As I feared before setting out upon my journey, this day proved a long and perilous one; for while there is much good to be said of my friends and companions, there are times when their general preference for bold action outstrips my own. In itself, perhaps this is not such a bad thing, as my own adventures for hire never did amount to much, but on this particular occasion, one rash decision very nearly cost us our lives.
I should be careful, however, not to let the later events of the day overshadow its beginning, as the discoveries I made more than make up for the subsequent danger. When I awoke, and indeed for most of the morning as I made my way back to rejoin the others, I found myself overwhelmed with thoughts on the significance of the dwarven rituals I had witnessed.
The dwarves, of course, are a notoriously secretive race, and so I was not permitted to attend any of the more important ceremonies, but even what small parts of the rites I was allowed to be present for intrigued me. I feel I have learned to a very small degree something of dwarven culture, and beyond that, come to better understand this marvelous world of ours.
Key elements of the ceremonies proved to be quite similar to both the human and elven rites of which I am more familiar, yet in other crucial ways they differed significantly. It makes me wonder how much we do things simply for the form or habit of doing them, and how much of what we do truly connects with the magical forces that we can now reliably call upon. It brings to mind still another mystery of those dark years without magic, for were these rites and rituals merely empty when for all we knew there were none of these higher forces available to us?
Alas, after its mysterious return, we are left with more questions about magic and the nature of the world than when it seemed lost forever. I remain firmly committed, however, to the principle that our various races should strive to learn from one another in order to better understand our world. After all, if not for my being able to witness even a small part of these dwarven rituals, I would know far less of the workings of nature and the impact of culture upon our various worldviews. Indeed, this recent experience leaves me more repulsed by the Albertan project than ever.
I find I have strayed, however, from my narrative of the day’s events. My return trip to the cave was, fortunately, uneventful, and upon my arrival I could see that my companions had left signs for me to follow. Remembering how dark it had been inside the cave, and not wanting to be ambushed by followers of the mysterious “black spider” we had been tracking, I’d brought with me several small candles to help me see my way through the darkness.
It was a good thing I had, too, since soon I came across sections of the cave that were noticeably worked and altered, more resembling halls and passageways than natural gaps in the earth. It seems that in our pursuit, we’d stumbled into another great ruin. I must say, walking through these ancient, decaying marvels is often a source of inspiration, even if these days they’re mostly the homes of malevolent creatures and evildoers. It gives one such a sense of the greatness that once was.
What skill, what advanced knowledge must have gone into the creation of this place! It is no wonder that some of the best scholars of our age have been those who are willing to enter these mysterious labyrinths and learn from them. What a treasure it would be to find even a single elvish tome in a place like this! Sadly, however, this place seems far too deteriorated for that to be very likely. Even as I passed through what appeared to have once been a library, for instance, I found it full of nothing but ash.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too much further on from there when I was finally able to rejoin my companions, and I must confess I was very glad to see them; even more than I was relieved that I’d found them and their lantern just as the last of my small candles was burning out. I relayed the message I had been sent to deliver to Renbar and Vi about helping to continue the dwarven ceremonies, and after the two of them departed the others and I spent some brief time catching up.
It seems they had discovered an odd belt in their adventures which they suspected was magical, and this I was able to confirm at a glance. Unfortunately, the exact nature of its enchantment was unfamiliar to me, so the best I could do was to advise continued caution. With that matter settled, we were all determined to continue our pursuit of the mysterious black spider, and so we set out again, attempting to navigate our way through the dark, unfamiliar maze of underground tunnels.
Our first discovery of any real importance came when we stumbled onto a room with a great deal of vegetation, and a carpet that was noticeably covered in spores. Fortunately, thanks to Lillabelle’s sharp eyes and extensive knowledge of natural lore, we were warned of the deadly danger this thick coating of otherwise innocuous dust represented. Yet while we had avoided this potential pitfall, ultimately we were unable to identify any other signs that might indicate our quarry had passed through here.
This was a disappointing discovery, though some of the more enterprising members of the group did point out that it would be wise to make special note of this location should we later need to take advantage of the natural threat this room contained. For the time being, however, since none of us were eager to brave dangerous toxins to no clear end, we ended up turning back into the maze to continue our exploration.
Our progress through the dimly lit corridors was slow and methodical, and soon enough we happened across a small room which proved both unoccupied and highly defensible. Here was another location to keep in mind should we ever have need of a place to rest in relative safety, and indeed we would have need of such a place soon. It was, in fact, the very next room we encountered that nearly cost us our lives.
To look at, of course, the spacious banquet hall we discovered was nothing special, though since I was walking carefully in the middle of the group while holding on to the lantern, I didn’t get a very good look. Meg had slipped on ahead of the rest of us, as usual, moving with typical stealthiness and skill to better ascertain what may be awaiting us, and when she returned she reported some suspicious movements on one of the room’s upper levels. It was, therefore, with great caution that I began to approach the entrance.
Before I even had the chance to observe these motions for myself, however, Durgash had stepped forward with his accustomed disregard for any and all danger. In so doing, it seems his orcish eyes allowed him to spot what appeared to be a small group of ghouls where Meg had noticed movement, which doubtless aroused his keen thirst for battle. It was then, in that next moment, that chaos was unleashed, for when Durgash craves battle he is hardly to be denied.
Bellowing loudly, he rushed forward in a blind charge, ignorant in his frenzy of the large stairways on either side of the hall and attempting to climb the wall itself in an effort to reach his newfound foes. This action, of course, was more than enough to alert the shuffling ghouls to our presence, and they promptly turned with mindless abandon to attack and devour us. It was then that we discovered the true nature of the threat we were facing, for even as four of the creatures leapt down to attack Durgash, three more appeared on the stairs.
So it was that we found ourselves outnumbered, if not outmatched, with no guarantee that there were not more ghouls we simply had not spotted yet on their way to join the fight. We were going to have to react quickly and fight well if we were to have any chance of coming out of this alive. Indeed, even as I ran forward to join the fray, one of the ghouls that had leapt down from above managed to land a terrible blow, sending even the mighty Durgash to his knees.
Anxious to keep him from getting too overwhelmed, therefore, it was with great haste that I recited the familiar spell to summon into my hand a long and sinuous whip of water, drawn forth from the ever-present moisture of the surrounding air. Then, as soon as I felt my fingers close upon the slippery yet strangely firm grip, I lashed out in an attack that would draw one of the ghastly creatures off of Durgash. Of course, my other companions had all taken action as well.
Even as I saw my own blow strike home, I could feel the searing heat of one of Zahra’s blasts of fire as it rushed down the center of the room, right between the two long banquet tables which still remained, empty and abandoned. She had taken up a position on the stairwell opposite the one the ghouls had rushed down, and managed to catch several of them in the blast.
Meanwhile, Meg had jumped smoothly up onto the nearest table in an effort to get in a surprise attack on one of the ghouls. Lillabelle had positioned herself not far from where I stood and was shooting out individual blasts of arcane energy, trying to do what damage she could. It was a desperate battle, even in its beginning, and it was only to grow more grim as time went on.
Durgash was taking quite a pounding from the three ghouls who were all clamoring to eat his still-living flesh, despite his best efforts to hold them off, and while the other group of three who’d been scorched by Zahra’s fire were indeed caught off guard by Meg’s surprise attack, they’d now all turned their attentions to devouring her. Of course, I myself had little opportunity to worry about the others as I was forced to fend off the one creature which had now focused all of its being on attacking me.
The one thing we could be grateful for, I thought as I managed to avoid one of my enemy’s swings at me, was that there didn’t seem to be any other ghouls or monsters nearby who would join in the attack. If we could just manage to deal with the threat we now faced, we would have an opportunity to rest and recover. The only question was whether we would truly be able to survive this onslaught.
I had to believe that we could, and it was with this in mind that I cast the other of the two spells I’d managed to teach myself after long years of study and hope. A thin trail of blue lightning flew out of the palm of my free hand, jolting the undead creature before me and crackling up and down its still-wet body. There are many things that I have learned in my journeys up to this point; my understanding of magic, that mysterious force, has deepened, and I have even come to master a few new spells, but there’s still nothing quite as heartening to me as seeing those first two spells of mine work in their simple yet devastating combination.
Regrettably, in spite of the severity of my attack, the ghoul I was facing refused to succumb to true death, and it soon redoubled its attack. Durgash was reeling at this point too, even if he’d managed to reduce one of the three monsters he’d been facing to a similarly dire state, and Meg was in danger of being surrounded as one of the three ghouls she was fending off clambered up onto the table to fight her. Zahra had switched to firing off arcane blasts in an effort to avoid incinerating any of us, but was ultimately unable to contribute much to the battle.
Then, at last, Lillabelle managed to sneak her way unnoticed over to Durgash’s side. Drawing on all the magical power she could manage, she laid her healing touch upon his mighty shoulder, and just like that, the tide of the battle began to turn. Those who have never seen the fury a half-orc freshly healed in the midst of combat can unleash have indeed no concept of what true carnage looks like on the battlefield. With one blow, Durgash proceeded to turn and cleave the weakest of his opponents in two, and then tear into the remaining two with such ferocity they barely had a chance to strike back.
Meanwhile, Zahra had managed to weaken my own opponent with a well-placed burst of arcane energy, and I took full advantage of the situation. Thinking to help Meg as best I could, I drew upon all the arcane powers of lightning I had ever managed to master and summoned a ferocious storm of brightly glowing blue-white energy to blast as many of the remaining creatures as I could. The one nearest me was reduced at last to a pile of unmoving flesh, while the others nearby shook with the force of the impact.
In the end, however, it proved not to be enough. Meg still had three of the ghouls to contend with, and though she dodged and spun away from their blows as best she could, striking out with her many knives when presented with the chance to attack, the fiends were clearly wearing her out. Even after she’d deftly managed to take a drink of a carefully prepared healing potion, the relentless attacks took their toll, and after one particularly nasty bite, she fell into unconsciousness.
Once again, however, Lillabelle managed to slip past the dangers and position herself at Meg’s side. She quickly worked a spell of revival that had Meg on her feet once again, and I made use of the opportunity in the interim to electrify another of our foes. Meanwhile, Durgash had felled the last of his opponents, and though they’d managed to leave him wounded again, he would soon be ready to turn the height of his wrath onto Meg’s assailants.
While he was still in the process of recovering himself, though, Zahra came charging back down the stairs, abandoning her position of relative safety in order to once again shoot out a column of flame that ended the unlife of one of the two remaining ghouls and set the table where Meg had been standing on fire. Meg, of course, dodged lithely back onto the floor before the flames could catch her, and it was now only a matter of time before the last remaining ghoul met its end.
Indeed, the creature did not have long, for Durgash was already bearing down on it. Running forward with a long, heavy stride, he cleared the burning table in a single bound, bringing his mighty axe down upon the ghoul with all his weight and strength. The thing was cleaved in two by the force of the blow, and with that the battle was over. We had survived.
The fighting had taken its toll on us, of course. Indeed, I found myself consumed by that terrible feeling of emptiness that comes after one has worked too much magic. It is an odd thing, really, not physical exhaustion nor mental weariness, but a keenly felt lack of some otherwise unidentifiable energy. Did people ever feel this way in those long years when magic seemed lost? I cannot help but wonder.
In any case, since every one of my companions was in a similar state of exhaustion or worse, we decided to make our way back to that room we’d discovered before the battle that had seemed so safe and defensible. There we could rest and recuperate as much as possible while still down here in this labyrinth. After all, even if we were to press ahead and discover the black spider, none of us would be in any state to face him, should he prove as hostile to us as we expect.
I fear a confrontation with whoever or whatever lies ahead may be an even more desperate one. Fortunately, our trip back proved mercifully uneventful, and it is with good confidence in our safety that I am able to record the events of this past day. Tomorrow we resume our exploration of this mysterious labyrinth, and our quest for the black spider.
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