Second Floor: Dank Stairs, Ruined Walls and Unholy Monstrosities.... Expired Ghouls Half-off

After a brief rest you descend the stair case. The air seems to chill the bone and vapors of icy breath give you pause. "Is it just me or did things just get ass biting cold?" said Durin. Arctikus replied "Feels alright to me small one. Perhaps you had better grow more hairy mass to protect your posterior." Your torches seem to dim just a bit as you come to an archway and look in to the floor beyond. It is very cold and your sure it is not natural.

On this floor you can see the the southern wall is broken revealing sunlight through the opening. A beam of it cuts accross a 20 foot space of floor lighting the southern half of this floor. On the eastern half of the floor a rectangular wall comes out and encloses part of the area from your sight. You can see that a bit of ice has formed in patched areas on the tiled floor. In a heap on the floor is the form of a humanoid who appears to frozen in place. Weather its alive or dead you cannot tell. Part of the room is obscured in darkness however by the archway there is enough light to see the remains of the ghoul that had escaped to this floor. It appears as though something crushed it up against the wall. Just as you take your first steps on to the second floor you can now see the being that is the cause of such display of power. The armored figure stands almost 8 feet in height with a blue glow that seems to permeate the openings where armor plates overlap. The blue light seems to brighten as the being moves toward you. A hissing echo of a voice escapes the armored helmet "More Seekers? Ah Saharel you only seek to add to your guilt. Now more will die by my hand and you will still not be rid of me." You feel your fear rise like a massive wave inside you its all you can do to just stand there waiting for the wave to crash upon you. Where did this fear come from? How long has it waited for this moment to bear down on you?

Durin's voice sounds in your ears as you feel the fear recede. "Moradin steel us, Moradin steel us, Moradin steel us." Durin chanted repeatedly. Kethevan shouts "It is a Pale Lord, divine power and light weaken it. It is formed of the stuff that makes up the Shadowfell. Beware its touch for it can freeze your very soul!" Hrothgar smirked "Guess that won't be an issue for you eh Arctikus. Alright ladies lets get paid!"

The Pale Lord moves into the sunlight its armor sizzling under its caress. It salutes you with its halberd and hisses from its helmet, "May your blades chip and shatter. May your magics fail you in times of need. Your lady cannot protect you."

New Party, New Foes

Arctikus, Hrothgar, Gell (Sorry if I got that wrong, Jeff) and Durin engaged the orcs of the Black Fist mercenary tribe just as they were about to fell Valaris and Gaav.

During rushed in to save Gaav, who was bleeding out at the start of the battle, while Arctikus threw up a defensive storm of ice and Gell moved to the chokepoint where the orcs were sure to pass.

Three Dire wolves circled the group, threatening to flank.

Numerous orcs fell to the twin axes of Hrothgar, who fleansed the orc chieftain into retreating.

While Hrothgar and Gell slew the line of orcs to the party's front, the Dire Wolves circled around behind the party. They faced a choice: Charge into the rear of the party through the dual clouds of ice daggers that Arctikus had thrown up to kill a pair of orc minions or double-team Gaav, who was - as usual - far away from the rest of the party. The choice was easy - Gaav was tripped up and knocked unconscious once again. Durin sighed and muttered a quick prayer to Moradin for patience.

At this point Hrothgar and Gell were pounding the orc leader, who luckily signaled the two wolves who were about to eat Gaav to cover his retreat. The party suffered no losses and were satisfied with the combat. They were starting to feel like a unit again.

Back at the Monastery of the Precipice the party pondered their next move. Gell and Arctikus bonded over the fact that they were both outsiders in this realm. Durin, meanwhile, had found fresh work for the party in the form of travelling to the ruined tower to the southwest of the Scepter tower on an errand.

The party is now working for a Halfling antique collector who is searching for an ancient tome thought to lie in the haunted tower. There are supposedly magic items of considerable power to be found in this tower, and the party thought it wise to gather some more strength before setting off into the catacombs after the Darano wererat patriarch.

Moving into the tower, the party discovered the slaughtered remnants of the halfling's previous hirelings. Dismembered adventurers lay sprawled in the first two chambers of the tower, striking horror and pity into the hearts of the party. Just as they were preparing to burn the corpses in usual fashion, the group was suddenly ambushed by a posse of 4 ghouls.

Arctikus was hit immediately and immobilized by the gruesome poisonous slime that coated the ghouls' claws. Just as oone of the abominations was about to feast on the vulnerable mage, Hrothgar let out a cry and struck with the two-pronged precision of a thundertusk boar, pushing the ghoul across the room until it thudded into a wall. Arctikus shook off the effects of the poison just in time to see Durin hold up his holy symbol and radiant light pulse outwards, searing the flesh of the ghouls and sending them cowering into the corner - easy targets for a fiery bolt from Gaav. Arc added his own fury to the mix and laid down a shimmering cloud of razor-sharp daggers on top of the ghouls, which Gell skillfully made use of. Whipping his sword around his head, the githyanki flung an arc of lightning at the last remaining ghoul, catching it and pulling it straight into the could of daggers and smiling and it was cut to pieces.

Down the stairs the party went, their blood up from such a decisive victory. But soon did they stop, cold in their tracks, for before them stood what could only be an armoured vampire knight, feasing on the remains of one of the ghouls - its blood-soaked gauntlets caught in the sunlight and burning with an unnatural odor...

Can you smell what the orcs are cookin'

Your Journey back to the ruins of Spellgard is full of reflection. What happened and why were you chosen? Was it truly destiny that brought you there just as Embram had been told or could it have been his longing was answered by some god who put you there for its own purposes? As you come upon the ruins the surroundings bring up a sense of deja-vu. The sounds of fighting reach your ears and a sense of urgency builds within you. Your steps become quicker and the breathing laboured as you run toward the melee not yet in sight. You know they capable, you know they are stalwart and you know that they will fall if you do not reach them in time. A shout in giant and a cry in the elven tongue reach your ears. As you come into view from behind a ruined wall you see a band of orcs dressed in black leathers one of them stands out among the rest directing the flow of the carnage before you. You see and Elf in reddish scale at his side lie other fallen comrades. Standing off to one side is a Dragonborn cloaked in shadows obscuring his features. Just then the Elf lets out a shout and attacks his sword raised high he appears to be pushing past his foes but the orc stands his ground and levels a powerful blow bringing the Elf low. The Dragonborn puffs up his chest and belches a torrent of flame upon the orcs, the flames lick the body of the elf yet do not appear to leave any marks. The orcs fall back, some dropping to the ground dead. One of the orcs steps upon the elf with an expression of feral delight and reaches for a hand axe. Faster than the eye can see the orc throws the hand axe at the Dragonborn and buries it into his chest. The shadows dissipate and the body of the Dragonborn falls to the ground.

These are the orcs and the the adventures from your dreams. You know that in a minute the adventures will succumb to their wounds unless you do something they will die. The orc leader looks in your direction and lets out a throaty chuckle and says "Looks like like meat is back on the menu boys!" You hear a pack of wolves from behind the rubble stir as three large dark shapes come into view. The large size and riding gear can only mean Dire Wolves. It seems you could have slept a little longer, maybe you would have found out who is going to win... wouldn't that have been nice.