A Mage's Tale. Master of the Citadel.

The raiding party ascended up the narrow staircase, with Rownan and Ash in the lead. Each member of the party tried their best to drown out the ghostly whispers and moans that echoed through the walls, but despite their best efforts, the noises only grew louder.

"I've always wondered why the spirits haunted this place," Cicily whispered to Roxi and Melinda. The three prisoners were in the back of the group, flanked on both sides by muscular ogres.

Roxi shrugged her shoulders at the dwarf's question, but Melinda let out a snort. "Many years ago, a foolish sorcerer claimed this tower for himself. There are different versions of the story of how the Ghostly Citadel came to be the structure we are standing in, but the one I remember is that the sorcerer summoned a demon in hopes that she would grant him immortality. The demon granted the sorcerer his wish, but at a hefty price. Every ten years the sorcerer would have to drain the living the life force of much younger wizards in order to sustain his life. The spirits that are flying around us, are those whose souls are trapped here."

Roxi looked somber, wondering if there was any fact to the mage's tale. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Rownan yell," Bring the cleric forward."

Before she could say anything, Roxi's arms were grabbed by two ogres, who took her over to their commander. The half-kender stared at Rownan, his six foot stature towering over her. "Destroy these wretched undead," he ordered.

The cleric looked forward, seeing six zombies walking towards them. Closing her eyes, she held the silver medallion around her neck, channeling the divine power of her goddess. "Be gone you foul abominations."

Waves of silver light sprung forth from the cleric's medallion, causing the ghostly moans and whispers to turn to ear splitting screams. When the waves reached the zombies, they all turned to dust.

Roxi opened her eyes, seeing the piles of dust littering the floor.

"Nice job Roxi," Ash said to her. Roxi ignored the compliment and walked back to join her fellow captives.

After the brief encounter with the zombies, Rownan and Ash resumed leading the group through the citadel. Passing two more room, the party found themselves in a six sided room. It appeared as the same as the hallways and other rooms of the Citadel, save the six red glowing orbs that were sitting on pedestals in each corner of the room.

"Something odd is going on here," Cicily whispered as one of the orbs shot a bright red beam that burned a hole in the throat of one of the ogres.

Two more beams from opposite sides, one wounding another ogre and the other zipping through Ash's hair.

Rownan shook his head as another beam shot past him. Looking at Ash he yelled," Have the ogres destroy the orbs."

Ash nodded and quickly shouted the order to the six remaining ogres. Each ogre did their best to avoid the deadly beams of light, and within a matter of minutes, all six orbs were thrown to the floor, their shattered pieces lying motionless and dim.

When the party left the room, a blood red mist rose from the floor and materialized into a solid form.

Regaining his true shape, the Guardian stretched his six large arms and then began following the intruders with the intent to make them pay with their lives.

Dorm, Timber, and Lynsey had used the same entrance that Rownan and his men used, but rather than going down the straight path and going up the stairs, the trio discovered a hidden hallway and walked down a flight of stairs. They casually made their way into a small area, immediately spotting a group of zombies.

The moment Dorm's long sword and short sword were in his hands, two zombies who had appeared to be dwarves in their previous lives, charged the ranger, swinging their rusty chains at his stomach and abdomen. Dorm quickly dropped low, his long sword coming up to deflect both chains. With the chains out of the way, Dorm stabbed his short sword into one zombie's chest cavity.

Pulling his sword free, Dorm was just about to finish the other walking corpse when Lynsey came in and took down the zombie with one swing of his sword.

"You're welcome," the red haired woman said with a wink. Dorm smiled back, but then looked over his shoulder, watching Timber easily finish the two remaining zombies with four fast swipes of his rapier.

"They just don't make zombies like they used to," the elf said as he struggled to pull his blade free from the last zombie. Dorm was just about to comment when a hollow sounding cackle came from down the hall.

The followed the sound of the hideous laughter, each wondering what creature they were about to face.

Their pursuit ended in a large room. One each side there was a wooden door with a black crescent moon painted in the center. The walls were decorated with thin layered paintings of moons and stars. Both Dorm and Timber noticed that on all of the walls, the black moon Nuitari, seemed to be much larger than his cousins, the silver moon Solinari and the red moon Lunitari.

"Welcome to my domain foolish adventurers," said a deep voice that echoed throughout the room.

Above the companions appeared a thinly figured skeleton covered in dark and dirty robes that were tattered and torn along the seams. On the top of the skeleton's head sat a small circlet with two rubies in the middle.

"I am Cas'tin Fastal, master of this citadel," the undead creature added, looking over the intruders with his eyes that glowed like the rubies on the circlet. "However, I was expecting more than just three of you."

"He must be talking about Rownan's men and our friends," Lynsey whispered to Dorm and Timber, hoping the lich wouldn't hear her.

The woman's hopes were diminished for when Lynsey had finished, Cas'tin Fastal's eyes flared. "Others? They must still be upstairs. The ones who unleashed the Guardian."

Dorm and his friends had no idea what this Guardian was that Fastal was referring to. It only meant that they had less time to find their friends.

A large fireball came at them from the air, forcing the three former Legionnaires to jump for their lives. Timber had easily avoided the fireball, but Dorm had received burns to his cloak and armor, as well as his skin. He and Timber looked over to see if Lynsey had jumped in time, but their red haired companion was nowhere to be found.

"Fools," Fastal hissed as he waved his arm and chanted another spell. Dorm and Timber held their weapons forward, ready to attack the lich, but they felt a smooth flow of magic go past them, followed by a strong stiffness go through their bodies.

"Now how to finish you off," the lich asked himself as his form hovered over to his victims, whose bodies were now frozen in place. "Should I blast you both where you stand. It worked on your little friend didn't it? Perhaps..." Fastal noticed some of the mist rise from the ground, as if it was coming towards him "It looks like your friend survived after all.

As if on cue, Lynsey sprang from the floor, shouting a fierce Solamnic battle cry as she raised her sword (a new sword) and came at the lich.

Cas'tin Fastal let out a scream, then shouted, releasing a large sheet of flames from his skeletal hands that flew at the woman. Already burned on the outside, and a little bit on the inside, Lynsey jumped through the flames and swung the sword at the lich.

Cas'tin Fastal screamed in agony as the sword's blade sprouted flames that jumped off of the blade and struck the lich, adding an ash colored spot on the lower half of the lich's robe.

The undead wizard quickly floated away, then vanished before their very eyes.

A few minutes had passed before Timber and Dorm were free from their paralysis, all the while Lynsey was examining the sword and the note she found with it. It was a beautiful weapon with a slender blade made of star metal. The hilt and crosspiece were made of steel, with a large ruby embedded on both sides of the hilt.

"That's a nice sword you have Lynsey," the elf commented as he and Dorm walked over to her.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I was lucky enough to find it. She traced her fingers over one of the sword's smooth sides. "This must be Redcrosse."

Dorm examined the sword more closely, seeing the thin etchings of the word Redcrosse along the side of the blade. "This is it. Mason must have left it in his room...but I don't remember him telling us about coming to this place."

Lynsey shook her head and handed Dorm the piece of paper that came with the sword. It read:

Redcrosse, first forged by Christopher Aaronson in the Age of Dreams. This sword has been passed down from first born to first born for hundreds of years, and yet I, Alexander was foolish enough to bring it here. My only hope is that my son Anthony or one of his descendants will come looking for Redcrosse for my time is almost done...I can feel the lich's presence coming closer...Whoever comes across this blade, be it my kin or some other foolish adventurers like myself, remember this. Look for the bones from underneath and those bones alone...

- AA

Dorm folded the note. "Mason told me that he had a grandfather named Alexander. Mason must have left us the sword in hopes we'd find it because he could never find it, nor his father before him."

Timber, who had put his ear up to the wall grew excited. "I can hear Ash and that Rownan. They're somehow on the other side of this wall." He looked to his friends. "I'm going to go rescue our friends. You two should look for the bones, or whatever that note said."

Quietly, Timber went for the closest door and walked out of the room, leaving Lynsey and Dorm alone together. Stretching his limbs, Dorm placed his hands on the wall, not knowing that he had just applied pressure on one of the larger stars.

A small area of the floor opened, revealing a descending staircase. Dorm looked at Lynsey. "The bones from underneath?"

Taking out her old sword and placing it on the ground, Lynsey quickly sheathed Redcrosse and walked over to join Dorm. Together they walked down the stairs an into a room where the floor was covered entirely by bones of all shapes and sizes. They walked off of the stairs and cringed as the sounds of bones being crushed beneath their feet filled the room.

It was followed by a hideous laughter in the distance.