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Completed Chapter II: Blades in Motion

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Dina Ailsa

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Around and around again. Dina's descend continued on. She cursed at the news from the Drakkar and quickened her pace. This will soon become a hell-run... She was scared, the only thing that kept her calm was the need for fast movement. She had to watch her step. I hate circular staircases.
 
Fortunately for Dina, the spiral didn't extend alot. It was actually just a few curves, and then it plunged straight into darkness like normal stairs. The half light of the reception room reached just this far, and merely scratched the dark beyond. Unless the Chosen intended to proceed as blind mice to stumble unprepared on whatever lay ahead, they would need light to guide them through. There were two torches on opposite walls where the stars straightened, already prepared - if anyone noticed.
 
Eltheron Delioss

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Eltheron walked past his two companions and over to the torches mounted on the walls and sheathed his blades. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a pair of small flint stones, striking them together to ignite the torches, one, then the other. He took one off the wall in his off hand, and drew a blade once more, doubtful that any manner of beast would be left to reside in a library... but I've seen stranger...


"Keep your eyes open wide, gods only know what sort of traps might have been along the path." with that, Eltheron began to make his way down the dark pathway, cautiously.
 
Dina Ailsa

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Dina kept herself close to Eltheron. She regarded her surroundings with curiosity. Torchlight bounced of the walls close to the stairs. Their footsteps echoed melodically. The place seemed empty so far. Good, It would be nice if everything down here really is deserted. She shivered slightly. This descend left her with a feeling of wandering into a cave. Not a mountain cave, it was not that cold. Maybe basement was a better comparison to this underground section. Suddenly Dina remembered that she still wore the same...potato bag of a dress. Bother. I'm guessing that we will have to run away once we are done with this. She let out a small sigh. No new dresses for you, princess. Distracted by her thoughts, Dina nearly bumped into her elven companion. She halted momentarily to prevent this from happening. Get yourself together, this is no time to daydream about dresses! Move and try not to get in you companion's way! She scolded herself and continued on more carefully.
 
Laurolf Fangür

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3.. 2.. 1.. Thud. "Bloody hell, lass! Ain't ye' aware, that this be a bloody narrow staircase!" Laurolf grumbled when he bumped into the suddenly stopped Dina. "And by Sikring, the one who dug 'is bloody staircase, was incompetent. 'Em stairs be uneven, 'eres bumps here n' there! This kind of architecture would make any dwarf sick, hm!" Laurolf cursed. The two ahead of him, probably had no clue that 'Sikring' was actually one of the ancient Dwarven gods, the God of Protection in fact. Nowadays, even most Dwarves had adapted to the religions of man, but many like Laurolf- With a long and deep Dwarven heritage, had kept to the old beliefs.


As they continued their descent, Laurolf tightened his grip of his massive battle axe. "So, mates-" He suddenly spoke after a few seconds of silence. "I've been givin' a thought or two to where we 'ought to go from 'ere, and assuming whatever we're going to find down here, ain' gonna right whimsically transport us to Ilhirel, I reckon we should be headin' south." He paused for a moment, "Now I know ye' might be thinkin', "'Eres a hundred bloody elves up there with an intent to kill us all brutally", but hear me out, eh? After we're done down 'ere, we make like Melwyn deer and st- commandeer a boat in the ol' harbor, hm! Then we set sail south and head to the Drakesands. And- Now, before ye' go protestin' me plan, which may or may not be resultin' at least in a minor case o' death, do realize that the only place- Besides Knalga -where I could be forgin' some proper armor n' gear for the lot of us, is 'em Drakeforges."


Laurolf sighed, "Of course, if the lot of ye' would rather be walkin' around the entire bloody shallow sea, ye' can be bein' m'guests.. Just don't be coming crying to me, when li'le miss 'ere finds 'erself waking with an elven arrow in her bloody head, hrmh!"
 
Eltheron Delioss

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Eltheron glanced over his shoulder at Laurolf as they made their way down the dark hallway, "I don't pretend to know what our next step should be master dw- Laurolf. But if I may... where yes stealing.. I mean, commandeering, a boat may not be the easiest nor hardest of issues, or the navigation of getting south to the Drakesands. But... once we're there, I don't imagine a whole many of the Drakkar will be fond of us bringing Xenthriss back upon their doorstep. The beast had a reputation, and where he may just be another Drakkar up in these parts, returning to his homeland, there's a might strong chance that he'll be recognized more immediately for who he is." Eltheron halted the group for a moment, inspecting a curiously placed statue.
 
Just as the fellowship descended further into darkness, they could hear sounds of fighting and Xenthriss' roars. They could only hope he could hold the line. They had just reached the end of the stairs and the tunnel went on straight from here.


Meanwhile, Eltheron was making a pretty solid point to Laurolf and the others regarding the continuation of their quest and the drakkar. This did not prevent him from keeping his vigil, however. The statue he stopped to inspect was of an armored knight holding both hands on the hilt of his sword which was facing down, tip touching the ground. It was placed to gaze at the wall opposite of him. The torchlight revealed there was another seemingly identical a bit further along the way, but placed on the left side to watch the right wall. Given Eltheron's previous hunches, he had the feeling there might as well be a trap involved. This imposed two questions: What was the trap and what activated it?
 
Dina Ailsa

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Dina wanted to apologize to Laurolf, but the dwarf went on about different matters so she kept quiet. Soon Eltheron stopped to examine some statues. I guess he's looking for traps. As Dina knew nothing about them she just waited silently.
 
Eltheron Delioss

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Eltheron extended his arm to halt his companions, "Wait... step back..." Eltheron was crouching down as he spoke, he pulled the torch close to him, using the flickering light to spot any possible trip lines, and to inspect the floor tiles immediately ahead of them. In his past experiences there was usually something physical that needed tripping for a trap to be sprung.


After a minute of careful inspection Eltheron noticed that one of the central floor stones about 2 paces forward seemed slightly more elevated than the rest, Hmmmm... With a tilt of his head, he reached his blade forward, tapping the stone with his sword tip...
 
Upon adding significant pressure, darts flew from somewhere in the statue and collided with the far wall, falling down on the floor. It happened quickly. The eyes? Below the arms? The floor in front of the statue was actually made from pressure plates. The elevation was nearly invisible but it was there. Not perfect craftsmanship, but decent enough.


It was possible to carefully avoid the plates, as to Eltheron it seemed they only extended for about a meter, covering the statue and a little area to its left and right.
 
Henvei Relkor vech Daltzen

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It took some time for the scholar to come scurrying down the passage, pocketing a small vial of elf knight blood. His coming was marked by two floating orbs of unhealthy blue flames, which sent strange shadows dancing around the stairs as he came.

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Of course, to him this was perfectly natural. And comforting, too, as the fires at home were this color. "Friends? Company? Fellows?" His little voice came creeping down the stairs, and it was much more meek than usual. The echoing sound of a knife being drawn came floating down the passage, followed by the gentle chink of it hitting the ground, and an angry word that sounded like a tree snapping under the weight of too much snow. "Certainly you have not gone this far...Perhaps a side passage? I can hear your voices, of course. So you must not be that far. In such a staircase, sound will carry...or perhaps it is.."

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A sudden whoosh of flames as he sent his orbs smashing into the wall.

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"No, not an illusion. I must ask, my dears, where on earth you have gone?"

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The icy wastes of the scholar's home had little to cover the sun or the stars, and their light found no resistance from trees; frequent storms made vision insignificant anyways. Henvei's eyes could see little in the pressing darkness.

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"Ah..."

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A series of quick inhales from fairly close to the party suggested that he was getting close. The smell of torches joined in his nose with that of the party. "You're here somewhere..."

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Eltheron Delioss

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Eltheron looked over his shoulder, still crouched as the strange human made his way, rather clumsily down the hallway. "This way Henvei, straight ahead, follow the only path forward." He gave his torch a wave at the approaching blue flame. He shook his head slightly and returned his attention to the path forward, "They seem to make a pattern around the statues. They can be manuevered around if we're careful... I'm just curious..." again he pressed his sword tip against the same tile, curious to see if they carried multiple salvos of this deadly darts.
 
Apparently they did, as the hidden mechanism released another volley of darts. Eltheron could keep doing this, but even if they were packed with just fifty salves each, there were more statues beyond, while time was pressing. Sounds of fighting still reached this far, though faint and distant. It was possible to jump over the pressure plates, as the distance from where they began to where they ended was a little more than a meter.


Henvei's approach threw an unnatural blue luminance upon everything, which in combination with the torchlight made things look... Well, odd.
 
Henvei Relkor vech Daltzen

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Eventually he did make it, the floating orbs of light joining the torches in their fiery dance.


"Ah! Here you are. How fortunate, to find you here. Trouble with the path?"


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Laurolf Fangür

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"Hrmh, I'd not thought of that.." Laurolf hemmed, thoughtfully, "We could be havin' 'im wait for us somewhere.. Or let 'im loose on a troop o' Ilhirel's scouts, eh? That would be keepin 'im occupied.. In any case, we must to be goin' to 'em Drakesands, if I'm to forge armor and weapons. No offense to ye', lad, but yer' elven forges just ain' hot enough.. The scrap yer kind make, might be good enough for you, but it ain' strong enough, if we are to be takin' down 'at bitch sorceress... Let alone to fit a to-be queen, hmh!" He would've liked to continue the conversation, but it was cut short when the elf discovered the trap- And by the Frigid one, traipsing down the stairs.


When Henvei caught up, Laurolf gave him a quick glance and a nod- "Aye, bloody traps ahead." He finally sheathed his massive battle axe on his back, reckoning it'd be easier to get past any traps that way.
 
Dina Ailsa

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Dina took a deep breath. Someone had to pave the path, this was taking too long. She went back a few steps and then charged for the area before Eltheron. She lunched herself from a spot that was in the same line to where Eltheron stood, just outside the trap area. Just a little further... It was not a long jump. She landed and waited for arrows or silence. Silence was preferable.
 
The only sound that followed was that of the girl's jump ending on the stone floor - beyond the range of the pressure plates. She made it. Not that it was a particularly difficult jump. The tunnel beyond her was impenetrable, cold darkness. And that's the way they needed to go. Time was running out.


As much as could be seen there was one more statue close by, placed on the opposite side of the tunnel.
 
Dina Ailsa

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Dina looked at her comrades over her shoulder. You're lucky to be alive. That was a reckless move. Some part of her protested. She ignored the shiver that overtook her body when she thought about it. She made it, and that was all there is to it.


"Come on, we don't have a whole day." She said and turned around carefully evaluating the distance before the second statue. The successful jump gave her more confidence in the next one. She counted the plates and found the spot that was similar to that which she used as a springing spot last time.


Ladies first. She thought and repeated the process.
 
Laurolf Fangür

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"No need to be reckless, lass- We cannot be protectin' ye', if ye'r bloody chargin' ahead into booby-trapped hallways!" Laurolf still didn't believe Dina had realized the seriousness of their "little quest". "Bloody children, always so hasty n' hotheaded!" He thought, deciding to be the next to go- He took some speed and then leaped over the first pressure plate. Fortunately, the plates were small enough to allow even a Dwarf to jump over them.. With some speed and effort, of course. As Laurolf landed past the pressure plate, Dina was already jumping over another. "Oi! Don't be rushing into the bloody darkness! How are ye' goin' to see if there be any other traps, hm? Tripwires are bloody difficult to spot, even with a torch!"


Laurolf turned around and gave Eltheron a sharp glance, as if to say "Hurry up!", and then followed Dina over the next floor tile.
 
Laurolf was right about what he said to Dina about rushing into a dark hallway rigged with traps. But at least they were on the move. They needed light to proceed, and that meant Henvei and Eltheron needed to keep up the pace.


There were no more sounds coming from outside. Odd, since they haven't moved off far enough to eliminate at least the faint sounds of battle that were present perhaps a minute ago. This could mean a number of things though, and they had no way to confirm any. Their best bet was to keep going and reach their destination.
 
Henvei Relkor vech Daltzen

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With the quiet hissing of a snake that has fallen off of a rock into a river, the scholar took his turn as well, his soft soled shoes patting quietly against the stairs as he jumped. The icy flames marked his gentle arc into the stairs below, where he violently crashed into the walls.

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Repeat as needed.

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Thanks to Eltheron's vigil from the very start, the dart trap behind the statue failed to perform its task of keeping intruders out of the hidden section of the Great Library. The first set of pressure plates that were supposed to activate the deadly mechanism were skipped, and the same technique was successfully employed with the second statue. The torchlight showed the way ahead to be apparently empty. A long stone corridor went on as darkness parted before the passing of the Chosen.


Their further progress was unhindered, and before long the tunnel made a left turn. After a short distance it twisted again, this time to the right and then, a few dozen feet away, ended in a flat wall. On either side of the wall stood a cornered statue facing the fellowship, depicting robed men each holding a book opened in the middle. Once they came to a halt, the silence was absolute. Well, aside from the burning torch.
 
Dina Ailsa

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"Hmmm, Eltheron? Could you check them for traps?" Dina was cautious. Some part of her was disappointed, was this all there is to this secret section? Statues holding two books? She waited hoping for a contact from the Spectrals.
 
Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be something engraved into the wall. Yes, the odd light mixture from the torch and Henvei's magic made it difficult to see at first, but there it was. A phrase, and it read: "Knowledge will open the way."


The two statues of robed men were in real size, but they each stood upon a pedestal so that the opened books they held were as high as Dina's head. Good news was, if there was a trap it would have already activated. Probably. Maybe. Anyway, the fellowship had to figure out a way past this obstacle. Time was pressing.
 
Eltheron Delioss

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Knowledge will open the way... Eltheron thought the words to himself. He stepped past the other, having played rear guard on their way down the hallway.


Holding the torch in his left hand, he carefully placed a foot on the pedestal, and raised himself up with his right arm, inspecting the pages of the opened books upon the statues.
 
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