Into the Ruin... Into a Nightmare

[Vaelitha Skysong]

Karael stood with the group of fellow Kaldorei before the entrance of the crumbling ruin, set in the centre of the fetid swamp, and looked on Celegil Moonwatcher as she kneeled prostrate before Elder Aldrannath, flanked by Elder Starfire, Caliyen Starbreeze and Amplisa Featherspring. The moon glowed a hazy green, barely seen through the miasma of the swamp, and with a sigh Karael watched the wane moonlight glint off the horns of the mountain goat draped across the First Ranger's shoulders. She was filled with a sense of trepidation. Not for the mission... that was something that had to be done. But instead for Celegil and her inability to hold her temper. She had seen her snap already this evening at Elder Starfire, snarling at the druid with disrespect, and it did not sit well with her.
Despite this, she wanted to give Celegil the opportunity to prove herself, and so when her turn to cut her hands on the horns came, she stepped forward and did so, trying to catch her Sister's eye as she felt the cold horn slice her palms.
'I vow to follow your lead in this battle, Celegil. I shall serve the Balance with my life, or with my death'
Listening to Aldrannath's blessing, Karael stepped back to Moonfrost and let the She-Wolf lick her cut palms, before donning her gloves with a small, reassuring smile. The wolf did not understand her unease, but still felt it, and let Karael know she did with a low whine and a rubbing of her muzzle across Karael's hands. Karael took comfort from her companion, and taking a steadying breath, she stood, filled with a keen sense determination to serve as she could and uphold her vow.
And so they all entered the Temple, weapons held high and a prayer on their lips....


((Here's the start! I was hoping everyone present could add a piece and so fill out the entire story of our mission in the Temple. Perhaps Celegil and Salabadon should come next as they left early, Amplisa after with her memorable fall, Caliyen detailing the fight with the trolls and Jammal'an, and then Aldrannath and the Circle. If there is anything left to mention, I will finish it Have fun! ))

[Kaylaneh]

Celegil felt at her father's amulet that she had hanging around her neck as she walked down into the temple with the followers. She felt quite anxious to proof that she was the right one to lead the followers into battle. But she also had a vague feeling of uncertainty. Uncertainty what was actually in the Temple. She hated the thought of encountering magic in there since its not something she can effectively combat with a sword and bow. The fact that her dearest friend, Salabadon, didn't listen to her during preparation also had made her quite upset.

As they explored the depths of the Temple, she couldn't help but think of Silithus. The occasion where she for the first time entered a Silith Hive at the age of twelve. The maze of Troll craftsmanship had a vague resemblance with them. But at least she was not alone this time. She counted on Caliyen to take the biggest blows with her plate armour.

They had been exploring the depths for about an hour when Celegil was caught by surprise and hit with a spiky mace in her leg. The immediate pain was not excruciating but it was something else that made her feel terrible. The knowledge of not being able to carry on tore her apart, but she knew where she had to draw the line. In this case, recklessness was not an option. She had to stand aside if Kailahan and Salvano were had to have a mother after tonight.

And so, she ordered Caliyen to lead the pack further. Celegil stumbled back towards the entrance, leaving a trail of blood. When she eventually met Elder Aldrannath who had been waiting at the entrance, she was exhausted from limping. She felt an immense feeling of guilt when she saw Aldrannath descend into the Temple. Celegil knew this was her chance to be accepted as a leader but instead she lay wounded, alone, in a wet cold corner of the Temple, bleeding.

As she finished bandaging her wound and made sure Aldrannath was far away from earshot, Celegil started to cry. As she wept she whispered to herself:

"I failed them, I failed myself, I failed Elune and Malorne..'

[Salabadon Starfire]

After Celegil left the group, Salabadon could not shake the feeling that he'd wronged her.. If he had, he'd wanted to make it up to her. After awhile pondering what he had to do, he refocused on the task ahead and offered his guidance to the group of followers, but the thought of Celegil still loomed in his mind.
Thankfully Elder Aldrannath had arrived and had taken over in guiding the group deeper into the ruins.

As they entered the large hallway, Salabadon's eyes were opened widely in shock.

He could not believe how many Emerald drakes were present. An aspect he's supposed to be allied with.. And now he had to kill them.. The thought ate at him as they fought their way to the troll's leader.

Upon entering the leaders room, Salabadon awaited the order to start eliminating the beings who so merciless had captured and held the drakes there.

After the battle, he felt the strain of the use of his powers and decided to venture back to Winterspring and continue his study on the corruption.

[Amplisa]

"...Yes" Amplisa replied, as she walked closer to the edge of the balcony the group had found themselves upon. Below them was a circular room with a circular water pool in the middle. Standing at the very edge, Amplisa glanced behind her, as she suddenly felt the feeble rocks crumble, and she began a swift flight - twelve feets downward.

She desperatly clung at vines, slowing her fall, and grabbed a furry tail pulling Ghost after her, and then landed in a pile of puddled rocks and dust, a white feline and some of the plants that had recently painted the ledge she fell off. Her polearm hit the ground just beside her, making an awful noise.

Terrified she immediatly got to her legs, and picked up the polearm, warily watching the room from her corner. When neither the walking bog beasts or the serpents reacted, she drew a relieved sigh.

"Shit!" She then shouted "Not bloody again, Karael do you hear me?"

[Caranir Elmheart]

It was irritating to admit, but following Celegil had been much easier than the brief few minutes of leadership Caliyen had experienced. The dark corridors were like a maze and while Celegil probably didn't know where she was going either, the first ranger managed to make it sound like she did. Still, Amplisa had made this choice of route easier by falling headlong down it. Grimacing from the smell wafting up from the pit below her, Caliyen set about tearing free the thickest vine she could manage and lowered it for herself and Karael to clamber down, silently envying the two druids who swooped calmly after them.

Once on the ground, it was back to killing all manner of trolls, serpents and bog beasts for a few minutes before they found themselves on the edge of an enormous hallway. Fighting through packs of dragonkin, the elves eventually reached the entrance of large hall. A huge stone altar dominated the far end of the room while benches in the centre seated ranks of trolls observing some sort of ritual.

Awed for a moment by the sheer number of trolls, Caliyen looked back at the other Kaldorei: two druids and two archers, leaving just herself and the two beasts to deal with the tide of foes up close. She hesitated a moment longer before Elder Aldrannath's stern voice rang out:
"Kill them, kill them all."

Moving to obey, Caliyen rushed the closest group of trolls, a trio of darkly dressed, particularly evil looking warriors. Two fell almost immediately to the arrows of her sisters and claws of their pets while she drove her sword through the chest of the third, surprised by the speed at which crumpled to the floor. A moment later and she leapt backwards in surprise as ghostly forms burst from each of the corpses, advancing on her with hideous wails. Backing away, she felt the first touch of real fear run through her before the spirits abruptly disappeared back into the ground.

The whole hall was staring at them now, starting to advance on the vastly outnumbered party of elves. Feeling the fear creep a little higher, Caliyen moved back to the others and rattled sword on shield, the challenge sounding as hollow and empty as it looked in the cavernous space. There was no answer, or none that she could hear above the pounding of feet on stone as the trolls rushed them in several disorganised mobs while their prophet descended the steps of the altar behind them.

Paralysed by fear for a moment, she was forced into motion by the first of the attackers to reach her; fending off a blow from a stone axe before being forced backward by the weight of arriving foes. They crowded around her, hemming her in as yet more ran past toward the others who were forced to use sword and stave to defend themselves. Finally, the rage descended and Caliyen began to force herself through the trolls, clearing a path with sweeps of her sword while relying on her armour to see off the blows of their axes.

Once free, it felt like Malorne himself was guiding her steps as she moved around the room taunting and drawing the trolls away from the others, gathering them in a tight press for the spells, arrows and teeth of the Kaldorei and their companions to cut them down in droves. After a few minutes of battle, the numbers of foes began to reduce until eventually even the troll prophet Jammal'an fell.

The aftermath was... strange, after the intense fighting. It was difficult to stand still after dancing around the trolls with such grace and ease, like something was helping her, just standing still felt a little clumsy now. She hardly noticed Aldrannath stooping to bandage her arms, an oddly humble gesture from the elder druid. Amplisa was prodding one of the corpses with a spear, defiling it in some fashion, before it was time to move on again in search of the dragon.

[Aldrannath]

The moment they walked around the corner into the vast, dank chamber, he knew: this was what they had come for. The youngsters were preoccupied with the thought of corrupted Dragonkin - and well they might be, so grim was their duty. For all that the foolish young Delenthia had deceived and confused herself, she was right in this: to slay a Dragon, even a whelp, no matter how insane or corrupt, this was a terrible deed. And here there were dozens of them: all corrupted, all lost, all quite irrevocably mad. Death was a mercy to them - but there was no pride or honour in the killing. The youngsters spoke only of that, and of their wrath for the hapless trolls.

The trolls, of course, were a distraction. They, too, had been enslaved, afflicted and made mad. Something else was at work here, something far greater and more deadly than any troll, something as ancient and mighty as the Dragons themselves. And here, in this chamber, it had whispered through the bars of its prison in the fathomless deeps of the earth, reached beyond its cage to brush for a moment the world of the living. The air still carried the faint tang of its poisonous breath, and was heavy with the implacable malice of its thought.

The young ones seemed quite oblivious to all that, or at worst they felt only the oppressive atmosphere of the chamber. That was all to the good, he supposed. He wished Salabadon were still with them, to share his impressions - but he was occupied with the grisly task of cleansing the dead trolls, by moonfire and starlight, that their affliction might be kept in check, for a time at least. Not for the first time, his thoughts strayed to his own revered master - a worthier elder, by far. Uncertainty, vagueness and confusion were all the wisdom Aldrannath could offer these young ones; too, too long it was, since he had felt the clear light of truth.

As he paced about the circle the trolls had made for their ritual, he glanced across anxiously - to be sure that the others were not straying too close, exposing themselves to the malevolent gaze of he knew not what - and saw the crack. It was like a distortion in the air within the circle, the minutest near-rift in the fabric of the world. Something had tried to break through, here - from the other side. Tried to break through, and failed. Its troll slaves had sought to bend the bars of the prison, but had not weakened them enough. It was still biding its time.

Whispers through the bars, and nothing more, had wrought all this. It had enslaved half a kingdom of trolls, enslaved even Dragons, without once being released.

It had not escaped - not yet. But It would try again.

((Thank you Karael for taking the initiative with this! I love the result; I think revisiting important RP episodes like this really helps to make the story deeper and more resonant for everyone. Let's do this more often.))

[Vaelitha Skysong]

More dragons had fallen, twisted by the madness filling this nightmarish place and clinging to every pore.
A room full of dragonkin and whelps had been brought low by their bows and sword, cut down as they attacked in their insanity, and as they approached the heavily guarded room at the centre of the crumbling ruin, another two lesser, younger dragons had fell.
Karael looked at the seemingly peaceful figure they had finally come upon, apparently slumbering. It was unlike anything she had seen before. A dragon, but different, altered. It's form shimmered and insubstantial, the farther side of the room could almost be seen when she looked hard enough.
With a small sigh, Karael frowned and rubbed her forehead. The cloying oppression pervading this place would not leave her, and every minute more they spent there, she felt it clinging and crawling over her skin.
She glanced at Elder Aldrannath and saw him speaking, but she had been so intent on the Dragon that she had missed his words. Blushing, she tried to listen and caught his final sentences about the Dragon and about the presence in the Circle they had discovered.
'This place is filled with madness and death. The sooner we are done here, the better. I feel it crawling over my skin and wish to be rid of it.' Karael murmured, perhaps more to herself than to the others with her.
Aldrannath gave the word to Caliyen, and with a cry and a clash of steel on steel, the younger Kaldorei leapt forward, even as the Dragon woke and reared up, screaming in anger.
It was fearsome. Karael moved back, loosing arrow after arrow at the dragon. Despite it's seemingly incorporeal form, they actually hurt it, did the creature harm, and with a blessing of thanks to Elune on her lips, she aimed carefully with each twang of her bow.
The fight itself was a blur, a haze of adrenaline and emotion.
Somehow the Dragon was dead, cut down and set free from it's madness.
Caliyen stood in a daze next to it, her wounds blooming fresh blood under the bandages, and a sheen of sweat on her brow.
Amplisa stood by a few dragonkin that had heeded the Dragon's screams of rage, their bodies littered around her and her companion Ghost.
Aldrannath hunched and leant heavily on his staff over at the side, shaking his head wearily and speaking in sad tones, reiterating his thoughts that this poor creature was merely a slave, a tool for a larger and more sinister mind.
Karael and Moonfrost walked slowly, heavy with fatigue, across to the head of the Dragon and stared down at it, feeling exhausted and relieved. It was done.
But even as she sighed in the knowledge that they had survived, and could now return to their home across the water, Aldrannath's words cut through the thick sense of release the death of the Dragon had wrought.
This was not the perpetrator, merely the tool.
The real enemy was still out there.