Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

1. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #41

   Asarth spun in the air, landing gracefully on his toes in the mud.
   "That bastard Fox! Making things extra difficult!!" he said to himself.
   He called to Hishe and the surrounding meddlers.
   "Sionn!!! If you and your meddlers wish to persue, you shall find considerable trouble!!"

2. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #42

   In the wake of the demon's departure to whatever hell spawned it, the crimson-white energies faded away; Hishe slowly drew himself to one knee, and slammed the silver butt of his staff in the mud, pulling himself to his feet even as blood trickled down he wood from his hands.
   
   Still, the Sionn's wits had returned, and his duty yet called. Gripping the staff fiercely in one hand, he began to limp across the muddy stable grounds towards Asarth; despite the pain wracking his ribs and hands, he still looked just as dangerous.
   
   "You know as well as any, Sorcerer, that you'll have to kill me to stop me from hunting you!"

3. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #43

   As Asarth disappeared down the road, his speed enhanced by his magic, Hishe sighed, and winced as his mind caught up to his body and felt the pain - at least one cracked rib, both hands bleeding from what amounted to magical acid burns, and his entire body aching from the pull the staff's magic had placed on his own lifeforce to activate the enchantments.
   
   Turning towards the woman who had charged Asarth during the battle, he inclines his head. "I thank you for your aid, but I warn you now - you'll be best off if you go back into the tavern and forget you ever saw me or the Sorcerer." Too often has the Sionn watched would-be allies die by Asarth's hands after insisting on helping him in his quest.

4. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #44

   She forces a laugh as she sheaths her sword. "I wish I could tall man. I truely do, but everytime I've tried to before, Tyche found a way to put me right in the middle of trouble." She sighs, "Not this time. My name is Freeda and I'll stay with you and take my chances, whether you like it or not. Besides, it looks like you're not really in a condition to be turning down help right now. So, am I a companion or a second shadow?" She offers her hand to Hishe.

5. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #45

   Riisha and her brothers jumped down from the roof. They overheard the last part of Freeda's statement.
   "Yes. You're a mess," Derris said flatly. "I've got some stuff in the wagon I could patch you up with, if you want."

6. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #46

   With another sigh, Hishe shook his head. "As you wish... You can't say you haven't been warned." He regards the offered hand, and smirks. "I somehow doubt you'll be wanting me to shake that, given that I'm missing a fair part of the skin from both hands, save where I had it touching my staff."
   
   As the three siblings join them, Hishe casts a lance skyward, wryly wondering to himself if Fox was laughing at him just now - most Sionn could hardly gather companions if they tried. He seemed to have shadows, allies, and companions appear from empty air at times... "I'll take you up on that offer - in a few minutes the pain's going to hit me a bit more fully, and it'd be best to be done with it by then..."

7. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #47

   "Here then," Freeda moves to help Hishe, "Lets get you to that wagon and patched up. Then you can tell us all about that walking pile of rags, his pet monster and what you have to do with them."

8. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #48

   Riisha, Laren and Derris pulled Hishe into the stable and over to their wagon. Derris smeared salve in Hishe's hands and other wounds and bandaged them up. "They should be okay in a couple of days. It'll probably hurt like all get out for a while, though." He dug through one of the packs laying about.
   "That's my pack, Der."
   "You have the bottle, don't you?"
   "I was hoping you wouldn't notice." Laren grinned sheepishly.
   Derris ignored him. "Here it is." He handed it to Hishe. "This is some of the strongest gypsy wine made. In fact it's illegal in some places." He darted a glance at his other two siblings.
   Riisha shrugged. "Hey, we make it just like Papa taught us to. It's not our fault."
   "Yeah. Anyway." Derris offered the bottle to Hishe. "You'll probably still hurt... but you probably won't care much."

9. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

   #49

   Hishe simply shook his head when offered the bottle. "It won't work. Part of becoming one of the Sionn - to ensure we never lapse in our duties, we're laid under several spells by Fox. One of them prevents alcohol from affecting us the way it does everyone else. As far as my body's concerned, it's nothing more than a weak poison."
   
   Carefully flexing his bandaged hands, he grimaced at the pain - then his staff, which hadn't left his side, disappeared with surprisingly little fanfare - simply there one moment and gone the next. "I suppose you'll wish to know about the Sorcerer, and why I hunt him..."

10. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #50

    Asarth gasped with aftersickness, the terrible pains of his summoning. Having held back the aftersickness for so long, the feeling now returned with doubled intensity.
    "Aah! Damn the Sionn by the Seven Malcthonians!" he cursed, leaning heavily on a bent pine. He heard the boom of the sea upon the cliffs. He was close. He smelled the stinging salt wind upon his face, and the itching of his rotten flesh renewed, combining horribly with the aftersickness. He snarled into the wind.
    He fingered the bluish shard of glassy crystal in his cloak pocket. He would have his glorious sword and the shard would lead the way.

11. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #51

    Freeda watched the gypsies take the Sionn into the stable. She looked straight up for several minutes before following them, arriving just in time to catch Hishe's last statement.
    
    "That would be helpful. It easier to be on your guard when you know what you're up againest." She watches Hishe expectantly.

12. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #52

    Hishe sighed; some Sionn had magic to heal themselves with. It was a gift he'd often found himself wishing for, rather than the staff and the gift of speed the Fox had blessed him with. Now was such a time - he'd not be able to fight effectively for a while with his hands like this. Still, as Freeda spoke, he nodded.
    
    "The Sorcerer - Asarth, by name - is the only direct survivor of an ancient cataclysm. My people indirectly survived it, by fleeing when the land sank beneath the ocean's waves. All we know is that the thing which brought about the cataclysm sank with the land; we all vowed, saved Asarth, to ensure that it remained buried in the waters. To that end, out greatest living wizards and priests gathered their power, and brought three spirits forth to guide chosen groups as guardians. The Lugh, followers of the Flame, who stand guard at the ocean's edge - Asarth has yt to pass them, thankfully, and their power is great still. If any can pass them, however, Asarth will be the one. The second spirit was Maoon, the Lunar spirit, whose followers were guardians of the Shard and the Medallion. Their order was beaten by the Sorcerer some years ago, and he carried both Shard and Medallion now, and seeks to use them to raise the sunken land and retrieve the cataclysm's bearer."
    
    The Sionn paused, and flexed his hands again. "The third order... Is the order of the Sionn, guided by the Fox. When others fail, we are called upon. We are the hunters, the trackers. In normal times, we enforce the sacred laws. In times like this... We hunt the ones who seek the evil beneath the waves. I was given to the hunt for the Sorcerer eight years ago, an have fought him many times. Each time he slips away, each time he becomes stronger. Since last I fought him, which was before the last time I visited my homeland, he has gained the alliance of the underworlds... And he closes ever faster on the place to use the Shard and Medallion. If he succeeds... Another cataclysm may be unleashed, and another land destroyed. I must stop him before he can release it..."

13. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #53

    Freeda gives a low whistle. Great Tyche, What have I gotten myself into.
    
    "Are there any others who hunt this Asarth? Seems like it's a fool's call to send one man after a sorcerer whose survived so long after so great an event. Almost akin to sending puppy to do the work of a pack...not that I doubt your skills." She begins to pace abit, before turning to the gypsies. "What do you think of the matter?" she asks.

14. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #54

    Riisha shrugged. "From what I've seen, that is not a fellow who can be handled by just one person. In fact, that seems like a very bad idea. But then, we've always fought as a group, so I don't know. I do think that guy needs to be stopped, and rather soon."
    "Aww... you don't like the old 'wipe out the world ploy,' Rii?"
    "Shut up, Laren. Ignore him. He's drunk." Derris looked around at the aftermath of the fight. "There is the whole bit about him wanting something that could destroy an entire land, which I don't think anyone should have. But I think what Riisha's talking about is, he could have killed a lot of people tonight. If the fight had gone on any longer, I think he would have. And he didn't care. It's been our experience that he is precisely the type of person who sould not have power of any sort."
    Riisha nodded. "And it seems he has entirely too much of it now."

15. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #55

    Hishe simply shook his head. "The Sionn have never been man in number - and while three of us, each granted a different gift by Fox's power, were sent out, I am the only one to survive this far, and that solely thanks to the protections woven into my bracers and to the staff Fox gave me as fight with."
    
    Again flexing the bandaged hands, he continued, "Asarth's survival is less of a suprise than might be expected, at any rate. The Sorcerer hides himself beneath cloth because his body is no longer... Whole. It looks like a thing from the grave, or a leper in the worst of the illness."
    
    As the gypsies speak, he simply listens, and nods as they finish. "If he passes the Lugh, I - and perhaps the four of you, if you intend to aid me - will be the last thing remaining to stop him from finding the bringer of cataclysms and seeing it used again... I will not ask it of any of you to aid me, however. Fighting Asarth, especially this close to his former homeland, is almost certain death. I have a measure of safety from my bracers, but I cannot share it with any of you."

16. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #56

    Shivers rolled down Asarth's crumbling spine.
    This is the temple...Or used to be....The Lugh will be inside.
    He lifted the medallion from his greatcoat, brushing finger-sized flakes of dead skin from it's silvery surface. Shaped as a replica of the lunar disk, complete with all the wounds of the moon, including impact craters and the great rift. The sorceror looked up through the thinning clouds to glimpse Luna in her journey across the sky, always chasing her lover Nastra, the Sky Warrior, He of Lightning Hair. He had loved watching the constellations and Luna when he was younger. His favorite was Barba, the Scorpion.
    Asarth shook the thoughts from his head. No time for nostalgia.
    He was prepared for the Lugh. They would fall before the night's end.

17. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #57

    Freeda snorted. "Did you get hit on the head by that ugly thing earlier or are you just playing dumb? Luck put me in that bloody tavern just before your fight and Tyche will have my hide before she let's me dodge her wishes. Besides, didn't I already say that I was coming with you, either as a companion or a second shadow?"
    
    She snorted again, then stood definantly before Hishe.
    
    "If your story has done anything, it's made me determined to turn that walking pile of rags into a walking torch. So, I dare you to try and stop me from going after him!"

18. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #58

    Hishe smirked, faintly, as he slowly began to push the pain of his hands aside. There was no time for him to waste. "I merely repeat the warning because those who decide to accompany have an unfortunate tendency of ending up dead, and I'm not one blessed with the power to return life to the dead."
    
    Slowly pulling himself to his feet, Hishe shook his head. "If you wish to come, then I advise you to make yourself ready. As soon as these bandages soften a trace, I'm heading out after the Sorcerer. He'll be near the shore where the Lugh stand guard before long, if he hasn't made it there already..."

19. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #59

    Riisha looked at her brothers. They shrugged as one. "Dangerous, we can handle. Near-hopeless odds we can handle. We've done it before."
    Laren grinned. "Why the hell not? That sorcerer fellow is exactly the sort of person I don't like."
    That was a telling statement. Laren was almost famous for liking just about everybody. It had even gotten him in trouble once or thrice.
    Derris again shrugged. "Well, if you want, we can take our wagon. There's room enough for us all."

20. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #60

    "If your wagon can move at least at a walking pace, I'll take you up on that offer. Else, I'd prefer not. The Sorcerer moves more quickly than might be expected with the way he looks." Hishe flexed his bandaged hands again, and grimaced. "Either way, we'll need to leave as soon as we can."
    
    The Sionn's tone of vice turned grim on the last sentence, and for good reason - already, he suspected, the Sorcerer must be near where the Lugh waited; the shoreline where the old land had once stood wasn't far distant, although how far out beneath the waves the resting place of the cataclysm-bringer lay was something he didn't know...

21. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #61

    Freeda chuckled a little. "I think we're just waiting on you tall man. Just say the word and we'll all go." She found a bale of hay and sat down. "Whenever you're ready, we'll go."

22. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #62

    "All right, then. Let's go." The Sionn clenched his fists one last time, then drew his cloak closed once again. "Quickly - at most, the place we seek should be a few miles distance from here." With that, Hishe turned to the entrance to the stables, and started out - fast for a wounded man, but not too fast to keep the other four from joining him.

23. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #63

    Laren and Riisha threw some stuff onto the wagon (some of it looked suspiciously like it wasn't thiers) and helped the others up. Derris clambered into the driver's seat. Luckily the horses were facing the door. "You guys better hold on."
    Laren nodded. "He drives like a crazy man. Much too fast to be safe. But that's okay."
    Derris looked back at the others. "Everyone ready?"

24. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #64

    Freeda climbs into the gypies' wagon with them. When Derris asked his question, she nodded.
    
    "Let's go."

25. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #65

    Darkness filled the hallways. The resonant sound of Asarth's echoes passed into silence. A shuffle of robes. Then, smashing the utter quiet like glass, a bizzare and frightening giggle, like that of an insane human...or hyena. Possibly both. Then quiet once more.
    Step, step. Step, step, step. Step, step.
    Asarth ran over the temple plan in his mind. Curse these thousand mazy paths! he thought.
    Step, step, step. Step, step. Step.
    A clicking, skittering noise, like that of a swarm of beetles filled the hall, a sound that would have raised goosebumps had the Sorceror's flesh not been utterly dead. Silence.
    Step, step, step, step, step. Step. Step.
    Suddenly, an explosion of light and noise, like a nova, blinding Asarth. His vision cleared.
    Before him, a great circular dais set with three giant black stone thrones. Two were in front, the largest behind the others. But the most magnificent sight were those seated. Massive figures, forms of flame, with crackling lightning eyes. The Lugh!

26. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #66

    A short time later, Hishe nearly leapt from the back of the wagon, as it reached the shoreside cliffs; baely visible in the driving rain were a set of switchback stairs, descending towards the ocean below. The Sionn had become ever more fidgety during the brief wagon ride, and now he was nearly seeming ready to leap off the edge of the cliff.
    
    "Quickly! If he's not here, then he's already down under the waves - and that means he must be near or past the Lugh already."

27. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #67

    Riisha vaulted off of the wagon, carrying rope and things useful for scaling cliffs. "I know there's stairs, but frankly, I don't trust any thing you're supposed to walk on that is on a sea-side cliff."
    Her brothers followed her off. Derris glanced over the edge and raised an eyebrow. "Question: Do we know what we're getting into here?"
    Laren was already heading for the steps. "Counter-question: Do we ever?"
    "True, brother of mine." And with that, the three gypsies made for the stairs.

28. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #68

    Freeda followed the gypies to the stairs with a smile on her face. "Do we ever really know what we're getting into?" she muttered. She takes a quick look around before decending the stairs.

29. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #69

    "No need for the rope - the stais were enchanted a long time ago to let the Lugh pass freely to and from their station. Quickly, we must go!" Even as he speaks, the Sionn already has his feet on the stairs - and despite the steps being wet and slick, his feet stick to each step as if each had a fine coating of some glue to hold his feet in place.

30. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #70

    The three gypsies scurried down the stairs after Hishe. As he'd said, there was no danger of them falling off. Riisha kept hold of her climbing gear, though. One never knew when it would come in handy.

31. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #71

    Freeda continued down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she stopped dead. She shivered and examined the area. I don't like the feel of this She put her hand on the hilt of her sword and waited for the others.

32. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #72

    The sensation felt by Freeda might have been accounted for by the bottom of the stairs actually being beneath the waves; most of the way down the cliff, they'd turned into the ciffside, and turned again a few hundred feet farther down, leading out into the beginning of a maze of stonework passages; through the roof, the sounds of the sea could easily be heard.
    
    The Sionn cast around for a moment, and then with a snarl that Fox would've been proud of, he chose a passage just off to the left of the ceentral way. "This way. These halls keep a trace of those who pass through them... The Sorcerer's steps went down this passage most recently."
    
    Even before he's done speaking, Hishe is moving again, his feet flashing across the cold, damp stone as he chases his quarry.
    
    Somewhere ahead was Asarth, and the Lugh - or what might be left of them.

33. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #73

    Freeda sighed and tried to shake off the feeling. It didn't work. "Tyche have pity on us." she muttered as she took off after the disappearing Sionn.

34. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #74

    The three gypsies kept close behind Hishe. There was an oppressive feel to this place. Laren started to light a torch, but Derris murmured, "Maybe not the best idea, Laren. We are trying to sneak up on someone." The torch remained unlit. Meanwhile, the feeling got worse.
    Riisha shivered in spite of herself. "We might be just a tad too late."

35. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #75

    ooc: Hey, guys. I'm not posting because Asarth is the villain and I'm not telling you what's happening to heighten suspense and all that shed monkey fur in a hand drum.

36. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #76

    The halls of the underwater maze twisted viciously, branching and curving with a vengeance, as if deliberately trying to lead the five off the path they sought. Hishe seemed to navigate almost on some strange instinct, pausing only briefly at the splits in the tunnel before chasing down one.
    
    The torchlight cast the statues scattered through the maze into an almost demonic relief, and friezes along the walls retold, in a somewhat greater detail, the tale Hishe had related about the destruction of an entire land by some vastly powerful force capable of shattering the very earth into pieces.
    
    Finally, the smell of flame, lightning, and sulfur began to fill the air, and Hishe finally slowed again. "...The Lugh were near, to try and stop the Sorcerer."

37. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #77

    OOC: This is description for the benefit of the party)
    
    The oppresive odor of sulfur and smoke filled the shattered chamber before them. A stone dais, once as tall as a man, was shattered to blocks. Three black stone thrones lay toppled. The rooms pillars were cracked and smashed, the fine inlays in the floor crushed to powder. Three huge, crumbling statues of smoldering ash stood or lay throughout the chamber.

38. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #78

    Riisha and her brothers looked around at the destruction. "This... is not a good thing."
    Derris glanced at Hishe. "We're too late, aren't we?"

39. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #79

    "Not yet." Hishe's voice dropped to a growl. "The Sorcerer was here not long ago - and still must deal with traps in the maze ahead, while we may bypass most, if not all, and we won't become lost, where he will. If we hurry, we may yet have a chance." A sardonic grin crossed the Sionn's face. "Besides, we're already too close to the bringer of cataclysms to even think of escaping..."

40. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

    #80

    OOC: Yo, this is your main thread-starter/storyteller, just reminding y'all that the thread is still open.

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