The spires of Temple Darkmoon
"It's beautiful!" Nightshade gasped, looking at the rich walls and decorations around her. The teleporter that had brought the team there had disappeared, being only a temporary mode of transportation. They now stood facing an open room, a staircase going up directly ahead of them across the room. It was quiet, very, very quiet. "Let me see!" Meeks called from the back; she had made a desperate attempt to restrain the teleportation crystals when they had begun to disappear and had failed miserably. The brash fighter pushed her way to the head of the team and her jaw dropped instantly on sight of the area, "Oh jeez; this guy is loaded!" She gasped. On her right side, Will grunted, "The money probably came from all the innocent people he's scammed." He commented sourly, giving the crew the idea that he would not be his same old optimistic self now that they were so close to Dran Draggore.
The walls were intricately carved with sweeping images made of golden-hued metal; the floor was carpeted with thick, red, gold, and black carpet. Hanging from the wall were banners, their colors matching those of the carpet, with the same dragon symbol emblazoned on them that the party members had in their palms. Niches in the wall held statuettes, orbs and other objects that shimmered with jewels or bristled with finely-cut edges. The treasure-bearing niches were usually centered on large walls or directly below windows; there were two windows in the chamber they all stood in now, one on each side of the room. Pryzma fidgeted suddenly, "Wait! I think I heard something." She warned, her eyes scanning the room suspiciously for any invisible creatures that might be holding sentry. Masoj came up beside her and shook his head calmly, "It's probably a bird or something from outside." He reasoned, looking over at the window nearest him; Pryzma and the rest of the crew followed his gaze and Elyxya spoke up soon after, "The afternoon is coming to its end, guys. We've had a pretty heavy day." She said dully, looking out at the Waterdeep forest in a longing manner; she began to day dream about being back in Myth Drannor with her family and friends...
"And it's not done yet, Elyxya." San-Raal cooed, placing a hand on the red-head's waist and looking over at the staircase that stood so mysteriously off to the side. Elyxya sighed and left the window sill with difficulty, "Come now friends, let's go and complete our quest; I'm growing tired of this charade, as I am sure you all are, and I'll be too happy to finally put an end to this mess." She declared grandly then drew her scimitar and stalked towards the staircase. "Amen to that." Will called after her and hurried his pace to join the determined woman. The whole team, in a surge of energy and pep, mounted the staircase and willingly gave themselves up to whatever waited beyond.
To greet the seven teammates at the top of the stairs were two robed figures, "Halt! You've no authorization!" One of them called harshly, untucking his hands from the thick sleeves of his robes. Without much warning, blue lightning fizzled and snaked through the man's fingers, then, within seconds, he raised his hands and shot his magic forth. The team didn't really have the chance to react because they had been caught off guard when reaching the top of stairs; the wizard's lightning hit the team full-force, burning and slicing at flesh and cloth. Meeks, who had jumped to the side a little after the searing blue flame had begun to assault the party, held out her marked hand to the two mages, "But we have the mark!" She screamed, shoving the dragon symbol towards the front. Unaffected, the mage who had cast the lighting spell removed his hood calmly while the one who accompanied him raised his hands to strike at the party. But this time, the little group was not inanimate!
Meeks and Elyxya jumped the mage who had removed his hood and the man screamed a muffled cry of pain as polearm and scimitar bit into his velvet robes and flesh. "C'thak si!" Pryzma hollered and snapped her hand forward in a shielding manner, "Akayu raya!" She then spat and a black ribbon shot from her palm and encircled the second wizard. The group watched (except Elyxya and Meeks who were busily wiping the blood off their weapons on the dead wizard's robes) as Pryzma yanked her hand back, cutting off the dark ribbon, and then raised it high in the air and flicked her wrist; the wizard entangled in the ribbon collapsed to the floor, dead. "I love that spell!" Pryzma cheered, rubbing her hands together; Nightshade patted her back and grinned proudly at her friend, "What is it called? I don't think I've ever seen it before." The thief asked inquisitively. Pryzma held up her finger triumphantly, "Ashkara's Death Ribbon spell." She said pointedly and winked at San-Raal who she could see staring out of the corner of her eye.
"That was a very rude greeting." Will declared, completely stupefied by the two mages' offensive behavior, "They didn't even care about the mark of Darkmoon -- they just attacked us like maniacs!" He rambled on to no one in particular. Masoj walked past the cleric and bent to look at the dead mages' bodies, "You wouldn't care for small talk either if your temple was being ransacked. And besides, how hard is it to recognize a team of seven armed people? I'm sure our descriptions are known all over the temple thanks to High-Priestess Sindel Flame." He said vindictively and removed a small ring from the hand of the mage that Pryzma had magically attacked. He held it up to the torchlight; it was made of a red stone that was, oddly, cool to the touch, "It's a fire-resistance ring," He said brightly and twitched his nose, "good thing we didn't cast a fireball spell at this guy. You were pretty damn lucky to have picked the Death Ribbon spell, Pryzma." Masoj congratulated the other drow and got to his feet with effort. He looked at the little ring a while, lost in thought, then he slipped it onto the ring finger of his right hand.
"You're gonna keep it?" Meeks asked him, coming over to fiddle with Masoj's finger; the mage looked down at her and shook his head, "You really have to get over the fact that you don't have a sustenance ring any more, love. You won't be getting any more rings until we're all out of this temple, understand?" He said kindly and gazed into the deep, ever-curious pools that were Meeks' black eyes, "But that doesn't mean that I can't have a ring." He finished. Meeks pouted and Masoj sighed.
"Anything on the other mage?" San-Raal asked, eyeing Masoj's new ring; Masoj searched the other body but found nothing, he then shook his head apologetically at his fellow mage. San-Raal rolled his eyes, "Fine." He choked and clutched his spellbook tighter. When the group had settled and were once again ready to go, a good look at the area was greatly needed. They were in a long corridor lined with about ten closed doors; all was silent. The party members looked at each other and frowned, the silence was unusual for such a big temple. Will figured the doors might block off storage rooms of some sort but then discarded the idea; why would Darkmoon need so much storage space? It made no sense. Perhaps they were chambers..but why such silence? Even prayer wasn't that quiet!
Nightshade, wary of this kind of stuff, tightened her grip on her short sword, "I don't like the looks of this. I think it may be a setup." She warned, keeping her voice low although the team had already been loud enough with the destruction of the two mages that the whole temple could have heard them coming. Unfortunately, Meeks (as usual), had already begun to venture out ahead, "See?!" She called back to the team, rather loudly, "There's nothing wrong with--" She stopped short when all ten doors opened and angry clerics tore out of each.
"I could be wrong!" Meeks yelped as the clerics surrounded the party.
***
Izzy sat, unmoving, in a cold metal chair. Rain and the illithids stood around her, silent as they always were. She wondered what they had in store for her, and not to mention when she would see her friends again. A profound sorrow swept over her and she felt lonely; the quiet illithids did not the feeling. She wondered if her team missed her --well, most of her team at least-- and wished she was back with them...even if it meant puting up with Pryzma and Nightshade's constant teasing.
"Elizabeth." Rain's watery voice entered the little thief's mind and she hurriedly picked out the voice's owner who stood off to her side. "What?!" She snapped annoyedly, wishing they would just leave her be. Rain did not relent, "Quiet! I will do the talking and you will do the listening from now on." He hissed at her angrily. Izzy wished she could move; she was under the effect of the illithids' paralysis spell and she hated it. Within seconds, a psychic blast hit Izzy's mind and it felt like claws sinking into her brain; she screamed for a moment and then heard Rain's voice again, strong and imperative, "Contact the members of your raiding party, all of them." He ordered.
Izzy found she could not resist the command, "Yes, master Rain." She breathed monotonously and closed her eyes; she focused her attention on her old friends...
***
The clerics that exited the chambers were about twenty in number and, as the team soon figured unfavorably, high-ranking. The warriors succeeded in striking down about four of them, but the priest and priestesses' hold spells were quicker and more effective. The seven friends were taken hastily to a room where they were all shackled to the wall and stripped of their backpacks, weapons and baubles. Frozen in the magical sense, none of them noticed their plight until the clerics' spells wore off.
"Shit!" Meeks and Elyxya cried at the same time when they examined the room and their obvious losses. Around them, Masoj and Will recovered from their numbness; Nightshade, Pryzma, and San-Raal were still under the effect of the spells. "Oh dear lord." Will whined in a half-whisper once he realized his predicament; Masoj almost began to cry, "My spellbook...it's gone!" He sniffed boyishly. A loud ringing sound came about and Will looked over to see Meeks banging her shackles on the wall behind her, "Jesus Christ! Frigging piece of crap! We're soooo screwed!!!" She raved, her teeth tight together and her face bright red. Elyxya kicked Meeks' leg to stop her from yelling, "Shhh! I hear voices outside," She whispered and Meeks clicked out of her fit for a moment to listen, "act like you're still paralyzed!" She urged her conscious teammates and stared straight ahead, forcing herself not to blink.
"Can you believe how dumb these guys were to walk the living quarters?" A husky female voice said, approaching the doorway to where the team was held captive. A male chuckle sounded, followed by a comment, "I really don't care! Important thing is that Dran's going to be very happy to see these fools." He said as the two appeared in the doorway. They were clerics of Darkmoon, and the team recognized their voice; they were the two clerics that the team had first run into when entering Darkmoon: Nadia and Joril. The crew had not destroyed them, they had simply locked them out for the time being. "There's one more drow than there was when we first saw them, hunh?" Joril stated more than asked, examining the team carefully. Nadia tossed back her blond hair and sneered at the shackled warriors, "Brigands, mercenary scum. How dare they attack us? And on Khelben's orders!" She fumed. Joril looked away from the prisoners and took Nadia's shoulders, "Settle down, I'm sure everything'll be worked out. Now let's go get Dran." He said and the two turned and left.
***
"I knew you'd get em!" Sindel cheered gleefully, jumping about at Dran's side. The two waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs leading to Dran's chambers; they awaited the word from the cell guards to go pay a visit to Sindel's ex-party. Dran Draggore smiled widely, his heart beating at about a thousand miles an hour, "It seems the wait will not be as long as I expected." He said brightly, "Perhaps today will be the day I rid myself of my misfortune." He added, hoping sincerely that that day had finally come. From around the corner appeared two clerics in blue and red robes; they looked grave.
"What is it?" Dran asked them when they had come near; Sindel leaned heavily on his arm, her feet constantly moving below her. The female cleric shook her head, "They make me so angry..." She began, looking up at Dran hopefully, her eyes filled with pained frustration. The male cleric patted her shoulder, "Pardon Nadia, my lord; she is rather affected by Darkmoon's situation at the moment." He cast a sorry look at Nadia, who scowled deeply, and returned his gaze to Dran, "You may follow us to where the raiding party is being held captive.". Dran nodded and followed the two clerics, Sindel pulling him along behind her.
***
"We have to get out of here!" Elyxya declared seconds after Nadia and Joril had left. She was filled with sudden panic at the thought of Dran coming to see' them all; she didn't want to die! She looked over to her left and Meeks nodded her approval; Will and Masoj didn't look so revved up, "And just how do you propose we do that, Elyxya?" Masoj asked cynically. Elyxya frowned; Masoj was right. At the other end of the room, the rest of the crew woke up from their magical slumber. "Aaahhh crap!" Cried San-Raal, realizing he'd been robbed of his magical things; at his side, Pryzma rolled her eyes at the sight of the crew's predicament, "Great." She spat. Nightshade frowned and tried not to think about the horrible situation they were all in, "What happened?" She asked basically.
"Paralysis spells." Meeks said, mispronouncing the word. Nightshade pursed her lips, "Ah." She said after a bit. Elyxya's voice was shrill when she spoke, "Dran's coming! We have to get out of here...now!" She cried, thrashing about in her shackles. Nightshade licked her parched lips and looked up at the metal braces on her wrists, "I can get us out of here." She said decisively. Instantly, everyone in the team looked over at her and smiled, their eyes aglow. "I need something about the size of a pin." She said methodically, eyeing the crew for such an item. Beside her, Pryzma fumbled with her ear with a shaky hand, "I got it, babe. My earing; it's real skinny." She said and finally pulled the thing off her ear then handed it to Nightshade carefully so that she wouldn't drop it. Nightshade pinched the small piece of metal between her thumb and forefinger and inserted the thing into the left shackle's lock. "Now the trick is to find--" She paused and tinkered minutely as the whole team watched impatiently, "--the little...uh...--" She paused again and squinted, "--thing!" She said finally and the lock clicked open. The entire team sighed a homogenous sigh of relief.
***
Sindel's expression was of pure glee, "Are you going to kill them?" She asked devilishly as she, Dran, and the two other clerics descended yet another flight of stairs. Dran's eyes went absent for moment, "What kind of a question is that?" He said calmly and looked over at Sindel who grinned up at him, "What would you do?" He asked her; she laughed throatily and yelped a cry of excitement. The little group of deceptively powerful clerics stalked through the spires of the temple at a fast pace, the spirit of freedom growing strong in their hearts. At last! Darkmoon would rid itself of a costly direct attack force; what a day this would be!
They walked through the hallway of high-ranking clerics' rooms and arrived at an intersection where a left turn was possible. They went left and walked by a room bristling with weaponry and other things, and then Nadia and Joril lead them to the room where Sindel's ex-team was being held. When the inside of the room was in view, Nadia and Joril stopped short, "What the--" Joril mumbled and jogged up to the cell. Behind him, Dran and Sindel became worried, "What? What's wrong?" Sindel called, running behind Joril and Nadia towards the fire-lit room. Dran's eyes flared when he walked over to the room and peered inside of it.
"They're GONE ?!?" He screamed at Nadia and Joril as he towered over them. The two clerics whimpered and got down on their knees, "They were there when we left to get you!" Nadia cried, holding her hands together pleadingly up at the angered high-priest above her. Joril swallowed audibly, "She's not lying, my lord! They were there!" He added, pointing to the shackles. Dran looked over at Sindel; Sindel shrugged her shoulders lightly and then looked down at the groveling Nadia and Joril, "How could they have gotten away?" She asked them, her voice somewhat less edgy than Dran's had been. Nadia shook her head violently, "I really don't know, mistress!" She whimpered, her rosy cheeks tear stained now. Sindel turned to look at Dran; the high-priest looked back at where they had come from, "They're beginning to upset me, Sindel." Dran began, forcing his voice to soothe, "Your team is really beginning to upset me, Sindel." He swept around, leaving the three other clerics behind, and left the room hastily.
Sindel looked down at Nadia and Joril, and then turned and sped after Dran, "Wait!" She called after him but he kept walking anyway.