I took some liberties with this. Those of you who know the module will know the Tomb of Brysis of Khaem is infused with magic and after every spell cast you should roll on the Wild Magic table to see the effect. But while this might be really fun in game play I couldn't keep the narrative tension by having a unicorn pop into existence or a bunch of butterflies or for Aleina to morph into a potted plant. Maybe I made it a lot less exciting by doing so...but I just ignored the Wild Magic part of it.
The scrape of boots against rock seemed overly loud against the relative quiet of the Underdark and the pale light Aleina cast from the rear of their group seemed like a beacon. Jhelnae felt exposed as she followed Rhianne down the tunnel. The light of their group mixed with the swirling light of the faerzress above and the air grew warmer the closer they got to the Neverlight Grove and smelled more of fungal rot and decay. She heard whispers being passed up the line, but the message stopped before it reached her. The half-drow turned to glare back at Ront.
"Well?"
"Well what?" the orc asked.
"Is there a message you are supposed to be passing up?" Jhelnae asked.
"It's nothing important."
"Let me decide that," the half-drow said.
Ront shrugged. "The halfling said this looks familiar to him. He thinks we are close."
It could prove important. If they truly were close Diarghan should be told. Jhelnae passed on the message to Rhianne, who would pass it on in turn.
"How can he tell one part of this tunnel from another, I wonder?" Jhelnae asked.
Ront made no reply. The half-drow sighed. The halfling needed light to see. This same light, however, could harm the darklings. With the addition of Fargas the group had made adjustments and the half-drow missed how they had traveled before, when the aasimar had walked just in front of her.
"I hate this new marching order," Jhelnae said. "You're terrible at chitchat."
Ront snorted. "If you want…"
The orc trailed off, his eyes widening. A soft feminine voice sounded in Jhelnae's mind, faint and distant
"Hello? Is someone there…? Oh please, I need your help! I have been trapped in the dark for so long…so very long. Please, won't you help to free me?"
Orc and half-drow stared at each other.
"A voice spoke in your mind too, right?" Jhelnae asked.
Ront nodded.
A message again was passed up from the rear. This time Ront did pass it forward.
"The halfling says this was the same voice that spoke in his mind before."
Jhelnae had already guessed that, and the others probably had as well. But she told Rhianne ahead of her anyway.
"I don't trust that voice," Ront said.
Jhelnae didn't either. What could survive being trapped alone in the darkness 'so very long'? Instead of voicing her misgivings, the half-drow pulled her moonstone capped rod from her belt and passed it down her body. Her magical wards shimmered into place, then faded, but she felt its continued presence as a tingle against her skin. The cold mist of the Demonweb condensed and swirled around her hand as her sword coalesced in her grip at her summons.
Ront followed her lead and drew his scimitar and pulled the round metal shield from his back.
"Hello?" Kuhl called out from the front of the group. "Can you hear us? Who are you? How can we help you?"
They waited, but silence followed his words. After a time, they continued forward. Soon they came to a narrow side passage. Jhelnae heard murmurs from up ahead as they decided which way to go. It did not surprise her when they took the side passage. Somehow she sensed this was the direction of the voice and guessed the others had been given the same impression.
The passage soon took them to a dirty marble wall with a deep-set door made of bronze-encased stone, green with age. The door pivoted on a central axis, and stood open, the gaps on either side showing the blue glow of a faerzress suffused area beyond.
Another message was passed up from Fargas at the rear of the group.
"The halfling says they never opened the door," Ront said. "They heard the gnolls coming and didn't want to get trapped down here."
After Jhelnae had passed on the message she spoke to the orc again.
"This must be hard on Fargas. Imagine being the only survivor of your group."
"Doesn't sound so bad," Ront said, with a tusk filled smile.
"Very funny," Jhelnae said. "You know you'd mourn us."
"I don't think so," the orc said.
"You'd do well to remember I'm holding an abyssal blade," the half-drow said, lifting the referenced sword slightly.
"You know," Ront said. "I might mourn a little."
Rhianne turned. "It's wide enough in front of the door for us to gather. Tell the others to come forward."
"What about the light?" Jhelnae asked.
"Our cloaks and goggles will protect us." The darkling bard slipped her hands into the depths of her cowl and pulled something down. "It is good to have some gnome tinkerer friends. We just can't see as well with them on."
Jhelnae nodded and did as she was told. Soon they had all crammed together in front of the door. Despite Rhianne's words of reassurance the two cloaked darkling forms sidled as far as possible from the light cast by Aleina's moonstone orb as she approached. In contrast the halfling hovered near the aasimar, the proverbial moth to her flame.
Now that Jhelnae was closer, and with the light falling on the door, the half-drow saw several scratches scarred it, revealing the brighter bronze and marble underneath. It was as if whoever had entered could not resist striking the door as they passed.
"Those scratches look like something gnolls would do," Ront said. "This place has probably already been ransacked."
"But we heard the voice," Kuhl said. "Whatever was down there when Fargas came this way is still down there."
"That makes it worse," Ront said. "She ate them and is still hungry for more."
"I hate to say it," Eldeth said. "But what Ront says makes a lot of sense."
"We can't find something like this and not see what is inside," Sky said, crossing her arms.
"I have misgivings," Rhianne said. "But I have spent my life gathering lore. If we turn back now the mystery of that voice will haunt me till I die."
"I want to go in also," Aleina said. "But we shouldn't take Stool and Rumpadump in there. Maybe some of us can go and others can stay with them in the tunnel?
"I don't think splitting up is a good idea," Kuhl said.
"Neither is taking the sprouts in there," the aasimar said.
Stool let forth a cloud of empathy spores that showed visions of the whole group staying together.
"We could split our group," Diarghan said. "But Rhi and I travel with you because the Underdark has grown increasingly wild. Leaving the sprouts with a few of us in the tunnel might put them in more danger than taking them with us. There is safety in numbers."
"He has a point," Fargas said. "It was running from the gnolls that killed my group, not exploring this tomb."
The aasimar stared at the tomb door, face tense with worry and pale blue eyes full of indecision.
Jhelnae squeezed past Ront and Eldeth to get closer to Aleina.
"Diarghan is right, Aleina," the half-drow said. "If we're all together we can all protect the sprouts better. I'll be right next to you making sure nothing happens to them."
Aleina took a deep breath, then released it. She looked over at Jhelnae still uncertain.
"Even Ront promises to sacrifice himself before he lets any harm come to them," the half-drow said with a quirk of her lips.
"No, I don't," Ront said from behind her.
"Well...he'll be in front of us anyway," Jhelnae said with a wink.
Ront muttered something in Orcish, which Eldeth translated.
"He really doesn't like you, Jhelnae, or find you funny."
Aleina smiled, and some of her tension drained away.
"I keep forgetting you speak Orc," Ront said, switching back to Common.
"What sort of dwarven envoy would I be if I didn't speak Orc?" Eldeth asked.
"Well, as long as Ront will be in front of us, let's stay together," the aasimar said. "Stool, Rumpadump, I want you right behind Jhelnae and me."
"Good," Sky said. "Now can we go?" She had been creeping forward, pulled by her curiosity, towards the door as they talked and now peered past it. "Especially since all I see is an empty room and a stairway downward."
One by one they followed the tabaxi inside. Jhelnae motioned Ront ahead with a flourishing wave of her hand.
"After you."
The orc grunted and shook his head by way of reply. But he moved ahead of her and past the doors.
They entered a square room, well over twice Derendil's height. Blue light from the faerzress infused ceiling swirled overhead. As Sky had told them, a staircase opposite the door led downward. Kuhl and Diarghan had already moved to stand before it. The darkling ranger had unslung his bow and nocked an arrow as he watched down the stairs.
"Well if there was any doubt before, there isn't any now," Diarghan said. "Gnoll tracks. A troop of them. They passed through and down the stairs. I don't see tracks coming back out.
Large paw prints marred the layer of dust in the floor. Jhelnae was no expert tracker, but even she could tell all the prints moved in the same direction, towards the stairs.
The wall to the right was covered in a series of stone dioramas. Jhelnae joined the others looking at them. The carvings always centered on a half-elven woman in long flowing robes. In some she was surrounded by attendants and the trappings of wealth and power. In others she cast magic against foes or stuck them down with a sword that, judging by the carved rays out from it, blazed with light. Portions of the stone pictures had been recently damaged, and chips lay on the floor underneath.
"This tomb is old," Rhianne said. "Her style of dress matches the Netherese era."
"Whoever she was," Jhelnae said. "She certainly thought highly of herself."
"Reminds me of some females I know," Ront said.
Whether Ront meant it as an insult or a jest, it brought a smile to the half-drow's lips.
"I probably deserve that," Jhelnae said. "But you know I don't really expect you to sacrifice yourself for me, Ront."
"Just the sprouts," Aleina said. "And you two are doing a good job of staying near us."
It was true. Both Stool and Rumpadump stood nearby, staring up at the stone pictures with them.
Derendil said something in Elvish and Aleina laughed. She translated at Jhelnae's questioning look
"When princes die the heavens themselves weep comets," Aleina said. She pointed at the last of the dioramas on the wall, which showed a woman laying on a bed surrounded by grieving attendants and fire raining down from the sky. "Or so the monuments of the vain would have us believe."
"Like I said," Jhelnae said. "She thought highly of herself."
"I wish she had thought more highly of herself," Fargas said, fingering his dagger. "High enough to incorporate some precious stones in her carvings."
"For a certain halfling to pry loose?" Jhelnae guessed.
"And share with his friends..."
Fargas trailed off and Jhelnae thought of her earlier conversation with Ront. The halfling had attempted a jest and it only served to remind him of lost friends. He stared at the wall, pretending to further examine the stone pictures.
"Did the Netherese have flying cities?" Sky asked from across the room.
"Yes," Rhianne said, cowled head focused on the dioramas. "Through creations they called mythallars they built cities in the sky. Until Karsus's folly brought them down. You've heard of Netheril?"
"I'd heard of it," Sky said. "But also, this wall here shows a bunch of flying cities."
Jhelnae turned and saw the wall opposite the one with stone dioramas was carved with a vista of flying cities.
"Well…" Rhianne said. "You can forget my thoughts on styles of dress. I think Sky confirmed without a doubt this is a Netherese tomb. Unless anyone else knows of another civilization with flying cities?"
"What is it doing down here?" Eldeth asked. "We're deep underground. Did these Netherese also inhabit the Underdark?"
"Not that I have heard." Rhianne stared at the wall with carvings of floating cities for a time, then finally shook her head. "I can't begin to guess how a tomb like this ended up down here. A millennium has passed since the Netheril empire fell. Anything could have happened."
"Maybe we'll learn if we go down the stairs and find the source of that voice," Sky said.
"Maybe," Rhianne said.
Despite her words she did not move towards the stair. Jhelnae understood her reluctance. The stone murals were meant to capture the occupant of this tomb in life, to give her some immortality and defy death. And yet all the carved monuments couldn't change the reality. Somewhere, down those stairs, was a shriveled up corpse, long dead and forgotten. That truth couldn't be faced without confronting one's own mortality.
These dark thoughts, however, seemed lost on Sky, ever a creature of the now.
"Well then, let's go down and find out," the tabaxi said, tail lashing.
"I know this room was empty," Kuhl said. "And we've heard nothing from down the stairs. But let's not get complacent. A strange voice spoke in all our minds and gnoll prints are all over the floor going down, but not coming back up. Something is down there"
Sky nodded. "I know. I want to learn what. But I'm aware of the danger. I know you and Diarghan will be right behind me."
The tabaxi patted Kuhl's shoulder as she passed by. Despite her offhand tone she was all focus as she started descending the stairs. Her tail lashed and she took the steps one slow step at a time, peering at the walls, ceiling, and marble steps ahead before moving forward.
Another stone mural waited for them at the first landing.
"This is a Netherese calendar stone," Rhianne said. "I can only partially read Netherese, but I think it marks the date the occupant died and identifies her. Her name was Brysis of Khaem and I was wrong before when I said this tomb was at least a millennium old. It is double that."
Jhelnae stood, staring at the calendar stone, absorbing the magnitude of that amount of time.
"Well two millennium is still at least as old as one millenium," Kuhl said. "So, you really weren't wrong. Actually, doubly right as it turns out."
"I suppose that is true," the darkling bard said.
They continued downward, Sky still leading the way one cautious step at a time. The wall opposite the stairs at the next landing held ten stone carvings, each framed. One held a carving of a stylized sun, another a black disk, and another a cross with a circle where the two lines intersected.
"The Netherese pantheon. All ten of them," Rhianne said. She pointed to the stone symbol of a carved hand. "Even Moander, the god of rot, corruption, and decay. I wouldn't think its symbol would be in a tomb."
"Selune," Aleina said, holding up the light towards the carving of a pair of eyes surrounded by seven stars."
"And Tyche," Fargas said, reaching towards the symbol of a five-pointed star.
Before he could touch it, Sky batted away his hand.
"Why did you do that?" the halfling asked. "Goddess of luck. We can always use more luck."
"If I were protecting a tomb," the tabaxi said. "And I knew the way thieves and tomb robbers thought. I would lay a trap on the symbol of the Lady of Fate."
"That would be sacrilegious," Fargas said.
Derendil said something in Elvish, which Eldeth translated.
"Still, it's better not to be fortune's fool."
Sky nodded. "We best worship Lady Luck by not taking unnecessary chances."
"I thought you tabaxi worshiped the Catlord?" Jhelnae asked.
"We do," Sky said. "But that doesn't mean I don't flip a coin into a pool dedicated to Tymora when I pass one."
"Well I've never seen you flip a coin into any pool of water, let alone one dedicated to Tymora." A thought occurred to the half-drow. "Hold on a moment. How many coins are we talking about?"
"Who can keep track," The tabaxi said.
"Who could keep track?" the half-drow said. "I would have kept track given the amount of times we ended up hungry and without a copper piece to our names. We needed those coins more than Tymora."
Sky shrugged. "She brought us luck."
"We ended up prisoners in the Underdark!" Jhelnae said, voice still low, but tone exasperated.
"And we met all of our new friends here," the tabaxi said. "Isn't that lucky?"
"You might want to choose your next words carefully," Aleina said, voice amused.
"Coins well spent," the half-drow said after only a slight hesitation.
"Thought as much," the aasimar said with a smirk. She continued in a more serious tone. "I know it is selfish, but I'm glad you two are down here with us. We'd never have made it this far without you."
Jhelnae nodded and managed a smile. Strangely enough, part of her was glad too. Now that she had met, escaped, and survived with this group she couldn't imagine never meeting them.
"Well that's settled then," Sky said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
The tabaxi started descending the next flight of stairs, Kuhl and Diarghan close behind her, weapons at the ready. For a moment Jhenae promised herself her discussion with Sky about the donated coins was far from 'settled'. Then she sighed and followed. She couldn't recall winning a single argument with the tabaxi yet. She might as well try to break through one of the tomb walls with her head. It would be less frustrating, and she'd have less of a headache at the end of it.
There were no more landings. The end of the stairway led to a large room. Shreds of dusty tapestries lay scattered across the floor. Deep gouges defaced the stone friezes on walls, making them unrecognizable.
"The gnolls did more damage here," Jhelnae said.
Diarghan shook his cowled head. "The gnolls didn't do this. They were here, but their prints don't even go to some of the more heavily damaged areas. Also, some of the shredded tapestries lie on top of their prints, indicating they were torn down later. Whoever did this made no prints at all."
Now that the darkling ranger had explained it, Jhelnae could see it was true. The gnoll prints in the layer of dust stayed mostly in the center of the room. They could not be responsible for the widespread damage.
As a group they advanced a little farther into the room. At the north end stood a gouged and cracked altar of pale gray marble.
"Where did the gnolls go?" Kuhl asked
"To the south," Diargham pointed with his nocked arrow in that direction. "But they came back this way again. Then they went through the door to the east but did not come back out."
Bronze doors, similar to the entry to the tomb, stood open in the directions the darkling ranger had indicated.
"If the gnolls went through that door and didn't come out then we shouldn't go through it," Ront said. "That much is obvious."
No one spoke for a moment, but then Aleina nodded.
"He is right." The aasimar raised her hand to stop Sky's protest. "I know you want to learn the mystery of this place, Sky. Part of me does too. But whatever is in there probably killed those gnolls and I can't take Stool and Rumpadump in there. More than that, I've been thinking about what we just talked about. Getting captured and dragged down to the Underdark is the worst thing that ever happened to me, but if we make it to the surface and we sit in a cozy inn with mulled wine and a chapbook, like we've talked about, it will only be an unpleasant memory. I want that to happen. I don't want to die down here in this dusty tomb."
"I want that too," Jhelnae said. "She's right, Sky. I know it's hard for you, but we need to let this go."
"I'm the one who told you about this place," Fargas said. "But I like the sound of mulled wine and a fire over something like dying. If I'm invited to join you ladies that is."
Jhelnae laughed. "As long as you are buying at least one round."
"At least one," Aleina said. "He was cocooned in a web when we found him after all."
Sky sighed heavily and stomped her foot. "I don't even like mulled wine. But if Rhianne can live with never learning about the voice I can too."
"The tracks tell a clear story beloved," Diarghan said. "The gnolls went in and never came out."
"I can see the sense in leaving," the darkling bard said, voice heavy with reluctance.
Then let's get out of here," Aleina said.
Darkness stirred near the broken altar followed by rasping, hollow laughter.
"Something I never expected to see in my lifetime."
The voice was feminine, but nothing like the previous voice they had heard. This voice was aristocratic in bearing but held an unnatural quality that instantly made the hair at the back of Jhelnae's neck stand on end.
"Tomb robbers who can master their greed and decide to run away. But then I suppose I didn't actually see it in my lifetime, did I?"
The swirling darkness floated forward and the half-drow could make out the ghostly form of a woman in long flowing robes. Another dark spectral form took shape next to the first, also a woman in robes, but lesser in stature.
"Quick, up the stairs," Kuhl said. "Maybe she can't leave this place."
The paladin himself moved forward to cover their retreat.
"Oh, I very much can't leave," the dark apparition said, continuing to float towards them. "But your lives should give me the strength I need to break free."
"Brysis of Khaem?" Rhianne asked as she backed towards the stairs with the others.
"My name sounds so pretty on your lips," the wraith said. "If I've life force to spare I might have to raise your spirit as a servant and see if you can still play that harp you carry."
"There are more of them blocking the stairs," Ront yelled.
Jhelnae tore her gaze from Brysis and looked back. Three more dark feminine ghostly forms barred access to the stairs.
"Did I hear you say you were a group of dear friends?" Brysis said, and even through the eerie nature of her voice she managed to convey her amusement. "The kind you enjoy mulled wine with next to a fire. Meet my companions. I loved them so dearly I decided they should spend all eternity with me."
The dark ghosts surged forward. Diarghan's bow sang and an arrow streaked through the form of Brysis as she advanced on them. She flinched away, but the arrow seemed to have little effect.
"It's going to get bright!" Aleina warned and raised her orb.
Three rays of light streaked through the darkness between the aasimar and the lead apparitions guarding the stairs. Two flared into one and a third into another. Piercing wails echoed off the walls of the room as those two retreated. Its uninjured companion fixed the aasimar with a baleful gaze and leapt forward. Ront swung his sword to intercept her, but the blade seemed to pass through without harming her. Ghostly claws tore into Aleina. Her warding armor flared visible, trying to protect her, but she cried out in pain and fell to one knee.
"Aleina!" Jhelnae yelled.
She ran forward, dark sword leading the way. The specter standing over the aasimar turned. The mocking smile on her ghostly lips fell as she saw the nature of the blade swinging towards her and she floated back out of reach.
Jhelnae sheathed her rod and helped haul the aasimar back to her feet. The soft feminine voice that had originally lured them to the tomb spoke again in her mind.
"Down below! In the sarcophagus! I can help you!"
Jhelnae ignored the pull exerting her to go through the door to the east and focused on Aleina. She was cool to the touch and her skin, already pale, had an unhealthy pallor. Her breaths came in ragged gasps.
"You alright?"
Aleina nodded. "Stool, Rumpadump, get behind us!"
Another ghostly wail sounded and Jhelnae turned to see Brysis retreating from Kuhl.
"We're not helpless against you," the half-elf said. "Just let us leave and no more harm comes to you."
"So you aren't little half-elf," Brysis said. Any hope they could bargain their way out died with her eerie chuckle. "But I drank more of your life than I lost. And it tasted sweet."
The wraith sailed forward once more, her ghostly companion circling to flank. Jhelnae saw how slowly the point of Kuhl's sword came up to ward them back and knew Brysis spoke true. Their paladin could hurt the wraiths, but he was injured. Diarghan loosed an arrow, this time at the specter fighting at Brysis's side. Once again it seemed to sail through without effect.
"Behind you," Aleina said.
Jhelnae whirled to see the three dark specters guarding the door flying forward.
The aasimar raised her moonstone orb. "It's going to get bright!"
"Just burn them!" Rhianne yelled. "Our cloaks and goggles will protect us!"
Three scorching rays again streaked forth from the orb, but this time their targets were aware of the danger. The wispy forms twisted and dodged and only one of the rays hit anything, and that was a glancing blow. Jhelnae swung as one approached, but it moved away and sank spectral claws into Derendil who stood protectively in front of the sprouts. The quaggoth roared in pain and struck back, but his claws seemed to find no purchase.
The half-drow rushed forward. Once again, the spectral being was wary of her blade and drifted back, abandoning her attack on Derendil. Cries of pain came from Ront, Eldeth, and Diarghan.
"They are avoiding those who can hurt them and attacking those of us who can't," Fargas yelled. "Stay close to the others!"
Following his own advice, the halfling sidled next to Aleina, just as she pivoted to take aim at one of the specters with her orb. Surprised to find him underfoot, she tripped and fell sprawling to the ground. Brysis, seeing the chance to finish one of her more dangerous opponents, surged forward. Jhelnae drew her rod from her belt and the power of the Demonweb flowed through her. She sent it forth in a blast that struck the wraith in the face and sent her back with a wailing cry.
But Brysis recovered quickly and drew herself up. "Such feisty playthings are sure to have a lot of life."
"Come and find out, bitch!" Jhelnae yelled.
The half-drow stalked forward, then stopped. She had to stay near the others. Both for her protection and theirs. Glancing around she realized someone was missing.
"Where is Sky?" she asked.
Frantic looks from the others followed, but all shook their heads.
Aleina scrambled back to her feet. "I don't see her!"
What had happened to her? Had she been stolen away? Jhelnae was sure she would have seen or heard that. Worry tugged at the half-drow, but she pushed it aside as their ghostly opponents rushed at them once more.
Fire flared from Aleina's orb. Jhelnae slashed at one of the oncoming dark wispy forms and let fly with a crackling beam at another. As before, now wary of her abilities, the specters twisted and writhed, dodging away. One sank her claws into Ront. But when the half-drow chased the orc's attacker off him Eldeth cried out, needing help in turn. The half-drow felt like a beleaguered shepherd, trying to keep a pack of wolves off her herd of sheep. The ghostly forms nipped at the edges, laughing, and floating away from those who could harm them. Jhelnae smiled when one of the specters wailed out in pain. One of her companions at least, Kuhl she thought, had found their mark.
"This is preferable to gorging ourselves on life, like with the gnolls," Brysis said, flying in a wide circle around the companions. "We get to take a little at a time, sampling the variety, until it is time for the main course and then dessert."
A golden glow suddenly spilled forth from the open door to the east. Brysis's spectral companions cried out in alarm and the darklings dropped to kneel on the ground and pulled their cowls down over their faces.
"No!" Brysis yelled. "No! That sword is mine! I am its wielder! No one else may touch it!"
Jhelnae watched in amazement as Sky entered the room. Dust covered her hair and face and she carried a gilded longsword hilt with a blade of pure radiance. The sword blazed brighter, chasing away the shadows of the room and the half-drow felt the heat of sunlight on her skin. The soft feminine voice sounded again in Jhelnae's mind, stronger this time.
"You were no longer my wielder, Brysis, even before your death and you certainly are not now."
The wraith let forth a scream of rage and surged forward, finger of dark wisp reaching as if she would wrench the hilt from Sky's grasp. But it was like the light was a current that grew stronger as she approached. Soon her progress had stalled, but with another cry of anger she moved forward again.
"Attack them now!" Kuhl yelled. "While the sword's light weakens them!"
Kuhl ran forward and sank his sword into one of the spectral companions, who didn't even attempt to dodge. Radiance played along the blade and the dark wispy form burst asunder. Aleina raised her moonstone orb and three rays scorched into the ghostly form closest to her, burning it into nothingness.
Jhelnae expected the specters to flee to some dark hidden corner of the tomb then, but they did not, seemingly bound to stay with their master. They wailed and floated, shying away from the brightness bathing them, but unable to escape it. Easy prey. The half-drow stabbed one with her sword. It was an odd sensation, almost like she missed and struck only air. But the blade bit into something and she felt a small amount of resistance. The specter clutched hands over the wound, as if trying to staunch bleeding. Agony marred her ghostly face, but a look of peace came over her as she faded from existence.
The voice of the sword Sky carried sounded again in her mind.
"Go to your final rest, Brysis."
Jhelnae turned and saw Aleina sending bolts of flame into the last of the companions of Brysis. The wraith herself hovered in front of Sky, hand outstretched, still trying to reach the sword hilt the tabaxi wielded. Sky swept the sword up, then down, and the blade of radiance cleaved into Brysis. Her ghostly form split, and she disappeared with a final lingering wail.
For the space of heartbeats, the companions stared at each other in amazement. Then Aleina sank to the floor, unmindful of the layer of dust. One by one the others followed her lead until only Jhelnae, Fargas, Sky, and the sprouts remained standing. It took a moment for Jhelnae to understand. Those who stood had escaped without feeling the life draining touch of the wraith and specters.
"I'm not dead," Rhianne said. "So, I assume we won."
The two darklings remained huddled on the floor, hiding from the light in their cloaks.
Stool and Rumpadump let forth a cloud of empathy spores. Seeing the events from two perspectives at the same time was confusing, but the details were essentially right.
"Now that we've won," Diarghan said. "Can someone extinguish the light?"
"Sorry," Sky said. "Turn off Dawnbringer."
"Are you sure I can't stay on a little longer?" the sword mind spoke. "I have been in the darkness so very long."
"Two of my friends are harmed by the light," Sky said. She waved a dismissive hand. "You know, ancient curse."
"I see." The blade of radiance shrank and winked out. "So, you are my new wielder. Never have been wielded by a cat person before."
"Tabaxi," Sky said. "And I'm not much for swords. I am more of a sneak up behind and attack when they aren't looking kind of fighter."
"Fear not. I will teach you. Just as I once taught Brysis."
"Because that went so well," Aleina said from the floor.
"Whatever she later became, Brysis was once regarded as a hero. Renowned throughout Netheril."
"I don't know if you noticed, but the success went to her head and she became a murderous bitch," Aleina said.
"I did notice that," the sword said somberly.
"You are the sword from the stone carvings," Rhianne said.
The darkling bard stood and went to Sky, peering at the sword hilt she carried.
"Stone carvings?
"There are pictures carved in stone showing the important events of Brysis's life," Rhianne said. "In them is a glowing sword."
"I will have to see those."
"Umm...by teach me do you mean training and stuff?" Sky asked.
"Yes, with a regimen of drills and sparring you'll learn to wield me effectively."
"Oh," Sky said, managing to convey distaste in a one syllable response.
"Good luck with that," Jhelnae laughed. Sky was not one who would enjoy repetitive drilling.
"You know," the tabaxi said, ignoring the half-drow, "I have a friend, Kuhl, he is the half-elf sitting over there, who is already pretty good with a sword.
"Half-elf?" The sword's voice was full of doubt as she mind-spoke. "Let me think on it. My last owner was a half-elf and as you saw that didn't end well. No offense sir."
"No offense taken," Kuhl said. Like the others who had been wounded he sat sprawled on the floor, drawn and pale and obviously exhausted.
"Enough about all that," Jhelnae said. "Tell us what happened! How did you end up with a glowing talking sword?"
"I heard it calling and she said she could help," Sky said. "I waited for a moment of distraction, Kuhl had just wounded Brysis, and used my boots to run through that door."
The tabaxi pointed to the door behind her. Jhelnae remembered the sword calling out in her mind and remembered feeling the pull to the door to the east.
"There are a bunch of dead gnolls in there, but I realized one of the sarcophagi was on rollers and could be pushed aside. I followed the stairway under it and there was another sarcophagus. The lid was heavy. I really could have used Kuhl or Derendil's help getting it off."
"We were sort of busy fighting for our lives," Kuhl said from the floor.
Sky shrugged. "It took several tries, but using my legs I just managed to push the lid far enough to fit my hand in. Dawnbringer was inside."
"You idiot!" Jhelnae said. "You shouldn't run off alone like that! You could have been killed."
"The voice said she could help," Sky said. "And she did help."
"And if we had fought our way up the stairs, not seeing you were missing?" Jhelnae said. "Or Brysis had followed you and attacked while you were trying to move the lid? You'd be dead and we'd never know what happened to you."
"Well none of that happened so no use worrying about it now," Sky said.
"That is exactly the problem!" Jhelnae said. "You never worry! You never think!"
The tabaxi and half-drow glared at each other. This time, Jhelnae had to make Sky stop taking so many risks before her luck ran out.
"I can tell," the sword mind-spoke into the uncomfortable silence with the tone of a mother trying to make peace between two sisters. "Your friend's concern comes from a place of love. That's something isn't it?"
"Stay out of this!" Jhelnae and Sky said at the same time.
More silence followed, then Ront spoke from the floor, voice still weak.
"No. I am not going to listen to you two argue over who took a stupid risk. This whole place was a stupid risk. I told you all that and no one listened. But I am too tired and weak to yell about how I was right and if I don't get to do it, no one else does either."
Kuhl gave a weary laugh. "So, you're saying Jhelnae and Sky need to make peace not for the harmony of the group, but because you don't have the strength to give voice to your spite at being right?"
"Yes," the orc said.
"Makes sense to me," Kuhl said.
"Now everyone shut your mouths and let me rest a moment to recover my strength," Ront said. "Because now that we somehow did survive, I want to go ahead and loot this place. Once I feel up to it."