Session+46

**Nightmares, Fears, Dancing, Demons... and 4 chains broken in Castle Scarwall**
 * 5-17-2014 **

Having blocked ourselves in to a quiet room to rest for the night. Amid distant moans and rattling chains and bones in the distance, the group took shifts watching and slept... as best as the castle allowed them to...

Posy tossed and turned in her dream-filled sleep... Uther was there speaking soft words, "I love you. You are the most beautiful woman in the world." But he wasn't speaking these words to the barbarian gnome... instead he was just out of her reach, bowing before Bridget, wearing the fanged crown of Melar. He was gazing up at her with lust in his eyes and Bridget reached out and patted him on the head like he was a well-behaved pet. Posy was running for them in her dream... though as fast and as hard as she ran, the distance wasn't closing... Bridget looked up across the snow covered field and smiled at Posy, "He's mine now." The little gnome awoke with her clawed hands raking the air in front of her.

Erevin held a curved black blade in his hands, burying it deeply into the being before him... He pulled it back to watch Corellian fall dead to the ground at his feet. Filled with the pride of justice being served, he looked around a little darkly to happily see all of the elven gods lying on the ground in a heap! The drow gods were on the ground as well as he denied their begging pleas. Out of the corner of his eye, he seen Shri on her knees begging him, "Please don't!" as he took Eilistraee's head with one clean stroke of his sword. The princely ranger opened his eyes, and for a brief moment he still felt elation from the darkness that lifted the betrayal he felt.

Thorn slept deeply... riding atop a large mounded wagon of gold, bags spilling out because they were so full... he arrived at a gate into the city with a guard that welcomed him. "There is an entrance tax..." the guard took one of the coins from the wagon. "And one for each of your friends..." he took more of the coins as Thorn watched him, seemingly unable to stop him. "A sunny day tax... and it's Wednesday..." the guard continued on, emptying the cart slowly until there was just one coin left that Thorn was clutching on to with all of his might. The guard nodded, "Sorry sir... the poor tax." Thorn screamed at him, leaping at him with his daggers as he was overwhelmed from the situation... only to wake himself up screaming and grabbing his pack!

Wren was giggling in her sleep as she danced around the fire circle, carefree. Loch took her into her arms as they danced together joyously! They linked arms with the coven of witches among them, including her mother, Raven... all of them forming a circle of dancing naked women. She could start to hear a scream almost in the distance as she danced... and she looked up to see Kale impaled to the wood beams in the center of the fire... and Loch picked up one end of a heavy log, encouraging Wren to help her throw it into the fire... as it landed to make the flames rush up over the man she loved, Wren woke up with a scream to look around the cold, dark room... panting she squeezed the ring around her finger a little tighter. She tried to reassure herself, "Just a dream... lies and deceit... damned and cursed castle." She glanced worriedly in the direction of Destiny... and got up to start brewing tea as she watched over the others.

Yuki dreamed of Harbinger... and rich, dark...chocolate cake. (http://brokendestiny.wikispaces.com/Yuki%2C+Magical+Girl+of+Love%2C+Dreams+of+Mr.+Harbinger+Amidst+the+Undead+in+Castle+Scarwall ) Upon waking, she moved to sit next to Wren who was brewing her tea. The two of them glanced over at Erevin chuckling darkly in his sleep. The priestess blinked wide eyes, "Wren... why is Erevin chuckling like that? He seems a bit... creepy." The witched glanced over at him curiously and shook her head, "Strange dreams here..." Yuki looked him over, concerned, "Do you think he's been possessed? Should I exorcise him?" Before Wren could answer her... Thorn woke near them. Grabbing his pack, he searched frantically for the gold from the dragon's hoard, "MINE! MINE! MINE!" Slashing a dagger out at nothing, "I'll give you a 'Wednesday'!!" He panted, looking around. "Easy, Thorn, easy... it was just a dream," Wren assured him with her palms up. She handed him a gold coin from her pack, "Look... a gold coin." The halfling accepted the coin and wound down, his breathing slowing, but still groggy from sleep, "Thorn happy. Wren make Thorn happy." "Oh good!" She nodded happily. "Thorn's going to snuggle with Wren and go back to sleep..." he crawled in close with her as she accepted him into her arms. "Aww poor Thorn..." the witch gently patted him. He drifted back to sleep, using her as a comfy bed and pillow. Somehow... Mali and Melleron were trapped in their dreams and did not wake up in the morning.

Prayers were said and spells were renewed and cast. Wren used special ink that she wove with a spell to create a temporary tattoo that ran up her arm to help protect her. Everyone un-braced the room in the morning and headed out, taking a sleeping Mali and a miniaturized Melleron with them. We decided that to defeat the castle, it was necessary to seek out each of the other 3 anchors to destroy them. We came to an old room of beds and pots on the floor... skeletons were all over the room in various positions, but not moving. Despite Erevin's encouragement to come closer, Mari stayed way in the back of the line, avoiding the smell of the room. Thorn moved in, crossing the room to work on the door while the witch stepped in the room to watch his back. The skeletons began rising to their feet only to be met with a quick slaughter. The bones were already mending slowly and we moved on through the next door.

A room of thick wooden columns surrounding a center fire pit with coals that had long grown cold. On the other side of the room, in an elaborate studded chair on a dais sat a ghostly figure, wrapped in chains... Thorn rolled his special marble out near the chair to view him closer. Four chains came off of him, one of them was already broken. We decide we have to come back... feeling the evil centered here and recalling "the chained one's hold" toward the ending of the poem. Mithrodar... the Castle's 2nd in command. Erevin felt the spirits of The Wise Owl from the Tarot deck fill him with extra strength near this room. We moved on...

Once lavish guest rooms, now rotted, led us to a pair of elaborate mahogany doors... a statue stood in the room with a leather bag draped over it's head. Thorn crept up behind the statue. He noticed a ladder that led up to a hole in the ceiling. Judging by the clothes of the marble statue, he guessed it might be of Kazavon. He looked at everyone else around him, "Alright... spread out and hide behind the furniture out of line of sight of this thing... just in case." Everyone moved and ducked behind the once lavish couches and chairs now tattered in the room. The bag was so old that it crumbled with just a touch of Thorn's hand. Kazavon's face was revealed... For a brief moment, Thorn felt a strange urge to climb up the ladder... but he shook it off, thinking that the ladder must be bad. Everyone waited... hearing nothing... Wren peaked over her dusty chair to check on Thorn only to stand up and walk to the ladder... with Thorn calling to her, "Wren! Wren! What are you... Stay away from the ladder, Wren! It's bad." Wren continued on, "But I... must climb the ladder..." Thorn met her at the bottom, turning her face to look at him, "Wren. No! Ladder bad. Look at me." The young witch just blinked glazed eyes at him, gently nudging him out of her way to climb the ladder. Yuki scooted around the furniture to cast a charm spell over her friend to try and counter the effect by convincing her to stay away from the ladder.... but it had no effect. Wren continued up. "Wren... I don't want to hurt you..." Thorn sighed, trying to keep her from climbing up the ladder, "If you don't come down here right now... I'm going to send Posy after you." Thorn tried desperately to restrain her, but even in her mesmerized state, the witch was slippery and she continued up.

Up the ladder was a simple room with one door in the floor and another ladder up to a door in the ceiling. There were a couple of windows that looked out across the castle rooftops and a single shriveled corpse of a dwarf... his bony arms locked firmly around his knees. The thinned, almost parchment-like skin was torn in places, exposing the bones beneath, and a thick grey beard still covered his jaw, though parts had fallen off into his lap. Lying beside him was a coil of string and some tiny bones with a few black feathers among them. Wren called down to Thorn at the bottom of the ladder, broken from the desire to climb the ladder, "It's kind of boring up here..." She wondered why she came up here as she looked around. She glanced down the ladder, instantly terrified to go back down... she turned to the windows, ready to flee, only again to be terrified, shivering with fear!

Wren called out as she backed away toward the corner, "This is the only safe room!" Thorn called up, "It's safe? Like... a nice room to rest and regain spells?" "Yes! Safe!" "Well since we already rested... we don't really need that..." He looked up the ladder, not seeing her anymore. "It's horribly scary down there!" she shivered in the corner, "Why are you guys still down there?!" Fear was in her voice. Yuki turned to Erevin around the chair, "Erevin... Wren sounds really scared! I've never heard her like that before." Thorn stood on the bottom rung of the ladder, calling up with a soothing voice, "No, no... Wren... it's okay." "NO! There are bad things down there, Thorn! ...BAD THINGS!!" Thorn sighed, "Okay guys... the witch is crazy." "You think Wren is crazy?" Yuki turned to him worriedly. He nodded, "She's afraid to come back down." They heard the witch call again from upstairs, "There's a dead dwarf up here..." Yuki blinked, "I would think that would make her want to come down..." Wren continued, "And some string... and feathers!" Thorn raised an eyebrow, glancing back up the ladder, "Apparently it's arts and crafts time up there." Yuki couldn't help but laugh, then nodded, looking up the ladder worriedly. Erevin thought about it and shook his head, "He was up there so long... that he used the string to catch birds to survive..." Yuki's eyes widened as she looked back up toward where her frightened friend was being held captive by her own mind.

Yuki pointed back to the statue, "Maybe if we do something about that, it will help." Thorn nodded at the priestess, "You're going to have to take off your clothes." "Wha...at?!" she blinked at him. "Well," the halfling shrugged, "I'm going to need something to cover up the head... the bag disintegrated." "But..." Yuki shook her head, "Do you have any idea how much this dress is worth?!" Erevin emptied one of his bags into his pack and handed it to Thorn who nodded. "Thank you, Erevin!" the priestess smiled a little with relief, her virtue safe. Wren called down again, "Why are you guys still down there?!" Erevin yelled back, "We're very brave!"

Thorn used the bag to cover up the statue's head, "Okay... who's going to try it?" He reached up behind Yuki to grab her bottom, but she stood, just in time, dodging his fingers, "Thorrrn!!" He shrugged, "I was just thinking of Wren... she's in trouble. You hesitated. Look at the statue!" She turned to the statue noting that his 'loincloth' was marvelously sculpted... "Yuki!" Thorn called out from beside her, "Look at his face!" "What? Oh!" she blushed, "I w...was... admiring the sculpture work. It's ah beautiful!" "I know what you were admiring..." She glanced up at the bag covering the statue's head, but she didn't notice any effect, "I don't feel any urges..." she glanced back down on the statue. "Yuki!" "What? What?" she blushed, turning back to Thorn. He sighed, "Yuki... Wren is in trouble. Go help her." "Yes! Wren! ... uh up there?" she glanced up the ladder. "Climbing?" Thorn nodded and pointed up. "Don't you dare look up my skirt!" she shook a finger at him and started climbing...

Yuki took forever as she took a step and readjusted her dress, took a step and readjusted... "I'm coming, Wren!" "Yuki! Hurry! Come up here where you'll be safe!" Wren called back, still scared. The priestess shook her head worriedly as she took each rung of the ladder slowly, adjusting her clothes with every new step, "I'd be MUCH faster if Thorn wasn't such a PERVERT!" "Tell him to come up here too!" Yuki poked up through the doorway finally and Wren hugged on to her tightly, "YUKI! Thank goodness you're safe!" Yuki hugged her back and patted her reassuringly while glancing around the room, until Wren realized she was squeezing the priestess too tight and let her go.

"So..." Thorn yelled from below, managing to sneak a peak up her skirt, "How is it up there?" Yuki looked around to see the dead dwarf and the windows, a rather boring room... and the ladder going up to another door, "It seems okay... I'll check the other door." As soon as Yuki said this and put her hands on the ladder to go up, Wren felt a strong wave wash over her... Yuki ...was going... to DIE!! She latched onto her tightly in utter fear for Yuki's life, "NO, Yuki! NO!" The priestess choked and gagged as the witch clung to her with all her might, refusing to let the priestess put one foot on the ladder. Yuki gasped, "Thorn! ...Wren... is... choking... me... Help! ...Wren...you're ...squeezing... too tight! TOO Tight! Thorn!" Thorn climbed up the ladder to witness the two girls wrestling against the ladder... Wren clinging tightly to the priestess and Yuki grasping the ladder and trying to remove the witch. He couldn't help but notice how Wren was pressed against Yuki's back... and how Yuki flounced as she struggled to shake Wren... very distracted for just a moment... he seized the moment to slide himself in between the two pressed women trying to help push them apart, "Okay, ladies, break it up!"

Erevin started searching the room below, figuring Thorn could handle the two women upstairs. Posy stood by herself, sharpening her weapons with a renewed vengeance brought on by her dream. Every minute we were here... was another minute SHE had Uther... Erevin noticed a faint music coming from beyond the mahogany doors.

"Ahh! Thorn! Hands! HANDS! Wren!! Too tight!" Yuki struggled to still hold onto the ladder as Thorn tried to peel them apart. The halfling looked up at her, matter-of-factly, "This isn't exactly the time to be modest, Yuki! Dispell her! If that doesn't work... I have a Plan B... but it's not going to be pretty for Wren." Yuki wasn't sure she liked Thorn's Plan B. Dispel seemed worth the trying. Casting it out over their friend, Wren slowly let go... as she calmed... Leaving the room not so scary anymore... Thorn looked up at her warily, "Are you okay?" Wren nodded, "I think so... I'm sorry." Released, Yuki smiled, "No worries!" and quickly climbed up the ladder to the trapdoor above.

Thorn was looking over the witch, making sure she was alright when the two of them glanced up the ladder to see Yuki at the top. He leaned in to Wren, "Did she check that for traps?" Wren shook her head with wide eyes and threw open her arms, ready to catch Yuki if she should fall. Yuki pushed open the rusty trap door to see a long slanted-wall chamber... an attic... boxes were scattered about, "It's dirty! With UGGGGLY wallpaper!" She called down, her upper body now through the door. Erevin called up to them, "What's going on up there? There's some kind of music down here... sounds a little scary." "Alright," Wren nodded down to him and looked up to the priestess, "So... it's just a boring room? Well... Erevin said there's music down here. We should go check it out." "Oh!" Yuki's interest perked up, "Like dance music?" "I'm not sure..." Wren shook her head. "Well there's nothing up here but dirty, old boxes..." Yuki shook her head, "Everything's f...iiiiine!" Something grabbed her and pulled her up through the door, slamming the door behind her. Thorn called down to Erevin and Posy, "Yuki's in trouble! We need to go save her... You better get up here!" Erevin and Posy glanced at one another and started climbing the ladder.

Yuki's eyes widened when she saw her captor. His head looked like a flaming skull... "Head on fire... Your...Your HEAD IS ONE FIRE!" She yelled down through the floor, "Flaming head guy!" Wren yelled back, "We're coming, Yuki!" "He's got a battleaxe!! and I'm not talking about an old woman!" she yelled back! He smashed into her heavy armor with his battleaxe! Everyone heard her scream from above! Posy tried to smash her way through the door... something heavy was on it, not letting it open. Erevin rushed up the ladder with her, the two of them trying together to shove it open! Yuki prayed to Sune for Sanctuary, "Sune, goddess... Please let the door open! I'm too young to die like this!" She backed away from her captor, "C-can't we just TALK about this? Y-you really do have a lovely shade to your flaming face... Do you like cake?" His entire body burst into flames as glared angrily at her. Posy and Erevin struggled against the door! Fretting over Yuki above, Wren turned to Erevin's wolf, "I'm sorry, Mari... Wait here." She reached out and grabbed Thorn and touched Posy and Erevin above her, stepping through the dimensional door to get them all into the attic next to Yuki! On their pass through... something that had never happened before when she casted the spell... spirits tried to grab everyone, their claws raking across their bodies as they tried to prevent everyone from passing through... but Wren managed to will them through to the other side to find Yuki standing there with a cup of tea in her hands. The young priestess's mouth fell open, shocked by her friends' sudden and shredded looking appearances! "Wh-What in Sune's name happened to you?!" Posy turned to see the mainly unharmed priestess sipping tea, "We thought you were in trouble..." Wren apologized, shaking her head, "I'm sorry... that's ... never happened before." Thorn looked up at Yuki, "Why are you drinking tea?!" "Well... I was in trouble... but I put up sanctuary...and the flames just...well...I got thirsty..waiting..." the priestess shook her head, "But what happened? You guys are in shreds!" "I... thought you were in trouble... so I ported us through a dimension of spirits that tried to kill us to get to you..." Wren sighed. "I'm so glad you're here!" Yuki cheered.

Yuki sent out a wave of loving divine magic to wash over the evil undead in front of us and Posy followed behind her, going into a rage and slashing into him with her sharp claws, but she barely managed to wound him ... and the searing burn of the fire over his bones flashed over her hands! He turned and drove a sword into the little gnome twice! Wren turned to him angrily and made a mark in the air, giving him a witchy bad omen. Erevin pulled both blades, striking his flaming bones, and Thorn followed in with a strike of his daggers. Everyone found him to be difficult to strike and their sharp weapons had no meat to slice... and it was a hard battle! Thorn splashed holy water all over him and Yuki sent a strong bolt of pink light into him, dropping him to the ground. The sound of a chain breaking sounded in the air as his bones collapsed to the ground. Everyone was exhausted, but cheered to the sound of a second anchor falling... two to go. We took his magic armor, shield, battleaxe, and ring... and took some time to heal.

Thorn wandered over near the priestess, "So Yuki... how did you like your first taste of..." "POWER?" She interrupted him excitedly, "I loved it!" "I was going to say adventure rogue-ing..." "Disrobing?" she looked at him confused. "I was talking about when you went up to the trap door... and got pulled through..." "Oh... was I not supposed to do that?" she blinked at him, innocently. "You should have let me go first... to check it," he nodded to her. "But then you would have been the one to be grabbed by evil flaming head guy..." Yuki frowned. Posy nodded to Thorn, "You might have died..." Thorn leaned closer to Yuki, "It could have been a lot worse for you is what I'm saying..." "Why?" she tilted her head at him. Wren nodded to Thorn and turned to Yuki, "Because flames or acid could have come pouring out of the door and melted your face!" Yuki GASPED! Thorn nodded, "Or a blade could have come out and chopped off your head!" Yuki considered this and Axton's voice seemed to echo in her head from out of nowhere... "Much like the time Wren's head fell at your feet!" "I'm just saying let me check the door next time... You can rush through it after if you want... but let me check it first," Thorn nodded to her. She turned to look at him with a newfound respect, "Wow... Thorn, you're kind of cool! You face acid and deadly traps and stuff!" She shimmered with big, admiring eyes looking at him. "I just thought you fiddled with your tools..." He smiled and nodded, "Yep... that's what I do." He muttered a little to himself as he climbed down the ladders, "Yeah... getting mind- wiped... falling through a spiked pit... that's cool."

Everyone made it down the ladders and we stepped through the elegant mahogany doors... there was a spooky but delightful dance music playing... a cherry wood polished floor, clover shaped pillars supported the rose colored ceiling, and a wide dais for an orchestra... a few broken chairs laid in the corner, but mostly the lovely room was empty. Posy looked around seeing handsome and beautiful noble men and women fading into the room with her ghost sight... they were twirling around in grand dances. Uther stepped up and took her arm, leading her out to the dance floor. Wren was already swaying to the music, and Kale offered her his arm, "It's been awhile, my lady..." Wren smiled up at him, following him out onto the dance floor. Posy and Wren danced with seemingly no one out on the dance floor... Yuki looked out confused, "Wren? Who are you dancing with? ...Wren?" but the witch twirled and danced beautifully as though she was in Kale's arms. She looked around at all of the noble elves dancing across the floor and her gown was beautiful as she happily danced in Kale's arms... something tugging at the back of her mind... lies and deceit. Her and Posy wore down... dancing and dancing... as Erevin, Yuki, and Thorn seen the shadowy figure descend into the room, weaving his puppet strings with his dance of the dead...

Erevin pulled his ghost touch bow and shot double arrows into the shadowy figure. Yuki started to prep a dispel evil spell, but she stopped abruptly when she heard her own voice speaking in her mind... "Don't use that prayer yet. You're going to need it."

Feeling empowered by the spirits of The Carnival spirits from the Tarot deck, she cast her searing light, shooting a bright beam of warm loving light to pierce into the shadowy danse macabre. Her eyes went wide as she felt it's cold eyes settle on her... "E-Erevin!?" It raised it's inky black scythe and charged for her! The elven ranger heroically leapt forward, pushing the priestess out of harm's way! He took the full strike of the scythe on himself, gasping from the sharp cold drain of his life! The shadowy form opened it's arms to wrap around him... So close to death... Erevin could feel a soft pull for his soul toward the moonblade as he dropped his bow and drew the blade to bury it into the specter's open chest. "I will take you with me!" "EREVIIIIINN!!!" Yuki cried out, watching as the prince's gaunt white skin drained to a pale blue, thinning and becoming nearly transparent.

Thorn threw holy water over the shadowy figure from behind, trying to draw him off of Erevin, "Leave him alone!" The priestess scrambled across the floor and reached out, touching Erevin's leg. A strong wave of magic flowed into him, restoring his lost life! The elven ranger breathed a little easier as he felt it rushing back. The shadowy figure turned again to Yuki, whispering out as he swung his scythe through her, "Priestess..." She gasped out as the cold drained her life.

Posy blinked as she looked around, coming out of the captive need to dance and turning to see the others battling across the room. Wren felt the tugging again, Lies and Deceit... and she realized nothing was real... she turned with a menacing stare to the specter of death, "You... How dare you toy with my emotions!" Barely restraining herself from sending out a lightning bolt into him because Yuki and Erevin were so close... she sent out good fortune over the ranger. The music intensified as it tried to lure them back... Yuki sent out another powerful strike of searing light to blast a hole through the darkness! The music faltered and stopped as shadows scattered to the corners of the room, the specter barely still alive. Its scythe struck Yuki again draining even more of her life as she paled and leaned heavily back against Erevin who plunged his moonblade into the macabre, ending it's life! "We can't stay here..." Yuki shook her head, remembering her studies, "As long as the anchors are in place... he will restore and return within days." Erevin nodded. With Erevin supporting her, she cast, restoring some of her life and Erevin's strength and healed everyone.

Posy noticed a strange creak in the floor of the room and pulled out her axe, chopping through the cheery wood floor! A body was buried beneath the floor... someone military... with magic full plate armor and a cold iron longsword. Yuki noticed the sword was divine and holy and Erevin shrugged it off as if anything of a divine nature wasn't worth his time. Yuki shivered at the darkness...implied, "Erevin... ...please...be careful." The pale elf stood up, ready to move, "Are we done here?" "Erevin..." Yuki moved to walk next to him, "Mr. Harbinger... Just..." Emotion flittered across her anxious face, "...don't leave yourself open." "Oh believe me," he glanced at her beside him, "I'm as closed off as I can get." "Erevin..." Yuki, looking even more worried than ever, glanced for help across the room, "Wren! Talk to him..." Wren's voice was appeasing, "Erevin..." He turned to her, "Go dance around a fire, witch." The two women exchanged worried looks...

Thorn led the group out, passing through bed chambers and a balcony overlooking the front of the castle with more gargoyles waiting outside and a small gong... we continued on through hallways until we were met by two fire-haired sentinels in small cramped rooms. Erevin backed around to a balcony across from them and launched his arrows, but they disappeared into the creature's barbed flesh and didn't seem to hurt them much. One of the sentinels ported next to Erevin, slashing into him! Wren recalled a witchy book talking about these creatures with several immunities and resistances, "We need weapons imbued with good to fight them..." Posy drew the new divine longsword as the witch sent an empowered bolt of lightning over Thorn's head who quickly ducked out of the way! "I'm okay... We need to work on code words, Wren..." "Sorry Thorn!" Wren giggled behind him as the halfling circled around to stab the creature in the back. Yuki banished the one next to Erevin, but the castle brought it's captive right back.

The devil tried to push Erevin back toward the spiked railing of the balcony and the ranger dropped his bow to pull out the moonblade, piercing into it's chest! The barbed creature sent out an evil glowing poisonous miasma that Erevin moved back quickly from. Wren turned to see the cloudy balcony and wove a protective ward over Erevin. Yuki casted more protections over him.

Thorn drove his daggers into the other one's back and Posy moved in to double team with the halfling, slashing into the devil with her new holy longsword to bring it down with a final blow! The other demon ported away when his companion fell... leaving Erevin to quickly pull back from the miasma and Yuki sent out waves of healing over everyone.

Thorn moved up to a very difficult locked and reinforced door and he took his time to work it over while Wren brewed a new pot of bull strength tea. The interior room was silent and menacing with ancient evil. A large stagnant pool of water was on the floor and a bed hung down suspended on chains from the ceiling. A throne sat on one end of the room on a dais with manacles set into the floor near it. Branding irons and other torturous devices rested near the fireplace and alcoves set into the wall held statuettes and skulls. Yuki shivered and moved closer to Erevin.

The barbed devil who had ported away stood next to a demon woman with one of her arms looking like a giant scythe... and on her other side stood a creature with a barbed spiked tail. The demoness spoke in perfect common, "Greetings adventurers... I see that you have made it all the way up here... My minion tells me you've been quite persistent." Thorn drew both of his daggers, standing in the doorway, "You shall see how persistent we really are..." "Why don't you come in then, little halfling..." "Oh I will," he nodded to her, "As soon as you meet some of my friends... The first I'd like to introduce you to is my friend Wren... Wren?" The witch stepped forward from behind him. The demoness nodded, "As you can see this is all that is left of my infernal army..." Wren nodded, looking around, "I like what you've done with the place." The demon woman smiled and nodded, "Thank you. ...You are not yet bound to this castle. You should leave now." Thorn shook his head, "I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Wren nodded to him, "We're here for a reason. We need to defeat the castle and get a sword... We have a Bridgett to smite. I'm sorry.. it's nothing personal, but you're in my way..." *(Wow! I was so mean that night! Why didn't I try to dispell her and release her? Sheesh!) "Well if you're not going to leave me and my children alone... then I have no choice to rend the flesh from your bones. ...nothing personal," The demon nodded. Wren pointed her wand toward the infernal woman feeling empowered by The Queen Mother of the Tarot deck, sending a bolt of lightning through the barbed devil and into her. The demon managed to move to the edge, but she screamed out in torment at the devil in front of her, "No! My child!" She turned angrily toward Wren, "You call that lightning, little witch?!" She casted out a strong chain of lightning that danced its way down the hall through the entire group! Even avoiding part of it, it took most of Wren's life, but Thorn managed to leap out of the way with great practice. Yuki's eyes widened, "WREN!!!!" The lightning came back and struck the priestess and she gasped in surprise for a moment, "Wait. I'm still breathing... I'm STILL BREATHING!! HAHA!" Erevin leapt out of the way as well!

The demon snarled, "You survived that... then I have something even better." Yuki took a step forward with a silent prayer to Sune, and pulled down a bolt of holy pinkish-white fire from the sky! The barbed devil collapsed and the other creature screamed in pain, and the demoness turned, feeling the pain, to lock eyes with the priestess. Posy quickly moved in to intercede, striking the demon with her holy blade. Wren put a protective ward over Thorn before he entered the room. Erevin looked over the witch and the priestess, barely clinging to life... and he glanced back toward the demon. She was circling skulls around her and she looked at the group menacingly, "This will be your fate." Erevin pushed Yuki back behind him and made his way to the doorway, shooting arrows into the demon and sent Mari in after her. He suddenly heard a chorus of elven voices in his head along with a beautiful female voice, "We are still with you, my son." He put his bow on his back and drew the moonblade.

The infernal woman uttered a dark blasphemous incantation, draining nearly all the strength from everyone! Posy and Yuki reeled in a daze. The warm tea was all that kept both Wren and Yuki from collapsing to the floor. Thorn tumbled through the room to stab into the demoness from behind her, causing her to scowl and turn angrily, "Who dares to strike me?" Wren stepped back from the doorway, preparing a counterspell and making way for Erevin to move past her into the room.

Moonblade in both hands, he seen a slender moonbeam falling over the demon through a small crack in the ceiling. He whispered, "Prove me wrong..." He charged in with a prayer, "Eilistraee, goddess of the moon... and family within the moonblade... aid me now... for our need is great." The moonblade caught the moonbeam as he plunged it into her chest, falling with all of his weight and might into the strike. Spectral forms came off of the sword and seemed to grab her arms, holding her there as he plunged in the sword to pin her against the wall! The demoness screamed out, "Who are you?" as she looked up at Erevin, shining with a light like a pearl.

"I will not go out like this!" the demoness cast out a very wicked withering spell, but Wren stepped forward to release her counter, using all of her focus to wipe the spell from the infernal's casting hands. The demon screamed out, "Nooo!" The barbed tailed creature beside her glanced at Erevin and charged Wren, dropping her unconscious to the floor! It turned in the hall and penetrated it's poisonous tail through Yuki's chest as she screamed! Barely breathing, she still managed to shrug off the poison. Yuki grabbed the fallen witch, "WRENN!!!!" and poured holy energy into her, infusing her back with full life! Wren opened her eyes, amazed, "Thank you, Yuki!" The barb-tailed demon looked from one to the other and smiled at Wren, speaking in a language that they didn't understand... "This just makes it funner... I'll deal with you after I deal with your healer."

Seeing the ghostly spirits clasping the demoness's arms as she was bathed in moonlight and pierced to the wall by Erevin and his moonblade, Posy struck again and again with her holy sword, despite the loss of her strength! Thorn moved in, seizing the moment, and buried both of his daggers into her! Wren pushed Yuki behind her, stepping between her and the demon and sent out an empowered lightning bolt exploding his bones out through the hall! The two of them hugged onto each other, relieved that the other was alive and okay... nearly oblivious to the other room as Erevin pulled back his blade to cleave the demoness's head from her shoulders, sending her negative energy washing through the room for a moment until the moonlight washed it away. We collect her ring. A star showed on the floor as an entrance to the tower... pressed for time... we rest only for a moment to make more tea, eat some of Mali's cherries, and heal before moving on. Thankfully the blasphemy spell of strength drain wore off, but so does the moonlight from Erevin. Everyone stepped through the star.

We enter a vast cathedral-like chamber supported by thick obsidian pillars, decorated in skulls. Tiny pinpoints of white light dance in the eye sockets of the hundreds of skulls. Thick black curtains hang from the walls. There are lit torches on each of the pillars, but they are strangely dim. A tall statue of a skull-headed man, dressed in black robes, stood behind a black marble altar that held ashes, bits of bones, and a single skull with teeth and eye-sockets set with glimmering gem-stones. Wren shivered at the brief memory of the floating gemmed skulls in Thay. Yuki stood beside her, hearing a beautiful, sultry voice in her head whisper, "Now, Yuki." The priestess whipped out her ribbon, "Heart, Power, Make-up! By the power of Sune, Dispel this evil! Send it back to where it came." The skull started to rise, but then sank back down... and a chain breaks in the distance! The priestess, stood there a little shocked, "What? It...worked?" She shook her head quickly, "I mean... Of course it worked!I believe! I believe!" Wren hugged onto the stunned priestess, "Way to go, Yuki!" She nudged everyone, "We should tiptoe back out... don't tempt the demi-lich please." Four chains broken... we move back toward the room where we had found the chained one and Thorn's marble still rests on the floor...