The chamber grew silent. The dead were once again at rest. The only noise to be heard was a distant groan of a third undead. Moses quickly covered his hand with his glove and deflected any questions the group had. Kol took to the bodies and looted some symbols of an ancient Orcish tribe while the rest began setting out of the cave. When they got to the corridor where the hallway split in 3, Moses saw Kol go to where the sarcophagi were and heard him grunt with his sword swing, and the end of an undead moaning.
The group made their way out of the cave and set off for Valley’s Rest. Carrick hung Tomas over his shoulder, Moses kept his eyes peeled, Kol twirled some stone he had picked up from a corpse within his hand, and Nahlir tucked in some cloth that had come loose in the excitement of the cave. Halfway through the journey, Moses noticed some movement and with the help of a flash of lightning, was able to identify the pursuing threat. A pack of wolves had found them. Moses yelled at them to prepare themselves.
Carrick placed Tomas in the center of the group, and charged for the biggest wolf. He gave it a good cleaving which was then followed by a snap back of the wolf. Kol ran beside and plunged his blades into it. A smaller wolf tried to help its leader and attempted to bite the drow. Nahlir eldritch blasted one and did a spell that gave him a protection of some kind. A third and fourth wolf advanced and tried to strike Nahlir and by some luck Moses avoided it. Having seen Carrick take a hit, Moses whispered a word, “Leaf,” which seemed to revitalize him a bit and tried to swing Moonsplitter at the wolf attempting to take his life. He missed. Carrick cut the head off of the big wolf and prepared to strike out at the one that lunged at Kol. Kol took a swift revenge and cut up the wolf. The wolf in front of Moses didn’t miss and suddenly the world went black for him…
In the quiet dark, his mind wandered to his first encounter with the wolves of this mountain. He saw himself out of body and watched as he struggled to make it out of that encounter alive. Then he watched has his weakened self fell to the ground out of exhaustion. He heard his cries for help fade as he passed out. He watched himself lay in the snow, unable to move or look away. Then he saw a faint torch light coming to his body. An elderly couple trudging their way up the mountain. It was a halfing and an elf that was coming to him. It was Edwyn and Thessa. They walked past his body and came to where Moses was watching.
“It’s alright dear, we’ll take care of him,” Thessa began. “You need to get back where you belong, the world needs you Moses.”
“She right Sonny,” Edwyn began. “You’ve got to take Moonsplitter out into the world, it’s why I left it to you.”
Before Moses could say a thing, he awoke in Valley’s Rest. A bit confused, he was now looking into the face of Brother Harl. It was overwhelming at first, Ferris was talking of some magic apple sold by goblins, Kol was inquiring about the Orcish ruins, and Ethel was sobbing holding her Tomas. He focused in on Kol’s curiosity and asked to see the stone he had acquired. Moses concentrated and whispered, “compass,” and began to see the different schools of magic imbued upon it. He looked at it closely and determined it had parts of conjuration, transmutation, and necromancy magic intertwined with its fibers of existence. He quickly glanced at Tomas and found the same of him. Looking back down, he caught a glimpsing Nahlir, and almost blinded him from the number of magical goods he carried. He pulled out the Tome of Cinders and inspected it. This book seemed to have been embedded with conjuration magic.
Carrick finished consoling Ethel and agreed to take Tomas to his family’s estate in the morning. Moses lead Nahlir and Kol to his home and Carrick took the Orcish book to see if his roommate could make any sense of it.
When they got to the Overhill Cabin, Moses showed them inside and did his best to quickly straighten up the cabin. Nahlir pulled out an Orb which quickly removed the dust and cobwebs that had taken over. Nahlir then inquired about Moses’s arm, and he told them that he had it for as long as he could remember and would appreciate their discretion. By then Carrick had made it to his Moses’s home. He quickly let him in and locked the doors and closed the curtains. Moses showed off his arm to them, and Nahlir felt obliged to show his face to the crew. Standing before them was a living statue of a man. The hardened and seemingly sculpted man gave some answers as to where he had come from. A different plane of existence. Moses was curious and wanted to inquire more, but decided not to bombard him with questions after the long day they had. Nahlir then pulled out a pipe with wildly colored gems on it and asked if the group wanted to indulge. Carrick declined and Moses showed him to the old bedroom of Edwyn and Thessa. Kol took a hit of a pipe and when he exhaled, the cloud took the shape of a mushroom. Nahlir showed him how to use the gems and soon an exotic looking sword was exhaled. Kol realizing his mind was beginning to slip, quickly wiped away the smoke. Moses then took a hit, his mind had been on what he had seen while he was unconscious and as he exhaled, the cloud made the shape of a mountain summit and standing atop was a figure reaching his arm to the sky. It soon evaporated and he handed it back to Nahlir. He offered it to Kol and he decided to make the sword appear once again. It was a sword that he claimed the Orcs had stolen long ago and his quest was to reclaim the blade, Whisperfang. Kol’s words began to slur and Moses guided him to the guest room. Moses showed Nahlir to his old room and bid him a goodnight. He went back down stairs and grabbed one of Edwyn’s old jugs of ale and drank some. He laid on the couch taking a few swigs and watching the last bit of fire dance out its final performance into ash and he fell asleep.
Floating.
Stars.
Anxiety.
Moses awakens to the morning.
