The room was filled with muffled shouting. Shaan swung the door open, to be blast by the clutter of voices of priests and priestesses of the temple lead by figures fully clad in plate armor and helmets hiding their faces. He called for help, but no one listened.
He wasn't fully aware of what was going on. One minute he was on patrol, the next, the creatures attacked. Some kind of undead in unfathomable numbers. He needed to flee the city, that much was certain. But not without Rillick. He wasn't about to abandon his captain.
He looked up as he heard the priests pleading. Backed into the wall as the men of metal stared down at them. What happened next took him off-guard. To his horror, the soldiers drew their swords and ran the priests through. Butchered them before his eyes. A soldier drew a dagger and embedded it into the now dead priests' heads.
The door behind the armoured soldiers slammed open and the creatures poured in, grabbing one of them. He panicked and flailed his sword every direction, tearing the tapestries on the walls. He was dragged out of sight, and the others ran outside after him.
Shaan turned back around and faced Rillick, lying motionless in the bed beside the vase of flowers he left the previous visit. The convoy will leave soon, he needed to leave.
"OK. I'll get you out of here, friend."
He hoisted him up with all his strength, but with so much dead weight, Shaan could barely walk. There was no way he could carry him all the way to the convoy.
Shaan was at a loss. Growls became louder, as did the shouting and sounds of battle. He knelt down and stared at Rillick.
"What do I do?"
The door swung open and a soldier entered the room. Shaan only just managed to dive under the bed out of sight. The gleaming metal with smears and spatters of blood looked barely human, as it scanned the room. Finally, a tinny, echoing voice called behind it.
"Come on!"
It turned and left. Waiting a few more moments, Shaan emerged from his hiding place.
"Listen, if you're to wake up, I need you to do it now!" he demanded. "Please, show me a sign. Anything! Please, Rillick..."
A loud, beastly roar shuddered the building, followed by a small quake. As if something very large and very heavy landed.
He couldn't abandon him, but there was no way he could transport him. He thought to himself if he was in the same position, and Rillick was where he was, what would he do?
An idea came to him. Though he wished it didn't.
He ran down the hallway, looking back at the soldiers having great difficulty keeping the abominations at bay, and reached a table. He dragged the heavy piece of furniture back down the hall and shoved it up against the door outside Rillick's chambers.
The creatures rounded the corner. With great difficulty, Shaan ran the other direction.
...
The silhouetted figure outstretched his arms. Streams of fire burst from his hands and trailed along the ground until it encircled them in a ring. The figure stepped out of the doorway to reveal a clean-shaven dwarf in an extravagant, but dirty, red robe.
"Anyone infected?" he called. His accent was not as thick as most, but still noticeable.
"One of our party was." Said Rillick sadly. "He did not survive the journey."
"Why are you here? What is it you want?"
"A chance."
"That's asking an awful lot these days."
"I know."
They stood in silence for a while. Walkers who tried to pursue them burned up by the Wall of Fire long before they reached them.
"You will all give me a sample of blood." The wizard said finally. "These are my terms."
Rillick nodded without a moment of hesitation. "We can do that."
Everyone practically threw themselves into the tower.
"Vi!" the wizard called once they were inside. "Reactivate the barrier!"
The fire disappeared and the doors closed. Everyone caught their breaths.
Rillick held out his hand. "Rillick Grimoire."
The wizard didn't return his handshake. "Jeer of Thay."
...
With torch in hand, Jeer lead the party up a spiral staircase.
"Can all mages do things like that?" Dar asked from the back of the line. "With the fire?"
"Oh, my spells are much more powerful than that." Jeer answered with a smile. "But you lot look harmless enough." He grinned and gestured to Chorrol over his shoulder. "Except you. I must keep an eye on you."
The corners of Chorrol's mouth very slightly twitched.
By the time they reached the top of the stairs he lead them down a dark corridor. burning torches lined the wall. Cralo glanced out of a passing window.
"How far up are we?" she asked, voice quivering.
"Afraid of heights?"
"A little."
They reached the end of the corridor, which opened up into a large room shrouded in pitch darkness.
"Try to not dwell on it. Vi!"
He heard something move beyond them. Jeer dug into his robe and threw his hand forward. Seconds later the room suddenly lit up.
The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with books and tombs, a desk lay in the middle, flanked by alchemy stations and enchanting tables. In the middle of the room was a well of crystal clear water.
Jeer walked ahead and stretched his arms wide. "Welcome to my domain."
Rillick looked around in wonder. He had never even dreamed of seeing a place such as this.
"Where are the other Red Wizards now?" he asked.
"I'm it." He said grimly. "I'm the only one left."
"What of the one you were speaking with?" Lorelai pointed out. "Vi?"
He looked to the ceiling and something swooped down from on high. Only when it lighted on Jeer's shoulder did he see what it was. A raven. Glowing from a Light spell.
"This is my familiar." He explained. "Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them... welcome."
The raven tipped its head from side to side. "'Allo, geffs." It squawked. "Weckum."
He looked up, his humour had disappeared. "We're all that's left. I'm sorry."
...
Once the drops of blood filled the small vial, Jeer quickly sealed Anderea's cut with a Minor Wound rod.
"What's the point?" she grumbled. "If we're afflicted, we'd all be ill."
Jeer made an effort to calm himself. Ever since he began collecting from each member, she'd been complaining even more than the little ones.
"I've already broken every rule letting you in here." He calmly stated. "At the very least, allow me to be thorough. You okay?"
As Anderea rose to her feet, she lost her footing. The exotic dark woman rushed to her aid.
"She hasn't eaten in days." She explained. "None of us have."
...
The room echoed with joyous laughter. They raised their glasses and ate hungrily from their plates.
"...When Chorrol is in Chessenta or Luiren," Lorelai protested, "then he may have a drink."
She was shocked at Dall's judgement in allowing Chorrol to drink wine. Not angry, but she felt it best he didn't. She felt a nudge by her side.
"What's the harm?" Rillick grinned, drinking from his own tankard.
She wanted to argue, but Rillick's smile held her tongue.
She reluctantly slid the tankard in front of Chorrol, who, to a round of applause, took a sip. He shoved it back and contorted his face in disgust. Everyone laughed and Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief.
Amongst the celebration, Rillick only now noticed Jeer, sitting alone in the corner, the raven sleeping on his arm. He cursed himself for his tardiness and stood, tankard raised.
"It would seem we haven't thanked our host properly." He announced.
"Ach, 'e's more than juss oor host!" Ty-Varaz added with slurred speech, raising his own mug.
Shaan remained stoic throughout the celebration, drinking in uncomfortable silence, not even breaking a smile. "So when will you tell us what in the nine hells happened here, Arch-mage?" he said suddenly.
Once he said those words, the tone turned dour in an instant. Everyone fell as quiet as he.
"We're celebrating, Shaan." Rillick said softly, desperate to return the cheer. "We need not do this now."
As he lent forward over the table at him, Rillick saw there was a quiet rage behind his eyes. "Hold a moment. That is why we're here, yes?" he said as he eyed him. "This was our plan, to save the world. Instead we find him. One dwarf. Why?"
Rillick was about to plead further, but Jeer spoke beforehand.
"When things got really bad, the others just... left. To be with their families. When things got worse, when the convoy got overrun, the rest ran to the hills."
"Every last one?" Shaan asked.
He shook his head. "Some could not face walking out the door. They... departed. Many took their own life." He ran a hand down Vi's coat. "That was a bad time."
"You didn't leave." Said Anderea. "Why?"
"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."
From the end of the table, Gelnen sighed in irritation. "Way to spoil the mood."
...
The party followed Jeer up another flight of stairs and down a corridor, Vi flying ahead, glowing from another of Jeer's Light spells. As they walked, Jeer began to relay the information needed for their extended stay.
"The rooms are spacious enough. If you need more blankets there are some in the storage area. There's also a library if you get bored. Now, we have a limited supply of water, so If you bathe, don't use too much from the boiler."
At the word 'boiler', everyone perked up, glancing at each other with excited grins.
...
A hot bath. It is something luxurious in these trying times. It should feel soothing and relaxing. It certainly was for each person as they laughed and exclaimed sounds of bliss. But Anderea felt no such pleasure, scrunched into a ball in the corner with her knees up to her chin. She felt nothing at all. Only pain. There was nothing else.
There was nothing left.
As Dall passed the washroom, he heard an awful sound. As he entered, he saw Anderea hunched over a bucket. He rushed towards her.
"Everything's gone." She croaked.
"Always better going down than coming up, I take it?" he chuckled, but immediately regretted his words.
She dragged herself backwards until she hit the bath. "I don't mean the wine, Dall. It's over. There's nothing left."
Dall sat next to her and lent back on the bath. "Well, I... I see a chance to make a new start."
"Seven hells, Dall!" She shot. "Dall, did you not see the look on Jeer's face?"
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her. "Hear what I'm saying." She sobbed angrily. "There's nothing left."
Dall didn't know what to say. In his hesitation, he fled the room.
...
Amidst the scratching of paper as he wrote into his journal, Jeer heard unorganised footsteps nearing him. He sighed and soaked his raven-feather quill with ink and kept writing.
"How's the blood?" Rillick asked in a hazy voice.
"No surprises."
No response for a short time.
"I came to thank you."
"You did." He muttered, not looking up from the page. He didn't have much patience for drunkards.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Rillick collapse onto the floor. He glanced his direction. The man held his bottle of knee-capper in his hand. It was almost empty.
"Are you quite well?" he asked, mildly concerned.
Rillick dragged himself across the floor and propped himself on the wall. Much to Jeer's shock, the man began to weep slightly.
"You don't know what it's like." He said after he swallowed back his tears. He was barely coherent. "You don't know what it's like out there. You may think you do, but you do not. We'd have perished out there. It's only a matter of time. There's too many of those things."
Rillick crawled over and yanked on his arm. "My child... My wife... I never... I never told them what I truly thought. I just... I just kept it in. Kept... kept us moving, you understand? Just kept it in."
As much as Jeer was loathe to admit, there was some truth to Rillick's words. He had never set foot outside, the devastation only hinted to him by the windows of his tower. He couldn't imagine what the human had gone through.
He looked over to the mana pool in the centre of the room, a very feint, soft blue light rose from the water.
"All will be well." He said. "All will be well."
...
The library was indeed very impressive. Compact, yet filled with many books of all kinds. Lorelai rounded the bookshelf where Cralo sat engrossed in a novel while Chorrol and Salpha played chess on a nearby table. Quite poorly, she added to herself.
"Any good books?" she called to her.
"Enough to keep one busy for years." She closed the novel and placed it on the table. "Right then, come children. Bedtime."
She lead the children out of the room, passing Lorelai. "It's the first night we may actually get some sleep."
"I might stay a while." She said, and went back to browsing the bookshelves.
She heard a sound from behind her. When she turned her body jolted.
"You scared me." She sighed.
Shaan stood half leaning on the doorway. He had no shirt on and his hair was tangled and messy. He pushed off and stumbled towards her.
"I want to tell you a few things." He said. "Listen to me."
"Now is not the time." The smell of liquor was strong on his breath.
"Come now. When is it ever the time? How can you treat me like this?"
"You jest. You told me my husband died."
"I didn't lie. I didn't. Do you know what it was like there?"
Lorelai had enough. She had no patience for this. She pushed past him and headed for the door, but Shaan blocked the doorway.
"Stop. Things were falling apart. They were butchering people in the hallways. Walkers everywhere."
"So you left him."
"There were no one to help him!" he cried. "Just me! He was lying unconscious, I couldn't move him without adding to his injuries and I did not know what to do!" he began to walk forwards, forcing Lorelai to back away. "From the look of it, he was as good as dead. There was no way he could survive!"
"He did." She returned.
The back of her legs hit the back of the armchair. She couldn't move any further, but Shaan kept getting closer.
"But then I had you lot to think of." He whispered in desperation. "I had you and Chorrol. I had to get you to Neverwinter. If you thought for one second he was alive, would you have come?"
At this moment, Shaan's hands held the armchair on either side of her, holding her in place, preventing her from fleeing.
"I saved your lives, you and your boy. That is what I did, did I not? If I were to trade places with him, I would have. I would trade places at him because..."
Her body reacted on her own. She tried to shove his arms away and run, but instead they wrapped around her jaw.
"I love you..."
"No, you're drunk."
"And you love me, too. There is no way you were."
Lorelai struggled, desperate to escape his steel grip. His hands trailed down her neck to her chest, and pulled at the fabric.
"You love me, too! Stop! Lorelai. It's all right."
With a yell, Lorelai shot out her hand and dug her fingernails into his neck. At last, Shaan recoiled, grabbing the side of his neck. The look of horror almost matched her own. He stood there, staring at her. She did her very best to return his gaze.
With out another word, he left the room in a hurry. Lorelai collapsed onto the ground and cried.
Shaan's shoulder slammed painfully into the wall. The room was spinning, and it was hard to breathe. He removed his hand from his neck and stared at the specs of blood smeared on the palm.
Gods, he thought, what have I done?
...
Lorelai lay silent on the bedroll in her room. Breathing was difficult, her body shook uncontrollably, but at least she was alone. It was over.
The door opened behind her, and someone stumbled in, carrying the scent of alcohol. He scuffled and landed heavily onto the bedroll, and her body flinched as he embraced her. He must've noticed her shivering, because he pulled her tighter.
"We do not have to be afraid anymore." Rillick whispered gently into her ear. "We are safe here."
...
Rillick shuffled groggily to the table. From the look of it, people seemed to be feeling the aftermath of last night's celebration.
"Tidings." He mumbled as he plummeted into the empty chair beside his much more chipper wife.
Ty-Varaz placed a plate of eggs in front of him. Never had he been so happy to see such a meal.
"This place 'as everythin'." He exclaimed. "Thes're great fer an 'angover."
"Curse your dwarven resilience." Gelnen groaned in response, face down on the table. He laughed and placed a plate in front of him.
"Where did all this come from?" Rillick picked up a wooden cylander from the middle of the table. Was that salt?
"Jeer." Lorelai answered. "He thought it'd be of use to us." She looked over the table to Gelnen. "Some of us, at least."
He rose his hand and pointed around the room. "Don't any of you ever, ever let me drink again."
Everyone did their best not to laugh at Gelnen's suffering, though some failed more than others.
"Hoy there." Shaan shuffled into view.
"Likewise." Said Rillick. "Feel as bad as me?"
He pulled up a chair and fell onto it. "Worse."
He's not wrong, Rillick pondered. He looked miserable.
Lorelai seemed to stiffen beside him. Though he knew not why.
"What in tha 'ells 'appened to ye?" Ty-Varaz exclaimed. "Yer neck?"
Everyone noted the three red marks that streaked across the side of his neck. Shaan lay silent, poking at his breakfast.
Finally, he cleared his throat. "Must've done it in my sleep."
Rillick raised a suspicious brow. "Never seen you do that before now."
"Nor I." He glanced up at Lorelai. "Not like me at all."
Shaan was a terrible liar. Rillick knew something must've happened last night, But at present, it hurt to even think. He simply accepted it and ate in silence.
Shortly after, everyone else joined them. When Jeer emerged, he sat in a chair in the corner away from the rest of the party.
"Arch-mage," said Dall, turning to face him, "I don't mean to berate you with questions..."
"But you will regardless."
"We didn't come here for the eggs." Anderea finished in his stead.
He looked up from his own plate. Everyone gave him expectant stares. He sighed and pushed his plate aside.
...
The party gathered around a long table in the main study, the large pool in the center ahead of them. Jeer stood beside something covered by a large blue sheet. He flung it aside to reveal a large metal box. He clasped his hands behind his back.
"Open the cage, will you Vi?"
Rillick watched curiously as Vi flew off to the side of the box and Jeer positioned himself in front. He pulled on a snakeskin glove and held an eggshell in his dressed hand.
The walls in front parted and swung open. Rillick could hear chains dragging along the steel. Something alive was back there. A walker emerged from the darkness. A series of shocked gasps travelled past the party, including Rillick, who instinctively grabbed for his absent sword.
The walker was an elf and a young woman barely in her hundreds. A metal mask covered her mouth and her hands were crossed and nailed to her chest. Her legs were shackled, dragging a ball and chain.
Whoever caught the creature certainly took great lengths to contain her, so Rillick relaxed slightly upon noting that, but that still begs the question. Why?
Jeer muttered something, and his eggshell burst into a green light. The glove he wore grew ten times its size and shot forward and grabbed the walker. He walked up to her as she struggled against the giant magical hand and he turned to face them.
"This is Tesipe." He announced. "She was bitten and infected and volunteered for us to... record the process. Have no fear, she can't harm anyone. Now, can someone tell me what happens when one tries to heal an undead creature with magic?" He continued as if he was giving a lecture. He even paced back and forth.
"It hurts them." Shaan answered before Rillick could. "Cure and Inflict Wounds are reversed."
"That is correct. Now, observe."
He walked over to a shelf and picked up two scrolls. He opened the first one, chanted an incantation, and lay a hand on Teipe's stomach. blood red particles seeped from underneath his palm. Rillick knew the spell to be Inflict Wounds.
When he stepped back, a bleeding scab had appeared where Jeer's hand was. It took a little while for his mind to catch up, and only when Jeer did the same with the second scroll, this time the particles were blue, did it hit him properly.
The wound was gone.
"How is that possible?" cried Chorrol below him, mimicking Rillick's thoughts. "She's undead!"
"In every other instance, they are." Jeer explained. "Except for this one small detail." He turned to his familiar, who had returned to his shoulder. "My journal, if you would be so kind."
Vi flew off down the corridor. Moments later, she returned with a book in her talons. She dropped it, jeer caught it and dropped it open on the table.
Everyone huddled around him as he sat on the chair. Among the pages were detailed, and very well done, sketches of the elf girl when she was alive, with hastily scrawn notes covering every blank space around her.
"The disease invades the brain." He continued to flick through the book, the drawings depicted Tesipe's rapidly deteriorating health. "It races, faster and faster, then stops. Followed by your other internal organs." He turned the page, this time her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping. "Then death. Everything you ever were and ever will be... gone."
"Is that what happened to Ghim?" came Salpha's quiet voice.
"Yes." Cralo answered.
Anderea pushed back and wiped the tears from her eyes. Jeer glanced curiously at her.
Lorelai reached out to comfort her. "She lost someone two days ago. Her sister."
"I lost somebody, too." Said Jeer as he touched her gently on the arm. "I know how devastating it is." He let pass a moment of silence before turning around and moving back to his teaching role again.
He turned the page to a drawing of Tesipe, her eyes open and lips curled back into a snarl. "The resurrection times vary greatly. It may happen in as little as three minutes. The longest we've documented was eight hours. In the case of Tesipe," he looked closer at the notes surrounding the sketch. "Two hours, one minute... seven seconds."
He closed the book and looked up. "Vi, can you get the bag of rings?"
Once again, Vi disappeared down the corridor and returned, this time with a leather pouch.
Jeer caught the bag, untied it and lay it flat on the table. Sure enough, sitting on the fabric was a mound of simple silver rings.
"Everyone take one and slip it on." Jeer ordered.
They did so and he directed their gaze to Tesipe, still confined in the large disembodied hand. Her head was now shrouded in a feint green aura.
Later, the party returned the rings on the pile and Jeer closed up the pouch. He shoved Tesipe back into the prison and Vi closed the door.
"What was that light?" asked Shaan.
He gestured to the pouch on the table. "These rings allow one to Detect Life."
Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor. They stared at Jeer in shocked silence.
"They're... alive?!" Lorelai stammered.
"In a sense, but only a very small part. Just enough to get them up and moving."
"But they're not alive." Said Rillick, his head spinning as he tried to comprehend this new information. "They die, then come back to life, like any undead."
Jeer dug into the pouch and tossed him a ring. When he put it on, Jeer stood in front of him. He was completely covered by the hazy green mist.
"As you can see, the aura surrounds the entire body." He explained. "With Tesipe and others like her, it's just the head. That part is what animates the body, and prevents reversal of the Wounds' spells. The 'you' part. That does not come back. Merely a shell, driven by mindless instinct."
"You mean necromancy." Anderea corrected him.
He took the ring Rillick handed to him. "No."
She gave him a confused frown. "What do you mean 'no'?
Jeer wondered over to the pool of water. "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal, but it's not magical."
"How can it not be magic?" she asked, annoyed. "How are the walkers moving?"
There was a pause.
"I don't know." He sighed in defeat.
"Somebody must know something." She snapped. "Somebody somewhere."
"There are others, yes?" Lorelai added. "Surely wizards other than the ones from Thay."
"Mayhaps there are some like me still alive."
"How can you not know?" asked Rillick.
"The mirror I use to communicate was... lost. I've been in the dark almost a month."
"So it's not just here?" Anderea spoke in a hushed, sombre tone. "Nothing. That is what you're really saying, is it not?"
Jeer looked on at all the faces staring at him, expecting something. But he could not bring himself to answer. It seemed the absence of words answered their question judging by their defeated expressions.
"Gods." Ja'qi sighed.
"Well, I'm off to get drunk again." Dar grunted and began to leave, but stopped when Dall stepped forward.
"Ser Jeer, I know this has been taxing and I am loathe to ask one more question, but... this pool. When first we came, it was odd, but unassuming. But... lately it began to glow. What is it for?"
Jeer started for the door. "It's pure mana in liquid form. The... spell I'm preparing requires a lot of it."
"What spell?" Rillick asked.
But he leaves them without an answer.
Vi roosted on the back of the chair. Before she could fly, Rillick quickly grabbed her, holding her wings to her body. She squawked in protest.
"Vi, please," he asked as gently as he could despite his rather forceful action, "what is this spell you're preparing."
Vi looked up and rotated her head from side to side. "Gon go way."
He wanted to press, but he thought it best to not push is luck and simply let the raven go.
...
"What did the bird mean? Going away where?" Gelnen cried from the back.
Rillick continued bounding down the staircase, a torch held in front of him. He had a bad feeling.
"Whatever it is," Shaan answered, "I do not like the way Jeer up and wondered off like that."
"What th'ell's wrong with 'im?" Ty-Varaz exclaimed. "Is 'e run mad?"
They stopped at the end of the stairs in front of an unassuming wooden door. They must be far underground at this point. Carefully, he pushed it open and stepped in.
The room was completely barren. Not a stone could be seen inside. As Rillick illuminated the walls he noticed strange markings scratched into them. Symbols of some kind.
"Over here." He whispered.
Shaan hurried over and set eyes on the markings.
He reached out and ran his hand curiously along the markings. Rillick circled the walls and discovered they covered the entire room. Strange symbols that connected in an incomprehensible pattern.
The symbols on the walls and floor suddenly flashed brightly, drenching the room in a bright grey light, and dimmed just as quickly.
Everyone stood dead still as they tried to process what just happened.
"What in the hells was that?" Shaan hissed.
"Uh, you two saw that, yes?" said Gelnen. "That wasn't just me?"
"Aye, we did." Shaan replied.
The floor! Rillick directed the light from his flame downward. There were etchings of a tree-like shape with lines leading from a perfect circle in the center, to many different symbols. Shaan frowned and shook his head. "What would drive the arch-wizard to draw glyphs in an empty room?"
...
Lorelai clamped her hands together, trying desperately to prevent them from shaking. A full day's gone by and she was still terrified of that night. She forced her attention to Chorrol playing quietly in front of her.
She leant back on her hands, and felt a strange sensation through the ground. She frowned, confused, and stood up.
"Mother?" Chorrol eyed her curiously. "Is everything okay?"
She placed a hand on the wall. "I'm fine, dear." She replied. "It's just... the stones. They're shaking."
...
Jeer stood in front of the metal box now covered with a sheet. He sighed.
"I did the best I could in the time I had." He said, a tender hand on its surface. "I hope you might be proud of that."
He turned and walked slowly towards the well, which was now shining predominantly. "One always thinks there will be more time to prepare."
His body jerked as the tower violently jolted.
"Then it arrives."
The door far ahead of him opened and his guests wondered in, their confused questions filled the room.
"What's happening?"
"Is everything okay?"
"Hey, mage, why did the tower shake?"
He smiled in amusement. "I've been preparing for this moment for almost a year."
The half-orc stormed over.
"What do you mean?" he demanded. "What have you been preparing?"
"Rillick!"
Lorelai's cry averted Jeer's attention and he saw him and the sun elf, dwarf and larger human friend approaching them.
"Jeer!" Rillick called. "What is happening!"
Another jolt shuddered the building. A few books from the shelves fell from their resting spots.
Jeer began another lecture.
"It was this very city."
Another shudder, this time some furniture toppled.
"What?" said Anderea.
"These people were the last to hold out. While many others took their lives, the people of Silverymoon requested aid from the Harpers and Red Wizards of Thay. The wizards teleported us here, but by the time we arrived, the city was no more."
"What happened?" asked Ja'qi.
"Same thing that happened everywhere else. the creatures came. I don't know how things fare back home, and I fear the worst." He laughed. "People believe magic can solve everyone's problems. How stupid is that?"
Shaan stormed up to him. "Let me tell you..."
...Rillick grabbed his arm. "To the abyss with this, Shaan. I don't even care. Lorelai, grab our things. Everyone. We're getting out of here now!"
They nodded and hurried out.
The tower shuddered once again, this time the quake lasted longer and more intense. small rock shards from the ceiling broke away.
"Jeer, what's happening here?" Shaan demanded, then turned. "You lot heard Rillick, everyone get your stuff and let's go!"
Everyone ran for the door, but Jeer extended his hand and the door swung closed. Rillick struggled it open, with no avail.
"Did he just lock us in?" cried Gelnen. "He just locked us in!"
Ja'qi found herself beside Jeer's desk, his journal opened.
This will be my last entry. The day dawns. My final day in this world.
"You son of a whore!"
Dar charged Jeer, but quickly forced to the ground as everyone piled on to stop him.
Instead, it was Rillick who reached Him, eyes closed and muttering something with his arms above the pool of glowing liquid mana.
"Jeer," he ordered, "open that door now."
"I told you once that front door closed it will never be open again." He stated calmly. "It's better this way."
"What is? What are you doing?"
He didn't answer.
Shaan neared them and shook Jeer's shoulder as another quake shook larger shards from the ceiling and walls.
"What happens now!?"
"Do you know what I am planning to do!?" He yelled. Shaan reeled back in shock. "This world is ruined! Death around every corner! Monsters everywhere! No one can live here any more! You can't even sleep for fear of a slow! Agonising! Death!"
The party looked on, wide-eyed. Jeer took a few slow, deep breaths.
"Eight months ago I began working on a very powerful ritual. A Teleport spell capable of traversing the planes."
"The planes?" asked Rillick.
"Beyond this world, the material plane, there are many other realms of existence. Astral, ethereal, the Plane of Shadow. The one I plan to enter is the Planescape."
"How do you plan on achieving this feat?" Anderea asked.
"A simple Teleport, lesser, greater or mass, disassembles the subject's entire being and assembles it somewhere else. Mine does more or less the same thing, but I will also create a small rip in the fabric of the universe, exposing myself to the infinite void of the abyss."
He looked upon the terrified faces before him, and continued.
"The magic will then collapse in on itself and be sucked through the rift, carrying us with it. At that point we will be a mere spec of dust smaller than a grain of sand floating in the abyss. If all goes well, we will be forced into the Planescape and 'assemble' in the city called Sigil. If not... well, let's not dwell on that."
"What are the chances of ending up in Sigil?" Lorelai demanded.
"Very slim. Almost nothing."
Dar pounded his foot into the door, to no avail. "Open this bloody door!"
Shaan joined in to help him.
"You should've left it well enough alone. It would've been easier."
"Easier for who?"
"All of you. You all know what is out there." He turned to Anderea, who seemed strangely calm. "Your sister... what was her name?"
She took a while to answer.
"Amee." He let the name roll off his tongue. "You know what this world does. You've seen it. Given the chance, would you not want to leave?"
"I don't want this." Rillick cried. "To gamble my life for an impossible dream."
Shaan stopped by Rillick's side, panting heavily. "I can't make a dent."
"The tower can withstand dragonfire." Jeer turned to face the pool, now glowing brighter than ever, like rays of sun coming from beneath.
"Your head's not!" Dar growled and rushed him.
"Dar!" Rillick ordered. "Back away!"
Dar threw a punch at the dwarf's head, but instead hit an invisible barrier a few feet behind him. Dar was launched back and landed painfully onto the enchanting table.
As Gelnen and Ty-Varaz ran over to him, Jeer turned around and faced Rillick. "You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was but a matter of time before everybody you loved were dead."
Rillick could feel accusing eyes burn into him in every direction.
"You said that?" said Shaan. "After your big talk?"
"I had to keep hope alive, did I not?" He argued.
"There is no hope for this world." Jeer said triumphantly. "There never was."
"There is always hope." Rillick shot back. "Somebody, somewhere."
Anderea made a sound halfway between a growl and a sigh. "What part of everything's gone do you not understand."
"Listen to your friend." Said Jeer quietly. "She understands." He raised his voice as he addressed everyone in the room. "But there's still one small glimmer of hope. All you have to do is take a chance. A chance to forge a new life elsewhere."
Cralo huddled in the corner, clutching Salpha and wept.
"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!"
"But she might not!" he argued desperately. "She may grow up in a safer place. Is that not a more desirable outcome?"
Rillick felt someone move past him. It was Shaan, his sword in hand. He was heading straight towards Jeer.
"Shaan, no!" he ordered, and ran after him.
"Out of my way, Rillick!" he pointed his sword at Jeer's chest. "Open that door or I run you through!"
Rillick held his shoulder. "Brother, you do this, we'll never get out of here."
"Shaan, you listen to him!" Lorelai cried.
"If he dies, we all die."
With a yell, he swung his sword at Jeer with all his might, but it struck the invisible barrier and shot back with great force. Shaan managed to hold on, but his arm flailed out of control. He struck the barrier again and again, until the blade was intercepted by Rillick as he grabbed his arm and landed a punch across his jaw. Shaan collapsed to the floor, and Rillick now had the sword pointed at his chest.
"Are you quite done now?"
Shaan rubbed his jaw as he slowly drifted back to lucidity. "Aye, I suppose we all are."
Rillick handed the sword to Ty-Varaz as another intense quake shook the tower. It wasn't long before the whole building will collapse. He had to think fast.
Then he was hit by sudden realisation.
"I think you're lying!" he exclaimed.
He cocked his head quizzically.
"You're lying. About no hope for this world."
He looked away and shook his head. "It matters not."
"It does matter. It always matters. You could've prepared the ritual when in Thay. But when Silverymoon requested aid, you came here. Why?"
He stared at Rillick for a long time, searching for the courage.
"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise. To her." He pointed to the metal box which contained the walker. "I made a promise as her apprentice."
"You're an apprentice to Tesipe!?" she gasped.
Jeer looked away and faced the glowing pool once again. "She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was my superior, and she was dying." He sighed angrily. "It should be me in that box. It would matter to no one. She was a loss to us I may be a powerful wizard in my own right, but compared to her," tears of frustration began to well, "she could hold her own against Elminster! Me? I'm just... Jeer. She could have done something about this. Not I."
"Your mentor didn't have a choice." Said Rillick. "You do. That is all we desire. The choice to not take the chance."
Lorelai chimed in, standing a few steps behind him. "Let us keep trying as long as we can."
Jeer stood silent as Rillick and the rest awaited his answer. The tower jolted to the side and Jeer had to grab hold of the pool's edge to stop himself from tumbling. Whole chunks of stone fell from the high ceiling and shattered on the floor.
Without looking up, he waved his hand and the door swung open.
Dar was launched forward as his foot continued it's kick through the open doorway, but he wasted no time.
"Come on!" he yelled.
Everyone jumped to their feet and ran for the exit. Rillick stayed back to give Jeer thanks.
Jeer turned and rose his arms. The liquid erupted from the pool like a volcano and swirled like a whirlpool in the air. The water shot from its position and encircled him. When he was completely encased, he began to levitate from the ground.
Rillick turned from the magnificent sight. But as he reached the door, he stopped and looked back. Jeer was staring right at him, his eyes shrouded in light blue like the mana which surrounded him. Rillick stared back, wide-eyed in disbelief.
"Hey! the tower's about to collapse! Come on!" Gelnen's voice shook him from his trance. He ran past Ty-Varaz and joined the party at the exit.
They looked back, where Ja'qi stood unmoving.
"Lut's goo Ja'qi!" Ty-Varaz shouted.
"I'm staying!"
"What?! That's insane!"
She rushed forward and spoke rapidly. "No, it's completely sane. For the first time in a long time. Yes, I may perish, but I will regardless. But to find a different home away from the monsters that dwell in this realm, I will gladly take that risk! There's no time to argue. And no point, not if you wish to get out!"
Rillick wanted to convince her, but he knew she was right. They had no time. He looked over to Dall and Anderea.
"Just go!" yelled Dall. "Go!"
They did. Once they disappeared, Dall turned his attention back to Anderea, huddled in the corner, hugging her knees. She looked awful.
"Anderea, no!" he shouted over the wailing magical storm.
She didn't look at him, only staring into nothing. "I'm staying, too."
"He's not even an arch-mage. He will very likely fail-"
"I hope he does."
He gripped her shoulders. "Anderea, you can't! This isn't what Amee would want for you!"
She looked up at him then. "She's dead. And you need to leave."
Ty-Varaz dodged a pile of rubble that fell towards him. Shaan threw all his weight into the large double doors. It didn't budge. All around him was a chorus of panic.
"Get the barrier down!"
"It's not working!"
"Stay close."
Shaan hacked fruitlessly at the doors with his sword. Others joined in with their own weapons. They had to be made by the same material as the one in the main room.
"The door won't give!"
A tap on the shoulder grabbed Rillick's attention.
"I, er, have something that might help." Cralo meekly held out a flask of a strange beige liquid. "It's a Potion of Hill Giant's Strength. I took it as we were leaving."
Before he could react, Dar stormed over and snatched the potion from her hands, unscrewed the lid and gulped it down. He ran over to the doors and pushed Shaan out of the way.
Dall got to his feet.
"Okay. You win."
Anderea smiled and sighed in relief. At last she can be at peace. She closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.
She heard a scraping sound as something was dragged across the ground. It stopped in front of her. She opened her eyes to see Dall sitting on the wooden chair now before her. She seethed in anger.
"What are you doing." She hissed.
"I said okay."
"Don't do this, Dall!"
He returned with his own vexation. "If you stay, I stay, too! He's right! We know what's waiting out there! I don't want to face it alone! This way, whether we live or die, is better than staying here!"
"Dall, get out!" she screamed. "I don't want you here!"
"Too bad!" He shouted back, silencing her. "You don't get to do that, to come into one's life, make them care, then just leave!" both took some time to calm. He continued. "I'm staying. The matter is settled."
Blood trickled from underneath Dar's whitened hand. He cried out, both in pain and determination as he pulled on the door with all his strength, with the help from the potion. He felt like his muscles were about to burst, but hearing cracks form strengthened his resolve.
Finally, with a roar, the door tore from it's hinges and swung open violently, hitting the wall with such force, it crashed onto the ground. He didn't wait for applause, and tore across the open field with everyone else. Rillick and Shaan lead the way, cutting the walkers in front of them.
A deafening boom shook the ground. Rillick looked back to see a vortex black as the abyss form behind the tower. He felt himself get pulled towards it. He fought against its gravity. The rest struggled, too, but eventually they reached their beasts, surrounded by corpses and Harvey among them, his jaw drenched in blood.
Dar gave him a grateful scratch behind the ears and everyone mounted and readied to leave.
"They're coming!" Lorelai gasped and pointed towards the ever growing portal.
Sure enough, Dall trudged out of the building, battling the pull of the whirlpool of darkness. Behind him was Anderea.
The portal was too strong for them to walk. They dropped to their knees, digging into the dirt in an attempt to gain a foothold.
Rillick and Shaan leapt off their horses and scrambled for the rope in the back of the ox cart. Shaan hurled the rope towards them, carried by the portal. Dall caught the end in midair, followed by Anderea's hands wrapping around it. Not a moment sooner, the vortex pulled them off the ground. Behind them, the tower broke off the ground and ascended. Dall's knuckles grew white as he held on with all his might. In front of him, Anderea began to slip backwards.
She screamed as she lost her grip and catapulted back. Her body jerked as Dall grabbed her arm.
Inside the tower, as the mana grew ever brighter, Ja'qi looked on from the window and smiled. Words couldn't express how happy she was they escaped. Maybe they will survive.
"They got out." Jeer muttered in disbelief.
She slid down the wall and sat beneath the window. What comes next was up to the fates to decide.
Rillick heaved with all his strength, as did Shaan. Dar joined in and things became easier. He still had the effects of the potion. Gelnen, Ty-Varaz and Lorelai followed suit, and soon the whole party held the rope and struggled against the portal's titan strength.
Dar felt his grip weakening, and his boots were slowly dragged forward.
"It's... wearing off!" he groaned through gritted teeth.
Ja'qi looked up and smiled up at the shimmering sphere. Jeer smiled back.
"Time for a whole new life."
He yelled and a blinding burst of light covered the room.
"Everybody, hold on!" Rillick shouted over the deafening roar of the vortex.
Anderea looked up in horror as the tower seemed to collapse in on itself, peppering them with small pebbles, dirt and dust. She felt herself stretch painfully, and it felt like she was going to be torn in half. Walkers shot past them as they were sucked into the portal. The tower shrunk smaller and smaller, until it was sucked into the darkness. The portal swirled and spun, then sucked into itself and vanished.
The two plummeted onto the grass, breathing heavily. Anderea's chest heaved from the harrowing experience she witnessed. She wanted to cry.
Dall struggled to his feet and offered a hand out to her. They staggered over to the party and into the ox-cart. They knew they had to leave, and fast. The noise would certainly draw many walkers to their location.
...
If this day were not a crooked road,
Nor this eve a crooked trail,
If tomorrow were not such a long time,
Then lonesome would mean naught to thee at all.
And only if mine true love were waiting,
And I might hear her heart softly pounding,
And only if she were to lay by my side,
I'd lay in mine own bed once again.
I cannot see the reflection in the water,
I cannot speak the sounds to show no pain,
I cannot hear the echo of the footsteps,
Nor remind the sounds of mine own name.
Excerpt from Lorelai's Book of Poetry, originally written by famed bard Bodbe Doylon.