Von Sahyn

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Jasper24

(OOC: I apologise in advance if this a bit long, but I kinda got a bit carried away with writing it, hehe)

The sun was getting low in the sky and I was slowly making my way back down the mountain on Dagger Isle, to a boat waiting for me on the nearby shore. I was returning after a long day spent in fasting and contemplation at the shrine near the mountains summit. I have seen much blood shed and violence lately, what with the constant battles and skirmishes with the loyalists, and needed to clear my mind in order to better pursue the virtues so necessary to a paladin. I was deep in thought, hardly paying attention as my surefooted mount carried my down the rocky gulley path, when I became aware of a dark figure on the cliff top ahead. The light was fading fast and the distance too great to make out any features clearly, but it appeared to be dressed in a dark tattered robe with it's face hidden by a deep hood. It is strange, but even with the distance between us I could swear I felt it's icy gaze and I became somewhat unsettled. A moment passed and the figure suddenly whirled about and disappeared out of my view. I sat there for a moment, pondering my course of action. In the end my oaths as a paladin outweighed my reluctance to pursue the dark figure. After all, it could have been some poor soul that had been stranded after a shipwreck and in need of aid.

Pushing my misgivings aside and telling myself that the tight knot in my stomach was nothing but hunger from the day's fasting, I turned my mount towards the nearby trail that led to the cliff top. As I approached the last location of the figure my mount started to become very restless and difficult to control. I dismounted and tied the horse to a nearby tree and prepared to go forward on foot. As I was doing this I noticed that the air was very still and quiet, with none of the usual sounds of gulls and other animals. Leaving the horse loosely tethered, I proceeded forward. The silence was foreboding and added to my uneasiness. I moved my right hand to my sword hilt, ready to draw quickly if necessary. There was no sign of the figure on the cliff top, but I noticed some tracks leading away and down towards the mouth of a nearby cave. The tracks had obviously been made by a two legged creature, but it looked as if maybe it may have been dragging the left leg at a strange angle.

Outside the cave I quickly gathered some brushwood together and formed a rudimentary torch, lighting it with my tinder box. With my left hand holding the torch high and my right still gripping my sword hilt I moved cautiously into the cave. In the flickering light from the torch I could see evidence of old, worn carvings on the stone, and I realised that this cave had been long ago converted into some kind of crypt. I appeared to be at the start of some kind of central passage way leading away into the depths of the cave, with doors leading off to either side. I walked down the passageway, checking each door as I passed for evidence that they had been opened. It wasn't until I reached the last door set into the very end of the passageway that I found what I was looking for. The door had clearly been opened recently, judging from the gouges left in the soft dirt floor. I managed to prise open the door after much effort, the hinges giving way with a loud squeal. Whoever the figure was, it could have been no weakling to have opened and closed this door on it's own - which gave rise to another disturbing thought; what if it wasn't alone?

With the door open I could smell the heavy, dusty atmosphere of the tomb inside and decided to cover my mouth and nose with a handkerchief to protect myself - I dimly remembered having been told during my medical training that the air inside tombs could be very bad for the health. Drawing my sword I entered the tomb, raising the torch high to get a better look at my surroundings. The light fell on several old bodies lying on slabs of stone and covered in what I suppose were once white shrouds, but were now sludge brown and rotting away. The room appeared to be very large, with the walls stretching off into the darkness either side of me and every sound I made was amplified and echoed back. There was no sign of the figure in black. As I passed the bodies on the slabs I heard a rustling noise and something moved just outside the edge of the torchlight. My grip on my sword intensified as my instincts told me something evil was nearby.

Suddenly the dark figure rushed out from the shadows with a loud and evil cackle. I stumbled backwards, barely getting my sword up in time to block it's frenzied attack. I could smell it's fetid breath on my face as it clawed at my sword, attempting to wrest it from my hands. Holding grimly on to the sword hilt with my right hand I thrust the torch into the attackers rotting face with my left, bringing a blaze of sparks and a blood curdling scream. The liche instantly released it's grip on my sword and fled quickly back into the shadows. After taking a moment to compose myself after my fright, I started forward to pursue and put an end to this vile creature, but stopped when I heard something begin to chant in some foul language from within the depths of the shadows. Fear rising I braced myself for the worst and listened hard for some clue as to what was to come next.

In the still air of the tomb I felt the air behind me move, and I whirled around expecting to see the liche. To my horror, it wasn't the liche behind me, but the dead bodies that had been laying on the slabs. By some dark magic of the liche they had been reanimated and were slowly heading towards me, arms outstretched and dirty, stained bandages trailing behind them along the floor. I truly knew fear then, as they were between me and the only door, leaving me outnumbered, yet with no choice but to fight through them, and worse; I would have to turn my back on the direction in which the liche had disappeared.

Hoping feverently that the liche was staying back and licking it's wounds I rushed the closest one and hacked at it with my sword in a frenzy, hoping to reduce the odds somewhat before the ones behind it could reach me. With a lucky swing of my sword I managed to decapitate my opponent and quickly switched my focus to the next one. This one wasn't going down so easy, and managed to get within my defenses and deliver a crushing blow to my chest. Luckily I was wearing my armour and the main force of the blow was absorbed by my heavy chain mail, but it still knocked the wind out of me and put me on my arse. I managed to roll away from the follow up blow that would have crushed my skull, and somehow regain my feet. Cold rage had now replaced fear and I lay into the creature with a precise pattern of blows, ending with a cleaving blow that opened it up from head to crotch. The body collapsed, and lay lifeless again on the floor. I rushed at the remaining two creatures, catching one across the head with a slicing blow as my momentum carried me past and behind them. Turning quickly I brought the sword around in a sweeping arc, decapitating the remaining opponent.



I had been lucky and survived. I thanked the gods that the creatures had been so slow - if they had been any quicker I would certainly have become another occupant of that tomb. I managed to push the door closed with another tortuous, rusty squeal, and wedge it tight with some stout branches that were nearby in the hopes of containing the liche to it's tomb until I could return with a larger force to cleanse this place.

I returned to my horse and made my way back through the darkness to the boat, hoping feverently that the captain had waited for me - spending any more time on this desolate isle alone would be more than I could bear.

Darkion

Well done Jasper!

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