, thieves! Your undead minions have been DISPATCHED!" He then leans back, laughing long and loudly.

With the Lawgiver's servant quite able to see to the wounded, Pinnos holds the front rank, ready to hold off any more potential attackers. "Some Vintermor farmsteads were plagued by such magics only a few weeks ago," he murmurs. "And though we left the culprit out for the wolves, I wonder if this is somehow connected?" He shares little of Silvathiel's humour, but then that's Morthidar for you. Always so serious.

"From a wild guess, some bastard necromancer hired the lads to go fetch him the book, and decided they'd make better servitors than creditors," Hengest suggests as he crosses over towards Silvathien. "Because the average mountain bandit sure as Hells isn't going to go breaking into a wizard's house to steal a particular book. But if so, would it sitll be here?" A hand rises towards Silvathien, limned faintly with the pale gray radiance of a healing spell.

Baldemar glances over to the bolt on the ground up ahead as he pockets the bone shard casualy and stands up. "I would be inclined to agree. I say we go after him then." Visions of a necromacy filled spellbook dancing in his head. Such wasted potential in reanimating that horse really....there were so many better animals to be reanimated after all. "Lead the way when ready." loading alother crossbow bolt into his weapon/.

Still enthused, Silvathien narrows his eyes at Hengest thoughtfully. "You may be right! I had assumed they were hiding it here while they waited for a buyer to come by or some such." He doesn't flinch or pull away from the healing, seeming quite used to people with strangely glowing hands. "Looks like they're cornered now, though. You still got that coin, Runa?" He looks over to the young human woman.

Runa sighs deeply. "We have to keep heading forward. I am going to continue searching for traps." She begins making her way down the hall, being cautious as always, listening and looking for trouble and traps.

As Runa glances about for more traps another patch of ground is depressed, just ten feet in front of where the fight with the foul undead happened. The shower of dirt sprays from her left, hitting Pinnos mostly and accompanying a loud TING! as an arrow bounces off his armor and somersaults twice on its way to the ground.

"Nice armor," is all that Hengest comments, basso voice mild as he brings up the rear with Baldemar. "I need to get me some of that."

Pinnos begins to advance in the wake of Runa, keeping far enough back so as not to cramp her style. And hopefully to avoid the next pitfall or pressure plate she'll no doubt stumble over. His half-elven eyes hunt the darkness ahead, and so it's with quite some surprise that he notes the arrow tinging off one of his paldrons. "Uh, yeah. Let's try to be a little more careful, hm?"

Baldemar steps back as he hears the ping and he sighs lightly. "My bolt should provide a nice bit of light if anthing but lets go slowly and carefully....this place seems more dangerous then we guessed."

Silvathien takes a deep breath after he is healed, "Many thanks! I am renewed to continue our swathing path of destruction towards our goal! ...and justice." He adds the last part as an afterthought and looks at Pinnos. "You wanna go first, arrow blocker? I will watch your back." A broad grin accompanies the remark, as well as a poke in the back, urging the half-Morthidar forward.

Runa sighs flatly. "I told you I am a locksmith. If anything, this proves it. Otherwise I would be finding these before they went off..." She looks disappointedly at the ground, but continues forward. She is looking carefully at the ground for any sign of places to NOT step. "I am really sorry, but I am just not great at this." She looks apologetic as she frowns. She falls in just behind Pinnos.

"You're doing better than I would, Runa, so I've no cause to complain," Hengest points out with the reasonable tones of a man who hasn't been shot by any arrow traps today- just wizards. "Just a little further, I'm sure, and we'll see whatever we need to see."

Pinnos quirks a brow at Silvathien, 'arrow blocker' hardly having been in the job description -- but he is hardly in the mood to argue, here in the death-trap strewn tunnel. Besides, it -is- nice armour he's wearing, and so it'd be a little mean not to put it to use for the group. He nods a quick agreement and steps onward, in the gloom. There's the briefest of smiles to Runa, enough to show he knows she's doing her bit.

Baldemar gives a small shake of his head. "Nonsense... you are doing quite alright." he says gently before he crouches down a little, trying to make sure he can scoop up the glowing bolt when they get to it and warry. "Wish there was a way to know how long this goes."

Surprisingly, perhaps, there is not another trap triggered as the group travels down the tunnel to the bend. Around the bend is only another twenty feet of tunnel before the the tunnel widens swiftly into a fairly well-lit, circular room. Four archers are standing there in wait, arrows nocked and pulled - a human and a dwarf with longbows and another human and a halfling with short (and shorter) bows.

"Not much longer at all, I'd imagine," Hengest provides in his mild basso fashion. "It's a dirt cutting, and they're temporary by nature. Even with the shoring on this one, it's not going to last for lo...." and that's about when he notices the company.

Runa smiles at the encouragement, and continues in silence down the tunnel, following Pinnos. She seems intent on looking around and trying to find things and then they round the bend. A look of complete surprise crosses her face as she realizes that they are looking at a room full of pointy things.

Oh... bugger. Pinnos has the lead of course, though he's damned as to why he didn't spot the waiting archers a little earlier; probably the various magical light-sources playing merry hell with his eyesight. There's little else to do than present his shield in the way of the impending hail of arrows. "Come quietly," he offers them, "And you'll not be harmed." Damn. Perhaps Morthidar really do have a sense of humour.

The two with shortbows launch arrows without hestitation, aiming for the cleric in front immediately, trying to kill Pinnos before he knew what happens. His sentence isn't even finished when two arrows deflect off of his armor.

Blinking a great deal, Silvathien recovers swiftly, again, and rushes a spell. He then runs at the two with the longer bows, trying to reach them before they fire and doing so just barely.

Runa charges in with Silvathien for a flanking maneuver, but misses her target completely and moves past him.

Hengest is screening the wizard- but there's no screening the wizard from bowmen. Said bowmen have a much harder time firing with an axe- wielding war priest in their face, so Hengest bellows a Dwarvish war cry as he charges for the shortbow-holding halfling. His shield is a battering ram as he crashes into the little fellow, smashing him flat against the wall before he rebounds. The halfling's on the floor and almost- but not quite- unconscious. "Caster!" he yells in hoarse warning, a flick of his helm to his right.

The necromancer, skull in hand, points a finger at Hengest as he rushes past, bubbling words of evil drawing a green light around his hand before he blasts a smokey ray at the war-priest, to no effect.

Baldemar frowns as he hears that word and the sound of words and he begins to run foward, aiming his crossbow as best he can and he fires off a bolt which imbeds itself into the mans leg. Enough to hurt and cause a loss of blood but not really going to do much vital damge.

Both the dwarf and the human, each wearing split mail, try to dance back out of the reach of Runa and Silvathien in order to use their bows and then, after they've fired, drop them to pull out their bastard swords, remaining side by side. The human barely flinches at the shot to his leg, looking like the poster child of hardened bandits. One of their hastily fired arrows hits Baldemar solidly.

Both arrows thud into Pinnos's shield, as good a cue as any for him to close ranks and start handing out some Kunnite justice. There's little in the way of showmanship from this half-elf, though; he's just looking to knock out teeth and break bones, this night. Being one of the slower has its advantages here, since with the shouted warning from Hengest, and the sight of the sickly green ray arching from the shadows to strike the priest, Pinnos's path of charge is set: he rushes the necromancer, bringing his mace up over his head and then down, firmly crashing into the mage's shoulder with a sickening thump.

The halfling, with panic, grabs for his tiny rapier and tries to poke Hengest, but the shield has him too pinned against the wall to be effective. His human companion, however, smoothly turns towards Pinnos just after he strikes the wizard, hitting a weak point in the man's armor.

Silvathien brings his sword high, moving in on the human with the split mail, the one with an arrow in his leg, and then swings low in fake, taking his opponent's unwounded leg off just above the knee. An explosive scream joins the cacophany of noise as the armored man hits the ground.

Runa yells with rage as she misses yet again, stabbing at the archer. "Damn it all!" She swings around and readies herself for a defense, if it's necessary.

Hengest doesn't spare breath for curses or threats- he just brings the axe down on the prone halfling, savagely splitting the little figure into almost two equal halves. Not quite, however- the priest is not so careless as to bounce his axe's mirror-bright edge off the floor. He turns and clangs with a chorus of splints as he gets opposite Runa, a luckless archer between the locksmith and the blood-drenched priest.

The necromancer is careful to not let his guard down as he casts a spell in desperation. His pale, sweaty face wrinkles in concentration as he weaves his arcane magics together, and, sweeping his arms out, sends a black mist out about him, sending Hengest, Runa, Pinnos and the surviving rogue all into a terrorized panic.

Baldemar howls in pain as he is shot in the stomach and he looks up, all pleasent demenor gone. "I am going to RIP you to shreads!" he howls as he runs into the room, looking around for the necromancer who just sent his freinds away and his eyes catch the man, hands raising to wait for something.

The dwarf, seeing his allies fall rapidly and chaos ensue, screams out, "You'll not take me alive, ya ice-eating trrroll lovers!" He swings mightily, gettign a solid cut into Silvathien's stomach as the elf jumps back and underestimates the reach of a bastard sword.

As the third arrow is let loose to bury a few inches into Pinnos's back, the half-elf lets out a cry of pain and anger. Having faith in his companions not to leave his back exposed for long though, he remains intent upon the robed figure before him, keen to knock the man out cold, before he can bring any more magic to bear; not to mention any more skeletons. Too late though, the arcane words are spoken, echoing through the chamber and resounding in the cleric's mind. His wail of frustration turns to one of despair, joined by several others, and he turns tail and flees back down the tunnel.

Silvathien takes a step back, caught off guard by the ferocity of his opponent. Using the moment before the dwarf leaps towards him to best advantage, he casts another spell, smile widening on his lips.

Hengest whirls about and flees madly down the tunnel, the only thing saving him from a knife in the back being the rogue's similar terror. Curses in a language even more earthen than Dwarvish rattle from the big man, terror and fury mingling in a mix that sorcery ensures leaves fear the stronger.

Runa runs blindly towards the tunnel, unable to stop herself. She flees in terror after the others.

The wizard, seeing his number of opponents drop for the time being, turns towards Silvathien with a sneer, sweat heavily beaded on his forehead as he casts with a dislocated shoulder. Acidic words announce another flash of light, this time thin and bright and shooting straight into Silvathien. The star elf shrinks visibly, muscles becoming less powerful as the green light crackles through his body.

The dwarf's leap is too long, giving the wounded and weakened Silvathien enough time to raise his smaller sword and deflect the potentially mortal blow.

Baldemar had been waiting for the moment the other began to cast and with a scream in draconic a line of ice shoots towards the man, hitting the wall behind him with a crackle. Baldemar roars in anger and reaches into his belt again, this time pulling out the small blue bottle from before.

More slowly than usual, Silvathien lifts his blade as if he /needs/ both arms for once, and just barely manages to slide along the dwarf's side as he lands, not getting very deep through the armor with his now-puny limbs.

The necromancer is rushing towards Baldemar with one hand outstretched, muttering another of his spells of darkness with emotional intensity as one caster charges the other. Then he is hit in the face with a vial of acid and he begins to SCREAM like a banshee as he takes a wild swing as an sickly yet bright orange glow emits from his hand, swinging it down with what must be a certain hit there is a sizzle of magic against magic as his hand, instead, bounces off of Baldemar's Mage Armor.

The angry dwarf spins with an outstretched leg, catching Silvathien in the side of the knee before he brings down his bastard sword into the sildar with a full-blade slice across the chest. Silvathien hits the ground hard, possibly dead.

Baldemar gives another scream of agony as he begins to chant and his hand begins to turn blue and shrivel.....like a drowned mans withered hand. Still screaming he swipes at the other mage with it and only catches his robes which now have a black hand imprint in them. Baldemar's hand returning to normal.

The necromancer scampers back a few feet, horribly disfigured from the acid but somehow still remaining on his feet. Raising his hand, he mutters a few arcane words before sending a Ray of Frost at Baldemar, chilling the younger wizard slightly.

Baldemar screams in agony as the bolt hits him right on the cheak, causing the skin to crack with the cold and muttering in elvan he begins to make gestures with his hand as reaches into his belt and pulls out his dagger. His eyes glowing a dark blue and filled with murderous intent.

The dwarf looks about and sees only one opponent left, not knowing there are others heading back just around the corner. He moves in guilefully, rather than charging, and sends an overly cautious swing of his sword at Baldemar, hitting the hard-packed dirt ground in front of him, instead.

Here comes the cavalry; Pinnos would likely prefer to have had the rogue subdued, but this is the wild frontier, and there's little time to mess about. Fresh from helping beat the fellow senseless, he emerges from the tunnel again, crossbow at the ready. The bolt flies, burrowing an inch or so in the necromancer's foot. Ouch.

Runa screams as she sees Silvathien lying on the floor. "Bastard!" She runs at the necromancer, and plunges her dagger deep into him, ripping it out harshly.

Hengest comes around the corner with blood in his eyes, a dripping axe in his armored fist as he charges for the one clear target before him- the dwarf. Perhaps it's the darkness or perhaps it's the uneven terrain, but the axe carves a wedge of dirt out of the tunnel walls rather than a divot from the dwarf's head.

The necromancer falls to the ground, entrails spilling out with Runa's dagger. A green-scaly book drops from his robe as he slumps over, falling to the dirt floor with a heavy thud and opening to a random page of draconic script.

Baldemar raises the dagger over his head, ready to charge the wizard when suddenly he feals the breeze of an Axe near him and he turns in rage, the blow glow in his eyes flashing as he brings down his daggar into the mans shoulder for a quick Jab before he pulls it out. Not enough to kill but it must hurt a decent amount.

The dwarf can't help but tell that he is about to die - wounds covering his body - but rather than drop to a knee he spins full-circle and slashes Hengest solidly, roaring out a mighty warcry as he attempts to take as many people with him as possible.

With the dwarf decidedly set upon, Pinnos takes the opportunity to rush over to the prostrate form of Silvathien, kneeling there and lifting the elf's head gently. He mutters a prayer to Aegis, and a familiar silvery -grey light flows across the man's form, pooling about his wounds and vanishing with them a moment later.

Pinnos says,"******** ***** ****** ********" He appears to be speaking in a language you do not understand.

Gasping for air, Silvathien jumps to his feet with his sword coming up to strike Pinnos - but he stops as he recognizes his 'foe'. Turning towards the dwarf that felled him, he pulls a trick dart out of the pommel of his sword and mutters a spell, blood no longer spurting from his body.

Perhaps Hengest is still dizzied from his adrenaline-soaked terror, but that gore-crusted axe of his swings wide over the top of the dwarf's head.

Runa swipes the text from the ground and runs towards Silvathien. "Somebody do....something!?" she yells with desparation and then confusion. She stops running mid-stride, seeing Pinnos at his side, and then watching in amazement as Silvathien rises to his feet. Tears start to run down her face, "My dear friend....I thought...." her voice trails off. A huge smile crosses her face, and she momentarily seems to not realize that the dwarf is still in the room and quite alive.

Baldemar lunges foward, hoping to plunge his own dagger into the dwarves throat but as the dwarf turns to swing he scrapes his knife against the mans helment, growling. "So help me, if you don't die now you will die very slowly for the next WEEK!"

Spinning back towards Baldemar, the dwarf yells, "Nevarr!" and shoves his sword through the human wizard, pulling it out with a gory slurp and turning towards Pinnos, who he sees reviving one of his 'kills'. He roars with anger and raises his sword high, ready to kill everyone again, it seems.

Now that there's one less elf dying on the ground, Pinnos steps up to the dwarf, drawing his mace in a practised move and bringing it to bear upon the crazed lunatic. It clangs against his flank, but does little in the way of harm.

Still weak, Silvathien pulls back his trick little dart and lets fly the throw of his life, striking the dwarf directly in his left eye - killing him. The elf then slumps to the ground, laughing weakly as his fancy masterwork dart gets thoroughly blooded.

Hengest lurches towards the downed wizard first, hand coming up in luminous gray as he wheezes the words of a prayer to the Mountain Lord, that sinew and bone should be knit again like the roots of the world.

Baldemar looks down however at the large gaping hole in his cheast and he frowns, cocking his head almost with academic interest as blood begins to pool in his mouth and then he begins to fall foward that hand touches him and the wound begins to heal. Weakly he brings himself up to his feat and then spits his mouthfull of blood down at the downed dwarf before he turns to Hengest. "Thank you..." he says, his voice still not quite at its best.

Runa runs to hug Silvathien, first shoving the book into his hand. "I am so glad you are okay! Thank you, Pinnos." She turns to smile at Pinnos mid-hug. After a moment, she turns to him, and extends her hand in friendship.

"You know, Baldemar," Hengest mutters as he looks around for more injuries on his party-mates, "we have _got_ to do something to make you look less wizardly."

The wizard apparently seen to, Pinnos has a few prayers of his own to offer up, touching Hengest as he passes him, and then seeing to Silvathien once more. "That was quite the bullseye," he notes with a quiet smile. Just over his shoulder, the dwarf lies there stiff as a board, the dart sticking from his face. The Kunnite nods graciously to Runa, shaking lightly. "purely my duty," he says softly.

Baldemar gives a small laugh which causes more blood to gurgle out. The wound may be closed but his insides are still cut up, he still has an arrow in his stomach and his face is cracked with cold. "And loose my sense of fashion?" he asks before he spits another mouthfull of blood at the dwarf.

Still laughing, Silvathien looks down at the Draconomicon as he does his best to not get his blood all over it. He shakes his head wearily, "That was /certainly/ harder than I thought! Well dug out bandits, the bastards were!" He leans back, laughing some more. "We did it, everyone! HA! I cheated." The last part is in reference to his bullseye.

Runa wipes her brow after the handshake. "That was so close! We worked together well. I really feel guilty that I couldn't help more. Damned necromancer." She turns one last glance in his direction, and spits on the ground.

"Absolutely, Runa! Well done you rascal!" Turning towards the others, Silvathien holds the book up, "Anyone have a backpack? I would /dread/ this getting bloodied. It is irreplacable!"

Pinnos, now that people seem to be breathing steadily again, busies himself with finally trying to remove the arrow sticking out of his back-plate. "Could uh... someone get this for me?" he mutters, stumbling around irratitably.

Runa says, "I can wrap it in my new fancy belt!" She then giggles a bit, and holds out her hand. " Time to head out then, eh?"

Baldemar gives a small nod to Pin as he feals himself healing more...pulling the arrow out of his stomach with a grunt and weakly hobbling over to the book. "Is it the right one? Open it....if it isn't we need to keep going." he hears Pinnos' comment and looks around expectantly, he knows next to nothing about healing so he isn't really the one to do it.

Distracted already and looking down at himself, Silvathien frowns. "Was that spell permanent? I feel as puny as a sick gnome." He laughs at this, handing the book to Runa and saying. "Sure, Pinnos. Come over here."

"Remember, kill, _then_ pillage," the priest of Kivi provides helpfully as he moves to give the other cleric a hand with his armor. "I'm doubting that pale and waxen here kept nothing more than this book on him. Though I'd recommend we camp here for the night and rest a measure before we finish searching the place out."

Pinnos wanders over to Silvathien and sets his back to the fellow, hunching down slightly. The arrow sticks up rather absurdly, waiting to be yanked. "Your strength ought to return in time," he comments, "I've seen this affliction before."

Baldemar gives a small nod. "He didn't seem far much more powerfull then I am..... I don't imagine he can permenantly hurt you in that way. He can hurt you permenantly in other ways though." he says as he walks over to the necromancer and calmly takes his knife and slits the man's throat, making absolute sure he is dead. "Shame he dosn't have his spellbook on him."

"Good!" Silvathien exclaims, but is still stronger than the average man by a good deal. Grabbing the arrow by the haft, he takes a deep breath and gives it a clean pull back towards himself with a grunt. "Out! So... we should drag the bodies away from here before they stink... /worse/." Runa unwraps her multiple layers of thick sheet-belt, folds the book into it several times, and then wraps it around her waist again. "Well, yeah, I'd love to have a look around and see if there's anything else here, but I think we really need some rest. After all this work, we should hope to find something." She smiles and exhales deeply - long enough that it sounds like she'd been holding her breath for the whole fight.