Story II: City of Shadow

"At least this part should be no problem, Zubie go follow the old man." Ameera fits her much smaller frame into the narrow passage and makes her weak towards Devanis.

Faced with the treacherous slope, Devanis keeps using his climbing gear for stability. He trusts Zubie will warn the others to do the same.

Pyrrah follows up the rear, using her torchlight from the spectral hand to light her way

Ameera negotiates the slope using the pitons left by Devanis. At times, her smaller stature allows her to use the ceiling for handholds while standing nearly upright.

Neph manages to keep her balance through a mix of light steps and corrections made with a quick burst of energy from her wings.

Evendur carefully makes his way through the narrow tunnel, keeping the sizable weapons on his pack from getting stuck in the narrow space. Upon reaching the slope, Evendur follows the path Devanis took down, trying to make sure his footing is solid prior to taking additional steps.

The bottom of the slope drops you off into a web of caverns and tunnels. Each tunnel forks into two or three more, connecting at odd angles, with pits that lead ever deeper. Neph takes the lead here, guiding your group through a series of twists and turns. At some points you must descend, and at others you climb. The pixie moves with a practiced pace, and a purposeful gait. Obviously, it will not be easy to remember you own way back without her.

Neph slows her pace when one of the tunnels ends in a narrow, rocky tube traveling up and down. In the center of this tube, which is perhaps 5 feet wide, is a thick rope that reaches for dozens of feet (or more) upward and downward. Below, you hear the sounds of dripping water. Above, you hear a deep hum. Neph climbs into the column and with a powerful flapping of her wings, ascends upward.

It takes a bit of effort, but with the aid of your gear, the rope, and each other, you manage to the top as well. When your heads poke out of the column, you are met with a rocky cave. Two entrances, on opposite sides, adjoin this 30-foot-long room. These entrances are blocked by metal doors with no handles. On one side of the room, some of the wall appears to have been worn away. Rubble and stone little the ground beside the wall. Embedded in the rock is a section of thick, white material. Upon this material is carved a series of runes.

Ameera runs her hands across the ruins in the white material. "I wonder how long these have been here" she whispers."Can anyone read this?"

Devanis squints, trying to make sense of the runes. He holds Seraph up to the runes and directs his thoughts towards the sword, Do you recognize these, Seraph?

Neph narrows her eyes at the bone peeking through the stone of the wall. "That's... new." She mutters curiously.

The gem at the swords pommel flickers momentarily, but makes no noise.

"Looks like the runes on the huge bones back in your village, Neph."

"Those were there when we began building," she says, crossing her arms and staring at the bone. "I've been here before though. A couple months ago. That," She points to the bone, "Wasn't there. Maybe someone dug it out?"

"Those runes are exactly the same ward against necromancy that are carved on the bones atop. As crazy as it sounds, I think it's part of the same skeleton". Ameera kicks some of the rubble on the floor and looks to Neph "You may be right, with all this on the floor it looks like someone's been digging." She turns back and places both hands on the skeleton "Gods! Could someone be planning to revive this creature? Can't be, it would be impossible to dig it all out, if I am right and this is part of some titan."

"We never quite understood what it was. Nothing that big lives here, unless it's a worm." Neph shrugs, "Those bones don't look like they used to be good at digging, neither."