Month: February 2017

The Magick slammed into the malevolent spirit and rocked the image of the Banshee΄.

The groaning spirit pointed a skeletal digit toward Knarra.

Knarra held the staff toward the enemy.

The wailing witch’s Disintegrate Spell streamed toward Knarra, but the Staff of Sagain that she carried intercepted the mauve ray with a green light that flowed from the tip of the staff.

The room flashed with green and mauve lights and sizzling sounds.           Cyttia’s Magick Missile bathed the beast with a red flash of light. Kyrsstina and Cara hit the vile creature with Magick Missiles.

Eyerthrein cast a Harming Spell. The others saw his lips move but heard nothing!

Erinnia joined the Staff of Clysis to Knarra’s. The green light intensified and pushed the mauve rays backward toward the Banshee΄.

Cyttia, Kyrsstina, and Cara continued to cast Magick Missiles. Fire spells had little effect. The icy nature of the Banshee΄ made cold Magick ineffective. Eyerthrein cast Protection from Magick and touched Knarra’s shoulder.

The green light pushed the mauve light backward and a bit closer to the groaning spirit.

The Banshee΄ wailed.

The Magick Missiles bathed the groaning spirit with red flashes of light. Eyerthrein cast Protection from Evil on Knarra. The green light before the priestess intensified. Erinnia continued to hold her staff with Knarra’s.      The green light pushed the mauve light to the Banshee΄.

The Banshee΄ wailed.

Kyrsstina, Cara, and Cyttia continued to attack with Magick Missiles.

Eyerthrein touched Knarra again and again the green light grew stronger!

The entire room was bathed in green.

The Banshee΄ moaned again, but it was not the ear piercing screams that she had previously emitted.

Intense green light from Knarra’s staff drove mauve light into the dark wavering form. Mauve then green lights bathed the creature!

The green lights persisted.

An enormous flash of brilliant green followed.

Coldness left the room.

They felt the heat of the Lachinor.

The Banshee΄ was gone!

“There’s no evil in this room,” Eyerthrein declared.

Eyerthrein went to Dael.

Cure Disease and Cleansing Spells aroused the young half- Drelve.

The groaning spirit did not hoard treasure. Many bones littered the cave. In a cluster of ogre bones they found a bright object.

A key!

A key shaped like a long bone with an elaborate end.

Eyerthrein cast Detect Magick and Detect Evil spells. He reported the key radiated powerful Magick but was not innately evil.

The legendary Gate Key lay before them.

Sounds of footsteps and clacking armor came from the stairs. The stunning effect of the groaning spirit’s wail left their comrades with the departure of the Banshee΄.

Erinnia sadly revealed thirty ear plugs gave their lives to protect them. Erinnia’s tears struck the hard earth and broke into an array of colors. Everywhere a tear fell a little sprig of grass appeared in the long dead earth.

The Magick slammed into the malevolent spirit and rocked the image of the Banshee΄.

The groaning spirit pointed a skeletal digit toward Knarra.

Knarra held the staff toward the enemy.

The wailing witch’s Disintegrate Spell streamed toward Knarra, but the Staff of Sagain that she carried intercepted the mauve ray with a green light that flowed from the tip of the staff.

The room flashed with green and mauve lights and sizzling sounds.           Cyttia’s Magick Missile bathed the beast with a red flash of light. Kyrsstina and Cara hit the vile creature with Magick Missiles.

Eyerthrein cast a Harming Spell. The others saw his lips move but heard nothing!

Erinnia joined the Staff of Clysis to Knarra’s. The green light intensified and pushed the mauve rays backward toward the Banshee΄.

Cyttia, Kyrsstina, and Cara continued to cast Magick Missiles. Fire spells had little effect. The icy nature of the Banshee΄ made cold Magick ineffective. Eyerthrein cast Protection from Magick and touched Knarra’s shoulder.

The green light pushed the mauve light backward and a bit closer to the groaning spirit.

The Banshee΄ wailed.

The Magick Missiles bathed the groaning spirit with red flashes of light. Eyerthrein cast Protection from Evil on Knarra. The green light before the priestess intensified. Erinnia continued to hold her staff with Knarra’s.      The green light pushed the mauve light to the Banshee΄.

The Banshee΄ wailed.

Kyrsstina, Cara, and Cyttia continued to attack with Magick Missiles.

Eyerthrein touched Knarra again and again the green light grew stronger!

The entire room was bathed in green.

The Banshee΄ moaned again, but it was not the ear piercing screams that she had previously emitted.

Intense green light from Knarra’s staff drove mauve light into the dark wavering form. Mauve then green lights bathed the creature!

The green lights persisted.

An enormous flash of brilliant green followed.

Coldness left the room.

They felt the heat of the Lachinor.

The Banshee΄ was gone!

“There’s no evil in this room,” Eyerthrein declared.

Eyerthrein went to Dael.

Cure Disease and Cleansing Spells aroused the young half- Drelve.

The groaning spirit did not hoard treasure. Many bones littered the cave. In a cluster of ogre bones they found a bright object.

A key!

A key shaped like a long bone with an elaborate end.

Eyerthrein cast Detect Magick and Detect Evil spells. He reported the key radiated powerful Magick but was not innately evil.

The legendary Gate Key lay before them.

Sounds of footsteps and clacking armor came from the stairs. The stunning effect of the groaning spirit’s wail left their comrades with the departure of the Banshee΄.

Erinnia sadly revealed thirty ear plugs gave their lives to protect them. Erinnia’s tears struck the hard earth and broke into an array of colors. Everywhere a tear fell a little sprig of grass appeared in the long dead earth.

A raddled old hag adorned in a tattered robe floated in the air across from them. The creature was hideous. She wore a gray hooded cloak and the winding sheet of a grave robe. Blood stained clothes floated above and around her. She was wringing blood from a green dress. Cyttia’s green dress! Knarra, Kyrsstina, Roscoe and Eyerthrein’s robes, Dael’s cloak, and Cara’s brown riding dress dripped with blood! Yet the characters still wore their garments. Great fear ripped them!

“’The bean-nighe’, the washing woman! A harbinger of death! She washes away our souls!” Cara etched on the floor.

The Banshee΄ wailed again; Cara’s looking glass shattered.

“The bean-chaointe’, the keening woman!” Cara etched.

The ear plugs diminished the sounds of the wail but at this proximity they could hear first low pleasant singing, next the sound of two boards being struck together, and finally a thin screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl.

Cara, Knarra, Eyerthrein, Kyrsstina, Cyttia, Dael, and Erinnia ran into the room. The Wailing Witch cast a Power Word and Dael fell motionless; he still breathed.

Cara cast a Flaming Hands spell.

Knarra pointed her staff at the Banshee΄ and sent a Harming Spell toward the vile spirit.

Erinnia threw a fire seed at the Banshee΄.

Kyrsstina cast a Fire Spell.

Cyttia fired a Magick Missile.

Eyerthrein cast a Protection from Evil spell upon the group.

The spells crashed into the elaborate illusions surrounding the Banshee and the bleeding clothes disappeared.

The groaning spirit wailed again.

The wail ruined the spells of Cara, Kyrsstina, and Eyerthrein.

Cyttia’s Magick Missile was cast before the wail.

Erinnia’s fire seed required no spoken word.

Knarra used the power of the Staff of Sagain to cast the Harming Spell.

The Magick slammed into the malevolent spirit and rocked the image of the Banshee΄.

The stone stairs descended twenty feet and opened into another room that extended ten feet to both sides of the stairs and twenty feet deep. Again, there was an opening in the wall to the south. The floor was hard barren dirt. All of them felt their strength waning with each step.

A matronly woman floated through the opening across from them.

Another wail!

The pain!

The image of the matron faded.

The “bean sidhe”- the woman fairy!

The wall on the left changed. A Magick Writer etched the old elfish words, “If you are here you cannot hear. Death will claim you! Woe to you if you disturb me further!”

The Magick Writer was a variant of the Magick Mouth. The Magick Writer was capable of delivering the caster’s message to those silenced or deafened by Magick.

Cara and Erinnia took another step.

More runes appeared.

“Turn around or die!”

They took another step. More runes appeared.

“Now I am fully awake and I await you!”

They took another step.

A Fear Spell emanated from the wall. None were affected.

They took another step.

More runes appeared on the wall.

“Your souls hunger for death!”

They took another step.

Loud laughter permeated even the protection of the ear plugs. The harsh guffaws appeared in their heads. Headaches followed the auditory aura. They struggled to the opening in the wall on the south.

Cold!

The air was icy!

Their breath condensed before them.

Cara etched on the wall, “Hit her with everything you have!”

The short stairwell ended and a disheveled room appeared before them. The room was circular with a radius of fifty feet. The floor was dirt. The room was littered by bones; most were brittle and old. A raddled old hag adorned in a tattered robe floated in the air across from them.

Erinnia distributed the ear plugs. The area was bathed in tomblike silence anyway. Nigel led them down some simple stairs. They found a room that extended ten feet to both sides of the door and twenty feet across. The floor was stone. There was an opening in the middle of the wall across from them or to the south. They took a step.

The wavy form of a young woman appeared in the room! She opened her lips to speak!

“The bean sidhe– the woman fairy- the Banshee΄! Woe!” Boomer shouted.

It came.

The screech of the Banshee΄!

Pain, nausea, vertigo, panic, and fear enveloped them. The earplugs saved lives. The image of the pretty young woman faded.

Cade, Eomore, Vanni, Nigel, Big Jon, Lyana, and Boomer collapsed. The ear plugs prevented their deaths, but they entered a deep trance and could not be awakened.

Only those of enhanced Magick remained conscious, and they were in excruciating pain. Roscoe had been diminished upon the plain of Ooranth. He was too weak to continue. All color left Knarra, Eyerthrein and Kyrsstina’s hair, leaving their locks as white as new fallen snow!

The ear plugs prevented verbal communication. Roscoe pointed his staff toward the stone floor and etched elfish runes. Cara, Erinnia, and Knarra also cast Write Spells.

“I’ll guard them as best I can,” Roscoe etched in the floor. “Someone should carry this staff.”

“You should keep the staff to guard yourself and our comrades,” Cara etched by moving her index finger and guiding the formation of elfish runes.

“You battle a foe that none of us have ever faced. You need everything we have to face her. Magick is our only chance,” Roscoe wrote.

Cara wrote, “You will keep the staff.”

Roscoe sighed, grasped the Staff of Sagain, and faced the opening of the room.

Cara motioned to the others to proceed to the opening in the wall to the south.

Erinnia observed, “These plants have been dead for a long time. All life wilts here. I feel something leave me with every step upon this foul soil. I sense the pain these trees felt when their lives were taken. They suffered! Something more evil than Death…something evil lurks here.”

Nigel reported, “The entrance is not hidden. The door long since rotted away. There is no attempt to prevent entry. I have no suggestions.”

“I do,” Roscoe said. “Our approach has been noted. The guide’s mates ran away for a reason. The hooded crow, stoat, hare, and weasel- all were manifestations of the groaning spirit! The headless coachman was a powerful Spirit of Death. I don’t know of his lore. The groaning spirit has the name because her greatest attack is her wail. The wailing witch will slay most before they reach her. The sense of hearing will betray us first. We must guard our ears. Our eyes will fail us next. Her appearance will be so hideous as to produce fear in all weak minded who observe her wickedness. It is obvious smell will betray us. Everything on the surface stinks; you can imagine the foulness of the inner realms. We’ll taste fear and feel great pain in the battle. Protection from Magick and Protection from Evil should prevent the Fear Spell from affecting us. If we cast Silence upon ourselves we’ll lose the ability to communicate and cast spells. I don’t know if the Magick of Silence will protect us from the wail of the witch.”

“Good analysis. Thank you, Roscoe. Erinnia, let’s employ the ear plugs again. We’ll try to rob ourselves of the sense of hearing. Do you have enough ear plugs for everyone?” Knarra said.

Erinnia nodded. The elf insisted, “We must proceed. All living things that I carry grow weaker by the moment! I grow weaker! Do you not feel this?”

Cara said, “Yes, I do.”

Knarra said, “It’s urgent that we proceed! Erinnia, you should carry the Staff of Sagain.”

Erinnia felt better with her elfish blade or her bow in her hand. But the elf took the artifact from the Bag of Concealment as the priestess asked. She placed Mistletoe in her hair.

Dael said, “I really dislike the idea of putting these bugs in my ears!”

Erinnia looked offended and said, “They have saved you more than once. They can hear! They have feelings! They risk death! Show them respect!”

Dael stammered, “Yes…yes, ma’am…I…I didn’t mean…they are cute little fuzzy guys. Put them in my ears first!”

Erinnia distributed the ear plugs.

The coach radiated great evil and was drawn by four headless horses and driven by a Dullahan. The coachman was wild and black robed; it was headless; it held its own head in its right hand; the head was the color of stale dough or moldy cheese; a hideous and idiotic smile split the face from ear to ear; the eyes were small and dark red and danced around like maddened fire gnats. (Fire gnats were the most aggravating insects in all of the lands- they produced severe burning if they flew into the eye and buzzed incessantly if they flew into the ear.) The head had an eerie glow; it lighted the way for the coachman; the coach moved so rapidly that sparks flew from the wheels and set small Magick fires in the dead wood that the coach passed. The coach came to a screeching halt beside them.

The Dullahan’s mouth opened and started to speak.

“Cover your ears! Quickly!” Cara shouted.

The coachman thundered, “Cara Nightshade Aivendar, Eomore Aivendar, Vanni Aivendar, Nigel Louffette, Dael Louffette, Knarra Kreuseul, Roscoe Kreuseul, Kyrsstina Kreuseul, Eyerthrein Kreuseul, Brenigen Clearview, Cyttia Uberroth, Lyana Rikmon, Jon Loxly, Cade Nightshade, Erinnia Evergreen, and Marryce Fireshield: I call you!”

All had heard Cara’s shout.

All except “Elphis”!

Marryce had turned to run with the approach of the coach! Marryce fell dead at the moment his name was pronounced! The door of the coach flew open, and an unseen force cast a bucket of blood upon the terrified party. The Dullahan cracked his whip and the horses smoked away.

Knarra cast a Cleansing Spell.

In death Marryce regained his Dark Elfish persona.

Nigel retrieved the thief’s personals and said, “This was not Elphis. Elphis is probably dead. This is…was… a Prince! He bears an amulet bearing the royal crest of Businda the Great. What in the Lachinor…”

After Nigel removed all personal items, Dael cast a fire spell upon the corpse. They stood briefly in silence. The large brush pile loomed in the distance.

The approach to the brush pile was unimpeded.

The fauna decreased. The insects decreased in number but increased in aggravation. The flora started to change.

A hooded crow flew near them. One of Elphis’s minions broke and ran away.

“That was no normal crow! I sensed evil! And powerful Magick!” Eyerthrein asserted.

The trees changed from tall plush and tropical to short, gnarled bushes that squeezed life from the poor soil. The soil changed from fertile dark color to dry red clay then dry sand. All living plants disappeared.

They saw a stoat near a dead branch. Another of the minions ran away. The stoat was a white thin weasel-like beast.

Elphis (Marryce) said, “We enter the Dead Woods.”

They traveled in an alien dead landscape with petrified trees and fallen wood approaching dust. There were no animals, insects, nor birds in the air. They walked for an hour.

A large hare perched upon a dead log. The last minion ran away. Erinnia fired an arrow at the hare but the beast ran away.

Now the dead zone extended in all directions as far as they could see. They saw in the distance a cluster of loosely assembled dead trees- unlikely stacked by chance. It was a stretch to call the place an abode. No self-respecting elf, man, or dwarf would inhabit such a structure.

A weasel sat on a log before them. Marryce shuddered. The weasel’s red eyes penetrated the Dark Elf’s guise and he knew it!

“This is as far as I go,” the ersatz Elphis said succinctly.

Cara paid the agreed fee.

She said, “We appreciate your leading us. You saved us many days of wandering in the swamps.”

“I fear I have led you to your deaths, pretty lady,” pseudo-Elphis replied.

“That remains to be seen,” Cara said.

A thundering sound filled the air!

Hoof beats!

An immense black coach rumbled toward them!

Cara, Knarra, and Erinnia left the audience with the “queen.”

“She wasn’t very good at the ruse, was she?” Erinnia asked.

“No, my child, she was not. But she is very learned. She has powerful ESP. I’m sure she knows our essences. I felt the Magick. We must watch our friend ‘Elphis’; he is changed,” Knarra said.

“We were watched by a young female who tried to disguise herself in the great tree,” Erinnia said. “The tree rejected her. The Dark Elves are not kind to the forest. The Dark Elves are kind to nothing. They are devious.”

Cara said, “I know we did not see the Queen. Yet the individual we spoke with cast a regal aura. Should we return?”

Knarra answered, “No. Our task is defined. The Dark Elves feel we will fail. If we succeed against the wailing witch, we’ll have to consider dealing with them and their deception. Perhaps we will grant the old one’s request to meet Cyttia, the Amazon.”

The three managed a laugh as they exited the area.

 

“Elphis” met the three females. The four returned to the clearing where the others waited. Elphis went to his comrades and gave each of them a handful of Dakin. None questioned him.

 

They spent an uneasy night. Eyerthrein and Erinnia left the camp briefly. It was mid-summer’s eve. Erinnia scaled several large tress and harvested large quantities of mistletoe- mistletoe had greater power if harvested on midsummer’s eve. Erinnia rewarded Eyerthrein with a gentle kiss on his right cheek. Eyerthrein felt ten feet tall!

 

 

“We have been lead by a female since the time of Businda. I am impressed that females play such an important role in your mission. Your bodyguard is, if nothing else, very beautiful. I don’t expect you to share all your secrets with me. I have insight. I have ability. I know your lineage, child. I know that your group contains powerful sorcerers and sorceresses. My people will treat you fairly. They will not venture into the lair of the wailing witch with you. I doubt your survival.” Brynnya added. The queen winked at Erinnia and said, “But you might have a chance.”

“Your wisdom reaches beyond your youth,” Cara said to the old Queen.

Brynnya acknowledged the compliment and returned, “I hope you succeed. If you do, would you consider returning to Black Dragon’s Horn, Erinnia? I think the forests would benefit from your talents. Bring Cyttia with you. I would like to watch her dance. Girls rule at Black Dragon’s Horn. I could use some help. In fact, the hour is growing late. I’ll make accommodation for the three of you if you desire. Our wine is delicious.”

Cara answered, “No thank you, Your Majesty. We must return to our comrades.”

Erinnia smiled and bowed to the Queen.

Cara never revealed that she was the Queen of Donothor.

Knarra said nothing.

Deanyna never revealed that she was the Queen Brynnya’s mother.     After the three departed, Brynnya left her hiding place in the wall of the tree house where the discussions had occurred and said, “What do you think mother?”

“The red haired elf is descended of Chalar and Ravenna. Her essence is unmistakable,” Deanyna answered.

“Then it is wise that I did not reveal myself to them. Do you feel we should attack them?” Brynnya answered.

“The Banshee΄ will attend to them. Has Marryce taken care of the thief called Elphis?” Deanyna asked.

“The scoundrel is slain. Phaedra has cast a polymorph spell on Marryce. My brother is a perfect likeness for the thief. The thief’s three minions are too stupid to note the difference. Was the tall female mute? She never spoke. Was she a healer? I’ve never seen hair so white. I’ve only read of hair as red as that of the young elf. Call the council. There is always unrest after the wailing witch enjoys the deaths of her victims,” Brynnya replied.

Queen Brynnya was older. She had ruled the Dark Elves for about a hundred changes of seasons, as the Dark Elves referred to a year. She was more forthcoming than the three travelers had anticipated and the dialect she preferred was easily understood by Cara and Erinnia- the priestess Knarra had difficulty only with specific descriptive words.

Brynnya spoke, “Why do you seek the Banshee΄? My people avoid the Dead Woods; nothing lives near her lair. Death claims most that approach before they ever reach her. She seeks only seclusion. Is that a bad thing? Isolation has served my people well. I have continued the wise policies of our greatest queen Businda who resurrected our society from the near destruction that it suffered in the hands of her father Cellexa. We seldom speak his name and that of his son Lexx. I will enjoy the beautiful bracelets that you have given me- silver is rare in our lands. What is available is usually forged into weapons and arrows to use against lycanthropes and other wandering monsters. I have granted my brother permission to lead you as far as the fringes of the Dead Woods. Yes, Elphis is not a scoundrel as you have probably been told. He serves as my eyes and ears in the outer world. He allows the riff-raff of Rancide to think that he is as rough and rowdy as they are. His three companions are members of my security force. They intend to impart the idea that they are brigands. Please don’t let them know that you know their secret. Your reputation has preceded you. I understand you charmed the ruffians with your Amazon. Elphis said he was rather mesmerized by her dancing. He thinks he is in love. How did you convince an Amazon to leave Dotcom?  The powerful females are more reclusive than we are! Little red-hair, what is your lineage? You bear resemblance to the descriptions written in our archives of a first blood relative of our great Businda? Are you Dark Elfish?”

Cara answered for Erinnia, “You are most gracious to give us audience, Queen Brynnya. We seek the wailing witch out of necessity. She possesses something that we must have. We are not accompanied by an Amazon. Cyttia is the first born of one of my greatest allies. Erinnia is merely my bodyguard. She is not exceptional in any way.”