"Stay together," Eoni whispered.  "Valthur, hold onto my staff."  She reached forward with the end of her crooked staff to keep track of the dwarf.

"Sarah," hold onto my pack.  She hoped the girl was still behind her.  They didn't need to lose anyone in this unnatural darkness.

"Aldara?  Charlotte?  Marklin?" she whispered.  "Are you still behind us?"

Silently, Sarah takes the pack offered by Eoni.

 All Eoni heard in way of a reply was "Aye."

Valthur feels Eoni's staff tapping against his arm. He wraps his hand around it tightly. Darkness is an unusual sensation for the dwarf. He starts to understand why humans have such a distaste for it.

"I can't see a blasted thing," he snarls. "What sort of trickery is this?"

There is a slight kerfuffle as Sarah tries to literally "hold onto" Eoni's pack.  After a moment she gets the message and stops trying to take full possession.

Valthur shuffles forward while still grasping the end of Eoni's staff to be sure he doesn't lose the rest of the crew. After a few careful paces, he notices the staff stops following his lead. He tugs once or twice before hearing the muffled sounds of some sort of struggle taking place behind him. "What's going on back there?"

"I'm here," comes Aldara's reply.  She tries to step clear of the scuffle.  Then, something dawns on her!

"I have an idea... Since we can't see in this light at all, maybe magical light would work?  I should be able to create one, but it'll take me a little while to remember the specifics.  What say you?"

"I said hold onto it," Eoni whispered back to Sarah, "not pull it off my back."

She took a deep breath.  This darkness was making her antsy.

"Sorry Valthur," she said to the dwarf.  "We're all right.

"Aldara, I suspect that the Savant placed this permanent darkness here.  Are you sure you can overcome it?"

Eoni wasn't well versed in counter spells but it seemed that the strength of the two in contest would tip the scale one way or another.  She suspected the Savant was more than Aldara could overcome.  And if something bad were to happen to Ebermund's friends because they delayed, that would be horrible.

Normally one to charge in axe first, Valthur finds the darkness has instilled in him a shred of hesitation. Some might even say wisdom, although an honest assessment would more accurately identify it as good old fashioned fear of the dark.

"This darkness is unnatural and I don't like it one bit. We dwarves are born to see clearly in even the deepest, darkest tunnels underground. Yet here, I can't see a thing. If the lady mage has something that might clear it up, I say we try it."

Still holding Eoni's staff for guidance, Valthur shuffles back a step, trying to get the party's momentum shifted in the other direction. "Well, what say the rest of you?"

"For my part, I say I am confident I can dispel this darkness," confess Aldara's reply.

"Then let's go," Sarah whispers, tugging on Eoni's pack.

" Aye, less talking, more doing. I feel like we are in a bloody root cellar."

"All right then," Eoni whispered, "let's turn around and head back.

"Marklin, take the lead and get us back out."

There is much bumping and stepping on toes, but eventually, the party turns itself around and fumbles their way back up the magically darkened stairwell toward the entrance hall. Emerging into the light, this the dim light afforded by the last grasps of dusk, the group settles in to afford Aldara the required time to study from her magical tome.

Presumably, the party takes watch during this quiet time. Except it isn't entirely quiet. Somewhere, outside in the distance, the more keen eared adventurers occasionally hear what sounds like a beast, howling!

The Beast of Barren Hill out for a prowl perhaps? For the moment, the party can only wonder, because it sounds quite distant.

Aldara finishes up with her task and has now memorized a darkness spell.

She was in fact, quite justified in her confidence in her abilities, as she easily dispels the magical darkness!

The stairwell descends about 30 feet, eventually ending at a heavy stone door. The door is presently closed.

"It was that way when we first came to. Byron made quick work of it though," Ebermund says, referring to the lockpicking skills of his missing companion.

As the darkness is flushed, Aldara breathes a sigh of relief.  She didn't actually know if she'd be able to do it or not!  Not to mention, with the darkness out of the way, she and her companions would be able to high-tail it to safety if that was the beast they'd heard!

Sarah sidles her way to the front and pulls out some tools.  She works intently, but eventually gives up with a very disgusted look on her face.


22:12, Today: Sarah rolled 80 using 1d100 with rolls of 80.  Pick Locks (27).

Valthur gives Aldara an approving nod as she dispels the darkness surrounding the stairs. "Well done, Aldara. Your magic has proven a great help once again."

He descends the stairs to observe Sarah work on the lock of stone door below. He watches curiously until the young thief finally gives up, at which point he shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe the door's unlocked and we just don't know it. There's a chance Byron's earlier work was a permanent fix."

Sarah stares at the dwarf for a moment.  Slowly, she turns, and tries to open the door.

Valthur bites his lip, knowing if the door is still locked, he'll look somewhat idiotic. I'll just blame it on Byron, if that's the case. If he made such short work of the lock last time, it seems he could've left it unlocked.

Sarah is unable to pick the lock, which proves quite stubborn indeed! She jiggers her file this way and that, finally giving up on the task.

Moments later, at Valthur's behest, she pushes on the door and it budges inward!

The door sweeps open easily, despite its considerable weight. Even Valthur might be impressed with the craftsmanship that went into this mausoleum. Surely a dwarven architect was involved.

At any rate, the door swings open revealing a spacious crypt with ossuaries lining the right and left walls. The skeletal remains of perhaps a dozen or so humanoids are lined up along either wall with small shrines at the center of each.

An arched doorway stands opposite the stairwell and door the party is presently occupying. A curtain of mirrored silver beads sways gently with the change in pressure caused by the now open door, casting strange reflections of light on the assembled bones.

The crypt smells musty and dry. Save for the sound the adventurers' make, the crypt is quite silent.

OOC: The crypt is about 15 feet wide and 30 feet long.

"Hello?" Eoni called out tentatively.  They were, after all, walking into someone's home.  Belatedly, she reached over and knocked on the open door.

"We'd like to trade with the Savant.  We have a history of Rhestilor we think you'll like."

She paused a moment.

"The door was unlocked," she added helpfully.

Valthur tries his best not to gloat outwardly as the door opens. He is only somewhat successful, however, because a wide, satisfied smile creeps across his face.

Once the door has opened, the dwarf carefully enters the chamber, keeping a cautious eye on the skeletons lining either side. The reflections on their bones give him an uneasy feeling, but his curiosity proves too strong. He approaches the nearest one on the right for a closer look. I wonder who these bones once were. Certainly someone of importance to have their remains kept in a place like this.

A thin, frail voice calls out from somewhere beyond the silver, mirrored beads.

"Rhestilor. Never heard of her!"

A brief pause and then, "Tell me why I should care about her and be willing to trade for knowledge of her?"

"I am inclined to give warn you away at once, at risk of great peril to yourself...but do tell more...you have but the slightest of chances to yet escape this meeting, unscathed!"

Meanwhile, Valthur examines the bones and skulls neatly piled atop the ossuaries on either side of the crypt. Bits and fragments of cloth are mixed in with the bones, but most have been ravaged by moths and time and few are in anything resembling presentable shape. Still, they appear to be the clerical vestments these persons were entombed with. Studying the remains further, Valthur notices several gold and silver pendants adorning skeletal vertebrae and a great number of metacarpals graced with beautiful gem-studded rings.

"Rhestilor was a place, not a person," Eoni replied, thankful to be met with civil discourse rather than laughing or screaming.

"It rose and fell during the time you've been secluded here," she explained as best she could with what Sertieren had told them.  Perhaps she should have read some of it to be more familiar with what they were trading.

"Is this something you'd be interested in?"