When we had dispensed with the vampire and Jiro had used what healing power was left to him to soothe some of our hurts, we investigated the other chambers that led off from the torturer's workshop. The room I had entered where the troll was confined was first to be examined. The troll was badly hurt and Jiro and Runa were unable to determine if its natural regenrative abiltiy was enough to keep it from death. Jiro's generous heart wished to grant the creature its freedom, so Shim freed it of its bonds and Jestak reluctantly agreed to help carry it up to the surface for further care.
The other prisoner rooms that were connected to the workshop were not occupied. Then Shim opened a door that led into a library filled with several hundred tomes on sturdy wooden shelves. A cursory review of these revealed many volumes on the Abyss, on methods and tools of torture, and on the personal history of the the vampire Therak Nul. His unliving existence had been a long one and he had apparently documented every detail of it. Zosta scooped all of Nul's books into her magical bag to take them back to Horgus Gwerm. Then she lifed up the carpet that lay on the floor, hoping to find a trapdoor beneath it. In this she was disappointed, but she rolled up the carpet and put that in her bag as well.
Next Zosta spied scuff marks on the floor that ndicated something had been dragged toward the wall. This evidence led Shim to discover a hidden door. Within the room stood a coffin, no doubt the vampire's resting place. Jiro heard the faint sound of something breathing rapidly as if in terror. He went into the room, speaking gently to tell whatever creature he had heard that he had come to help. There he found upon the floor a pale, wasted man in the garb of a Crusader, his hands and feet bound. He had clearly been drained of blood by the vampire. Runa joined Jiro, offering the poor man a drink of water. This caused the vampire's victim to be so overcome with emotion or weakness that he fainted. When he revived a moment later after Runa administered one of Iomedae's healing blessings, she and Jiro assured him that the vampire could never harm him again.
Shim then pushed his way into the room and in his usual brusque manner asked for the man's name and whether he wished to leave this place. The poor prisoner introduced himself as Idrian Vosner, a name none of us recognized. He also did not know who we are, indicating that the vampire had taken him before the events that nearly destroyed Kenabres. Naturally Idrian Vosner wished to escape the dungeon as quickly as he could. Runa helped him to his feet after his bonds were removed and helped to support him after he left his prison. The vampire's resting place proved to contain nothing else of value besides his victim.
Because Jiro was once more able to provide little healing and several members of our party had been severely weakened by the vampire's attacks on them, we determined that it would be better if we returned to camp to rest before proceeding to the corruption forge Joran Vhane had told us awaited us. Irabeth was eager to speak with Idrian Vosner when he was brought back to the army's encampment. Jestak informed us that on occasion the succubus Kiranda had taken Vosner's form to lure other Crusaders into her deadly embrace.
Horgus Gwerm and the sages he has recruited were quite eager to examine the contents of Zosta's bag. While I was determining the magical properties of the wand, dagger, and armor Therak Nul had left behind when he was destroyed, Gwerm asked if I could do the same for other objects his investigators had found.
We learned a few more facts about the murder in the camp that Aegon had told us of. The evidence pointed strongly to the demonic forces testing their ablity to attack the army with stealth. The result had put the entire force on alert. Irabeth also asked us for our opinions of Jestak's trustworthiness. When Jiro and Runa confirmed that they felt she was reliable and genuinely wished to make a new beginning, Irabeth explained that she wished to reassign Jestak to accompany Aegon and Darra back to Kenabres to pursue their former comrade Abel.
When other affairs had been concluded, Runa went to work with the healers. Jiro sought Gwerm's aid in finding ways to protect my companions from the shadow demon we expected to face in the corruption forge. I used my power to recharge a healing wand in Jiro's possession, then retreated to my tent to transcribe a spell Aravashnial gave me into the magic book I recently acquired. I think this spell could be most efficacious against the shadow demon. While I was occupied with this, Shim obtained a potion to counter the draining effect of the vampire's attacks.
The next day as we prepared to enter the forge, I girded myself against fire, and Jiro cast spells to do the same for the rest of our group. Leaving Jestak behind, we descended past the torture chambers down a flight of steps. At the bottom of these steps was a wide ledge overlooking the forge, which lay at a level some twenty feet lower. Along the edge of the ledge stood iron bars, and a cage attached to a pulley system to allow it to be lowered down a shaft to the floor of the forge area.
Though the ledge was not unusually warm, we could see the air below rippling with heat. Everything in this area radiated a stong aura of evil. Runa said later that she could feel the sorrow of intelligent enchanted objects as their good nature was turned to evil by the corruption forge. As Joran Vhane had told us, there were salamanders present, six of them who worked and protected the forge.
Jiro stepped up to the bars that separated us from the forge area and addressed the salamanders, saying to them, "We did not come to fight you." One of the salamanders replied to him, "You should not be here, our mistress will not be pleased." Jiro told them, "The Citadel has fallen, little remains to your masters. If you stand aside you will be free to do as you wish." The salamanders accused him of lying and insisted that their mistress could not be slain, threatening that we would all be tortured by the vampire. They did not appear to believe Jiro when the told them the vampire was already vanquished. It became obvious that the salamanders were bound there and would defend the forge area with their lives no matter what Jiro said to them.
Runa stepped behind Jiro and cast a spell upon him. Jiro then cast a spell of his own, granting aid to all of us in the coming battle. Shim, Runa, Jiro, and Zosta climbed into the cage and Shim used his considerable strength to lower them down to the floor below. I chose to remain on the ledge above to ply my magic against the creatures.
As the salamanders swarmed toward the lift with their spears at the ready, I summoned spears of my own, stalactites of ice that would do more harm to creatures of fire. But thought I recited the correct words and made the required gestures, when the magic left me it reached the barrier of iron bars and vanished. I realized that the bars, perhaps even the whole ledge area, were enchanted to block magic from passing. I could not see clearly what my friends were doing below, thought it seemed that one of the salamanders had caught Runa in its long tail. I summoned my spear and hurled it, but with my companions and their foes grouped so closely together I missed my aim. A second spear struck one salamander but could not penetrate its reptilian hide.
In frustration I drew out my bow and fired an arrow, though I had little hope that it would find any more success than my spear and I was not wrong. Suddenly Bohgnong appeared at my feet, having clambered up the lift shaft. "Use a spell that will let you move through earth and stone," the white monkey told me, then darted out of my sight.
I regret that such a thought had not occurred to me. I have no such spell written in my book, but the Ancient Tree has given me the power to cast spells I do not have if I know of them. This spell I was aware of even though I had never before cast it. I called it to my mind and sank into the floor. It is a strange sensation to be encased in earth and stone and yet still able to breathe. I could feel the lives of living creatures that dwell beneath the soil, and the roots of green growing things, even though such things do not dwell in the dungeon of Citadel Drezen.
After I had descended a short distance I decided to test whether the magic-repelling effect continued all the distance down to the floor or was contained around the bars. I was able to put my hand out of the wall, to my relief. When I had done this I realized that I could allow a portion of my body to extend out of the stone and attack the salamanders from above while partly shielded by the wall. I pushed my head, shoulders, and arms out of the wall and fired a beam of frost at the nearest salamander. It is not a powerful spell, but I can cast it repeatedly and such fiery creatures suffer more harm from spells of cold.
My companions continued to battle the salamanders, which seemed to be determined to capture Runa as they caught her with their tails over and over, perhaps attracted by the symbols of Iomedae on her gleaming armor. In a short while the salamanders all lay dead upon the floor. I am sorry that we could not persuade them to let us pass and return to their native realm rather than give up their lives to no purpose.
When I had emerged from the wall and joined my friends by the forge, I called Kirara to my side and cloaked us both in magic to resist the oppressive heat. There were other rooms off the forge area and these we checked for enemies before proceeding to the heavy double doors on the far side of the forge. One chamber proved to be the salamanders' resting place, while several others were armories containing weapons and armor and a workshop where the forge tools were maintained and stored.
Once we had assured ourselves that no foes waited behind us, we approached the double doors. Though they were quite heavy, they had not been locked or barred, perhaps because those on the other side did not expect any enemies to be able to get past the vampire or the salamanders.
A flight of broad steps led down from the entrance, into a chamber with a high ceiling. On the far side of this chamber, beneath a stone arch that radiated an aura of evil, lay a pool of bubbling red liquid that appeared to be blood. This pools was surrounded by candles and arcane markings, as well as by cultists who were clearly engaged in a ritual of some kind. I surmised it was the ritual to destroy Drezen that Joran Vhane had warned of. Several of the cultists turned toward us in surprise when the doors openened. I saw a tiefling woman look at us with an expression of mingled irritation and frustration. A ritual to bring down an entire town could not be done in a short time, and we had arrived sooner than she expected. I had no doubt this was Chorussina, the current commander of the demonic occupiers of Citadel Drezen.
Next: part 46, Chorussina's Bane
