Iriana Tanua
Human Fighter
The Deep Fell
Year 812, Day 61, Dusk

“Rock and Roll”


The flickering candlelights cast an eerie glow against the chamber's
stone walls. The structure had been built such that no natural light
entered the room, granting any occupants privacy from the outside world
at a cost of candle wax. This was of little concern, however, since the
outside lands had already been plunged into darkness from the setting sun.

This time, however, the candles were not the only source of illumination
in the room. A dim arcane light shimmered from a tall mirror propped
against the far corner of the chamber, though this was no ordinary
mirror. At a quick glance, the mirror was of finely wrought and highly
polished silver; however, the reflection cast by the mirror was not one
originating from within the chamber in which the mirror lay. Instead of
stone and candles, the scene displayed in the mirror was that of trees
and dwindling sunlight.

In a small clearing in the forest, seven adventurers squared off against
a golem made from stone. The golem had the upper hand, its strength and
nearly impervious hide seemingly unaffected by onslaught of the fighters
and mages attempting to fall the construct. As the clouds let loose what
waters they held, the combatants seemed to finally score a victory
against the golem, sending it tumbling to the ground. The victory was
short lived, however, as the golem struck back at one of the fighters –
the monk, at closer examination – incapacitating the fighter and leaving
the rest of the party short handed.

Johan grunted, his quill moving swiftly over the parchment in his hands.
The battle was not going well, he noted, and there was nothing he could
do to assist the combatants. Even if he could lend aid to the fighters,
the mage was quite certain that the Deep Fell had been warded with
powerful divine magics to prevent teleportation. However, he had sworn
not to aid the adventurers in their journey, and Johan was a man of his
word.

The door behind him slowly creaked open, and Johan took his eyes off the
battle scene for a moment to glance at his unexpected visitor.
“Xychryx,” he stated warmly in greeting of his companion. “How are you?”

The paladin nodded in acknowledgment of the mage's inquiry, but offered
no immediate reply. Instead, he studied the scrying mirror briefly as he
moved to Johan's side, observing the adventurers in their battle. “How
are our young adventurers fairing?” he finally inquired after a moment
of silent observation.

“As well as could be expected, considering their inexperience,” Johan
admitted. “The golem may prove to be too great a challenge for them,
however.” After a pause, the mage added, “I could be there in a matter
of minutes – you just need to give the word.”

“No,” Xychryx sharply replied immediately. “This is their challenge to
overcome; it is not our place to intervene. Besides, they are in no
danger. Observe...”


***

Iriana grunted as the golem's massive stone arm connected with her
shield. The force of the blow was enough to send her sliding backwards
on the now-moistened grass, sending the fighter off balance. She might
have been in trouble, as the moment's time it took for her to regain her
balance and composure would have given the golem additional time with
which to strike; but the golem was preoccupied with the continued
assault provided by Iriana's companions. Gritting her teeth together,
Iriana wondered just how long they could last against the golem, as
nothing they did seemed to have a lasting effect on the stone behemoth.

The fighter knew that she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer
against the golem herself. Her shield looked to be on the verge of
buckling under the repeated pounding it had already withstood from the
golem. And Iriana knew that her sword, being a bladed weapon, was in no
better condition after her futile attempts to injure the golem with the
weapon, riddled with dings and notches along the cutting edges of the
blade. How does one defeat an opponent made of solid stone?

Their party was already down by one, after the golem managed to catch
Kaely by surprise. Lyntel, with the assistance of Za'aro, had managed to
drag Kaely's unconscious body away from the center of battle, but the
cleric had little time to tend to the injured monk besides checking to
see if she was still alive. Talla waited with the monk now, as to assure
the monk was stable – they had discovered quickly into the fight that
the two sorcerers' offensive magic was about as useful as Iriana's sword
in defeating the golem. As for the rogue, Iriana hadn't seen Cendhir
since the rogue's tactic had sent the golem tumbling to the ground.

“This isn't working!” Iriana called out she deflecting another blow with
her shield. The wood began to crack from the force of the blow, but the
shield held.

“We might have a plan,” Talla informed Iriana as she, along with Za'aro,
appeared beside her. The two sorcerers began to speak in the arcane
language that their spells required. Despite being untrained in arcane
magics, Iriana was able to discern that both sorcerers were attempting
to cast the same spell.

The ground beneath the golem became coated with a slick, greasy black
film as both spells went off. The construct seemed slightly off balance
from this tactic, its stone legs attempting to compensate for the sudden
shifts in its footing. But as typical of the golem's attacks thus far,
the golem was slow to adapt to changes in its posture as it slid around
the grease. It was only then that Iriana noted that the “legs” of the
stone golem were also also coated in the same grease-like substance.
Combined with the waterlogged meadow surrounding them, the golem
appeared to have difficulty remaining upright.

“The cave!” Za'aro indicated, almost frantically pointing in the
direction of cave mouth jutting out of the nearby hillside. Nodding in
acknowledgment, Iriana dropped her damaged weapon and shield, which no
longer had any real use against the golem, and charged the the flailing
magical construct. Za'aro did likewise, while the gnome retreated to
Kaely's side to watch over the monk. Acerd, Lyntel, and Cendhir joined
them after a moment, and the five sent the golem sliding across the
ground into the cave.

A stream of projectiles arced over Iriana's head, and Iriana quickly
realized that one of sorcerers had casted another spell. While
previously their spells had no effect on the stone golem, the rocks
comprising the cave entrance offered no such resistance. As stone debris
began to rain down, Acerd pulled out his bow and sent a few arrows from
his quiver into the rock face already weaked by the magic missiles. As
the dust settled, they could all see that their method of attack had
worked, trapping the golem within the cave.

“That won't hold it long,” Acerd noted as the party regrouped. “It won't
take long for the golem to work its way back out of the cave.”

“The golem will trouble you no more,” an unknown voice stated.
Instinctively, Acerd, Cendhir, and Iriana reached for their weapons, to
prepare to face off against the unidentified source of commentary.
Iriana realized her sword still laid on the ground where she left it,
leaving her virtually defenseless if the speaker was a foe rather then a
friend.

An elf woman stepped out of the woods surrounding the meadow where they
fought the golem, holding up her hands so that the adventurers could see
that she was unarmed and meant them no harm. In fact, the elf didn't
even seem like most elves Iriana had encountered, as her complexion was
almost as white as her hair. “I'm sorry if you've been inconvenienced;
the golem is bound to protect the forest from intruders such as yourself.”

“Who are you?” Iriana asked, as she retrieved her sword and shield from
where she had discarded them. The sword could likely be salvaged, though
the blade was covered with dents and had become dull, but the shield
wouldn't serve her any longer. Still, they were in a sacred forest, and
she didn't want to risk the wrath of the Elven god by leaving her broken
shield in Deep Fell.

“My sisters and I are caretakers of this land,” the elf replied. “That
is all you need to know.”

“We've come to--” Acerd began, before being cut off by the elf.

“We know why you've come,” the druid interjected. “You seek the
phylactery of the Abomination. While you have His blessing in your
quest, as the undead are enemies of the forest, be warned: The
Abomination cannot follow you in here, but the forest is not without its
perils. You may have defeated the stone golem, but there are beasts
within these woods far stronger then the golem.”

“Can you help guide us to the dwelling of Seregon?” Iriana inquired,
hoping that the druid would be able to help them along the way. If what
the druid said was true, they would likely need her help.

The druid hissed at the name of the witch. “Be warned, young one.
Seregon's mind has long since been corrupted by the horrors of His
punishment upon her. We caretakers are not permitted to approach her
place of dwelling for fear that we may share in her fate. At sunrise,
travel east of here until you reach a raging river, then follow the
river north until you find a rock shaped as a wild bear. Northeast of
there you shall find what you seek.”

The druid added, “We will be watching.” An instant later, the druid was
gone, and a bald eagle hovered in her place. With a single mighty flap
of its wings, the bird of prey was airborne, and was soon out of sight.

“Is it just me,” Iriana mused aloud, “or did she just suggest we set up
camp here, with tall, dark, and made of stone still stuck in the cave
behind us?” They didn't have much of a choice, however, as they wouldn't
be able to travel far until Kaely was back on her feet.

***

Johan frowned as, with a simple wave of his hand, Xychryx Kystan
dismissed the scrying spell. The arcane energies collapsed in on
themselves with a brilliant flash of light, before leaving them in the
darkness with only the candlelights to provide the needed illumination
for the two of them to see one another in the darkness. Neither of them
opted to cast a spell to provide more light, content with the light
provided by the candles. “So,” Johan began after setting his parchment
aside. “You knew the druid was there the entire time?”

The paladin shook his head. “Not as such,” he admitted. “However, I
sensed that they were being observed, and I suspected that this was a
test of survival for Iriana and her companions.”

“Which they have appeared to passed,” Johan noted reluctantly.

Xychryx nodded, “So it would appear, and without your aid,” the paladin
noted.

“True,” the mage replied. “But still, I worry about them traveling
through the sacred lands without protection. At least send my daughter,
she would be able to assist them.”

Kystan pondered this for a moment, then shook his head. “No, this is
their quest to undertake, not yours, not mine, and not Marilynn's. They
need to face the challenges they encounter on their own, otherwise they
will not be able to grow stronger and wiser from their experiences on
their quests.”

“And if they fail?”

“Then we are all doomed...”