Echoes in the Darkness [IC]

You stand, poised to move forward, on a wide ledge before the Gates of Ghostal. The massive iron doors of the Gates, each twenty feet tall and ten feet across, stand ajar. Each of you easily could slip between the gap of the doors. But ... something gives you pause.

Before you enter, as a flurry of snow swirls around you, you gather your courage and reflect upon your purpose.

Why have you come to retrieve the talisman called Eightstrong? What else do you hope to find within the Halls called Ghostal?

Webster had always been one to chase rumours. Of far-off battles, treasures, secrets, or great beasts that still stalked the earth. He never looked to attain, to challenge, only to witness, preferring to record his many journeys in a journal that he hoped would one day wind up in a library somewhere. On his way to find a fountain in the hills that (allegedly) granted wishes to wayfarers, he was made privy to the tales of the Eightstrong. Something about this treasure struck him in his heart. It was not one to witness, it was one to possess.

Standing now at the Gates of Ghostal, he feels the drumming deep within his chest, the draw of legend. Pulling his cloak up and holding it below his chin, he stares into the darkness between the iron doors. Inside, myth. Outside, only a chapter book of wanderings.

You all hear it. A distant bellowing, high up on the mountain. The sound of a frostwyrm, readying itself for ... something. People usually avoid the creatures, they are big fast and vicious.

Webster looks around at the assembled group, waiting for someone to hold a light aloft. Inside his cloak, he places a hand on the horn dangling from his belt, a trophy from his travels. He mutters to himself, "Here's hoping I never have to sound this for aid."

Webster stares at the carvings, and admires the architecture. Noticing Rijo moving off to the left, he looks back to the group.

He whispers, "I'll keep an eye on the right side," and draws his crossbow.

Moving to the left, Rijo sees that the torchlight diffuses around the edges of the opening. It seems like there is a big space with a diagonal wall going to the left and a straight wall going ahead on the right side, so that the space gets wider further from where Rijo stands. One or more pillars stand about ten feet away from the left wall. The space has a ceiling about twelve feet high that is supported by stone beams going from the left hand wall to the tops of the pillar(s); to the right of that ceiling Rijo cannot see how high is the roof of the space. He notices that the right hand wall seems lower further ahead, but there is no visible ceiling above it.

Moving to the right, Webster sees a big space with a diagonal wall going to the right and a straight wall going ahead on the left side, so that the space is wider further from where he stands. The straight wall gets lower further from where Webster stands. There is no ceiling near the straight wall. There are pillars near the right wall, and they support stone beams that hold up a ceiling about twelve feet high.

To the left and to the right, the space is open beyond the range of torchlight.

Lighting a lantern in the dark is a bit more difficult than you might imagine when you're doing it with some kind of light already to help you see what you're doing. Nevertheless, Rezin accomplishes the minor feat and a warm yellow glow suffuses the antechamber with the elaborate wall. The lantern's thick glass walls should protect its oil wick from any more sudden gusts of wind.

Which way do you go?

Abruptly you hear a vigorous flapping of wings - not quite like those of a bird, they sound a bit leathery - from the same direction where the yellow dots glowed. The noise rapidly ascends and crosses above your heads, somehow sounding clumsy as it passes over you. A moment later there is a thump and scratch from above and behind you, like something about the size of a chicken just landed on stone.

Raising the lantern high at arms length sheds its glow on the railing of a balcony or mezzanine that overlooks you, about twelve feet up. The railing appears to be a line of slender stone pillars that continue in one direction to the head of that staircase that has the elaborate stone carving on its backside. In the other direction, the pillars along the balcony continue out of sight into darkness.

The lantern does not light the ceiling of this vast room.

A yellow dot blinks at you from between two of the pillars up there.

While Ur shifts his gear around, the animal up on the balcony utters a rooster-crow that confirms it most likely is a cockatrice. The sound of its call echoes distantly from the walls of the chamber.

Asking the question reminds Rijo that alchemists value the eyes of the cockatrice for whatever weirdness alchemists use those for. Worth their weight in gold, they are. Probably a couple of gold pieces per eye?

The stairs go up about twelve feet at a relatively shallow incline, between twenty and thirty feet of run for that rise. Ur's torch casts its steady reddish glow on the dusty grey marble steps, which are dusty but highly polished under that dust, veined with silver and gold.

The cockatrice crows again, the echoes ripple ...

You become aware that the ceiling of this room is high beyond the light from the lantern or torch, the horizontal extent of the chamber exceeds the radius of your lights as well.

What are Rezin, Webster, and Stor-bten doing as Ur and Rijo chase the cockatrice?

Webster watches as Ur and Rijo chase after the cockatrice, readying his crossbow.

He says:

"Seems a bit misguided to be running around and causing this much noise in the dark, doesn’t it?"

to no one in particular. He glances around, nervous to fall outside of the lantern’s glow.

Webster slinks closer to Rezin.

"I can spot it with my crossbow if we don't get too far away."

Webster will ready himself with his crossbow, and will take a shot if a clear opportunity arises to assist one of the party.

@seanfsmith Stor-bten stands dumb faced, watching the cockatrice flap into darkness.

@satanicpanic Ur feels searing cold and a great sense of anger as the ghost passes through him. The anger abruptly fades when the ghost leaves his body, but the cold remains. He shivers deeply. @Qralloq, Rijo strikes at the ghost as it emerges from Ur's body, but his axe seems to pass right through the semi-solid form.

@BaboonsandMoons,@Eyes Webster and Rezin act ineffectually.

The ghostly dwarf responds to Rijo's axe stroke with an abrupt lunge toward the headsman.

The cockatrice crows in the distance of the vast chamber, its call echoing from left and right walls.

You all hear a scraping of stone against stone from somewhere in the darkness across the room, possibly at the height of the balcony.

@eyes,@BaboonsandMoons As Rezin moves after the sound of the cockatrice's crow, the bubble of lantern light moves with him. It becomes obvious that this room is very large - in a few moments the light no longer touches the balcony or the row of pillars beneath it, and barely reaches the foot of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Ur's torch illumines the struggle with the ghostly dwarf.

The floor of the room is flat, cut and polished from the rock of the mountain itself. There is no debris to stumble on. The cockatrice has stopped its crowing, but you believe it may be perched at the height of the balcony, some distance across the room. For a moment, a blink of its glowing eyes confirms that guess. It is more than a bowshot distant by Rezin's estimate - well out of reach from the sling.

@satanicpanic, @qralloq Up on the balcony near the head of the broad shallow stairs, Ur futilely bashes his torch against - and through - the specter. Meanwhile, the ghost brushes against Rijo, who feels a brief chill as he cavorts aside from the malign entity's onrush. The ghost stumbles over the edge of the balcony, through the railing, and drifts toward the floor of the room.

@seanfsmith Stor-bten must choose whether to follow Rezin's lantern or ascend the steps to reach the light of Ur's torch. Alternatively, he can deal with the ghost in darkness.

Webster watches as the cockatrice drifts out of range, then looks for a means of escape should the spectre approach too close.

"Friends, should we flee from here? All this noise will surely attract more trouble!"

The voices of Ur, Rijo, and Webster mingle in echoes that cascade from the unseen walls and ceiling of the room.

The light from Ur's torch vaguely glimmers on the ghostly dwarf, which has landed at the floor of the room. It swoops toward Rijo, who has stopped and dropped his ax and shield to rummage through his backpack.

Webster will move toward Rijo and attempt to help him up and away from the spectre before it gets to him.

Webster almost tackles Rijo in his urgency to get the headsman away from the ghostly dwarf's charge. The two men tumble across the floor as the ghost utters a howl of rage and vanishes into the darkness toward Rezin - and toward Stor-bten.

The sling stone thwacks against the cockatrice's chest. The creature emits a shrill squawk and tumbles backward into the darkness of the balcony.

Here's what you've learned about this big, big, dark room.

It has a ceiling you can't see.

It has a balcony around the edge of the room about 12 feet up. The balcony has a railing of narrow stone pillars.

There are stairs up to the balcony. You're standing at the foot of the stairs.

It's laid out with a pointy end, where you entered behind the stairs, and then it gets wider.

About two bowshots away from the pointy end there is a platform that is about shoulder high, and Rezin thinks there are people sitting verry still in the dark up on that platform. Also at that end of the room on the balcony, is a cockatrice, which might be dead. Or really angry. Or frightened.

The moment passes. The cockatrice makes a clucking noise, far away at the other end of the balcony.

What do you do?

The light of lantern and torch falls dimly on the seated figures. There are six of them. Do they move, or respond in any way to the new light that you bring?

No. They remain where they sit, silently and motionless, on chairs like thrones, facing out into the vast dark room.

What do you do?

Rijo finds the steps up to the shoulder high platform, and ascends them. He walks toward the seated figures.

They don't move. They don't speak. Still as stone.

Six dwarfs clad in noble regalia, each holding a finely crafted axe across his or her lap.

Rezin's voice rings out and echoes, louder than intended in the still dark space. The lamp light casts its glow upon the silent figures, which respond to the question with motion.

Their movement sounds like cracking stone and sliding stones as the six figures swiftly stand. The axes from their laps now in their hands.

Then they ... lock into place, in stasis, solid and still. Poised, as if they have forgotten their next move.

All this movement and speech seems to energize the stone dwarfs, who abruptly lurch into eager and belligerent motion.

The stone dwarfs wield their axes:

one takes a swing at Rezin, doing 4 harm (Rezin failed his Defense roll).

two swing at Stor-bten, threatening 8 harm total.

one swings at Rijo, threatening 4 harm.

two chop at each other!

Stor-bten hits the back of the surprisingly massive stone dwarf, it's about his own size but substantially weightier. Nevertheless, his impact is strong and the thing topples forward onto its face. It shatters noisily. Apparently it was hollow. A big puff of dust and little stone splinters rises and settles quickly.

The nearest stone dwarf turns and swings its axe right at Stor-bten!

The dwarf does not visibly react to Rezin's axe blow.

Rijo's target tries to step aside from his blow,

... its feet are heavy and slow but its body is solid stone, Rijo's big axe rings and chips against its torso.

Rezin batters at the stone dwarf. It's smaller than him, so he has a good position to smack it in the head.

Sadly, although Rezin's blow causes the dwarf's stone skull to crack with a ringing sound, the golem warrior is not sufficiently stunned to prevent it smashing its axe into Rezin's body. The loveably spacey counterfeiter gasps and collapses to the smooth and cold stone floor of the dais.

Meanwhile ...

Rijo ducks under a clumsy swing of an axe, gets in close, and grapples. The stone dwarf wobbles and topples over. SMASH. It shatters in a cloud of dust and a scatter of shards of stone.

One of the two that were fighting each other beheads its opponent, who also shatters and collapses in a shower of stone fragments. The victor turns toward Rijo. He and Stor-bten are the last delvers standing, two breathing invaders opposed by three inimical moving statues.