CHAPTER FIVE: The TEMPLE of SET
Palladium Muse
They speed through the town and into deep woods, quickly having to slow their mounts or risk catching a hoof.

Raeython slows for a moment, a look of consternation flashing across his face. "This is bad," he says.
  "Something is not right. Ravenwind, do you feel it?"

Standing in her stirrups, Ravenwind slowly looks around. "Yes, there is evil here, and much more than our nimble little thief."

"We'd best approach cautiously," Raeython advises. Giselle and PM, both simply glad to be slow, nod in agreement as they edge through the woods.

"There are caves not too far from here, that's where the ring is," Raeython says. They fall into line and follow, spells and weapons at the ready.

They break through the trees and see the rocky outcropping. There is a symbol carved over a large cave mouth, a coiled cobra, fangs bared, ready to strike.

The aura from the cave sends chills through everyone.

Giselle Moonwitch
Giselle wiggles her fingers at the departing Bernard, whose horse's tail suddenly turns blue.

"Er, oops!"

Feeling queasy, Giselle quickly turns around and holds onto the galloping horse's mane for dear life.

Ravenwind
Swallowing hard, the red-haired woman gathered her companions around, and began by touching Raeython on the forehead. "Most righteous Torm, grant thy protection to this man," she whispered. A glow suffused the ranger. Moving to each of her companions in turn, she warded them all against evil, ending with herself. "This is a place of great evil," she whispered. "I can feel it like a stain in the rocks."

Raeython nodded. "Aye, nature cries out against this abomination. We must cleanse this place, even if the ring and Ralphy are no longer there."

With trepidation, the companions approached the gaping maw in the mountain's face. . . 

Giselle Moonwitch
Giselle, tearful, looks around in consideration.

*Sniff*

"I wonder if there is some correlation. Snake worshippers stealing a worm. Hmmm..."

Giselle, as an after thought, starts to wiggle her fingers and chant. Suddenly a sphere appears around
Giselle, who begins to roll up the path.

Palladium Muse
They enter the cave, the Muse opening her hand and a small red witchlight springing from it, so as not
to interfere with the night-vision of the others, but still enough to make her way through the inky blackness.

A few dozen feet beyond the entrance of the cave, the ground slants sharply down. Raeython takes a moment to crouch and run his fingers over the stone, mouth setting into a grim line.

"This is not natural, it's not even carved, the stone was forced to do this."

The slope is gentle at first, gradually growing more steep, until the going is slowed by those in armor, afraid to slip on the increasingly slick surface. The temperature begins to drop as well, until clouds of vapor, blood red in the Muse's light, begin to puff from everyone's mouths.

Muse holds up a closed fist, and everyone stops. "Did you hear that?" she whispers.

Everyone strains their hearing in the darkness, and sure enough, a scratching, skittering sound is issuing from down the incline.

Everyone, experienced adventurers all, recognizes the sound.

"Spiders," Raeython hisses.

"Big ones," the Muse concurs.

Giselle Moonwitch
Giselle, shimmering within the sphere takes out some tequila from her sack, belts it down, then considers the bottle. Sadly, it reminds her of her newly pilfered companion.

*SOB!*

"Oh, Ralphy, I'm coming honey!"

Giselle begins to roll at breakneck speed down into the nest of spiders. 

"Just like bowling fer dollars!"

Raeython
*Raeython reaches into one (of many) of his belt pouches, and comes up with three green potions. He hands one to each of his companions and says:*

 "This is the strongest antidote I have ever seen. Made from the root of the Zackenberth shrub and the venom of an imp. Keep it handy and , if necessary, take one long pull; no more. I will want them back *Having said such, the ranger draws FF, which is glowing with a fierce amber light. He turns to his companions and says:*

"This is not a good sign. The last time I saw my sword so inflamed was when I was in the presence of the Daemon Lord Kraxolath. We had best be prepared for anything."

Palladium Muse
PM, sword already drawn, moves cautiously forward, sending the light ahead of her. Carefully, she slips the bottle into a pouch.

"The symbol over the doorway is the holy symbol of Set, so it's no wonder your sword is unhappy."

Ravenwind
Ravenwind's skin crawled. "Spiders?" she asked, "Spiders?" She drew both swords in a flash, gold and blue light limning the blades, their eerie glow joining the Muse's red witchlight. "I HATE spiders!" 

Gently refusing the antidote with a quick, "Torm protects me," the red-haired woman struggled to make out distinct shapes in the darkness.

Giselle, her half-elven eyes attuned to the darkness around them, spotted the creatures first. "Four on the ceiling, five on the ground!" she cried, crashing into one on the floor. It squished admirably.

"I need light to fight," Ravenwind cried, her swords held defensively ahead of her as she charged ahead in Giselle's wake. Then she heard something CLICK under her foot. "Uh-oh," she said, as the trap exploded into flame around her.

Giselle Moonwitch
Giselle bowls into the nest of spiders, smushing and squishing, flattening and flipping. She propels off the walls in a mad game of spider-pinball, leaving a trail of spider gunk in her wake.

Miraculously she fails to hit her companions. However, she appears to be turning green in her sphere.

Palladium Muse
PM makes a reaching gesture, shouting something in an appropriately arcane language, and Ravenwind finds herself being dragged backwards out of the flames by an unseen hand.

Another gesture, and Ravenwind has to briefly struggle for air, then the flames are out and she can breathe once more.

Glancing up, she sees the Giant Mage Ball of Death crushing the spiders with abandon, and tries to think of a Dramamine spell for Giselle.

Ravenwind
Waving her thanks to the Muse for the assist, Ravenwind spun as she heard a telltale chittering behind her. A faint glow filled the air, and a spider phased in, massive and green, its mandibles clicking. "Eeew!" she yelled, and struck it between its sets of eyes with her longsword.

It froze, and ichor came spewing out, splattering her face and hair. "Eew, ick, eew!" Ravenwind yelped, recoiling. Snatching her sword out of its face, she danced back, looking for her next opponent.

Palladium Muse
Following Ravenwind's lead, Muse attempts to slice and dice yet another spider that's attempting a sneak attack, only to get a faceful of webbing for her efforts.

Swearing, she paws at the silk covering her face and lowers her sword, so as not to inadvertantly stick a companion, and praying that someone will cover her long enough to regain her sight.

Raeython
*Raeython slams FF back into its sheath, and pulls out a composite long bow out of yet another pouch. He then begins to fire streaking missiles at every spider he can see. Each pull of his bow sends a sizzeling shaft of white pulsing energy into the maw of yet another poor spider. With a final pull on the bow, Raeython believes that he and his companions have finished the spiders. Raeython addresses his compainions:*

"What we really need is to be able to find any future traps we come across, as Ravenwind was clever enough to discover this one. Does anybody have any ideas before we continue as I think (in the future) we want to find them without setting them off?"

Palladium Muse
Muse looks at the ceiling, grateful she can see it, and shakes her hands violenty, trying to rid them of the clinging silken strands.

"Um...go back and get a thief? Quick question. What will the minions of an evil deity do with your ring? And should it be a source of concern?"
                                               
Giselle Moonwitch
Giselle's sphere suddenly collapses, and she falls, heaving her guts, to the floor.

"Ew, ick, eww!" 

Giselle looks up, and suddenly spies a package which miraculously appears before her.

"Gerbil by the Gross. Trap Finders and Explosive Devices Par Excellence. Luv and Smooches - Bernard"

Giselle opens the sack, grabs a gerbil, douses it with tequila, and wiggles her fingers at its tail which promptly ignites.

"Fire in the Hole!"

She flings the gerbil into the darkness.

Ravenwind
While Giselle was occupied trying to open the crate, Ravenwind was attempting to de-goop the Muse (an effort not unlike removing taffy from a toddler's hair. PM heard Ravenwind mutter, "Damned thieves, never around when you actually need them. Why did I have to go and join the Order, when I could've been a priestess of Torm, and have gotten the blasted detect traps spell and the better healing magic. . .but then again, would've been stuck in a moldy temple all day. . ."(growls) A thought strikes. "Hey, I might actually be ABLE to petition Torm for the divination of traps now!" Excited, she leaves the Muse to continue unwrapping herself, mummylike, and digs at her belt pouch until she finds her tiny copy of the Book of Torm. Her excitement fades. "Torm might accept the prayer from me, but I will need to meditate on it for a few hours."

Palladium Muse
"No, wait--" Muse shouts, but it's too late, the gerbil slings through the air, hits the ceiling, falls to the floor, and rolls down the incline.

                        *BOOM*

The ground trembles, small rocks and sand sifting from the ceiling. They hear the stone beneath them groan, a split second later, bucking and shifting beneath them, making it difficult to find footing at first, impossible a few moments later.

"The earth is rebelling and trying to break free!" Raeython yells, hanging on to a stalagmite.

One more tremor, and the incline, steep to begin with, becomes an even sharper grade. Muse loses her hold and slides down, Ravenwind trying to catch a flailing wrist as she whooshes past. Ravenwind manages to catch her, but the sudden weight combined with yet another temblor causes her to lose her grip as well, and both women slide down the rock, slamming into Giselle and Raeython, their heavily armored bodies knocking them away from their precarious perches and sending them all seemingly straight to the bowels of the earth.

Raeython
*Raeython turns to Giselle:*

"I think they know we're here now. At least we don't have to worry about traps around here."

Giselle Moonwitch
Giselle covered in soot (and not for the first time), looks up at Raeython, very apologetic.

*Cough* *Hack*

"Sorry! Powerful little buggers!"

Giselle brushes herself off and looks around with her infravision. They appear to be at the bottom of a small shaft. To the northwest she spots a fairly large rift in the cave wall. However, for some reason, her hair starts to stand on end (and not for the first time).

"We can get out to the northwest, but for some reason, I be getting the willies!"

Palladium Muse
Muse had been nursing her bumps and bruises, but on Giselle's words draws her sword and calls up another witchlight, sending it over to the maw in the cave wall.

"Aye, as do I."

Ravenwind
Ravenwind, much against her better judgment, twisted hr fingers in the sign of Torm, and whispered a brief prayer. "Ouch," she said, as the echoes of evil bounced back at her from the cave walls; she couldn't make out the details, there was so much evil.

The one thing she could tell, though, was that the dead were walking the earth ahead.

Shivering, she told her companions what she had sensed.

Raeython
"Well, that's it then."

*Raeython replies as he draws both of his magical swords. If anything, FF seems to shine even stronger than before.* 

"See you on the other side."

*With this Raeython cries out a prayer to Mielikki, and rushes forward with both blades extended towards the rift in the wall.*

Palladium Muse
Muse is hot on his heels, sword drawn in one hand, the other glowing with a fiery nimbus.

The witchlight darts ahead of them through the crack. Raeython stops as the red shine reflects in the surfaces of staring black eyes. There's a rustle, and the undead move to block the crack in the wall the two had just come through.

"What are they?" Muse asks in a hushed down as the two go back to back.

"I don't know. I've never seen their like. Some sort of zombie, perhaps?"

"I've never seen any zombies like these."

"Does it matter? Either way, they'll be laid to rest."

Muse grunts, he can feel the movement of her body at his back as she nods sharply. The undead close with them, and three blades and brief arcs of fire rise to greet the zombies.

Ravenwind
Swearing a few choice oaths under her breath, Ravenwind slid her swords into their sheathes. She would have gladly charged in behind her rash friends, swinging wildly, but she knew her other skills would prove more useful. 

Glaring up at the ceiling, she muttered, "Torm, you had really better be with me this time!" she settled into meditation. White light enfolded her, and a careful listener might have heard strains of an unearthly music as she began to pray. Grabbing Giselle by the arm, her eyes half-closed in concentration, Torm's handmaiden stepped lightly after her companions, the eyes and focused attention of her god upon her.

Palladium Muse
The undead around the entrance to the next chamber begin gibbering and shying away, desperately trying to avoid the golden light streaming from the armored figure. In their panic to get away, they don't fear the three swords and arcs of fire nearly as much, and move in a rush away from Ravenwind.

PM and Raeython are hard pressed simply to remain standing, as the zombies stampede past, around, and some attempt over them. Still, they manage to hold their ground until the flood is past. 

There are a few undead, however, seemingly unaffected by this holy glow, and continue to close with the party, most descending upon Ravenwind in a rush, seeing her as the greatest threat.

Hissing in pain as they come in contact with the glow, they still press on, a look of maniacal fear showing even on these faces.

"Whomever their master is," Muse calls out over the sounds of melee, "they're more afraid of him than they are of this!"

Raeython
*Raeython and the Muse are fighting back to back. As the 'zombies' close on them, Raeython notices something strange about them. They seem far better formed than you typical rotting zombie. They also seem to be moving much faster, which is proved true as the first zombie launches a viscous swipe at Raeython's head. Raeython raises his magic shortsword to parry, and it tears right through the arm of the zombie. Well, at least they can be hurt easily enough, Raeython muses. Though the zombies are numerous, they are still only zombies, and the Muse and Raeython make short work of the undead.*
 
Ravenwind
Feeling distant, Ravenwind watched as Raeython and the Muse hacked the remaining crazed zombies from off her back. Releasing Giselle's arm, she sank to her knees on the floor, and continued to meditate. Almost without thought, her hands rifled through the ragged garments on the corpse before her, and she tossed a small, dark item to PM without interrupting the streams of her invocation to Torm.

Palladium Muse
Catches the object with her casting hand, studying it in the red glow of the witchlight. 

Her brow creases as she looks at it.

"There are sigils on this, but it's not a charm." Glances at Raeython, then at Ravenwind. "What rod?" she asks suddenly.

pure_ultima
"Ultima your companions are in peril, We are sending you to join them."

A bright blue ball suddenly in front of the confused adventurers. With a great clanging of armour Ultima hits the floor! "Ouch! Looks like I've missed the fun!" he says looking around at the dead zombie carcasses!

Ravenwind
She was unsure if it was the shock of the Muse's words, or the impact Ultima's entrance made, but Ravenwind's concentration slipped, and she lost her grip on her meditation. The light of Torm's attention faded from around her, and she leaped to her feet, drawing her swords. "Nevermind all that," she said curtly. "We've trouble. Those zombies are coming back--with reinforcement
Palladium Muse
 Stowing the object in a pouch for later reference, Muse scrabbles back to her feet.

"Watch your eyes, everyone!" she warns, and casts a spell.

A globe of incredibly bright light flares into existence about ten feet above her, illuminating the cave.

And the oncoming zombie hordes.

pure_ultima
Ultima drew in his breath sharply. "How am I ever gonna live through this!" He drew his sword and readied his shield. The first zombies came at the adventurers boldly. Soon, after several rotting heads and limbs had flown off in different directions, the zombies started learn the lesson. However, this did not stop them coming, it just made them become more cautious...

Palladium Muse
The zombies surround the party once more, in seemingly undefeatable numbers.

The adventurers are hard pressed to defend themselves, but somehow they manage between spell and sword, to carve an ichor-ridden swath through the horde.

But the undead seem to have no end, and it is in some trepidation that the adventurers band together, back to back, wondering if perhaps this could be the end of their quest...

Ravenwind
Sweat broke out on Ravenwind's brow. "Look!" she cried. "Behind the zombies--shadows!" Surely enough, black, inky stains of darkness flowed along the carvings in the walls, billowing out into transparent forms for an instant, and vanishing in the next, only to reappear. The zombies flinched away from the shadows. 

"They control the zombies! Everyone, follow me. For Torm and Tyr!" With that battle cry, the red-haired warrior leaped into the fray, her golden-glowing sword leading the way. The zombies cringed as its light burned fiercer, and a faint snarl seemed to come from the blade.

pure_ultima
Ultima's blade bit deeply into the carcasses, slicing through, all the while there is a faint humming and a faint luminous glow comes from the sword. He soon finds himself on a little ledge about 12 feet up. He sees several of his companions spreading out and cutting their own little paths onward. He thinks to himself "What are they doing?" then he sees the patches of black darting around. Taking a deep breath he jumps down through the air, sword arcing above his head. He lands towards the front of the mass of shadows, slicing clean through one, he turns to face the next...

Falconblade
**Suddenly, an arrow comes high out of the light at the tunnel. In midair it splits into three, and all come flying at the grim shadows. They retreat in fear. Falconblade steps forth from the mouth of the tunnel, a massive bow slung over his shoulder. There was no sign of the shadows which had once been.**

 **With grim precision, Falconblade walks up to Ultima, catches his eye, and nods imperceptibly. The Grim Avenger had arrived.**

Ravenwind
Seeing the figures of the rangers as they emerged from the light on the ledge above, Ravenwind took an imperceptible step closer to Raeython, and her blades took a blocking position. "Greetings," she called up. "Did you perchance bring Aivanther with you? For we have much need of his rather specialized talents."

She took a wary glance around. Hieroglyphics were scored deeply into the walls of the room, which seemed to have once been a natural cave. Statues of Set were positioned every three strides or so along the walls, and dark-stained offering bowls lay at each idol's feet.

The light from the Muse's ball of fire revealed a massive, brass-bound door to the north. Grabbing a spear from off one of the skeletons, Ravenwind prodded at the door from a safe distance. Sure enough, a dart flew out through the air. "Trapped," she said, with a certain grimness in her voice. Torm's servant sometimes hated being right.

pure_ultima
Ultima surveyed the doors with great disgust. For the first time in his life he wished there were a thief about. Suddenly his sword arm swung up, sword in hand, and had ascerted itself in line with the door. The Sword of Ultima was gradually glowing blue. Then a thin beam of energy sprang out and hit the door. It carried on for a while and suddenly the doors blew off their hinges. "YE GODS!" Ultima yelled. He points his sword hopefully at the wall with a evil glint in his eye and a disturbed grin on his face and...nothing. He stood there for a whole five minutes and still nothing. Cursing, he sheathed the sword.   The doors  fell at an angle and remained still.

Ravenwind
Ravenwind and Raeython both took up long spears in their hands, and pushed on the door with all their strength. With a shudder and a groan, the door tipped inwards and fell to the floor beyond the doorway. An immediate flash of light blinded them all for a second, along with a rush of heat. Apparently, there had been another trap directly past the entrance.

Looking through the entrance, Ravenwind's sense of evil grew stronger and stronger. The walls of the inner sanctum were covered in hieroglypics, which, oddly she could understand. A thousand soft voices seemed to be chanting the words over and over again, but no one living stood in the room. "Set, Seti, Setesk, Setketh," they whispered. "Father of night, lord of chaos, father of storms, greater than Talos, greater than Typhon. You battle the serpent Apophis every night, that day might dawn again. Set, Seti, Setesk, Setketh. . . "

There were four statues in the room, lining a pathway to a great flat altar. One of Set himself, to the left. One of a hippo, to the left, close to the altar. On the right, a crocodile and a boar stood, guarding the way. Their eyes gleamed with magic, and they seemed to be watching the doorway. On the walls behind them, so covered in hierglypics, she could just make out fine lines that hinted at secret passageways.

Beyond the altar was a massive golden sarcophagus. The eyes of the death mask on its surface were hollowed out, leaving an open space. Ravenwind's sense of evil began to scream, and her sword, the Flame of Justice burned so brightly in her hand that the others had to shield their eyes from its light.

Falconblade
Falconblade, lingering behind, senses evil in the air. Undead, he thought, but his Ranger skills were not fully developed as of yet, so he could not tell. He followed Ultima in.

Palladium Muse
PM, suddenly looking completely satiated and aggravated at the same time, warily follows behind the others, squinting against the sudden flare of Ravenwind's sword until her vision clears.

"Is that your ring?" she asks Raeython, pointing at the sarcophogus. In one of the eyeholes of the case, presented sigil forward, was the ring. Raeython grimly nods.

The voices rush around the party, sibiliantly weaving around them until their heads ring with the words.

"We have to move quickly," Muse gritted, hilt growing slick in her hand. "Else the voices will drive us mad. No one holy may enter this chamber, that will surely set off the guardians," she gestures to the statues, their baleful stare boring into everyone, as if resenting their living forms. 

"Who among us has not sworn fealty to a god?"

Ravenwind
Ravenwind took a quick, prudent step back, as did Raeython. She studied the Muse and the other two rangers. The latter two would, theoretically, be sworn to Mielikki, but she felt nothing of the presence of the Lady of the Woods about Ultima. Her eyes turned to the Muse and Giselle. "Are you sworn to the service of Elrick, or are you, as they say, freelance?" she asked the Muse. "And you, Moonwitch? Do you follow Hanalil Celani, of the elves, or Mystra of the humans?"

pure_ultima
Ultima looks around warily, he skillfully dodges Ravenwind's question. "So then, here we all are, in a dungeon, a cold dark..." his voice trails off knowing how lame he sounds. He steps away sheepishly and examines so of the hieroglyphics. They appear to depict a party of adventurers being disemboweled and spread around more statues than you could have thought!

Ravenwind
Ravenwind, being the genuinely sincere and altogether naive person that members of the Order usually were, simply did not pick up on Ultima's evasion. She sheathed her shortsword, and tried to plug at least one of her ears to avoid the rising tide of voices around her, but to no avail. "Somebody do something, or I'm calling on Torm, and to the Nine Hells with the consequences!" she gritted out.

The sarcophagus twitched at the far end of the room as she spoke the god of duty's name, and the ring fell from the eye-opening. . . .

Palladium Muse
Eyes Ultima, but makes no comment. Replies instead to Ravenwind. "I have no affiliations to the gods, although I cannot speak for Giselle."

Giselle seems to be lost in the studying of the hieroglyphs as well, she is heard humming as she runs her eyes over them.

"I guess I'm it," PM says with a shrug.  Sheathing her blade, she concentrates for a moment, then lifts several inches off the floor. A gesture, and she slowly begins floating through the chamber, a nervous trickle of sweat trailing down her back at the oppressive weight of the statues' stare.

The voices in her head grow louder as she approaches the sarcophagus. Closing her eyes for a moment, she pinches the bridge of her nose before continuing on. Then she's right in front of the casket.

"Could REALLY use a thief right about now," she mutters, eyeing the ring. "I know it's trapped, but be damned if I know what it's trapped with."

Over the voices, she hears the impatient breaths of the party behind her, growing restive at her slow progress.

"I guess there's only one way to do this, the stupid way," she finally grits, and reaches out and takes hold of the ring.

It slides out of the casket and into her grip easily, she stares at it dumbly, nestled in the palm of one gloved hand. 

There's a strange wrenching sensation to everyone in the party, and the globe of light PM had created winks out, leaving everyone bathed in the ruddy glow of the braziers. She hits the ground with a thud, the sudden unexpected jarring making her teeth rattle in her skull.

Every spell not part of a permanently enchanted item is dispelled, like a candle flame abruptly snuffed.

The braziers go black, and the voices still. Those with infravision find themselves as blind as those without as inky blackness descends.

"I'm thinking this is a bad thing," PM's voice is heard through the smothering darkness. Her words are followed hard upon by a strident scream, echoing off the rocks. 

The chant picks up again, but in Palladium Muse's voice.

Ravenwind
Ravenwind cursed, long and floridly. She had been trained somewhat in the skill of blindfighting, but was not particularly adept at the art. She wrenched Kaltseax from its sheath, and the blade hissed, its light fighting the darkness before her eyes. "Oh, no," she groaned.

The statues were alive, and the sarcophagus was creaking open, revealing its occupant. Seeing the Muse sprawled behind the altar, and not daring to relax into the meditation against undead, Torm's handmaiden cried out to her god. "Lend me thy strength and will!" Ravenwind shouted, and ran forward toward the Muse. . .and found the red eyes of the hippo aspect of Set blocking her path. . . .

Palladium Muse
Around the living statue, Ravenwind sees Muse lurch to her feet, eyes glowing the same red glare of the statues. Turning to the sarcophogus, she kneels, the chant dripping from her lips like blood. She nods, then
 turns, drawing her sword with one hand, the other crackling with an electric blue aura.

Her lips writhe as she approaches the party, face contorted into a mask of hatred and evil.

Ravenwind
Dodging the hippo's lumbering advance, Ravenwind's sense of evil began to scream even more loudly, although it seemed like a voice lost in a storm, given her surroundings. The Muse's face was contorted as the hatred of Set filled her mind and soul. "Sh*t!" Ravenwind shouted, managing to pronounce the difficult asterisk with ease.

She glanced around with mounting concern. Giselle had dispelled the magic darkness from the others, and the three rangers were squaring off against the statues, but seemed hard-pressed. The moonwitch continued to incant, but the sound of the hymn of Set coming from the Muse's lips seemed to unnerve the half-elf.

In a desperate gamble, Ravenwind hefted Kaltseax, her spell-breaking blade, and dove at the Muse. Her first attack was parried with ease. . . as was the second, and the third. The Muse, she discovered, was a true menace with a blade.

Again, gambling, Torm's handmaiden risked all. With a shout, she disengaged and threw herself at the sarcophagus. Responding in a frenzy, the possessed woman followed, striving to defend the casket. Reversing direction, Ravenwind caught the woman in the shoulder with Kaltseax, piercing through flesh and sinew.

With a groan, the Muse collapsed, bleeding on the floor. Ravenwind knelt beside her friend, pressing on the wound with her hands, trying to stop the bleeding. . .

Palladium Muse
With a snarl, Muse throws off her friend's attempt to help and rolls away, coming to her feet in a defensive stance between the fighter and the casket. 

Her hands hook into claws, bright blood dripping down her arm to the floor, lips in a snarl as she regards Ravenwind.

"You shall not have my master," she growls. Then her eye falls on the symbol of Torm emblazoned across Ravenwind's breastplate. A spasm of pain overrides her features and she flings herself at Ravenwind.

It is obviously a move of desperation, and Ravenwind catches herself from trying to dodge out of the way as she divines Muse's intent.

One gloved hand slaps onto the graven symbol, and both women tumble to the ground, Ravenwind grabbing Muse's wrist and keeping her hand pressed to the steel.

She can feel a searing heat through the armour, and Muse begins to thrash, alternately trying to free herself and press harder against the holy symbol, which begins to glow white hot.

Her hand starts to smoke, red flashing over and through it, battling the white flames that burst from the metal.

With a final flare, white overcame both women with an explosive force that flings them away from each other, to land in clattering heaps against opposite walls.

Ravenwind manages to catch the barest glimpse of Muse, double over, clutching her hand to her before her eye falls on her sword, and the casket once more.

Ravenwind
Knowing there was little time, and her soul keening for the injury she had done a friend, Ravenwind glanced around. Raeython had all but dispatched the crocodile statute. With a grunt, she threw her spell-breaker at the beast. With a shudder, the basalt creature fell still, the enchantment dying from its eyes. Raeython snarled as she stole his kill.

"No time for that, Mielikki's chosen!" she bellowed, drawing the remaining sword from her side once more. "I need nature to fight something unnatural."

Understanding at once, the ranger moved to her side, Forest Friend glowing almost as fiercely as the Flame of Justice. Together, the two fighters moved implaccably upon the sarcophagus, which finally opened completely with a resounding clank.

Inside was a diseased looking creature, man-like, but covered in filthy burial wrappings. Only its burning eyes were visible, and a mouth, open and twisted with hatred. The song of Set came from its lips now. In its hand, Ralphy the Tequila Worm writhed unhappily.

Unnerved, Ravenwind reached for her covered shield, then paused. "No," she said aloud. "I'm not ready yet."

That moment of hesitation cost them. The air crackled with magic, and skeletons rose all around them, barring them from all the others in a cage of yellowing bone.

pure_ultima
Ultima fired streaking blue arrows at the skeletons as they drew nearer. He knew that they were not hard to dispatch but the sheer weight of numbers might prevail. As they drew nearer he draws his sword. It was glowing brightly. He heard a brief creak behind him and he turned and swung, the skeleton’s skull crashed to the floor. As he hacked, thrust and parried the skeletons were blasted back and disintegrated as they hit the floor. He sees Ravenwind and PM near the sarcophagus. He puts his sword away and grabs a skeleton by the shoulder he throws it aside and runs, ducking and dodging to the sarcophagus. Suddenly a club comes from nowhere and lifts him six feet in the air. He lands sprawled out on the floor, and a giant skeleton looms above him...

Ravenwind
Standing back to back, Ravenwind and Raeython fought, heavy swords shearing through bone. Both swords seemed almost . . . happy. . . going about their business.

At the back of the room, Giselle screamed, "Ralphy!" 

Galvanized by the sight of her dear friend, the moonwitch cast, quick and furious. The looming forms of all the opponents in the room flashed, and suddenly all appeared randomly elsewhere, except for the form in the sarcophagus. All the fighters blinked, confused. 

Giselle's fingers twiddled again, and Ralphy vanished from the swathed figure's hands, only to reappear on her shoulder. Another twiddle, and five blazing lights swarmed at the undead creature, singing its wrappings.

It snarled, infuriated, and charged . . . running into the servants of Mielikki and Torm. With a grim smile, Raeython extracted the holy symbol of his goddess from a chain around his neck--a unicorn's head--and let the creature see it. Separating, the two fighters launched their attacks.

However, this creature was no shambling zombie, no mindless skeleton. It countered their attacks with lightning swiftness with its long metal staff, or dodged out of the way, leaving them overextended from their swings. Ravewnind swore viciously, and finally landed a blow on the creature.

It snarled, and lashed back, raking filthy nails along her face. Her skin burned, and then chills racked her body, and she suddenly felt light-headed. Looking around, she found herself on her knees, barely able to raise her sword as Raeython bravely fought the creature alone. "Take an antidote!" he cried, parrying a strike.

"Nay," she said. "It is not poison. It is a fever." From her knees, she leveled one more shot at the creature, and had the satisfaction of slicing deeply into its side. It howled, badly hurt.

Then her sword dropped from her strengthless fingers, and she tried to focus her dizzy mind on the meditation against undead. But it was so hard to concentrate . . . 

Falconblade
**Falconblade strode out of the shadows on the side of the cavern, firing two arrows as he went. Both split into 4 and all 8 arrows sped towards their targets. All hit, but only 5 dropped opponents. The others hit and bounced off.**

Palladium Muse
PM, shaking her head, manages to get to her feet, her burned hand held protectively close to her side. Taking in the melee, she charges toward Raeython and the fallen Ravenwind, drawing her sword with her good hand as she runs.

"Ranger!" she cries, "Your ring!"

He spares a glance towards her and she flings the item at him, gesturing with her sword as it arcs in flight. It lands in the palm of his hand, and his fingers clench around it.

Unable to give anymore time than that, he continues to battle the vile thing while Muse crouches down beside Ravenwind.

"No, I can't heal you," she answers the question in the warrioress' eyes. "But I can make time stop for you until we can get you to someone who can. Your choice." Not waiting for her reply, Muse calls out to everyone. "We have what we came for, and one of our comrades is fallen! Do we flee or fight? I can get us out of here!"

Ravenwind
Through chattering teeth, Ravenwind answered, "I was hoping you might whip up a batch of chicken soup but if that's not possible. . . just make it stop!" Another shudder wracked her, and she reached out for her sword protectively. "Don't let anyone touch the sword--or the shield," she warned, as she passed out.

Palladium Muse
Sheathing her sword and breathing a quick prayer to Torm and his companions to watch over them, she clasps Ravenwind's hand and places a charred finger on her brow. Closing her eyes, she begins to chant. A silvery-grey glow forms around the fighter, encompassing sword and sheild, her breathing stops, all movement stops within the glow.

Staggering to her feet, Muse draws her sword once more and defends her fallen friend, waiting to hear if the others wish her to spell them all away from here.

Falconblade
**Falconblade runs forward to engage the large zombie, his enchanted katana glowing. He struck once, twice, and thrice with the katana, before the zombie swung a massive fist at him, almost knocking him out.**

Raeython
*Raeython starts to feel desperation as he and Ravenwind are fighting this fell creature. Its very being radiates evil in a strong sense, sending out pulsing waves of malevolence. Suddenly, Ravenwind goes down when the creature rakes its fingernails across Ravenwind's face. Immediately, she starts to pale and convulse, though she manages one deep slice to the creature's side. 

Now, Raeython alone squares off against this dread being, putting himself between it and Ravenwind. Suddenly, PM shouts something, and throws the ring at Raeython. He manages to catch it in his left hand, and deftly slips it on his finger. The creature takes a vicious swipe at Raeython, which he manages to avoid by bending himself backward. He then plants his left hand on the ground behind him, and flips over backward, landing facing the creature once again. He uses the momentary gap between himself and the creature to draw his other short sword. 

PM is shouting about having the ring and Ralphy back and wants to know if it is time to leave. Raeython's heart flutters at the offer, but he knows he can't leave this monstrosity behind. He charges the creature, and launches a flurry of attacks. He brings FF up in a high arc, leveling it for the creatures neck, while simultaneously sending in his other magical sword in a low sweeping slash towards the abdomen. Fast as Raeython is, the creature blocks FF with the tip of his rod, then spirals the bottom around to intercept the other sword. 

Raeython then drops into a crouch spinning clockwise leveling both swords in a sweeping circle at the legs of the creature. Again, however, the creature proves the faster, sending his rod down to intercept both swords. Before Raeython can start his next attack, the creature slides his rod past both of Raeython's swords, and sends its tip thrusting for the ranger's head. Raeython manages to slip to his left, but still catches a glancing blow to his right temple. 

Raeython dances away, and warily raises both swords in front of him. Raeython wonders if this is where he cashes in his chips. This creature is almost supernaturally fast, and is no novice to fighting; not a good combination for the weary ranger. As Raeython studies the approach of the creature, a desperate plan pops into his head. He backs up towards the empty sarcophagus, weaving defensive patterns with his twin blades. As he nears the sarcophagus, he turns and sprints the last few paces. He leaps towards the top of the sarcophagus, plants his feet, and flips backwards and upside-down, extending his twin blades downwards at the creature. Both of his blades bite into either side of the creatures neck, the creature's skin blistering and burning where FF slid into it. Raeython lands on his feet, and plunges the screaming FF into the chest of the undead beast. At this the creature lets out a piercing howl, then explodes in a shower of bone and sinew. 

Raeython grabs for his ears in agony, and nearly swoons to the floor. He stumbles over to PM and Ravenwind and says:*

"Now I am ready to leave."

Ravenwind
The various zombies and skeletons around the lair fell to the ground, and the last remaining statue ground to a halt as the sorcerous powers of their master fled with his spirit. Raeython felt a lifting in the oppressive evil that had battered his spirit since entering this dark temple. A gentle breath of wind stirred the air. Nature was reclaiming it already.

With her blackened hand, Palladium Muse picked up a battered papyrus scroll that had fallen to the floor, off of the altar, and studied it with pursed lips. "Ah," she said, removing the small, dark stone they'd found out in the upper hall from a belt pouch. "At last, a translation of these hieroglyphics. Now I understand."

Raeython
*Raeython stumbles over to PM.*

"What can we do for Ravenwind? Where can we find someone to heal her?"

Palladium Muse
"I sure hope so," she says wearily, carefully putting the papyrus into a pouch. "But I can at least get us out of here to find out."

Everyone gathers closely, Giselle, cooing to Ralphy, who is obviously shaken.

Raising her arms, Muse speaks a few words, then claps her hands together. A rushing noise fills everyone's ears, and black momentarily hazes their vision. When it clears, they find themselves on a dirt street, outside a very familiar tavern and a squeaking orc.

"Oh, good, we're back," Muse says, surveying the scene. "If someone would be so kind as to send Ravenwind to the nearest Temple of Torm, I would be very grateful." And she slides bonelessly to the ground next to the still warrioress. As she completely phases out, she can be heard to mutter, "At least it's better than a damn horse..."

END OF CHAPTER 5