The Shadow of the Rose
Chapter 5a

Copyright© 2012 by R22CoolGuy

The captain of the Thangdaemon Knights entered the Black Tower and genuflected, bowing his head and grabbing the hilt of his sword.

"You summoned me, my lord?" the captain asked.

"Yes, the princeling has entered the castle," Lord Devlin explained. "He must be seeking the entrance to the 'Hall of Kings'. I want you there to greet him."

"I will leave at once," the captain replied. "Is there any message my lord would have me give the worm?"

"No, but I want to know the extent of his power," Lord Devlin replied. "You may test him. Arise and be off."

"Yes, my lord," the captain stood, banged his chest with a mailed fist, turned and left.

"What are you up to, WitchLord?" Lord Devlin asked aloud. "And who is assisting you?"


They descended into darkness until Aaron created a blue ball of energy which lit their way with an eerie bluish light. At the bottom of the stairs was a passageway to the right and directly across was a large reinforced oaken door. Torch sconces hung on either side of the door, and flickered to life when their feet touched the dungeon floor. Torch sconces flickered to life down the hallway to the right as well.

Swords still at the ready Aaron opened the door and went in and to the left, Reg went right and Rac-Nur filled the doorway. They had entered the torture room. Torch sconces cast a strange light on the instruments of torture.

Ten man size cages, broken up in two groups, dominated the wall to their left. In between were several iron maidens as well as a horrific looking tall stool shaped device with a metal pyramid on top. Above it was a rope attached to a block and tackle suspended from the ceiling. The floor below was stained dark brown, as was the floor around the iron maidens.

Elsewhere in the room were several racks, ropes suspended from the ceilings, as well as saltire crosses. (A saltire cross is an 'X' shape device with leather buckled straps at the top and bottom of each leg, as well as a buckled strap across the middle.) Coal braziers with tongs, branding irons, pokers and other metal instruments were strategically located within reach of the saltire crosses. An instrument table and shelves stood nearby with whips, chains, spikes and all manner of different objects used in torture.

On the wall opposite to their entry was a door, which opened up to another passageway to the right. Across the hall were stairs leading back up. A thorough search of the torture room revealed no hidden trips or secret passages.

Retracing their steps, they left the torture room and headed down the passageway to a locked door on the left. This door was also made of reinforced oak, but had the addition of a small peep window. Aaron opened it and leaped back in surprise. Four ghouls were snacking on someone's remains. The fact that there was a dead body not completely decayed, surprised Aaron. The ghouls looked up, blood dripping from their mouths, and then attacked.

Rac-Nur stepped in front of Aaron, shortswords flashing in the torch light. The first ghoul lost its head to Rac-Nur even as Reg attacked and killed the second. Aaron stepped clear of Rac-Nur, both swords flashed, and two ghoul heads rolled back into the room.

This room was lit by twin torch sconces on the main door wall. There were also four cell doors, two on each side wall. Their search of the cells revealed nothing. They were concerned about where the ghouls came from, as well as the dead body, but did not see any evidence of their entryway.

Stepping back out and closing the door, they continued down the hall which turned sharply to the left. Locked cell doors were evenly spaced out on the right wall, Aaron counted five of them. Following the hallway to another sharp left they crossed by another closed door on the left, of similar design as the door on the other side. The hallway ended at a door to the left and stairs leading up to the right. Reg quickly jogged up the steps to verify that it was indeed the steps from the opposite tower. The door to the left led back into the torture room.

Turning around they backtracked to the locked door on this passageway. Opening it revealed another room with prison cells. The layout was different though, with one door on each side wall and two doors on the back wall. Opening each of the cell doors revealed nothing. They were down to five known doors left. Heading back down the hall toward the five remaining doors, they searched each in turn, finding nothing. They were exactly what they were, prisoner holding cells.

"Aaron, something is not right," Reg remarked. "How did those ghouls get into that room?"

"Reg, I have been asking myself the same question," Aaron responded. "The cell layout was also different from the other side too. Why?"

"Let us go back and find out," Reg replied.

They headed over to the room that held the ghouls and went back inside. The main door was locked from the outside and had no handle on the inside. The ghouls had been trapped in this room, so they must have come from somewhere within the room or one of the holding cells.

Aaron painstakingly searched the main room and holding cells, until he found the secret access. There were light scratch marks on the wall by the right-hand sconce. The back wall opened to a small hallway when the torch sconce on the right of the main door was turned to the right.

"This body was a Shoc-Du," Rac-Nur remarked. "We will need to proceed with caution."

"Is he from your hunting party?" Reg asked.

"No, he is from the same clan, but not my hunting party," Rac-Nur replied. "I cannot tell who he was, since his face has been torn off, but he was not of my hunting lodge."

Stepping into the unlit narrow hallway, Aaron once again created a ball of bluish light that bobbed alongside casting its eerie glow all around. Stone steps led down approximately ten feet ending at a perpendicular hallway running in both directions. The hallway to the left ran under where the torture room of the dungeon would be and ended at an intersection of another hallway. The hallway to the right ran about ten feet before ending at an intersecting hallway going both left and right.

"Gods, the smell!" Reg exclaimed. "This place smells like death and decay."

"That is what we are likely to find down here," Aaron replied, looking down both sections of the hallway. "This must be the catacombs under the keep."

"Well, Aaron, left or right?" Reg asked.

"Might as well go left first," Aaron replied, moving off in that direction. "It goes away from the keep and may be the entrance. The other direction goes back under the keep. If we run into trouble, which I suspect we will, knowing the layout of our escape route will be good."

Coming to the intersection they found dead bodies near the opening to the left - two ghouls and a dark elf.

"It looks like a dark elf hunting party came this way," Aaron said, inspecting the tracks in the dirt floor, "and headed off toward the keep. Sometime later two dark elves came back this way in a hurry, being chased, and ran into several ghouls here. The survivor backtracked up the stairs, being chased by four ghouls and was ultimately cornered and killed in that cell room."

"So the exit is probably down the hallway to the left," Reg replied. "Let us take the hall to the right and see where it goes first."

The right-hand hallway dead-ended at a metal ladder anchored to the wall. They climbed about fifteen feet and came to a landing with another ladder, anchored to the wall, at the far end. They continued up to another landing, and another ladder anchored to the wall at the far end. Up again to another landing, but this time there wasn't another ladder.

Aaron searched for a lever or some other trip mechanism, and after finding it, opened the door into a lavish bedroom.

By the scope of its size and the decor, they reasoned that it was the master's bed chamber. They had found a secret escape route. Not wanting to waste the time to search this room and all of the upstairs, they headed back down the ladders.

Crossing the intersection and stepping over the bodies, they continued down the hallway to where it ended roughly fifty feet later at a wall with another ladder anchored in it. Looking up into the tunnel, Reg could see a closed access lid. Climbing up the ladder, Aaron slowly lifted the hinged lid enough to see all around.

The entrance to the catacombs under the dungeon was in a large hollowed out tree base in the forest. Closing the lid, Aaron climbed back down and shared the discovery with his companions. Satisfied, that they had the layout of their escape route, they headed back up the hallway, turned right, passed the stairs leading up to the dungeon, and came to the cross hallway.

"Left or right, Reg?" Aaron asked. "Your call this time."

At his gesture toward the left, they headed down the hall and found more bodies. Four dark elves and a dozen or so ghouls were strewn around the floor. At the end of the hallway was a set of closed oaken doors. Using their tried and true method of entry, Aaron opened the doors and went left, Reg went right, and Rac-Nur filled the doorway.

The doors opened to a large crypt. They suspected that they were under the chapel, some two stories above. The two side walls were full of vaults, in each a body wrapped in linens and slid into its own cubbyhole. At the far end of the room sitting in a stone chair, surrounded by ghouls, was a Lich!

"Welcome to my humble abode," the Lich said, sweeping its arms.

Its voice was dry as leaves before winter, and it was dressed in a flowing robe, decayed past the point of normal wear. The body was cadaverous and clearly desiccated, almost to the point of being a complete skeleton. The Lich was holding an ornate staff with a large crystal gem on top, and on his right hand skeletal index finger was a large gaudy ruby ring,

"Where are my manners?" the Lich laughed. "Proper introductions are in order. I am Cullen, once High Wizard of Aithen, and who, pray tell, are you?"

"We are nobody of importance," Aaron replied, fingers creeping towards his sword hilts. "Just adventurers, seeking treasure."

"Nobody of importance, please," the Lich replied. "You made it this far, so you must be more than just adventurers. Do my eyes deceive me? Have we met?"

"No, I think I would remember you," Aaron replied, starting to draw power from the area.

"Ah-ha, now I know you, and that is my power!" the Lich screamed, striking his staff to the ground. "Kill them!"

Aaron felt the stream dry up, the access to Eldritch was denied him!

Ghouls leaped to the attack as the adventurers fought them off. Reg and Rac-Nur were battling the ghouls, so Aaron concentrated on the Lich. Pulling his swords, both bathed in blue light, he advanced.

"I thought you looked familiar, and now I know why," the Lich exclaimed, the gem on his staff began to glow with a bluish hue. "You are his heir, the reason I am reduced to this. My knights, come forth!"

Two Death Knights suddenly appeared on either side of the Lich and attacked.

The Death Knights were armored in full plate-mail, each brandishing a bastard sword and shield. That was the extent, though, of their similarities to the Thangdaemon Knights that Aaron had previously encountered. The Death Knights had no heraldry, their cloaks were decayed and tattered, and their mail had seen better days. They looked like warrior versions of the Lich, and that is exactly what they were.

They flanked Aaron and attacked. Aaron blocked the sword attack from the knight on his right with Black Rose. Spinning to the right and ducking to avoid the shield, he cut the legs out from under the first knight with Red Rose. The knight began to topple forward when Aaron sprang up and took off his head with a backhand downward cut of Black Rose. Spinning back to the left he faced the second knight, who was swinging his sword down in attack. Cleaving his sword in two with Red Rose, he cut off his head with a backhand slash of Black Rose. Turning, he took a side stance with Red Rose pointing straight out, and Black Rose in an over head position, pointing at the Lich.

 
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