The War Without End – Episode 1.6
After a few more minutes, there is no further sign of activity from the stairwell, so Shilaze leads the four companions down into the crypt.
The stairs end in a hall filled with burial urns, but the names of the fallen are not among those listed there. Beyond that, another set of stairs takes them deeper beneath the earth.
They find themselves in a finely wrought room that glows with a faint green luminance. The pillars and archways are carved to appear like tree trunks and the stone ceiling is adorned with ornately crafted leaves. Between the stone trunks, Elvish writing covers the walls, some of which Shilaze translates. Verse upon verse of it is dedicated to the heroic deeds of four Elves. The names match four of the five they are looking for. The fifth, Tharamil, is not mentioned, nor is how any of them died.
One of the archways seems to be a portal and Massingleigh is able to use his growing knowledge of the doorways to reason that it is how the dead were intended to pass on to the land of Arborea. However the companions know that the souls of the Elves never arrived there.
Looking around they discover a group of four statues amongst the trees. Representations of noble Elves that are almost certainly those the companions have come looking for.
Shilaze goes toward them and calls out the name of one of the four “Krelana” and then continuing in Elvish “Krelana are you here? We have been sent by Heiron of the Med-Jai to find you”
There is a moment of silence and then a ghostly figure materialises in front of one of the statues. It is the spectre of an Elven woman.
“Who are you?” the phantom whispers to Shilaze “Why have you come?”
“I am Shilaze Newdawn. My companions and I have been sent by Heiron of the Second Tribe of the Med-Jai to find you and release you”
“We cannot leave. One is missing” the ghost of Krelana moans. “Tharamil is not here. Not where he should be.” And as she says his name, three more spectral figures emerge from the remaining statues and join her. “Tharamil… Tharamil… Tharamil…” they drone over and over.
“Where is he? Where is Tharamil?” Shilaze calls over the din.
The ghost of Krelana responds by pointing towards a narrow opening at the far end of the room and then she gradually fades, followed by the other spectres. The companions are left alone once more.
Beyond the opening there is a narrow passage. It leads to a deep fissure in the rock that plummets into darkness below. They can see no bottom to it, nor any obvious way down.
Shilaze proposes that before trying to explore the fissure they backtrack to the arboreal chamber and investigate a doorway that she has spotted. It is almost hidden by the carvings on the walls and seems to pre-date everything else, as though the rest of the chamber was built over it.
The ancient door opens surprisingly easily to reveal another set of stairs leading downwards. Once again the companions descend into darkness. As they go deeper, Shilaze can sense an evil presence somewhere below.
Eventually they emerge into an irregularly shaped tomb; a mass of vaults, archways, alcoves and side passages that extends around them into the darkness. The chamber houses a large number of sarcophagi, although exactly how many it is difficult to tell. The evil is much stronger there.
They are about half way across when Ebon spots the mummified corpses that are lumbering towards them from the shadows. He shouts a warning to the others and then readies himself to face their attackers.
The dozen or so mummies are a stern test for the young Med-Jai. They are relentless, shrugging off blows that would fell a normal man. Other than Elsabeth’s magic the companions seem to make little impression on them.
As the fight continues, Massingleigh suddenly realises that Shilaze has been injured and there are two mummies bearing down on her. She looks to be in trouble. “Ebon, over there! Shilaze needs your help!” he shouts.
Alerted to the fact that Shilaze is in difficulty, Ebon breaks away from the mummy he is fighting, receiving a nasty rake along his side as he does. Ignoring it he goes after the two mummies attacking Shilaze and succeeds in drawing one of them away from her.
With the odds evened up, Shilaze calls on the power of Heironeous and delivers a devastating combination of blows that almost cleaves her opponent in half.
Meanwhile Massingleigh and Elsabeth deal with the mummy Ebon had been fighting, Elsabeth eventually finishing it with a barrage of magic missiles.
And finally, they surround the last mummy and destroy it.
In the aftermath, the friends regroup and cure their injuries, but to their dismay they find that magical healing has no effect on Ebon’s wound. Where the mummy raked his skin, the flesh is torpid and has begun to decay. They realise he has Mummy Rot, a festering contagion carried by mummies. Already he has begun to weaken. Without powerful magical healing, he only has three or four days to live. Shilaze provides some relief by ‘laying on hands’ but they know that the only hope of saving him is to return to Sigil before it is too late.
They consider departing there and then, but Shilaze senses that the evil presence is lurking nearby in the next chamber. The majority of its cohorts have been vanquished and it is at its weakest.
“Let us finish it while we may” she proposes resolutely, and the others agree.
Together they venture on. Shilaze bravely leads them. At the threshold of the next chamber a group of zombies attack, but Elsabeth hurls another huge fireball into their midst and incinerates them. The heat barely subsides before Shilaze advances into the room. She steps around the charred remains, brandishing her holy symbol and commands, “In the name of Heironeous, be gone foul fiend.”
The undead creature, the Mohrg that was once Tharamil, has been waiting in the shadows. It is unmoved by the power of Shilaze’s faith. Reaching out, it touches her, chilling her very soul. Her strength leaves her and she falls paralysed to the ground.
Suddenly the company realise that they are in trouble. They attempt to withdraw. Ebon fends of the Mohrg just long enough for Massingleigh to get Shilaze but they do not get far carrying her. Massingleigh gives up on the idea and turns back to fight the Mohrg with Ebon, while Elsabeth uses Magic Missiles from a distance.
For what seems to be an age Massingleigh valiantly draws the creature’s attacks, while Ebon attempts to land a telling blow, but the Mohrg is swift and once again it is only Elsabeth who seems to be causing it any harm.
Gradually the Mohrg becomes enraged by this and turns its attention toward reaching the sorceress. However Massingleigh and Ebon continue to block its frenzied assaults, allowing Elsabeth to weaken it further. It is close to destruction when it finally breaks through and, though it manages to claw Elsabeth, Ebon finishes it with a final blow.
The Mohrg falls. Its cadaverous form withers and stiffens as the unholy force that was animating it departs.
Wearily the friends sag to the ground. Somehow they have survived. Though Ebon looks very ill now. His face is pallid and gaunt and he shivers uncontrollably.
Within a few minutes Shilaze recovers from her paralysis and she and Massingleigh gather Tharamil’s remains, wrapping them in a cloak and placing them respectfully on a makeshift litter made from a large shield.
Together they carry the litter upstairs and place it at the centre of the four statues. As they do so, the ghostly figures of the four emerge from their resting place and gather around their lost brother. A fifth spirit materialises and the others welcome him. There is a sense of wholeness once again. Together the five souls depart through the gate to Arborea.
Their mission completed the companions turn their attention to getting Ebon back to Sigil, where he can be cured. He is looking very unwell.
They have no choice but to return through the Dwarven stronghold, where they fear they will be delayed by the evil that they encountered there before. But this time the mines seem deserted.
Thankfully they are able to return through the portal without further incident and at Shilaze’s urging they rush Ebon to the Temple of Heironeous where he is cured by the Prelate.
Notes:
A Mohrg is the animated corpse of someone who dies without atoning for his crimes.
Once Ebon has recovered, the companions return to the Dwarven stronghold to deal with the evil that remains there, but by then whatever was there has left.
