Tank followed Petrus down the stairs of the strange fortress. The war mage was roughly the same height as the big warrior, but looked small compared to the irritated Crab knight.

"You should be following me, I shouldn't be following you," complained Tank. "I'm the …err I'm the Tank. If we run into trouble, I'm the guy that sucks up the blows while you do your finger waggling crap from behind."

Petrus simply pointed downwards. "Ahh, I cannot fault your logic, but you fail to take into account that our dear Fyris is scouting ahead. As we both trust her abilities, you needn't worry about a frontal assault against us, but your position in our simple marching order does defend our rear flanks from an enemy out flanking maneuver."

Tank shook his head. "Hey, I'm well aware of Fyris' abilities. She comes and goes as she pleases, and no one can stop here. She's not exactly …how do you say… a good communicator. Even though you've only been hanging with us for a few months, you should know by now that she might see the danger, but that doesn't mean we will."

Petrus paused and looked at Tank with a puzzled look. "Really? I find her scouting reports quite clear actually," he said while pointing to some barely visible chalk markings against the dark wall. "It's always refreshing to find someone whose reports are so clear and to the point."

Tank stared at the chalk marks and returned the puzzled look. "Huh? What's that?"

Petrus raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Eh? Standard military marks indicating which way she went and any hostiles in the area. She's been leaving these marks with chalk, using twigs when we were in the ogre valley, or even rocks when we were in the desert."

"Umm, oh. I knew that. Err…I was just testing you," sputtered a red faced Tank as he rapped his gauntlet against the marks. The big warrior couldn't help but notice that the bricks of the tower seemed more like metal than stone, and instinctively rapped it lightly with his metal gauntlet to create a low hum.

"Please don't do that," said Petrus as he continued down the stairs.

"Is this metal? And if this is metal, then why do they use bricks and not …uumm sheets or whatever?" asked Tank.

The warmage sighed as he cautiously continued down the circular staircase,"Given that the guards you slew appeared to be Githyanki, and the hole in the tower seemed to peer into the Astral plane. I would guess that this is one of their legendary Astral fortresses, one of a handful of mobile castles that the Githyanki use for defense and raiding. If that is the case, then the tales say that these castles were also constructed from adamant. While I'm no metallurgist, I do know that adamant is incredibly hard to work, and it would fall to reason that they use bricks of high grade ore to construct them instead of actual forged sheets."

Tank scratched his head at the comment as he attempted to process the information. "Umm..is a metallurgist a wizard that summons metal? Like how a pyromancer uses fire, and a crybabymancer uses cold."

Petrus shook his head and shrugged as he motioned the big warrior to follow. "Come, the Githyanki are not known for their hospitality and would slay us if we are discovered. They'll probably be out in force this time. "

Tank rolled his eyes. He'd already dispatched a half dozen, and was sure he could dispatch a half dozen more. "Whateva."

Petrus ignored him. "I've already detected high level wards around the tower, and I predict our best chance to return back to our own plane is to reach the lower levels and then attempt to either break the wards or to obfuscate our escape. Regardless, the lower levels would be easier to hide than a tower full of dead Githyanki."

Tank shrugged. "This place can't be that well guarded. You'd think after my little skirmish, they would swarm us by now."

Petrus nodded in agreement. "Aye, the lack of an organized resistance confuses me. I suspect that they are undermanned due to a recent conflict, or perhaps we aren't the only ones that have penetrated their defenses during their brief foray into our dimension."


Kirgi swept his greatsword at the Githyanki, but the pale skinned warrior easily stepped back from the strike before stepping forward to counter attack. The dwarf cursed as his overreaching caused him to be out of position for a parry. Kirgi attempted to recover his blade to block, but was forced to drop his weapon and simply roll out of the way.

The Githyanki pivoted to square himself to the now weaponless dwarf. Kirgi simply leapt forward under his foe's swing, slamming into the Astral warrior's legs, sending him crashing into the ground.

The Githyanki fell flat on his back. Kirgi expected his opponent to at least be winded, but instead the warrior mage started some form of incantation. Before Kirgi could press his attack with his ham like fists, a heavy iron chain crashed into the prone Githyanki's face, ending the spell in a brutal gurgling fashion.

"I had that," sniffed Kirgi as he picked himself up and dusted himself off.

"Forgive me, I would normally let you handle it by yourself, but as you can see, I dispatched my two foes already and grew impatient watching you demonstrate your abilities at fisticuffs," said Gravedigger as he waved to two broken Githyanki warriors off to the side.

Kirgi grumbled as he retrieved his blade. "Laugh it up big guy, if I had my axes or better yet my crossbow this would be no contest. These swords are cool, but they are a bit too tall given ..umm my height deficiency."

"Of course. You are at the disadvantage here, since all ogres must train themselves at swinging big heavy clains around as improvised weapons. You know, at birth our parents shackle us to wild dogs to keep us in line, and shackle us to each other to make sure we won't run away. It just goes to reason, that we are naturally proficient with chains," said the ogre with a toothy sneer.

"Really? I didn't know that? Do you guys know how to use nunchuks too?" asked Kirgi wide eyed. After the statement the dwarf picked up a loose length of rope and began mimicking a series of clumsy weapon katas while making odd animal noises. "You're gonna have to teach me some of that."

Gravedigger sighed as he shook his head. "Come, let us destroy these supplies in the most audible and visual way possible. Our good friend, the lady Ixyinia, requires our presence."

"Okay, we'll do the nunchuk lessons later I guess," said Kirgi. " I don't want her to use her mind powers and bend our wills our something."

Gravedigger began to sweat but reluctantly nodded as Kirgi scanned the room. It had a tall vaulted ceiling. Half the room had rows upon rows of shelving space while the other consisted of neatly piled supplies such as ingots, assorted barrels, and what appeared to big a large bin of coal or coke.

"I..I do not have any fire prayers readied,"stuttered a visibly pale Gravedigger as he wiped his brow. "If we can find…find some tinder or a lit torch we can start a blaze, if not..perhaps we can push over the shelves and smash the barrels."

"What's with the sweating? You missing your girly friend? " chuckled Kirgi. "And don't worry about fire starting, that's the easy part. "

The dwarf then hacked his nunchuk rope into a short length, bit into it with his teeth like a thick cigar, and then swung his blade directly onto the ground. As the sword smashed into the floor, Kirgi quickly stuck his head towards the resultant sparks, and began to huff and puff through the cord, quickly igniting the piece of rope.

"Wait..how did you do that?" asked Gravedigger in amazement.

Kirgi chuckled again as he rolled his eyes. "I'm a ranger, camping skills are second nature to us. That, along with tracking, all forms of archery, and animal husbandry. I mean taking care of critters, not being overfriendly with beasts, although….to be honest, I've known some weirdos that take loving nature a bit too far."

Gravedigger shuddered at the thought. "I did not need to know that. Anyways we better start a fire quick before…"

The ogre was suddenly interrupted as a volley of blue darts struck him at the side, sending him staggering to the side, and crashing into some shelves.

Kirgi smiled at the dozen or so Githyanki swarming the room while Gravedigger picked himself up from the ground. The dwarf hefted his blade as he leaned into a crate and puffed some smoke into it. "Looks like you're gonna miss your date with Lady Ixy."


Tank followed Petrus through the Githyanki fortress. The big warrior was prepared to fight, but Petrus easily guided him past at least three patrols and two check points. Tank attempted to push ahead and have the Summoner follow him, but quickly found he could not read Fyris' supposed markings and more embarrassingly he could not spot them.

"So…..if you were looking for Fyris' little messages, what would you be looking for," asked Tank. "Not that I need to know, but I'm just testing you. Just in case you missed anything."

Petrus pointed to a plain wall. "The first mark tells you the direction she wants you to go, the second mark tells you the number of foes, the third is roughly how long ago she left the message."

Tank craned his neck and stared at where Petrus indicated. At first he couldn't see anything. Tank was tempted to smack the Summoner for attempting to make a fool of him, but eventually he saw the three faint chalk marks . "Oh, I knew that, I was just checking to see if ..umm to see if you can read her sloppy penmanship."

Petrus shook his head as he waved the warrior forward. "After all this time you've been with her, I'm surprised you didn't know this."

"Hey, it's been a while you know. Remember you found us with a troupe of thespians? In the old days, I always let Agni, Sasha, or even Svikki , bless her ice Halfling soul, do the heavy thinking. I just concentrated on face smashing and monster gutting. "

"I'm sure you did, " muttered Petrus. "Or you simply didn't listen to her," he added.

"Eh? What was that?" demanded Tank. Petrus ignored the comment, so Tank reached out and grabbed the Warmage's shoulder.

"What was that?" Tank repeated slowly as he tightened his grip.

Petrus looked at Tank's shoulder and simply brushed the warrior's hand off with a surprisingly strong slap. The Summoner did not seem intimidated or impressed by the Crab knight. "I'm sure you heard it find the first time. "

"Listen buddy, if you don't think I won't make a point of this, just cuz we're stuck in an astral dungeon," said Tank as he waved his big ham like fist before Petrus. "You got another thing comin."

" If you desire I could repeat it for you," said Petrus coldly disregarding Tank's threat of impending pugilism.

Tank knew they were on a short timeline,surrounded by enemies, and in an alien dungeon floating in an alternate dimension, but Petrus had pushed him too far. "Go ahead finger waggler, tell me again," he said with the anticipation of raw violence.

"I said you do not listen to her," said Petrus in an icy voice. Tank was about to smash the Summoner's face into the wall but Petrus continued. "Fyris talks about you constantly, but it's plainly evident you don't do the same unless you refer to her as a possession or as an object. Even a casual observer can tell you are more concerned about your own insecurities or your failing relationship rather than Fyris herself. Like some man child pining about his current love interest. Now, I admit even I can tell you have deep feelings and care for her, but it seems the only way you can reciprocate her feelings is through physical means. Now, I'm no prude, and I've been in the army long enough to know that is all some women need. Some don't need a poet, they just need a strong lover, but we both know that is not the type of woman Fyris is."

"She's passionate, smart, and caring. She needs more than simply carnal stimulus to drive her. Your lack of knowledge of even her scout markings simply shows how little you think of her. Although, your relationship seems to be repaired recently, most likely to the so called excitement of adventure and your increased physical regimens, we both know that it can't last. The two of you are doomed to fall into the same traps and pitfalls that befell you before. I already see the cracks in your relationship forming again. It might not be today, or even in the near future, but the signs are all there for your doomed love hate relationship to fall into ruin once again."

Tank wanted to smash the man's face into the adamant walls, but the more Petrus talked the more he wanted to smash his own face into the wall instead. He looked at Petrus and expected the man to grin cockily at him, but instead saw the Summoner had downcast eyes and slumped shoulders.

"Fyris needs someone that can not only support her, but to lift her up. She's an immensely talented and skilled woman, who is the rare combination of beauty and controlled violence. She's too good for you."

Tank wanted to protest but could not find the words.

"I'll admit, I was enthralled by Fyris when I first met her, and was taken aback when I realized who her, 'partner' was. To be honest, I was a bit disgusted, and though if anyone needed to be swept off her feet it was her. Not only am I skilled in both magic and arms, but I'm also a nobleman and well versed in courtly manners and the arts."

Tank was about to add he was probably richer than him as well, it wouldn't take much to be in a better financial position than an ex adventurer ex actor.

" I ..I attempted to woo her. Many times in fact, but was rebuffed many times. To be honest, I …I think I'll be nothing to her than a friend. She cares more for you when she complains about your slothful ways or your ill manners, than she does when we spend a whole morning scouting together. I just don't understand. Its…its … "

Tank and Petrus stood silent in the corridor.

"We should prolly get going," said Tank at last. The Summoner nodded blankly and the two pressed forward.

"If it makes any difference, I don't understand her as well," said Tank as they neared an intersection.

Petrus returned a dismissive wave from up front. "I doubt you understand how saddles work," he remarked before he paused near a wall.

"Fyris was just here, she says a patrol just passed to the right and we should press forwards. The main gate is undermanned," commented Petrus.

Tank squinted and saw the markings that Petrus indicated earlier but could still not understand them. He was about to follow Petrus' lead when the sounds of battle and bestial roaring could be heard to the right. The big warrior and Summoner both stopped at the clamor of battle nearby.

"Umm, shouldn't we go forward?" asked Tank.

Petrus began to nod but then paused as he craned his head to listen to the noise. "You go on ahead,…I'll catch up. I just heard something odd."


"Is that the best you can throw at me?" shouted the dwarf.

Kirgi was bleeding from a dozen minor cuts and a few deep ones. The dwarf however was nothing but smiles as he gave as good as he got. He skewered three of these Githyanki bastards while Gravedigger had only taken down two. The pair should have been overwhelmed, but the burning shelves and the smoking piles of goods gave them a narrow corridor to defend. A perfect battleground for a dwarf.

"You're falling behind," laughed Kirgi as he charged once more into the Githyanki ranks, oblivious to the smoke and fire.

"That's because I'm a bigger targe…..ahhhh," coughed Gravedigger as black tentacles suddenly sprouted from the ground and began to ensnared him.

A tentacle reached out to grab Kirgi as well, but the dwarf powered through its grasp and sprang upon a surprised Githyanki. The Astral warrior was in the process of weaving some sort of enchantment and Kirgi was ill prepared for the dwarf's blow. Kirgi simply rammed his weapon into his foe, more like a spear than a blade, impaling him to the hilt of the sword. The wizard was doubled over from the impact, as Kirgi followed up with a heavy block with his shoulder sending his foe flying backwards and knocking over some fiery shelves.

Muffled cries of surprise and pain could be heard from the otherside, and Kirgi guessed he must have squashed or pinned a few of his foes. Which was lucky for him since Gravedigger appeared to have been brought to his knees by the tentacles. Instead of attempting to pull the ogre out, the dwarf simply hopped up on the debris he caused and shouted a challenge to his enemies.

"Is that all you've got? Are you going to try to stop a dwarf with that? A bunch of animated limp dicks?" shouted Kirgi as he attempted to yank his blade from his fallen opponent.

As the dwarf pulled and tugged, in an attempt to free his weapon, he saw two more of the Githyanki circle from the front, and caught the sight of several more behind him with his peripheral vision.

"Hrmmm, maybe I shouldn't have stabbed the last guy so hard," he mused as he readied his fists.

The Githyanki saw their advantage and charged the bloodied disarmed the dwarf. Kirgi ducked under the blades of the first one, side stepped and kneed the warrior in the gut. As the warrior fell from the unorthodox attack, Kirgi prepared to smash him in the head, but was forced to hop back as one of his fellows sent his blade at him in a wide defensive arc.

Even as the dwarf retreated from his frontal attackers, he felt his enemies close in from behind him. With the shelves knocked over it gave them greater room to fight.

"Hrmmm, maybe I shouldn't have knocked down those shelves," he mused as he twirled to meet them.

Kirgi expected two or three charging Githyanki but instead saw Gravedigger slam one to the ground with his chain. The pale skinned warrior attempted to block, but the heavy chain simply overpowered him and sent him crashing into the ground.

"I see not only have you negated our tactical advantage but you casted your weapon aside," gasped Gravedigger as he positioned himself back to back with the dwarf.

"Well I see you've broken up with your tentacled girlfriend," chuckled the dwarf. "I hope she at least bought you dinner after your little roll together.

"I used my last dispel on that," said Gravedigger with ragged breath. "I was hoping to use it for a heal."

More Githyanki piled around them as the dwarf and ogre readied for their last stand.

"Although mistress Ixyinia will be disappointed, it appears we will meet our end here," said the ogre as he caught his breath.

"Could be worse," shrugged the bleeding dwarf. "I always thought I would die in battle, though in my mind it was always with weapons in hand. I don't suppose you've been hiding an axe down your ass big guy?"

Just as the Githyanki began their charge once again, a strange shimmering appeared before Kirgi. The dwarf blinked once in disbelief and saw two waraxes appeared in his hand. He wasn't sure how they got there, but he didn't think twice as he weaved past the first Githyanki blade, parried the second, and buried his remaining axe into the first Githyanki's gut.

"Now this is more like it," commented the dwarf as he withdrew both his axes with a flick of the wrist and charged the Githyanki anew.