Prologue - Death House

Round Four

Taniwha steels his grip and throws himself in a whirlwind of claw and metal. The spear slips off the breastplate of the knight, but the kick. . . .Afterwards, the armor clatters to pieces, never to move again. Taniwha feels cold fingers caress his cheek as its animating spirit leaves this world forevermore. In his ear, a small voice whispers, "Thank you."

As Taniwha brings the spear head down he smiles quietly as his opponent opens up to his secondary attack.

The heel strikes cleanly onto the crown of the helm with the force of a sledgehammer, compressing it into the body of the suit. A loud crack breaks the eerie silence followed by a popping sound, as the helm splits then catapults into the air. Two halves of the helm hit the floor spinning like a top . . .

. . . the armor clatters to pieces, never to move again. Taniwha feels cold fingers caress his cheek as its animating spirit leaves this world forevermore. In his ear, a small voice whispers, "Thank you."

Drooling, bleeding, it's all the same...

Amalthea’s dreams are interrupted with a hammering pain in her head. Did she drink too much again?

The party had failed to properly explore the entire first floor so the room in which the ranger entered was unfamiliar but Drina had been drawn by the pops and crackles of the fire burning in the hearth. Now was not the time to indulge in curiosity as her companions needed her aid but even so the ranger took a cursory look around the room looking for any item that might staunch a wound as well as gathering an oil lamp.

Holding the vessel to the light, Drina confirmed the well was filled with liquid before removing the chimney to light the wick with a piece of kindling. As the fire fed upon the oil, the lamp was quickly reassembled becoming a source of illumination.

With the lamp in hand along with any other items that could be quickly grabbed, the green eyed woman started the return trip. Her own breathing was loud in her ears. Drina tried not to think about the fact she did not know what was awaiting for her at the top of the stairs but the gypsy could not turn away from those who had fallen being committed to the same path as she. I WILL return to you Vai! vowed the devoted sister even though her steps lead upward toward danger instead of the open window so tantalizing close.

Without realising it Taniwha had raised his hand placing his finger tips to the spot touched by the spirit. His breath had started to calm but his eyes still wide at what had just happened, his fingers holding the spot as though searching to hold onto something or someone.

Footsteps on the stairs bring him back to the present and the wounded. He quickly scans the fallen. The Dwarf is coming around gaining consciousness, but the Human is still out. "Drina, is you? Hurry I need some help." he calls out hoping the green eyed lady had not abandoned them.

He moves over the knight making assessments of his condition, loosing armour and checking airways. Going over the DRSABC taught to him throughout his youth, again hoping that is Drina coming up the stairs. He did not have it in him to face another enemy.

Perhaps Taniwha is still too panicked, or perhaps Abraham is just too far gone. Either way, Taniwha's efforts make no difference to his companion's condition.

Amalthea looks around blearily, her head and neck hurting more than she has ever felt in her life. However, with her darkvision, she can see Drina is gone and that Taniwha is above Abraham's prone body. The armor that had attacked them is now in pieces strewn across the third floor.

"By Dumathoin's hammer, what happened?"

Amalthea unsteadily rises and her first instinct is to put one hand on Abraham's head and the other hand on her pendant and heal him.

An extra burst of speed fueled Drina's steps as she bounded up the final flight of stairs responding to the call of help. Light flooded the top landing illuminating...well illuminating a much better scene than the one played out in the ranger's head. Everyone was whole. Well perhaps not whole as the knight looked as if he could slump over at any moment with large beads of sweat clinging to his hairline. Amalthea seemed unsteady herself but could the race that was as wide as they were tall, tip over? But most importantly, no one was dead!

"By the dreg of the tea leaves, I never saw that coming! It was so dark! What even happened?"

With the illumination of Drina's oil lamp, the whole party can now see where they are. The third floor hall is more like the rotting corpse of one, the walls crumbling away and succumbing to vicious mold. Cobwebs choke every corner. There is a door in the northern wall, beside the jumbled remains of the armor. Another door is perpendicular to it in the west wall. To the east is a short hall with a set of double doors and a single door facing each other.

The rotting walls are carved with an alpine forest, but Taniwha pointed out that there are tiny corpses hanging from the trees and worms burrowing out of the ground. There is also a seam in the west wall beside the door, which Taniwha found out was a secret door. (Before he could share what he learned, the armor attacked.)

"That was unpleasant," Abraham mentions as he sits up, looking around before rummaging in his pack. "Not my first choice, because I rather hate not having both sword and shield in hand but considering how that almost turned out... perhaps it would be prudent. I am unsure who roused me, but you have my thanks."

As he speaks, Abe pulls out a torch and his tinderbox, striking the flint until a spark ignites the torch. Putting the box back in his pack and securing the pack he shoulders it again before standing, passing the torch between hands as he does so. Once standing, he retrieves his sword and sheathes it, holding the light in his dominant hand as he picks up his shield.

"Well then... everyone ready?"

"Woah, buddy! I appreciate your willingness to power forward but you look like you could use a breather. The green eyed woman's eyes fell on how the very bones of the upper floor seemed to be rotting around them as her nose crinkled in disgust. Well, perhaps not the most restful of locations but..."

The ranger trailed off noting the pieces of metal scattered on the ground before giving the breastplate a slight push with her toe. "Was this what attacked us? So some kind of magical knight? I doubt it is "the monster" in which the children spoke. It does concern me that this isn't the only suit of armor. At least two more are on the floor below so we should proceed with caution. Do we have any idea what triggered it?"

Riddled with an unhealthy amount of curiosity, the ranger tried to look through any open doorways as she spoke.

Relived that Amalthea stepped in to help Abraham, Taniwha takes the moment to retrieve his cloak and slip it back on but not the hood. Turning his head towards Drina as she arrives back on the second floor holding a light source, brief half smile touching his lips before quickly assuming a sullen look. "Welcome back. Best to rest in a room." he says before turning to check and listen at the door in the west wall, next to the secret one.

"Ay, what a relief we have light now. Another thing to remember to purchase next time we are in town. I wholeheartedly agree that we should rest."

She follows over to look at the armor on the ground.

"I guess I must have stepped too close to it and it activated its sentry duties. In my training, we were taught that it is powered by magic so if we find anything that can dispel magic in the area, it should give us time to beat it to a pulp."

As Taniwha checks for a safe spot for them to rest, she tries to see if she can find any magic writing on the armor to help them better understand its instructions or abilities.

"I'm afraid that my skills don't extend to the arcane. I do dabble with the supernatural as I have skills in reading tea leaves but magic is a different kind of mystery." Shrugging with a wry smile on her face,"And before anyone here makes any comments on if I am a diviner then how didn't I see this coming? The answer is simple: you don't see what you don't look for."

Drina then tapped her lips as a look of concern washed over her face, "I'm afraid that we may have lost the one of us that knew about such spells. I traveled all the way back down the stairs without seeing Avalyn at all. Hopefully, the woman slipped out the window safely and is halfway down the road. By the way, I don't think everyone gave their names when we first met. I'm Drina." Green eyes laid heavily on the one who seemed to carry more than his fair share of angst.

If he could have Taniwha would have buried his head into the door in front of him to escape the stare from those green eyes. With his feet shuffling and trying to appear still listening at the door, he quietly says, "I am Taniwha."