Lorenzo C. Bailey's Galaxy: Beyond Sanctuary

Back Into Darkness

After finding that the paths from the area of Sanctuary led to only dead ends, the party reluctantly re-entered the dungeons that were now just passing familiar to them as the twists and turns and caverns dimmed in their memories.

Returning to the last intersection, they again turned to their left, always to the left. Next they found not an undead creature to fight, but instead a wall of shimmering light across the tunnel in front of them. Halfdan immediately recognized it as a barrier of pure mana, potentially quite dangerous, especially to magic user such as himself. Being skilled in the element arts, Halfdan launched a Void bolt towards the shimmering wall of positive energy and was gratified to see the magic's struggle briefly before canceling each other out. Slightly beyond the wall, the party was rewarded greatly in finding a stairway leading downwards to the next subterranean level of Shens Folly.

After descending perhaps 50 stairs, perhaps 30 feet or so, the party found they were in a more constricted tunnel and were now forced to travel two wide instead of three. This heartened the party, both in that they had passed through the first of the levels, and that enemies now coming at them would also be constrained to travel two wide, much more dispensable by Worf.

This lightened feeling may have lulled the party into a false sense security, or perhaps it was just poor luck. Whatever the cause, none of them expected the events of the next smaller cavern where the tunnel twisted. Entering an alcove like room, a loud click was audible as one of the party obviously stepped on a triggering stone. The grinding was warning enough for all four to scurry towards the exit. Ninerick, suffering from an inability to see in the dark, like the other party members, was at least oblivious to the cause of consternation, although even he could see spikes now raising from the floor. Worf, Halfdan and Lupin could see the same metal spikes lowering from the ceiling. Worf, most encumbered, dodged the rising spikes and ducked out the lowering door into the connecting tunnel. Lupin easily followed, slipping through with Worf. Halfdan, less lithe, had to dive under the closing door. Ninerick, bogged down as he was by his shield and the weight of the booty he carried, reached the door to find it closing and trapping him on the inside. He did not see the lowering spike and fell blissfully unconscious as it struck him, grazing his temples and knocking him to the floor, and spilling the oil in the lantern. He was spared the conscious agony of feeling it thrust through his chest as he lay in its path. In its retraction, his lifeless body was pulled to the roof of the chamber, from where it fell to the floor as the spike slid fully into the ceiling, and his body then fell to the floor, quite dead.

Halfdan, in the tunnel with Lupin and Worf, found the trap release, but there was no indication of how to disarm the trap. Halfdan did determine that the trap was simply triggered by a pressure plate on the floor, easily detectable for the wary, however, he was unable to find any mechanism to permanently disarm the trap. Cautiously re-entering the room, the party, now down to just half of its original strength, moved Ninerick to the side, placing his weapons and treasure with him, and taking the food and water Ninerick had carried. With little time for grieving, but with grim countenances, the party moved forward again.

In the next turning of the tunnel, the very air seemed to thicken, making movement difficult. Halfdan advised this was just minor sorcery and could not cause harm and the party quickly moved past the area. Shortly thereafter, the party found a major intersection with tunnels branching in all directions. Thankfully the tunnels showed no appearance of undead enemy, and the party continued to the left. At the next turning, again a wall, this time of water and once again, Halfdan assessed the situation. "Simply take a deep breath and walk through the wall, using your arms in a swimming motion to move forward. This barrier is of no danger, and is merely to slow progress"

Ah, the undead returned as a troop of skeletons clanked forward. Worf, still angry from the loss of Ninerick, an amusing fellow, delivered massive hits upon the skeletons, (natural 100's in each of two rounds of combat) and quickly dispatched the now bothersome, but mostly ineffectual creatures.

A wall of mud and clay prevented progress at the next intersection. Halfdan suggested it may not be of any great thickness. Rather than wasting Halfdans' precious mana, Worf used one of his many swords to cut away at it. As he scraped a hole, he noticed the wall became harder, almost cold and chilled, the further he dug. Finally breaking through, by punching a small hole in it, Worf peered through to see a frost filled cavern, and a skeleton, sheathed in ice, turning and striding towards the hole.

Stepping back, Worf had no time to consider breaking through to face it. The creature itself stepped forward and seemingly effortlessly ripped the wall apart, frozen chunks of clay falling and shattering or crumbling as it stepped through. Still annoyed by the loss of the Halfling, harmless little fine fellow he was, the irritated Worf waded towards the Frosty beast. A mighty swipe and it was no more. However, even as it fell into no more than icy bone shards, something else approached.

Three noble looking figures, well accoutered and armed strode forward, but unfriendly with glowing eyes belying the nobility their finery would suggest. One started to fade into a shroud of darkness, but Worfs eye's easily pierced this glamour. Lupin, looking almost through the second figure, seemed oblivious to her possible danger, but again Worf could clearly perceive the approaching figure. In the absence of a clear indication of friendliness, Worf smote at them both. The first faltered; the second, only slightly distracted, swung at Lupin, but its swing went wide and hit the wall, breaking its own weapon. Lupin suddenly started as if seeing the danger in front of her for the first time. The third turned and fled from the combat as Worf again addressed Krag's Fist to the task at hand. Unlike previous opponents, Worf found these combatants almost his match as he battled the warrior in front of him. Lupin moved into a defensive stance against the warrior in front of her. Suddenly, the one facing Lupin shot a bolt of light from its palm, but the strike went wide missing Lupin and harmlessly striking the rock walls.

Worf, in an attempt to quickly dispatch the enemy in front of him so he could leap to Lupin's defense, took a mighty swing and overextended, wrenching himself around and causing a twinging sensation that traveled up his arms and into his neck. Defending until he could recover, Worf then smacked one opponent down before suffering another twinge against the second, still focusing on Lupin. Recovering again, Worf smacked down the second and intercepted the third, now rushing back to the battle in a hope to catch the party unaware. Dispatching the third warrior, the party found themselves disoriented and traveled down the tunnel hoping they have not been turned around in the fight.

Facing now a dark and cold presence, the party was increasingly aware of the difference between the first level of Shen's Folly and the area they now traversed. A single, but huge and dominating figure blocked the way. An aberration, the figure that faced them now was over double the strength of its kind. Long had it wandered the paths of the dungeon, and many times had it encountered warm blooded victims to temporarily satiate its undying thirst. An aura of fear moved, as if an unstoppable wave, ahead of it. Worf leapt forward, as always to quickly drop the threat, but his attack was premature and he fumbled Krag's Fist. The beings presence, coupled with Worfs seemingly improbable miss stopped Worf in his tracks, paralyzing him with fear, something he could not remember feeling in such a long time. Lupin was similarly affected, weighed down by the very presence of the creature. Only Halfdan had the strength, and knowledge of the beast, a Major Wight, to resist its primal attack. Being very aware of the party's danger, Halfdan risked immediately casting a Control Undead spell in the hopes of at least halting the creature, knowing that mastering the creature in this evil dungeon is not possible.

Halfdans haste with the spell caused him to lose the affect and unable to complete the spell as started. As a reward for his haste, he saw only the creature reach its long, white, and cold hand forward towards Worf, who smiles briefly, as if seeing a vision that pleases him, before dropping to the floor as if asleep. As Worf succumbed to the sleep spell attack launched by the Wight, it drew its killing weapon. Lupin, shaking off the spell effects enough to recognize the need to protect Worf, as the only chance for victory, leapt in front of the Wight, sacrificing her own defense to block its attack.

With a powerful strike, the Wight slashed its longsword down, severing Lupins leg clean off. She fell and lapsed into unconsciousness, her life blood pumping fitfully from her, as her body lay across Worfs chest. The creature towering over the fallen Lupin and sleeping Worf stopped briefly to contemplate the elvish maiden dying before it. This being Halfdans only chance, he completed the control spell. Unfortunately, he still fumbled the spell badly, with the end result being hesitation in the final casting. Even with completion, the spell was meaningless and failed to affect the Wight. The creature slowly raised its sword and brought it sweeping down upon Worf, severing his head and sending his blood gushing out to mingle with Lupin's.

Halfdan knowing he could not stop the creature turned and ran back down the hallway, always turning right to find the stairs. In sight of the stairs, Halfdan hesitated; ahead he saw the forms of two wolves, yet glowing and transparent, cold steam coming from their maws. Turning back, yet with no where to run, Halfdan mades but three paces before the first wolf was upon him. The last to fall in Shens Folly, Halfdan died near the steps of the second level of the crypts.