For Every Two Steps Gained...
"Actually, all I did was say 'Oops! Excuse me! I'll be leaving now!'"
Session Summary, May 14 1996:
We last left our desperate^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hnoble Tsolyani standing
among a family of rejoicing Dlaqo beetles. So happy were the Dlaqo
for this unexpected visit that they kindly offered to escort the
party down the dreary corridor.
[First real food we've seen in years! Maybe it'll get tired and put out
those lights!]
After many tsan, they came upon a stairway going up. Akhan
solemnly tested the steps for dreaded Bednalljan traps with his
stiff spear. The party ascended while their last remaining Dlaqo
escort waved farewell.
[Darn. The food got away.]
At the first landing the party set up camp to nourish their bodies
with food and sleep. Shekkara magnanimously cast healing
spells on Ngaya's still-unconscious slave and Akhan's slave Sot.
Ngaya graciously took the first watch, while Dlarku snored and
kept the rest awake, and Shekkara kept herself warm in Arjun's arms.
Akhan amused himself on his watch shift doing wall rubbings of the
Bednalljan script engraved upon the walls.
During her watch, Shekkara's massage was disturbed by a loud gonging.
As the rest of the party woke or was woken, speculation was rife.
Their Most Secret Companion noted that the gongs occured in sets of
five, and they eventually came to realize that they had camped on the
side of a pyramid that had been long buried by some Ditlana of ages
past. Akhan insisted that the best way out was up, while Shekkara
and Ngaya insisted that a quick retreat back down and away was best.
With strong conviction in his rightness, Akhan hurried up the steps.
Soon he was dashing back down, yelling that he had brought back guides.
A fight, both magical and bloody, ensued between Akhan, Dlarku, and
the Sarku priests and guards. Shekkara tried in vain to dampen the
hostilities with sleep spells, and, failing, quickly raised the Eye of
a Thousand Candles. La! Long have been the years since such light
has shone upon these temple stones. Blinded, guards and priests
stumbled and fell. Yet, one remained standing, a Sarku priest who
cried out in pain, his voice a song to haunt the memories of all who
listened.
There was no sancutary for lost travelers to be found on the peak of
a Sarku temple. The party must flee. But, alas! Dlarku had been
partially desiccated, and Akhan had only half his wits (the other half
listening eagerly for Dlarku's command).
* Dlarku appealed to Ngaya,
priestess of Chegarra, to save them, and without hesitation Ngaya
rushed up the pryamid to confront the Sarku priest. Yea! Such noble
bravery has never been seen. Upward she ran. La! See how she ran,
her Most Excellent Ruby Eye raised boldly before her, only to be
thwarted by magic!
It was a dark moment for our noble Tsolyani. Dlarku had not energy
left to cast even the tiniest spell. Shekkara had not a spell to cast
either. Akhan had no control over his own body. And Most Secret
struggled alone at the bottom of the pyramid, battling who knew what
dreadful beasts assaulting her there! But Dlarku, he who could not
cast, he who could barely walk with his desiccated leg, took from Ngaya's
hand the Most Excellent Ruby Eye and, as their last hopes died, froze
the Sarku priest.
Quickly, they fled down the pyramid only to find themselves facing
hundreds, nay, thousands it would seem, of Mrur and Shedra who had
answered their master's cry for help. Shekkara pulled out her Amulet
of Repel Undead only to discover that perhaps she should have joined
the Temple of Hnalla instead. Most Secret triumphantly brandished
the amulet. "Be Gone!" she cried out and the horde of undead fell back.
Affronted by this massed force of Sarku, the Sleeping Prince of the
Blue Room decended upon Dlarku and commanded the use of Akhan's sword.
Then, in a brilliant display of swordmanship never before seen in
these dark depths, he slew the rotting multitude of undead who still
blocked the party's escape.
Surrounded by the decaying corpses, priests and guards of Sarku still
above them and recovering, the Most Excellent Lambent Eye suddenly
gave out, and they were plunged into darkness. And there we must leave
them, the Sarku Temple gong resounding. Lo! The very air vibrates
with its mighty tone. Yea!
Lo! Wrote this, Lisa Leutheuser, horse of The Most Beautiful
Shekkara Tlakotani, on this 15th day of May, 1996 Anno Domini.
