Session 18: Rell's Log

General Summary

Robyn moved first, rushing forwards with her blazing torch held high and hurling it into the still vibrating strands of web around Saman. It caught immediately with a roar of flame, fire licking around the Warforged as he struggled free. It must have hurt, but he grunted, throwing off the last of the sticky bindings and readying himself for what we all knew must be imminent.
While the others prepared spells, including more runes flashing around Corvus, I decided to burn any of the webbings I could reach. Waving the fire between the nearest trees, I removed another of the horrifying traps before tossing the torch onto the ground. Excited for the fight ahead, I steadied my breath and tried to pick out anything I could between the trees.
Within moments there was a shifting in the darkness above me and from the branches appeared one hairy leg, then another and then before I could blink, an enormous arachnid was rapidly crawling down the tree right towards me. Venom dripped from its fangs as it gnashed them, before gathering itself to lunge for a strike. I had no time to dodge and pain shot through me as it burrowed those vicious pincers into me, making some bizarre hissing noise as it pulled away, eyes following my every moment.
Penitence’s magic exploded into the air behind me, so I knew without turning that this wasn’t the only spider attacking us. Glaive held firmly as a defensive barrier; I glanced back over my shoulder to try to understand exactly what we were facing. I hardly managed to make out anything, however, as there was a shimmer of air and another eight-legged creature took up my field of vision.
My stomach twisted at the albino torso and abdomen, everything pure white except for the blue tips of its legs as though it had scuttled through ink. Its eyes weren’t black, but a cloudy, milky mix of the same colours as its body.
It had simply appeared. Was it able to wield magic in some way? Could it hide itself from view or teleport itself somehow?
While my mind raced with questions, the new threat bristled, hairs on its back and legs quivering, before it sprang forward, fangs raised wide. A tangled cry left me as it punctured straight through my shoulder, poison seeping from the venomous gland down to the ground rather than into my bloodstream. I guessed I should at least be grateful for my luck.
It withdrew as quickly as it had attacked, and I had to resist pressing a hand to cover the wound. They had me surrounded. Where were the others?
As if to answer, fire shattered the darkness to my left, and I briefly saw Elirth, Liv and Corvus, plus possibly two more spiders. I steeled myself; I had to deal with the enemies around me as fast as possible so that I could assist them. Snarling, I turned back to the first foe, swinging my weapon into an arc to first slice its bulbous body, before twisting back to sever one of its legs. The limb trembled on in the dirt before curling up and in on itself.
If a spider could be furious, this one was, and it lunged for me again. My smirk at it’s misfortunate almost broke into a laugh as it slipped, misjudging its lost leg and causing its subsequent attack to miss me entirely. It scurried quickly upwards, before repositioning to another clack of its fangs. I simply stuck my tongue out at it.
A blast of freezing cold interrupted my jovialities, the shiver causing goose-bumps down my spine and I looked back to see the albino spider impaled with shards of icy crystals. It was reeling against itself, writhing in pain, and suddenly Saman was there. Hammer raised, he crushed the skull of the creature in a loud thud that caused me to screw my eyes shut and look away.
Now was not the time for such thoughts.
Instead, I focused myself, ending the life of the other spider with a well-honed swipe. Its body contorted on the ground as the leg had done before, crunching and cracking until it’s limbs folded in upon themselves as it passed away.
Robyn’s bow twanged and I heard another hissing click. Between the four of them, I was sure they had it in hand, but I could make out Penitence behind Saman, and he seemed to be battling one of the arachnids alone.
Twirling my glaive, I dashed towards him, but I didn’t make it in time, and the nightmarish creature lashed out. Instead of hitting flesh, however, Pentience had conjured some form of protective barrier, and ice encased the spiders as it thrashed. I stepped closer and realised spikes had formed straight through its head, and it soon slipped from the tree into death also.
Just ahead Robyn fired an arrow with such strength that the target flew off into the tree line and I realised there was another crumbled eight-legged form at Elirth and Liv’s feet. Relief came as I saw they were both unharmed.
I knew I shouldn’t be worried that Liv could easily hold her own now, but the fear was always there.
As no more attacks came, my heart rate settled, and I noticed for the first time what Penitence was holding. He now wielded a curved sabre, clearly magical in nature since he certainly had not had it on his person before and so must have conjured it into existence. The blade was deep crimson, but the reds changed shade as it emanating licks of magical energy. Along the edge, fiery particles fluctuated, shifted out of existence and reforming as I watched, as though it wasn’t quite physically on this plane. Even still, it looked as formidable as any sword I’d fought with. It was fascinating, mesmerising and he seemed quite enthusiastic that I’d taken an interest.
All I wanted to do was try it, and after commenting on how extraordinary yet peculiar the weapon was, I gestured and cast a flirtatious smile forwards, asking if such would be possible. Penitence hesitated, brows meeting as he muttered that he wasn’t sure if I could. Though as he handed me the blade, it remained corporeal, and I gave it a few testing sweeps, watching the magic change and adapt. Catching the prominent legs of the nearby spider, I moved from a guard into a devastating whirl, easily splitting the limb into two.
As I recovered my stance, the sabre abruptly vanished from my hand, and I span to see it safely back within its owner’s grasp. I threw Penitence a mock pout before retracing my steps towards him. As I approached, he began practising with the blade also, but his form was poor, trying to stab with it like a shortsword or dagger. Imagery weapon in hand, I showed him again the swiping action he should be making, as he copied apprehensively. Snorting a laugh that was all endearment, I closed the gap between us, slapped a palm to his back and asked if wanted me to teach him.
He tensed immediately, but I didn’t relent, and he fumbled out that he’d like to learn, that it would come in useful. My smile widened into a grin and graciously offered to assist as soon as it was viable. He still seems unsure, so I patted his back a few more times before moving away to regroup with the rest.
Elirth smiled at Corvus, commending him on his magical prowess, before asking if he could assist with burning the webs away. Looking a little bemused, but still complying, the raven perched on her head and proceeded to manifest spurts of flame that wilted away the webs in front of us.
We continued onwards like that until Corvus began to flag a little from the effort and we relied again on torches until we caught the first glimpses of daylight up ahead. Just through the trees, the overcast, cloudy sky gloomily set the tone for the stone tower that rose from the centre of the clearing. Before approaching further however, we decided to rest up and prepare ourselves for the unknowns ahead. I was ready to face whatever lurked inside, eager to explore its secrets.
Looming menacingly, the tower sat dead centre of the space it occupied between the trees, silent and eerie. There were no stone leaves, no rocks or roots on the ground before us as though someone had spent laborious amounts of time sweeping it clean. That, of course, seemed unlikely. The structure itself was how Ser Bright had described in his tale; including the large pile of rumble filling what I would have assumed to be the intended entranceway into the tower. While we were sure Saman could clear it given enough time, we didn’t want to face whatever horror had attacked Golar.
We were in luck; however, as on the second level, a gapping, crumbling wound in the dark stonework left the interior of the tower exposed. Whether the blemish was natural decay or the cause of an intentional attack remained unclear, but it seemed the most obvious entrance. I’d climbed way worse when scouting with Mesh.
At the very top, we spied statues positioned in a circular fashion around the parapet, which on closer inspection they were posed in terror or agony. Who would sculpt such designs? I guessed the same person that would cause an entire forest to turn to stone, and I gritted my teeth ready to charge forward.
Saman suggested first that we scout the entire area and I begrudgingly looped around with the rest, though we gleaned little more information. Finally, we moved closer, and I enthusiastically stated that I’d be happy to scale upwards. Corvus scouted up ahead firstly, disappearing within the walls briefly as we waited with bated breath. It felt like forever as I strained my ears for any sound, hand grasping my glaive but he returned on silent wings, stating that there was nothing inside other than statues similar to the ones we’d glimpsed on the roof.
Nodding along while searching for rope within my bag, I glanced up to see Elirith pouring the last drops of a vial of liquid into her mouth, a potion of some kind, before darting straight towards the piles of fallen stonework and scaling it with ease. I took a step back, fingers pressed against my forehead as my lips parted a little. She made it up to the opening in the wall, but almost immediately gestured back down that she had no rope.
Rolling my eyes, feeling the churn of irritation form in the pit of my stomach, I tapped one finger and then two again my leg. I should be doing this. This was what I had experience in. I didn’t stop a small snorting huff as Elirith retraced her steps with a rope in hand only to cast her gaze around in bafflement as if struggling to find something to attach it to.
I couldn’t stop myself, and I leapt upwards, palm meeting rough stone as I easily hauled myself up the side of the tower. Swinging to the ledge Elirith was waiting on, I met her gaze only for a moment before looking away. I’d made it up just as fast as she had with the potion’s help.
A swing of my hammer to a piton and the rope snaked downwards to coil on the ground below. Leaning back against the wall, I watched the others climb upwards and took in some deep calming breaths. Elirith had not meant to upstage me; she had just been trying to help. I glanced over to her and shook my head, lip pinching a little.
Robyn and Saman scouted around the outskirts of the room, perhaps searching for traps, but I couldn’t help being drawn in by the statues Corvus had mentioned. There were humans, dwarves, elves and a few other races I’d seen before in Haven, all frozen as if halted in a moment of pure agony or despair. Saman commented that they had an evil aura surrounding them and my pulse quickened. Were they still alive, trapped within a spell or petrified as Saman had been by the basilisks?
Weaving as quietly as I could manage between them, I studied one tormented face after enough, hesitating, considering whom they might have been, before moving on. One was a race I didn’t recognise, taller than myself with a large, flat nose, pointed ears and a beard. Their eyes were large and had a haunting sadness, managing to penetrate even through the stone.
Penitence had traced my footsteps, and I turned back to him. He looked worried also, eyes scanning around at the unsettling scene and I hoped it was concern for what had happened here, rather than his own safety.
Turning to him, I felt familiar annoyance burning at the disgusting acts that had happened here. The rage leaked into my tone as I stated that we should try to see if there was any way we could lift this magic or assist them.
I was halfway through a word when a deafening clonk resounded through my head, and I stumbled forwards, ears ringing as black spots danced in my vision. Spitting blood onto the floor and finding more of the crimson after touching the back of my head, I staggered around to see the statue we’d been inspecting had come to life.
Liv’s magic struck it before I could blink; my friend coming to my aid without question and soon after an arrow burrowed its way into the animated stone, causing a network of cracks. As I watched, panic made me croak out a gasp. The same dreadful feeling as when fighting the basilisks began settling in my veins, making them feel heavy and useless. I would not let it stop me.
Snarling I span my glaive upwards, hitting the bladed edge into the same area Robyn had targeted. It was enough to cause the stone to split, cracks widening until the statue crumbled apart. I caught those large eyes as it fragmented, and its lips moved only a fracture, enough for a broken string of unknown words to reach me before it collapsed.
Everything blurred around me as my heart tightened.
I’d been correct. They were under a spell.
My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t quite swallow the dry lump in my throat. Around me, other statutes were awakening also, triggered once someone moved close enough. They’d been left here, forced here to guard this place, and deep-seated fury rose.
Calling out to the others to not hurt them, I raced for the nearest awakening stature, a young human male. As I moved, I felt magic around me I’d never known before, and I grasped that Corvus had cast on me, runes already fading from view as I glanced back at him. I felt reinvigorated, ready for anything while the world could only trail behind me. Seizing the cursed statue, I used all my strength to restrain it,, wrapping loops of ropes as I’d been taught to secure movement.
Penitence called out that he wanted to help, but as he moved forward, another stature revived, attacking him. He lashed back, arm outstretched as he snarled in the same language the fiend had used, swallowing his assailant in a fiery whirlwind. It was immediately destroyed, and I swallowed once before having to dodge as the one I’ve grappled attempted to claw me.
Liv tried to stop a dwarven statue nearest to her, but she didn’t have the experience I did and couldn’t restrain it. She called over to me if she should try to save them and I was about to call over that we had to, when the elven statue by Elirith manage to choke out two words. Kill me.
The anguish was too much for me; I would end their suffering if that was what they wanted, and two rapid blows caused the same cracks as before. It pained expression would haunt me for nights to come and I was almost glad when Elirith firmly jabbed a dagger into its side, causing it to tumble into rubble. Still, I had one restrained, perhaps we could save it.
Turning back, I saw Saman and Robyn had destroyed another statue, causing me to blink hard, thoughts raising. I wanted to call them to relent but the one I had restrained, finally thrashing free of its bindings.
I couldn’t stop them as Corvus hurled a firebolt into its chest, Saman striking with his hammer and Liv flung a spell in its direction. He was no longer a threat, wasn’t in control of its actions. What were they doing?
Suddenly it broke into pieces also, shattering from the assault. My nostrils flared as I heaved in deep breaths. What if we could have saved them? They had deserved that chance. My blood boiled as I tried desperately to control myself, knuckles white as I tried not to scream. Even I was conscious of what roamed downstairs, but they would know my thoughts on this. Those people were innocent and had been slaughtered without even an attempt to save them.
That was inexcusable.

Previous: Session 17: Rell's Log  Next: Session 19: Rell's Log

5th Conditori

• Fight spiders
• Reach the Tower
• Tower had statues of stone around including on the parapet
• Statues came to life and attacked
• Rel asked us not to hurt them, but one of the elven statues called out: kill me.
• Other statue escaped restraints and also was destroyed; Rel very angry.

Report Date

27 Jun 2019

Original Disclaimer: Written from Rell’s PoV and any opinions on character’s or npcs are her own and may not be a true reflection of a character’s intended actions or intentions. Any missing content is due to Rell’s selective hearing or poor memory. Although I have attempted to keep information on Rell to a minimum, please note that you may read some content/opinions that aren’t common knowledge to your own characters and therefore it should not influence your interactions with her.

Additional Disclaimer: This article is ported frpm old blogspot articles for reference, and pertinent bullets and dates added to timelines.