Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
Session Nine of Blood and Water Campaign

Zephday, 10 Baretwig 204

Dawn on a day that could change the fortunes of arcanists forever. The power blocks on the island of Varosh are on the move. The forces of the Arcanum Incognita, under Invigilant-General Barakar Santuro have laid siege to the volcanic mountain of Varosh. At dusk, when Zephyre is full, they will assault the Potentates within. King Gorneesh and his clan of fire giants are preparing to sweep down from their mountain homes and eradicate Santuro's men. Inquisitor Medina Castden of the Desideratum Veritas is embarked upon her own agenda to rid the world of Santuro and the Potentates. And within Mount Vargus, Elsabette Morketh prepares her last desperate gamble: a dangerous arcane experiment that will attempt to splice the souls of Ravenna and Alhanna Tannesh, and give Alhanna the ultimate freedom over her magic. Time is running out for them all.

But there is a fifth column. Making their way as quickly as they can from the north-western shore, are the party of adventurers who face the most impossible of tasks. Elias Raitbourne, Fallor Mwotü, Jonus, Jessica DiFontaine, Torr, Drasha Raithbourne and Misgon have placed themselves against everyone on this island. Led by the determined, yet terrified, Honour they have pledged to climb the least treacherous face of an erupting volcano, tread a labyrinth of sweltering, poison-filled passageways, avoid scores of fire giants, penetrate the Potentate base, rescue the Potentate's slaves (including Ravenna), escape and then goad the god Vargus to detonate the volcano and destroy the island. An uphill task in every respect.

In the Potentate base: "Mistress Morketh! The Arcanum Incognita are at our door! One move and they could be upon us!" The messenger wilts under the gaze of Elsabette Morketh. Only when she looks away does he scurry to safety. Ravenna and Snowy observe the proceedings with deep concern. Having made the decision to help the Potentates and her mother in every way she can, Ravenna is not prepared to have the whole deal scuppered at this stage.

"Is there anything we can do to speed this up?" asks Ravenna. The machine to which she and her mother are to be secured lies against the far wall, in the flickering lava-light of the huge 'window'. But the grossly deformed dwarf, Ballistar, shows no sign of beginning the experiment. Instead he runs his fingers over Ravenna's skin. Probing, and bending his telepathic mind to unfathomable ends.

Morketh and Alhanna exchange a serious glance at Ravenna's words. Alhanna's eyes show a fear that Ravenna has no seen before. "Elsabette!" she exclaims. "There must be another way!" Morketh grimaces. "You heard the news, Alhanna! They are out our door. In an hour they could be in this very room." - "But Ravenna…." - "What about me?" asks Ravenna quickly.

Morketh regards the young woman. "We can hurry, but the chances of you surviving the process will be greatly diminished. Your death would be more likely than not." Ravenna pauses for only a second. "Do it!" she says, "We don't have time to waste." Alhanna regards her daughter with a mixture of pity and profound pride.

Morketh exchanges glaces with Ballistar, and then she says, "Even with matters accelerated it will still be some hours before we can proceed at all. I will send word for King Gorneesh to begin his assault now." To Ravenna the success of the Potentates' plans are everything. It is not the thought of bringing down the Arcanum Incognita, or providing Misgon with a greater freedom in magic - it is the power. The thought of standing side-by-side with Morketh ruling the Potentates - of having dominion over the libraries of the Arcanum Incognita…… Whether it is the taint of the Great Dark, or whether it is something else in her nature that is seizing the opportunity is unclear, but Ravenna feels that everything in her life, all her experience, has been building up to this. Her friends are forgotten.

"I have a plan," Ravenna says to Morketh. "We need to slow down the Arcanum Incognita, don't we? Well, release the prisoners." Morketh is puzzled. Ravenna smiles and contines, "We can't take them with us when we leave this place. You don't need them all as living batteries. Grant them their freedom. Do that and they'll flee this place. But there's only one place to go - right out into the Arcanum Incognita. The church won't let them go free either. If they want to escape they'll have to fight. The Arcanum Incognita will probably kill them all, but they'll take down a lot of them in the process. And if they attack at the same time as the giants……"

Morketh laughs. It is her turn to regard Ravenna with pride. "You are rising like a star in my estimations, Ravenna. An excellenet scheme, well done." Morketh gives orders to put Ravenna's plan into operation, and also sends word to King Gorneesh. Within the hour, the north-western slopes of Mount Vargus will be a battle-field. Nothing living will escape.

Outside the smoke is black and impenetrable. Only the raging fire of the mountain spewing molten rock into the sky illuminates the desolate scene. To each member of the party it looks like hell. Elias can personally attest this, having actually been to Hell. The acidic fumes sting their eyes and occassional flurries of falling lava force them to dive for cover. Torr glows with a subtle blue light, from the magicks he is using to protect himself. The ground is thigh-deep in volcanic ash, that still burns through breeches and boots.

Jessica regards the Mount Vargus with trepidation and thought. She knows her skills. If anyone has a chance of leading them through this safely through this, then it is her. "Where to now, Honour?" Jessica asks. The girl, as young as Jessica herself, turns her head. Less than two seasons ago she was a serving girl at Osroth Manor. She was betrothed to a farm-hand named Ozrik and she had no desire or intention to stray more than a mile from her village all her life. But circumstances changed. Her rape at the hands of the squire, her exile to Uris, falling in with Dellan Gant, her kidnapping at the hands of the Potentates and now, now….. this. Honour suspects she should feel some animosity to Elias and Ravenna. In taking vengeance in her name against Osroth they inadvertantly pushed her down this path, but she cannot summon up the energy. As she informs Jessica and the others that less than a quarter of mile remains before the climb, a fiery determination kindles within her. She will see this through. She will help as many innocents as she can and, if necessary, she will die in the attempt.

"I'm going to scout ahead," says Jessica. Elias tries to talk her out of it, but Jessica is unmoved. "I'm better at this sort of thing than anyone here," she says reasonably. "I want to see where the Arcanum Incognita is. We'll need to know that if we're going to slip past them." Jessica's logic is unassailable. The masked girl is off on her own, leaping over rocks and wading through ash. Within moments she disappears into the black smoke.

Jessica has not gone more than five hundred yards when she slips in the ash and falls noisily to the ground. She hears voices and the sound of feet approaching at a run. She has blundered right into the Arcanum Incognita! She feels more embarassment than fear as she gets to her feet. In the smoke she can see three of them moving toward her. Jesscia turns around and runs. She hurries away from the party and toward the rising volcano.

Jessica is fast, faster than her pursuers, but she is unfamiliar with the terrain and cannot sprint across the broken ground. Finally she spies a vent in the side of the moutain and quickly twists herself into the hiding place. Mere moments after she has concealed herself, the pursuers arrive. Two warriors and a cleric, scanning the area slowly. "She must be around here somewhere," says one, blantantly not seeing Jessica. "Wait," says the second warrior to the priest. "Maybe she is one of the thieves. She may be carrying something magical upon her."

The moment the words are said, Jesscia realises that she is in trouble. Even as the cleric casts the spell that would reveal her, she springs to her feet. Hurling a poisoned dart at the cleric (and missing) she turns on her heals and runs. She takes the warriors by surprise. They do not bring their swords to bear on her in time, but the cleric is no slouch. Taking a band of iron from his pouch, the cleric gestures toward Jessica and speaks a word of power. She feels the weave upon her. She limbs grow sluggish, her breath slows and paralysis takes every muscle from her control. She curses her misfortune. She has been caught.

"She's been gone a long time," surmises Fallor, staring out in the general direction Jessica disapeared. Fallor volunteers to go and look for Jessica, but Elias is not so sure. The thought of sending off members of the party one-by-one to get bushwhacked by the Arcanum Incognita. It is at that moment that the group's discussions are cut short by Jonus.

The cleric falls to his knees and begins to retch on the ground. Drasha rushes over to him. Jonus has gone a dangerous shade of green, and looks as if he's on his death bed. "What's the matter with you?" demands Elias. But Jonus can barely speak. He knows only full well what is ailing him. It is this proximatey to the volcano, and presumably to Vargus. But he does not share this information with his companions. "No, I am fine. I will be fine," he says allowing himself to be raised to his feet.

Fallor determines to go in search of Jessica. He sings a small ditty that magically links his mind with the rest of the party so he can keep them informed of his movements and heads off into the darkness. The seven foot, three-hundred pound Üganthé berserker succeeds where the stealth-conscious, five foot nothing assassin failed, and sneaks close to the ranks of the Arcanum Incognita. Climbing a little way up Mount Vargus, Fallor croaches behind a boulder, and looks down at the assembled.

Well over one hundred warriors and clerics are assembled around a huge cleft in the mountainside that presumably leads into the Potentate headquarters. The silver of their robes reflects the lava-light in a dazzling fashion. Then Fallor sees her. Jessica is being led roughly through the army toward a man standing atop a wagon that he recognises as Barakar Santuro. Her hands have been tied bhind her back and any obvious weapon has been removed. Fallor surmises that she is far from unarmed, but he does not like her odds.

Jessica stumbles to the ground at the feet of Santuro. The bear-like man is cradling Narramac's staff under his arm as if it is a precious child. Brutal hands drag Jessica to her feet and she meets the gaze of the Invigilant-General. "Where are you companions?" he demands. "They've gone into the mountain to rescue the slaves," Jessica says as flatly as she can. It is almost the truth, and she fails to see what Santuro can do with the information to the detriment of the party.

Santuro bends closer to Jessica so she can feel his breath on her cheeks. "Invigilants Ransallis and Vandeef are dead. How did you destroy them?" A small smile plays across Jessica's face. "Just a demon we can summon," she says politely. Santuro loses his patience and his temper. He does not have time for this. Not now. Not when victory is so close.

"Take her away! Turn her mind inside out and tell me everything that she knows!" Jessica feels relief and fear as she is dragged away to some far corner. But she is not alone. Fallor, reports what he has seen to his companions, and then quickly returns to them.

"How can we rescue her?" asks Misgon. "We can't go up against all of them!" Elias agrees. Trying to rescue Jessica will put them all in hands of the Arcanum Incognita, and that won't forward their mission at all. It is all ready noon and time is running out. Drasha seems equally mystified as to what to do next. "Invisible stalkers," says Torr. "One of our globes has a pair of them. They can be given any command. Send one to rescue Jessica and one to cause a distraction."

The discussion is short. It is their best, nay their only plan. Jonus agrees and hands one of the two globes that was stolen from the Invigilant-General to Elias. The paladin smashes the globe upon the ground, and immediately the ash on the ground spirals into the sky almost (but not quite) revealing the outline of two enormous, hulking creatures. Instructions are given, and the pair move like the wind to save Jessica. "We have to be ready to move as soon as they come back," Elias says to Honour. The girl nods.

It is a terrible experience for Jessica. The man in front of her is using the Weave to peel away the layers of her memory. She tries to fight it, but resistance only seems to call her pain; it has no effect at throwing off the spell. Suddenly she hears the sounds of chaos from all around her. She cannot see what is happening, but the attention of her captor is distracted, and she feels the magical link between them sag. Suddenly, something strikes her in the chest, knocking the wind from her. She is lifted into the air and bodily borne away from the seen. Looking around she sees the warrios and clerics of the church fighting some large invisible foe. Shouts are going up. Santuro is moving to the scene. But she is away. Still tied up, and flying backwards seven feet above the ground. Back to her friends. But her departure has not gone unnoticed. A force of many swords and spells are at her back.

The invisible stalker deposits Jessica on the ground before her companions. It's task completely, it vanishes into the ether. Drasha unties the girl's bonds, and Jessica informs them that a force is at their heels, and led by Honour the party flee. This is not the way that Honour was intending to lead them. She does not know this terrain, as well. They cramble up the side of the volcano, dropping to their hands and knees to keep their balance. The ground is hot, and burns uncovered palms. Without his <I>fly</I> spell Jonus would not have been able to keep up. Nausea threatens to overwhelm him at any moment. He dislikes this place greatly, and tells his companions so.

The chase lasts about half an hour, although it seems much longer. The clerics and their guards pursue the party through the rocky land, but when they clamber upwards toward the boiling summit, they choose not to follow. Whether it is for fear of their lives, or some other reason the party do not know. They cannot know that the fire giants of King Gorneesh have attacked the Arcanum Incognita, and that the sorcerers kept as slaves by the Potentates are making a break for freedom through the cleft that church guard. They are simply thankful the pursuit has stopped, as Honour leads them into a dark tunnel mouth.

The air inside is stifling and tastes of poison. "I have not been this way before," says Honour. "I believe I can find away through to the main tunnels, however." - "As long as you stay away from the fire giants," says Torr. "No!" declares Fallor, who is looking forward to taking on a fire giant one on one. "The route we travel will take us through the fire giant kingdom, it is only way to approach Morketh."

Despairing at their fate the group enters the caves. Jessica insists on leading the way, despite her previously poor track record. And she does succeed in warning the group of dangerous vents of poisonous gases, and unexpected bursts of magma. Deeper and deeper into the volcano they go, and for hours it seems that there is no end to the tunnels. Honour and Jessica are kept in touch with Fallor's spells, but often they have to turn back because of a blocked passageway, or a river of magma blocking their path.

Eventually, the tunnel begins to widen, and Honour allows herself a little smile of triumph. They have succeeded, she explains. Beyond the narrow tunnel before them, is the main throughfare she had originally hoped to join. They will come out within sight of the main entrance to Goreneesh's kingdom. Jessica volunteers to scout ahead. Torr casts a spell to render her invisible and Jesscia steps out of the darkness and into the light of the main passageway.

To her left, less than a hundred feet away is an arched doorway. It is not of fine workmanship, but it is obviously worked stone. Beyond is darkness. Blocking the door and seemingly asleep is a huge, gangrel beast. It ressembles a dog, but it has jaws that could snap Shredder in half. Roughly ten feet at the shoulder it seems diminished despite its size, as though it has not had a decent meal in a long time. The fur is matted and blood black and an acrid smoke rises from its nostrils. Jessica approaches the beast, and draws her dagger.

She has studied certain arts that make the possibility of a single, killing blow very real, even against a creature such as this. As long as she can find the right spot. She crouches down, inches away from hyeana-jaws the size of her torso. She knows where the heart of a dog should be found, and she gambles that it is the same place on this being. For long moments the rest of the party watch Jessica from her hiding place. Then, slowly, and with worrying skill the girl takes her blade and allows it to hover over the beasts heart. The creature does not stir. She smiles and plunges the dagger home.

The beast's eyelids snap open revealing burning pupils that glow red in this half-light. Instinctively, Jessica leaps back as the creature tries to climb to its feet, but she soon realises the precaution was not necessary. The monster, stumbles and falls to the ground. Its stunted intellect taking precious seconds to realise that it was dead. Jessica stands over the beast, extremely impressed with herself. Then the corpse starts to smoulder, and a fire leaps into life on its back. Jessica turns as the corpse explodes showering the corridor in fire and flesh. She catches the blast in her back and tumbles forward.

Dazed, Jessica gets to her feet. The beast, the gigantic hell hound, is gone. Nothing but charred meat remains. Then there is a rumbling from beyond the archway. The tramp of iron boots, the falling of a tremendous shadow and suddenly a fire giant stands just ten of feet away from her. It looks at the body of the guard dog, and lets out a blood-chilling cry of anger. Seeing Jessica, whose invisibility was dismissed by her attack, it hefts its sword and charges toward her.

The fire giant stands over ten feet tall. It is proportioned as a gigantic dwarf, with simian arms and a chest as broad as the keel of a ship. Beneath the chain armour and the beard, it's skin is the black of coal. In its hands and swinging wildly in Jessica's direction is a two-handed sword as tall as Fallor. But as Jessica is running, so do her friends race out of the side tunnel to her rescue.

Fallor and Drasha charge to the fray. Their swords drawn, both bundle past Jessica and charge the giant. Drasha's blade chinks harmlessly off its armour, but Fallor's sword sinks deep. The barbarian is gripped by his battle rage, and his weapon scores a hit quite capable of slicing two normal men in half. Against his foe, the wound bites deeply into the thigh, and the giant stops to engage Fallor. Jessica is safe.

This is the fight Fallor had been born to. He and Drasha strike again, but Drasha is unable to dish out the staggering damage that the Üganthé is capable of. But the giant is yet to have his say. It raises its weapon and brings the blade downwards into Fallor's collarbone with enough force to split an ox in two. Fallor staggers, blood gushing from his shoulder. The giant swings again, catching Fallor across the back but still Fallor does not fall. A third swipe misses the barbarian entirely. Fallor spits blood from his mouth and rises to the challenged again.

Elias (protective spells cast) hurtles across the stone floor to help Fallor and his wife. Torr and Misgon send a volley of magic missiles at the giant, but they do not seem to do much perceptible damage. Drasha, Fallor and Elias press the assault but their opponent will not fall. It attacks Fallor again. The Üganthé stares death in the face.

The fire giant brings the great sword about in a deadly arc. The force of the blow cleaves straight through Fallor. Elias watches as his companion falls to the deadly blow, and then staggers as the follow through catches him in the chest. Successive blows from the fire giatn rain down upon Elias, and it is only the Mirror of Mellifel that prevents him from meeting the same fate as Fallor.

But Fallor had done his work. The fire giant is mortally wounded as Drasha and Elias press the assault. Even Misgon, dagger in hand, tries to take vengeance on the brute for the death of his companion. Eventually, inevitably the enemy falls and the survivors are left to count the cost of the victory.

Fallor is dead. Jonus, despite his nausea, is able to confirm that there is no hope of mending his broken body. He has passed, and only magic that can bring him back from the beyond will be of any use. Many times on their journey from Norandor, Fallor spoke of his faith in the moon gods. He would not wish to defy Mortis by coming back. For Fallor, dead is dead.

"We have to leave him here," says Elias slowly. They cannot carry Fallor's body from the cave. There is no time. If the Arcanum Incognita are all ready on the offensive, then the window of opportunity they have in which to save Ravenna is closing rapidly. Everyone agrees that there is no choice but to leave Fallor and move on.

Jessica leads the way through the archway. Beyond is a large round chamber with exits in all directions. The party resists the temptation to investigate this lair. Honour knows that the way is straight on and that from this moment they are now very close to the headquarters of the Potentates and Elsabette Morketh.

"The battle goes well, mistress," says the embattered messenger to Elsabette Morketh. Ravenna and Alhanna are making the final preparations for the soul-splicing experiment. "It seems that a large number of the Church's warriors and clerics were led away from the main group moments before the giants attacked." - "Led away by whom?" asks Morketh. The messenger describes the invisible stalkers and the party. Ravenna shakes his head. "Elias," she says despairingly. "Do not worry," says Morketh, "he will not get in here." Ravenna points out that that is exactly what Elias will do. He and the others will find a way to spoil things. It's what they do. Even looking at the manticores and other magical creatures that Morketh is preparing to throw against Barakar Santuro, Ravenna fears that Elias will scupper this one chance she has for greatness.

Putting Fallor's death and the battle with the fire giant behind them, Honour leads the rest of the party deeper into the caverns. They marvel that the slave girl knows the way through these twisting passages, but under the alliance of Potentate and fire giant, the slaves were permitted through the halls. The mountain suddenly shakes around them, and they can hear a hammering in the earth as the volcano sends more lava pluming into the sky outside. Then there is a rumbling in the passageway ahead, and a light is suddenly visible at the end of the tunnel. The light grows into a rushing wall of lava that shoots straight toward our heroes.

They turn and run. Back the way they came, cross-crossing their way through the dark passageways. Their hair begins to smoulder. Small fire start on flammable clothing and must be swiftly extinguished. Jessica, ahead of the others and running as fast as she can comes to an abrupt halt. An invisible barrier is blocking the passageway ahead of her. Jessica seems to bounce off thin air, then falls hard on the rocky ground blood streaming from underneath her mask.

"Wall of force," says Torr matter-of-factly. The way is blocked. A stream of magma is rushing down the tunnel toward them and they have no magic in their possession that will let them survive it for more than a few seconds. "Jonus!" says Misgon. "Dimension door us through." The cleric looks up at Misgon through bleary eyes. He is not well. But it is amazing how the threat of impending doom can sharpen the mind.

Drawing upon the power of Zephyre, Jonus conjures a dimesional portal through the magical barrier. Five times he calls on the power as he hops back and forth gathering up all his companions. The last to be rescued is Elias. The paladin stands patiently waiting for Jonus to return as the magma hurtles closer and closer to him. But he is rescued in time and the party pause for a moment to watch the magma slop up against the force wall and begin to fill the tunnel where they were just standing. The wall does not transmit heat. They can even touch it, press their hands a inch from the boiling heart of Vargus.

Honour is shaking with fright. She is striving to do all that is asked of her, but it is very hard. "We're now in Morketh's domain," she stammers to the party. "Not much further now." She strides off and the party follow her. Eventually they emerge into a cave filled with stalactites and stalacmites. There is a river of lava running through here and out down the side of the mountain. They could not know, but this is the cave where Ravenna and Alhanna met with King Gorneesh days earlier.

"This shouldn't be this wide," says Honour. Smoke and fumes fill the chamber, but they do not hide a very disturbing sight. In the centre of the lava flow is a plinth of stone, and at its top is a huge skull. It is obviously a shrine to the god, Vargus. Jonus staggers on his feet and Drasha supports him. This place is shot through with malevolence and the scent of the dead.

Silhouetted against the lava are three figures. They are of human proportions and each is clad in black. They are the inquisitors of the Desideratum Veritas. On the ground before them is a fire giant. Enormous, but quite dead. Medina Castden and her lackeys are dismembering it slowly and feeding the flesh in to the river of lava that flows past the shrine to Vargus. Medina has noticed the party, and she speaks.

"Vargus stirs," the inquisitor says. "He feels his people's lust for battle. He wants it too. With each new death, each new outrage he grows all the more restless. Soon he will awaken and visit terrible destruction on this place." Elais steps forward. It is obvious that Medina is doing what she is doing to goad Vargus, but if Vargus awakens now then everyone here will die.

"You have to stop this," he says, "or at least delay it. There are innocent people here on this island, we have to be given the chance to get them off!" Medina shakes her head. "There can be no delay, paladin. If the secrets of the Potentates fall into the hands of Barakar Santuro, if they manage to leave this island then untold thousands will die. If I am asked to sacrifice the lives of hundreds for thousands then I will do it in an instant."

"I can't tell who the bad guys are any more," says Jessica. Elias appeals to Medina. She must give them more time. Just an hour to get into the Potentate base and rescue the prisoners. He even points out that she is as likely to die as everyone else when Vargus stirs. "Perhaps," Medina agrees. "I have my means of escape, but they may prove to be insufficient it is true. Speak no more, any of you. This process," she destures to the fire giant shaman she is dissecting, "may take some time. By delaying here, you are only costing yourselves precious moments."

"Come on Elias," says Jessica, putting her hand on Elias's shoulder, "most people aren't as good as you are." And so they leave the chamber, and head downward into the heart of Potentate power. They do not realise that magical eyes are watching them, and that their every movement is reported to their enemies.

"Inside the base?" demands Morketh of the now wounded messenger, who is backing away from his mistress as he confirms his report. "We have to do something," says Ravenna. "We have to slow them down. Can't you seal a tunnel and fill it with lava? Can't you trap them?" Morketh regards Ravenna cautiously, and it is possible (perhaps) that Ravenna doesn't know what she is saying. "They will be taken care of," says Morketh, as she summoning the surviving three medusae to her side. She casts protective magicks upon them and sends them on their way. Ravenna is not entirely comforted. She doubts that Elias, Torr and the others will fall for the medusae again. However, Ballistar is finished and all is in readiness for the experiment to begin!

It is Jessica who hears the approach of the medusae and flings herself backward out of their gaze. Ravenna was right. This time Elias and the others are prepared for Morketh's minions, and they close their eyes tightly. In the confines of the tunnels, the medusae cannot make use of their poisoned arrows, and are badly wounded when Torr lets fly with a screaming ball of sonic energy. While the rest of the party wheel around blindly Torr has an inspired idea. He dumps a cloud of fog in the tunnel blinding the medusae. Now their foes cannot see them either! A confused mêlée begins. Drasha excels in these close quarters and before very long all three medusae are dead.

Jessica is particularly pleased. She determines to take some of the snakes form the lizardine head of one of their fallen foes. Then she can extract the poison and use it as a weapon. Before Torr can yell, "No don't!" Jessica stoops to remove the head. Even in death the gaze of a medusa is deadly. Jessica cannot resist it. She feels a stiffening in her limbs, and before they can react the party watch their companion turn to stone before their eyes.

Now they have lost Fallor and Jessica. Although the girl is not dead, returning her to the flesh will not be easy. Jonus casts an enchantment to reduce the weight of the petrified Jessica and they begin to push her down in to the base. Soon there is a light ahead. They have reached their destination. They step out into the antiseptic whiteness of the lair of the Potentates. And all around them is chaos.

"The Arcanum Incognita have entered the base!" The report is yelled at Morketh by her messenger, who dare not get any nearer to her at this stage. Morketh pauses and regards Ravenna and Alhanna. Both are now bonded to the wall of the chamber, both surrounded by mithril that has inherited a spark of divinity from Vargus himself. "Justa few more minutes," she says to the pair. "Santuro will not get here this quickly, and then one spell and we are thousands of miles from here."

Ravenna nods. "What about Elias and the others?" Morketh doesn't meet her gaze for a moment, perhaps she misunderstands the reason for Ravenna's question. "My medusae failed to stop them." Ravenna is both agitated and angry. "They'll be coming right here! We have to stop them! Deal with them mercilessly to give us time to complete this properly!"

"I will," says Morketh ordering three Potentate wizards to take up positions on inside of the double doors. "Begin the procedure, Ballistar," says Morketh. The dwarf nods and clambers onto a box. He lays a palm on each mithril circlet anchoring the heads of Ravenna and her mother to the wall and closes his eyes. Immediately Ravenna feels a jerk against her soul. Close by, Snowy begins to whimper and the magical energy begins to flow.

In the corridors beyond, the walls shake, rocks fall from the ceiling. A dun yellow gas rests ankle-deep on the floors. Potentate and slave alike are making for the exits with all possible speed. Elias and his companions find themselves fighting against a tide of bodies desperate to escape this place. Using the statue of Jessica as a means to push their way through the crowd, they determinedly make there way into the centre of the this chaose. To the heart of the Potentates.

A set of double doors stand between them and the what Honour tells them is the lair of Elsabette Morketh. "I'll wait here," says the slave girl, indicating a small alcove where she is out of the jostling crowds. Elias nods. They can ask no more of her. They approach the doors. Jonus and Torr cast <I>minor globes of invulnerability</I> to defend them against lesser magic, and then Misgon uses his magic to force open doorway to the chamber beyond.

The sight before them is rather alarming. They are in Morketh's enormous domed chamber. On the far right hand wall is the transparent stone providing a grim view into the inards of the volcano. On the far wall is Morketh and a strange dwarf like creature. They see Ravenna and Alhanna attached to a macarbe looking device and in front of them are three wizards aiming glass rods in their general direction.

Three lightning bolts arc across the room toward the party. They are met by Jonus and Torr's protective magic and are deflected harmlessly away. Then battle is then joined. Elias charges into mêlée combat against on of the wizards. Torr and Jonus engage the remaining two in a magical battle. Drasha and Misgon charge Elsabette Morketh.

It is difficult for Ravenna to focus on the chamber through the noise and the light of the experiment he is part of. Her head feels heavy, and it is incredibly difficult for her to focus. But she is still sensible to much of what is happening in the chamber before her. "Elias!" she begs, "Elias please! You have to let this finish! You have to leave!" Elias can hear her over the noise of the battle, but he chooses not to reply. He is fearful for Drasha, but moreover he is fearful of what is happening to Ravenna. Of what she will become, or what she has all ready become.

Magical spells fly backwards and forwards between the Potentate wizards and Jonus and Torr. Lightning bolts, and ice storms abound. The floor is covered in a film of slippery ice. Elias cuts into his opponent, his two-handed sword working quickly and efficiently. He has to be in time to help Drasha!

Morketh regards Drasha and Misgon gravely. She then exchanges a telepthic message with Ballistar. She is limited in what she can cast. She dare not disrupt the experiment at this stage. But she still has incredible power at her disposal. Before Drasha and Misgon can reach her she gestures toward them. An arc of multi-coloured beams of light sprays from her finger tips. Drasha and Misgon are instantly blinded. A been of red energy tears into Drasha. She flings herself to one side, taking the brunt of it on her armour; but it burns through to sear the flesh. A burst of acid engulfs Misgon. The boy falls heavily to the floor as the caustic magic eats into his flesh. He does not rise.

Elias, Jonus and Torr continue in frustration. They can do nothing as long as they are delayed in battle. Drasha staggers to her feet and launches herself at Morketh. Ravenna watches in amazement as the blinded baroness swings wildly at Morketh with her sword, catching the wizard a blow to the head. Blood floods down Morketh's face and she screams in rage. She raises her hand to Drasha and casts a spell.

In an instant Drasha is petrified. Her living flesh transmuted into cold stone. Morketh flings the swordswomen aside and the statue crashes to the floor, although it thankfully remains in one piece. "No!"yells Elias. He strikes his own foe twice more in an attempt to bring him down, but the Potentate wizard is not so easily stopped. Elias's foe pulls out a metal rod and focuses his arcane power through it. Elias freezes. His muscles are not his own. He recoginses a <I>hold person</I> spell. He has failed Drasha. He cannot help her. As the Potentate wizard draws a dagger and moves in for the kill, he realises that he cannot even help himself.

The Torr defeats his foe. The wizard falls to the ground and the Potentate on Elias turns his attention to Torr. Torr is wounded himself and one spell from the Potentate brings him down. Torr lies on the floor unmoving, and Elias once more stares death in the face. Jonus is still engaged in battle with the other wizard. There is no one to save Elias. Or is there?

Months ago, the a cleric of the Odyssian church named Lokan Kalharn was captured by the Potentates. He was put to work in the mithril mines, and until this moment has not seen a chance to escape. He knows what is happening, he knows that Barakar Santuro and the Arcanum Incognita are entering the mountain and (choosing to avoid them) he too moved against the flow of the crowd.

Lokan pauses at the entrance to Morketh's chamber. He can hear a battle ragining within. He is about to chance a look when an ice storm hurtles into the hall. Then he looks again and sees Elias about to be killed. Lokan is a fair-minded man. He has no love for the Potentates and he can see that this is a pivotal confrontation. In seconds he has made his decision.

A freedom of movement spell liberates Elias from his paralysis and he quickly beheads his attacker. Jonus too overcomes his foe. As Jonus rushes to help Misgon and Lokan races to see if Torr is breathing a red mist descends on Elias. He ignroes his saviour for a moment. All he can think of is stopping the woman who hurt his wife. The bitter thought of losing Alessandre is in his mind and he will not lose Drasha the same way.

Sword at the ready Elias thunders into Elsabette Morketh. He knows that his attack is probably suicide. He doubts that Morketh's power falls far short of Narramac, and as she prepares to hurl at him he braces himself for the end. And then he remembers the Mirror of Mellifel. Elias quickly raises it to absorb and deflect the spell that Morketh has in store for him. There is an explosion of magical energy between them as the spell is turned back on the caster. Morketh cannot resist her own polymorph magicks and (rather ignominiously) finds herself transformed into a chipmunk.

Elias falls to his knees, weak at the effort. He looks around at the devastation around him. The stranger helping Torr to consciousness. Jonus lightening the weight of Drasha's petrified form. Drasha! But he cannot go to her yet. He turns to Ravenna. The noise and the dazzling lights surrounding Ravenna and her mother reach a crescendo. He moves to intercede, and then he stops.

"What is going on here?" yells Invigilant-General Barakar Santuro as he and the Arcanum Incognita stride into the chamber. "Not now," says Elias. And then before anything can happen, the dwarf Ballistar releases the two subjects of his experiment. The noise and light disappears. Ravenna groans and her head falls limply to her chest. Elias runs to her. Pushing the dwarf to one side, and ignoring the shouts of Santuro, he lifts Ravenna gently from the device. She incredibly pale and as cold as ice. Elias lays Ravenna onto the ground of the chamber. She is dead.

His head snaps around to Alhanna. Ravenna's mother clambers down from the experiment. "I can feel her," she says meekly. "I can feel her inside me. It's like carrying her all over again. Do not mourn her, she lives in me. We will never be parted again."

Even Santuro is silent now. He knows something of what has happened here and he is amazed. His covetous eyes fall upon the equipment in this room. Alhanna notices that. "I feel different," she explains to a bewildered Elias. "I feel powerful." She gestures with her hand. A tremendous wind picks up Santuro and all the agents of the Arcanum Incognita in the room and hurls them back through the open doors. The doors slam behind them.

Torr goggles at the power. Lokan wonders what he has suddenly go himself into. Torr and Misgon are now conscious. Both Jonus and Lokan have the power to dimension door and prepare to do so. But they need Elias, and he is crouching over Ravenna's body, right next to Alhanna.

Alhanna smiles at Elias, and for the first time Elias becomes aware that he has no idea what happened to Elsabette Morketh. He had forgotten that. But it is not all he had forgotten. Suddenly Alhanna screams and doubles up in agony. With an agonising screech huge talons rip through Alhanna's flesh as her fingernails extend into claws. She stumbles backward, her eyes cat-like and wild.

Then she howls in agony. There is the sickening sound of bones snapping and regrowing, snapping and growing again. Her dress rips. Her legs and arms extend to inhuman proprtion. Her skin takes on a reptillian quality. Her mouth erupts in fangs. It is the taint. The taint of the great dark within her! Alhanna lashes out wildly knocking Elias from his feet. The dwarf Ballistar, looks at her and tries to run. The talons of the creature that was Alhanna lance out puncturing his skull.

Then with a start Ravenna awakes! Elias cannot believe it. She wasn't dead. In some miraculous way, this experiment took the stain on Ravenna's soul and transferred it to Alhanna! Opening her eyes, Ravenna knows immediately what has happened. She recognises this creature as a future version of herself from the vision she had a Castle Rock.

Ravenna staggers to her feet. There is no humanity left in Alhanna's eyes. Misgon is suddenly by Ravenna's side. The sorceress collapses into his arms awash with tears, as everything that has happened to her on this island comes back to haunt her. Misgon picks up Ravenna and runs back to Jonus. Alhanna moves after them, but Elias intercedes. Drawing his sword he prepares to battle with a demonised Alhanna, kitten-weak as he is. He may not last long, but he can buy his companions enough time to escape. Then things get even worse.

The entire chamber shakes. Something has struck the wall of the chamber from the outside, and with terrible force. A figure can be seen through the transparent stone window, and it is trying to get in. Vargus! Elias swings at Alhanna. He strikes her in the eye with a two-handed sword, but it does not seem to slow her down as her claws rake his chest.

A crack appears in the wall. Magma begins to spurt in the chamber. Vargus is breaking through. Lokan isn't waiting any longer. Taking as many as he can carry he dimension doors out of the chamber and into the hall. Outside he sees Santuro and the Arcanum Incognita still trying to open the door that Alhanna sealed. They see him and order his arrest. "Are you mad?" Lokan cries. "We have to get out of here!"

Realising he can do no more good, Elias runs across the chamber to join Misgon, Ravenna and Jonus. Snowy hurries toward them. A waterfall of magma is now filling the room. Alhanna looks up, noticing the danger for the first time, and then suddenly the wall cracks and a torrent of molten rock bursts forth. Riding the wave is a figure. It is the skeleton of a man clad in broiling magma, and with a incandescent flame burining atop its head. This is Vargus!

Jonus grits his teeth and fights his nausea. The doors to the chamber burst open and Saturo charges in. He sees Alhanna and Vargus move to battle one another. He sees a wave of magma rushing toward him. He sees Elias, Ravenna, Jonus and Misgon blip out of existance an instant before the wave touched them, thanks to Jonus's magic.

The party appears together a hundred yards away from the chamber in the corrdor leading to the outside world. They hear screams of pain as the mahma engulfs the Arcanum Incognita. Ravenna stares back. Her mother. What has happened to her mother? But Misgon, Jonus and Lokan are not standing idly by. <I>Fly</I> spells are thrown around and the six living members of the group and their two petrified companions lift slowly into the air.

They exit the volcano above the battle site where the fire giants and Arcanum Incognita met. The volcano above them is going crazy. Torr drops out of formation. Casting a spell, he scans the battle field for magic and begins looting. The stream of lava that Vargus let into the Potentate base shoots out of the cave mouth as Torr goes back for a second magic sword. Torr is buried in molten lava for several seconds, but his resistance to fire just manages to hold off its effects. Charred and aflame Torr flies after his companions just in time.

Medina Castden was right, when she said nothing on the island would not survive Vargus's anger. The island of Varosh explodes behind the party. Only their speed and their altitude save their lifes. Flying rock and poisonous gas surrounds them as they streak to safety.

But the danger is not yet passed. The explosion has created an enormous tidal wave that overtakes the flying party. A sixty foot wall of water rolls across the ocean in the direction of the island of Inoch, and there is not a thing that can be done to prevent.

It is just after dusk when Ravenna, Misgon, Elias, Lokan, Jonus, Torr and the petrified Jessica and Drasha touch down on Inoch. All are badly wounded. All their magic is spent. The wave hit hard here. Their ship is a hundred yards inland, halfway up the hill. Two of the slaves they rescued yesterday were killed. Remarkably light casualties considering. Captian Montague and the crew of <I>The Lady</I> are unhurt, but it will take several days to refloat their craft.

Ravenna flops to the ground with Misgon and begins to cry. Jonus scans her with his magic. There is no evil. There is no taint. He tells this to Elias. He is pleased. It does not take long for Thorik to find his daughter. "How much did you know?" asks Ravenna harshly. Thorik shakes his head. He is still getting over what has happened. He is told of the loss of Alhanna and it is a bitter pill to swallow. Father and daughter hold one another, united in grief.

"So who are you?" Elias asks of Lokan. He explains that he is a member of the Odyssian church. The captain is delighted to have a water cleric on hand. Elias introduces himself and his companions. "You're Elias Raithbourne?" asks Lokan incredulously. "No wonder we got out alive!" - "You know about us?" - "About the Chosen of Narramac? Of course. I'm originally from Norandor. It's an honour to meet you and Lady Ravenna." Lokan casts a glance toward Ravenna but she is not listening.

"Misgon," says Ravenna slowly. "I've had enough. I can't go on like this, I can't continue. I want to stop. I want to settle down and start my own family. I want to put down roots." Misgon looks at Ravenna. He can see that the sorceress is desperate to latch onto something to stop her from going mad, and he has a feeling that he is that something. "I know how you feel, Ravenna," he says, "But you promised Elias to go with him to Tibrai. He helped you." Ravenna looks away. "And besides," Misgon adds, chancing a glance over his shoulder, "I can't leave Drasha like that. I won't. We have to find a way to save her." Slowly, Ravenna nods.

Torr explains the death of Fallor to the captain, and he is mourned by the crew. Elias looks up at the pertified face of Drasha, and at Jessica. He pledges to return them to life, and there is only one place where they can do that. When the ship is repaired, and before they head to his homeland they must go to Sorostrae. If they can find a means to pay for the service. Then he sees the magical swords that Torr is carrying. At the last moment Torr retrieved Drasha's longsword and Usslüs from the wreckage of battle.

Elias cannot believe the misfortune that has befallen them on Varosh. Prophetically, and perhaps rather foolishly, he says "This has possibly been the worst week of my life, and I can't see how it can get any worse!" Only time will tell.

The End of The Painted Lady
The Blood and Water Campaign continues in
The Sins of the Father

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