Elvis was dimly aware of what was going on around him. In the distance he could hear shouting and the sounds of fighting. His head was throbbing with pain and he struggled to breathe as smoke from a fire started to fill his lungs. It felt like he was being carried over someone’s shoulder but he didn’t know whose. ‘Probably Slobba’s’ He thought through the pain. He heard a female voice rise above the chaos and say “I’m going to fking kill him!” in an angry tone. As he turned towards the voice something struck him on the side of the head and he once again slipped into darkness. “Be careful!” shouted Shyne as Slobba accidentally hit Elvis’ head on the door frame as he ran through it and into the street outside of the burning tavern. All around him people were jumping out of windows and running through doors to escape the flames. Amazingly in spite of everything some drunken patrons still fought each in the street. ‘Humans!’ Shyne thought to himself in disgust as he conducted a quick head count to ensure that everyone had made it out of the burning building. “Let’s make for the Glade of Contemplation” he said.
“Did anyone manage to pick up the gold from the stage?” asked Llona as she wiped tears from her eyes that had been caused by the smoke.
“Did anyone manage to pick up the gold from the stage?” asked Llona as she wiped tears from her eyes that had been caused by the smoke.
She was disappointed when her companions all murmured “No”.
“I….am….going…to…..KILL HIM!” she said viciously.
“Stow it girl, save your breath for running” said Grumpy as he turned and set off at a trot in the direction of the sacred Glade.
Ten minutes later the group was taking stock of their situation whilst sitting on the grass in the Glade of Contemplation. Elvis, after having thrown up all over Slobba’s back, was lying in the foetal position under one of the many large trees that surrounded the central pond. To their good fortune it appeared that the local Druid was absent.
“So what are we going to do now” asked Alyse as she ran her fingers through her hair in a vain attempt to tidy it up.
“Thanks to Llona we had all of our equipment handy so at least we didn’t leave anything behind” said Shyne with a nod towards his female Elven companion.
“What happened?” asked Elvis with a groan as he tried to sit up.
“Your new act caused a riot” spat Llona disgustedly.
“Someone threw a bottle of ale at you” said Slobba as he moved to Elvis to examine his wounds.
“Outrageous!” said Grumpy angrily “A waste of good ale it was”.
After numerous attempts Elvis gave up on trying to sit and laid back down upon the grass to let the Cleric tend to his injuries. Slobba gently probed his skull with his fingers to search for any possible cracks but fortunately did not find any. Aside from a large gash just above his right eye that was still seeping blood, Elvis also had a big bruise on the side of his head from where it had hit the door frame. After he was satisfied that none of the injuries were life threatening, Slobba called upon the power of Thor and cast a healing spell upon Elvis' wounds. After the spell was completed both injuries were gone and Elvis' skin colour, which seconds before had been a pasty shade of pale, once again took on the olive hue of a sun bronzed Adonis.
"Gimp" said Shyne to his familiar "gather some wood so that we can make a fire" he commanded.
'Get your own fking wood you pointy eared bastard' Reggie thought to himself.
"Yes Master" said Reggie before setting off to find wood suitable for a fire.
"Do you think that is wise?" asked Alyse.
"A small fire will not trouble a Druid" Shyne responded "Besides, it's been a busy night and we could do with a brief rest. We can also take the opportunity to change out of our costumes"
"Good idea" replied Alyse as she began to hunt through her back pack for her clothes. Finding what she sought she ventured out into the darkness to change behind a tree. The others in the party took her queue and also disappeared out of sight to get changed. A few minutes later they were all back around the camp fire that Gimp had created in their absence.
"So what's the plan now?" asked Llona as she lay on the ground and used her pack as a pillow.
"It's probably a good idea if we laid low for a few days" suggested Grumpy.
"I agree but where should we hide?" said Llona
"The obelisk" said Slobba before he bit down on some jerky from his trail rations.
"But how will we get in?" asked Shyne
"I don't know" Slobba responded "but there must be a door in it somewhere".
"Sounds like a plan" said Elvis "we'll set out in 30 minutes.
Just over an hour later, after dodging a number of Larencian patrols, they found themselves outside of the large black obelisk that sat in the centre of town. The base of the obelisk was about 40 x 40 feet and it rose to nearly 120 feet in height. It was a black starless night with a strong breeze blowing from the South.
"Gimp" said Shyne to his familiar "gather some wood so that we can make a fire" he commanded.
'Get your own fking wood you pointy eared bastard' Reggie thought to himself.
"Yes Master" said Reggie before setting off to find wood suitable for a fire.
"Do you think that is wise?" asked Alyse.
"A small fire will not trouble a Druid" Shyne responded "Besides, it's been a busy night and we could do with a brief rest. We can also take the opportunity to change out of our costumes"
"Good idea" replied Alyse as she began to hunt through her back pack for her clothes. Finding what she sought she ventured out into the darkness to change behind a tree. The others in the party took her queue and also disappeared out of sight to get changed. A few minutes later they were all back around the camp fire that Gimp had created in their absence.
"So what's the plan now?" asked Llona as she lay on the ground and used her pack as a pillow.
"It's probably a good idea if we laid low for a few days" suggested Grumpy.
"I agree but where should we hide?" said Llona
"The obelisk" said Slobba before he bit down on some jerky from his trail rations.
"But how will we get in?" asked Shyne
"I don't know" Slobba responded "but there must be a door in it somewhere".
"Sounds like a plan" said Elvis "we'll set out in 30 minutes.
Just over an hour later, after dodging a number of Larencian patrols, they found themselves outside of the large black obelisk that sat in the centre of town. The base of the obelisk was about 40 x 40 feet and it rose to nearly 120 feet in height. It was a black starless night with a strong breeze blowing from the South.
"Spread out and see if you can find an entrance" Elvis instructed.
After 10 minutes of searching they found nothing.
"Perhaps there is no door" said Slobba in frustration as the wind began to die down.
"Let's have another look" said Alyse as the wind disappeared for a few seconds before picking up again.
"What is that?" Llona whispered quietly.
"What?" said Elvis "I don't see anything”.
"Just over there" said Llona as she pointed to the centre of the wall of the obelisk in front of them. "When the wind died down I thought I saw the outline of a door".
"Well this was built by Wizards known as the Ministry of Winds, maybe the door only appears when there isn't any wind" suggested Slobba.
"Makes sense" said Elvis "and this is the windiest coastal area in Taswegia so it's not going to appear often".
"Right" said Shyne "Llona go and stand where you thought it appeared. If the wind dies down again see if you can locate the door then open it"
Llona moved over to the centre of the wall and waited. The wind ebbed and flowed in intensity and nearly an hour passed before it dropped off altogether.
"I think I see something" said Llona as she stepped a few places to her left and began to probe the wall.
"Yes, there is definitely a door here. Stand back and I'll see if I can open it" she said as she withdrew her lock pick from her belt pouch.
Just as she started to probe what she thought was the locking mechanism the wind once again picked up and the outline of the door disappeared. Llona swore in frustration before she settled back to wait for the wind to die off again. Nearly 15 minutes passed before the outline of the door once again appeared. With her fingers moving deftly across the surface confirmed that she'd found the lock before she attempted to open it with her tools. After a minute she gave a satisfied grunt as the door swung open to reveal the darkness beyond.
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