5.03 - The Lord's Hall

Anneleigh approached the base of the stair and began to climb.  She could feel the cold of the wind against her back as she climbed further up the cliff face.  After about twenty minutes, and what felt like 100 steps, she reached the top.  Many spiders and webbed figures dotted the small lawn.  They took little notice of her, but she moved through them with caution anyway.  Across the plateau rose another staircase.  Anneleigh realized, with an uncomfortable stitch in her side, that she must have only reached a small landing, not the top.


Higher still she climbed.   Once, at what she judged to be about half way up this second staircase, she turned to see the view behind her.  One large, nearly dead, tree stood out in her vision.  The tips of treetops of more healthy trees were in her eye line, several birds flew past, and she could see clear to the edge of Scarwood reach.  Looking straight across was easy, but when Anneleigh followed the large tree to the ground her stomach fell.  She was high, it was true, but the distance to fall was made higher by the large crater at the bottom of the mountain side from which the dying tree grew.  Resigned to keep her eyes on the stairs from this point forward, Anneleigh turned and continued to walk.

When she crested the rise of the second set of steps, she could at last see Lord’s Hall.  It looked like the dwarven craftsmen had been aiming for a haunting look.  Carved into the mountain was a large doorway; above it, two triangular openings that could serve as windows or allow light in.   Anneleigh studied the image for a few moments.  A light shone from the upper windows.  It softly flickered, suggesting firelight, which she found out of place, seeing as the hall was meant to be sealed off.  The angry flickering light gave the illusion a sinister quality, but she pressed forward.

 Choosing to start at ground level and work her way upward, Anneleigh chose the staircase to the far left and climbed the final stretch into the hall.  Inside the first antechamber, she saw the rotting corpse of a massive troll.  She moved around it cautiously, and when she came to its head, she saw it had two.

“Perhaps Private Bure was not imagining things afterall.” She whispered into the silence.  “This looks like some of the foul abominations that the Mad King Aedraxis unleashed, but those haven’t been seen since the Mathosian Civil War.” She thought as she moved further inward.  “Obviously, there is foul magic at work here.”

Anneleigh moved from room to room, further into the Lord’s Hall.  All empty, each room was octagonal in shape and lead onto a similar adjoining room, leading her in a slow arch around the main floor.  At last she arrived in a room that seemed to serve a purpose.  At the center of the room stood a large carved alter.  Many candle stubs sat atop it, anchored to the stone surface by their pool of melted and dried wax.  

“Begone Fleshling!  The power of this ward is under my control!” A voice whispered in her ear.  Anneleigh turned in the direction of the sound but could see no beings that seemed capable of speech; just spiders and mice that scurried along the walls of the room, as if in a hurry to leave her presence. 

Anneleigh approached the Altar, clearly an Altar to Baharlt, and the air became a misty white and began to swirl around her.  From all sides she was bombarded by the figures of spirits and ghosts.  Unsure how to defend herself from creatures who were as unsubstantial, she placed her hand on the Altar and closed her eyes.

“I am Anneleigh, servant of the Vigil.  It is my task to discover this artifact and cleanse it for Telara.  Scarwood Reach requires this protective shrine to act as it once did.  The people of Scarwood Reach are in need of its protection once more.” She said in a clear voice to the room.

Though her eyes remained closed, she could feel the continued turbulence in the room.  She continued, repeating the same phrase for a second, and then third time. 

On the third pass, the voice whispered in her ear again.  “Begone from this place Fleshling.  Do not meddle in things you do not understand.  Regulos requires this wardstone to remain under our control.”

Anneleigh opened her eyes at last and turned to the source of the voice.  The multitude of spirits had been replaced by a single silvery white spirit hovered directly over the Altar. 

“Why do you fight for him?” Anneleigh asked, “Didn’t he promise you peace in your eternal sleep?  Yet here you are, forced to spend your days defending a shrine of the vigil.”

The spirit remained silent, Anneleigh continued.  “Is it beyond your power to leave his service?  I already know it is beyond your power to harm me; otherwise you would have done so already.  Instead you stay, watching, attempting to scare me into leaving my mission.  I am not afraid of you.  I pity you and your easily manipulated will.   Leave this place and seek what he promised you.  Peace and slumber.  Weather you find it yourself, or he finds you and ends your suffering, either option will be preferable to this eternal servitude. “

Anneleigh had no way to know if her words were getting through to the spirit, or if she  was taking the right tactic, but she stood her ground, hand on the Altar, and returned to her prayers for the return of the Altar to Scarwood’s protection.

The walls of the room began to shake and dust fell from the ceiling, the torches flickered out and plunged the room into darkness, the misty air began to swirl around her again.  Through it all Anneleigh kept her focus on the prayers she whispered to the Vigil.    After a seventh time reciting, the disturbances began to subside, and on the ninth, the room fell silent.  The torches returned to light and the candles upon the alter burst into life.  Anneleigh pulled her hand back from the softly glowing Altar and examined the room for signs of the spirit who had attempted to bar her path.  She seemed quite alone.

As she watched the Altar, it was engulfed in a smoky blue light.  It formed a bubble around the shrine which grew in size, changing from blue and smoky, to white, and finally disappearing.  Though invisible, Anneleigh could feel its growth continue.  She felt the protective orb pass through her and knew it was stretching out to protect Scarwood once again.

Anneleigh smiled and turned to leave the hall in the way she came.  As she passed a torch bracket she saw a small, dusty book, half buried under a pile of rubble.   Anneleigh smiled even more broadly.  Unwittingly, the spirits attempt to scare her through shaking the room had unearthed this artifact.  It was the only explanation as she was sure she had not over looked the item on her entrance.

Anneleigh picked up the book and opened the front cover.  The name Carwin Mathos scrawled in untidy handwriting along the inside front cover.  She stowed the book and made her way out of the hall.  With the ward protector restored, there was no need to venture to the upper levels.  The sanctuary guard would be fully capable of entering unharmed now.