Submitted: 5 September 1999

Sacred Book of Chadatru Recovered

by Vereth Llweleth

I shall try to recall as many details as possible, though if I leave anything out, I apologize.

Early in the morn, I was contacted by a lifelong friend, Camielia, who told me of an interesting old cleric looking for adventurers to help him. Preferring to remain an observer, I prepared refractory field and went to the cleric guild, where the cleric was gathering the adventurers.

Arriving, I saw a High Priest by the name of Brivibas having a conversation with a small group, most of which I only knew by name. Gabela, a halfling Shaman, Cunculchian, a human cleric, and, of course, Camielia, who had alerted me to the happenings.

I alerted Camielia to my presence, so she would be aware that I had arrived, and let her know my intentions of remaining anonymous, then began to listen in on the conversation. Little had the priest spoken when a few others arrived, the leader claming she had returned with a worthy paladin, as the High Priest had requested.

Amberly, a young cleric, was leading the other two, Miidnight and Redarch. I could see that Redarch was a paladin, by his dress, but was unaware of Miidnight's guild until the High Priest greeted them by calling them both "knights". Then he suggested that the entire group head to a secluded place for a quiet discussion. He stopped a moment, then added, "Everyone is welcome, even those in the shadows."

I chuckled to myself, for having assumed that a High Priest wouldn't likely see through my spell. Then released the field and joined the group, which then headed to Redarch's residence.

After having arrived and settled well in Redarch's home, High Priest Brivibas began to tell us the story of the books of the gods wisdom, ancient books that were onced studied and shared by the clerics of the realms. The books were said to have inspired and empowered the mortals who worshipped the gods.

Unfortunately, when the army of the Dragon threatened the realms, many of the books were destroyed or lost.

It seems that Brivibas had spent much of his life researching through the use of books, and recently had come upon a tale that led him to believe it spoke of one of these holy books. Unfortunately, none of his colleagues believed it as he did, and further, he had little experience outside the books he was eternally researching. This, he said, was why he needed a group of adventurers.

Of course, he would not allow us to enter into a situation without knowing all the facts, so he then related to us the story he believed contained the clues to the location of the holy book of Chadatru:

Apparently, the story had been passed down among groups of gypsies, a tale of a young Paladin. He was very promising, but a young woman caught his eye and he devoted much time to her, and eventually the child they had. As the Dragon Priests threatened to cover all of Elanthia, it was decided that a holy relic should be taken far to the north, where it would be safe. The knights had not the people to spare for this task, as they were hard pressed with defending the populace, so they called upon the young paladin to take the relic to safety.

With his wife and newborn child, they set out to the north, disguised as refugees. As they travelled to the north along the road to safety, a blizzard set upon them. Weakened by the cold, they could travel no further, and the paladin was faced with a choice: stay with his family to die by the road, leaving the fate of the relic in the hands of the gods, or to use his remaining strength to press on into the mountains in hopes of hiding the relic, and leaving his family alone to face their own fate.

The young paladin strapped upon himself his armor, and left his family, heading up ito the mountains, never to be seen again.

Hearing the tale, I had my own suspicions of where the paladin might lie, as well as some others in the group, who displayed this with vague and cryptic comments. I would stay silent, for the most part, however. Collectively, we decided the Paladin must have disappeared in the mountains between Leth and Shard, and decided we would travel in that direction.

The priest, Brivibas, showed his confidence in Redarch as a leader, and asked him to lead the group south. Among ourselves, we decided that should Redarch fall or the group be split, Miidnight would lead the way.

It was also decided by the priest and some members of the group that the quest should be kept silent, for there were others who might hinder our attempts at finding the book, should they find out. So we swore ourselves to secrecy until the relic was recovered and safe, then set out to the south after gathering torches and ropes with which to tackle the mountains.

Journeying to the south, we discussed various theories of where the relic might lie, as well as *what* it might be. We passed great forests, and continued toward the peaks to the south. Some amount of time later, arriving at the gondola, which we used to cross the great chasm to the mountain range inhabited by gargoyles and snowbeasts.

We searched throughout these mountains for some sign of the Paladin's passing. We looked in the cabin, the "lair" (as some call it), and the waterfall. Yet we could find nothing. On another suggestion, we journeyed south to the Dragon Priest Shrine, but found nothing there as well, so it was decided that we would return to the Gash to continue our search.

Within the Gash we examined Berengaria's altar well, but as one member pointed out, the Paladin would likely avoid hiding the book on something that the Dragon Priests would search out to destroy, and so it was we went south, to find the caves Gabela often spoke of.

Within the caves, in a dark room, we found a large boulder blocking a crevice. To some disgust, we found that the floor was littered with the remnants of people who had been dragged inside to be eaten by the snowbeasts.

At first, we attempted to squeeze past the boulder, but even Gabela, with her short stature, could not fit past the boulder. So it was decided that we would attempt to push the boulder.

Gathering our strength, we pushed with all our might, Redarch using spells to help increase his strength, and the rest of us straining under the weight of the boulder. The boulder slowly began to move, and a few attempted to back off and run at the boulder, pushing, in an attempt to push it out of the way, and Cunculchian, with something on his mind, left the cave altogether. Suddenly, without the support of the entire group, the boulder rolled back, rolling over five members, severely mangling our legs!

We collapsed to the ground in pain, and everyone began gathering herbs and potions with which we could heal ourselves. The bleeding was too much, though, and one by one we fell. First myself, then Amberly, followed by Camielia. The others tried to give us the clerical assistance we needed, and we quickly departed to find ourselves in a temple near Shard.

After gathering our strength to return, we felt a strange sensation run through us as another of our party, Redarch, was struck down. I located him, to find him near the Ferry to Crossing. Curious as to how he ended up that far north, I quickly located the other members of our party. I had no luck with Brivibas or Miidnight, but on locating Gabela, I saw that she was headed north along the Southern Trade Route, which led me to believe that Redarch had gone for an empath alone, was struck down, then Gabela went to find him.

Fearing for the safety of the rest of our party, we rushed north as quickly as we could, ignoring a few comments about our current state, as the biting cold was more than enough to make us ignore what others had to say.

Arriving back to the cave where we departed, we quickly gathered our things and reclothed ourselves. Miidnight apologized for the mess, since our glyphs had worn off, and Brivibas was quite upset that he had put us all in such danger. Shortly thereafter Redarch and Gabela returned, and Miidnight asked me to locate and retreive the Sorrower Ssliver, who was within the Gash and attempting to find us.

Returning, Ssliver saw to Brivibas's wounds, and made sure everyone else was in top shape, then we set at the boulder again, this time agreeing that none would let up, so that it not roll back and crush us again. We began to heave strongly at the boulder when Cunculchian returned, asking, "Are you *still* trying to push that boulder?" He didn't await an answer, but instead threw his back into the boulder as well, and with the collective effort, the boulder once again began to move...

Shouting and grunting, we finally pushed the boulder far enough that it rolled away, revealing the crevice in its entirety. While the rest of us stayed to rest our bones, Camielia and Cunculchian took a quick peek to see what was on the other side of the crevice, only to return saying that torches would be necessary.

After resting a moment longer, we gathered ourselves, lit our torches, and made way into the darkness...

Within, we found a room with bones scattered about, and the remnants of a few fire pits. Along the wall were crudely carved handholds, covered in frost, leading up to an icy ledge. After thoroughly examining the area, Redarch took hold of the handholds and led the group up.

Above, we were met by what looked like might be defeat, a rockslide had caved in the rest of the passage! Looking carefully, we noticed a slab, of questionable sturdiness, leading up to a small gap over the rockslide. We could turn back, or put our trust in the slab, which was held in place only by ice. It was not a hard decision, having gone this far, we immediately took hold and made our way over the slab.

Beyond we found a small chamber with strange etchings on the wall. Along the floor were marks leading up to a huge block of stone at the far end of the chamber. Slumped across the slab were the remains of a warrior, wearing plate mail bearing an archaic crest of the Paladin's guild. Everyone was excited to have made it this far, and a few, in awe, silently whispered, "the warrior.."

Redarch asked for someone to take the torch, to free his hands, to which I promptly agreed, hoping to get the light source closer, that I might see better. As I responded, however, there was a breath heard in the direction of the slab. All eyes quickly shot in that direction to see the ice fall away from the remains of the warrior stood before us. The warrior then turned, eyes glowing with an eerie blue light, and gazed deep into the hearts of all that beheld it, freezing us in our tracks.

"You can not have it!", the warrior exclaimed, advancing a few steps towards us.

He hesitated a moment, glancing at some scrap of parchment hidden within his tunic, then spoke, "I lost my wife and child, gave my very soul. No mortal shall possess it."

The warrior turned his head to the side, considering us for a moment. We began to feel our strength of mind returning, as a hideous smile slowly formed on the bony visage of the Paladin.

"No, you shall not have it!", he declared and began to advance Miidnight.

Miidnight and myself attempted to reason with it and Gabela said only one word, "Please..."

"Please Sir", echoed Ssliver.

As the creature reached melee on Miidnight, I warned her to be careful, just as the skeleton's eyes flashed with a blue light, draining the spirits of those present.

"Defend yourselves! It's an abomination!", voiced the High Priest.

Blades and swords flashed everywhere, as we prepared to do battle. I myself flipped quickly through my spellbook, desperately searching for something that might be useful in a situation such as this. I only came up with one, and quickly dropped a razor to the floor, hoping it would be of use.

The creature made an attack on Miidnight, landing a hard blow to her right arm. Maintaining a numbing grip, she retaliated with an attack that broke past the Paladin's shield to land a light blow on his arm.

By this time, the others had reached melee, and Gabela set in with her arzfilt and Cunculchian with his jeo'telo, both landing light blows to the creature, whose eyes once again flared with the strange blue light, feeding hungrily on our spirits.

As the three were exchanging blows with the fallen Paladin, Redarch overcame a struggle within over whether he should attack a fellow Paladin, and began to advance the creature. Meanwhile, I prepared the telekinetic throw spell while Camielia raised her arms chanting the words to the Mental Blast spell.

Brivibas became frantic, hoping that we could destroy it before it devoured our very souls, while Amberly made haste to search the chamber for anything that might stop the creature.

Miidnight fought valiantly to hold back the creature, while Cunculchian and Gabela attempted to unbalance it from the sides. Just as Miidnight was stunned by a hard blow to her right arm, Redarch slid in beside her and began his attack. From behind, Ssliver moved in and began a rushed effort to keep Miidnight in good health.

Camielia gestured at the skeleton, to no visible effect. Immediately after, I finished my targetting and let loose my own spell, to no avail, the creature easily dodged the razor I sent flying at him. Realizing the futility of using moon magic against this creature, perhaps as I did not, Camielia drew her own blade and advanced into the battle.

I was not quite ready to give up, though, and placed all my remaining mana into a final attempt with telekinetic throw.

The others continued exchanging blows with the creature, it seemed as if we were only hacking away at ourselves, for the creature was replinishing itself with what it was taking from us. It had to be defeated, and quickly.

Redarch landed blow after blow on the creature, to no avail, his strikes were barely damaging it. In the midst of the battle, Gabela noticed and shouted to him that he should draw a blessed weapon. He quickly put away his sword and drew another, this time striking forward with all his strength.

Scuttling around the edge of the battle, Amberly searched frantically about the room. She began pointing emphatically at a large stone, but so engrossed in the battle was the group, that only myself and perhaps the High Priest noticed.

I finished my preparations, and once again let the razor fly at the fallen Paladin, muttering under my breath as it whizzed passed, hitting nothing. With a grumble under my breath, I drew my blade and began to advance.

As I closed in on the raging battle, I overheard Camielia mutter, "stone?" under her breath, as if some subconcious thought had struck her. She shrugged it off and continued fighting.

The battle raged on, the undead warrior being struck from all sides now, and with another quickly advancing. By the glow in his eyes, we could see that he was not ready to give up yet. His eyes flashed again, draining our spirits to dangerous levels. Cunculchian weakly muttered, "losing spirit.."

Upon reaching melee, I discovered that my cutlass was too slow to be very effective against the creature, for I could not keep my balance very well, so I drew a dagger with my off-hand and began using it to keep my balance and position, and though I had hoped to be of some assistance, I fear the best I could do was lend a hand in unbalancing the creature.

The others fought powerfully, Redarch and Camielia striking with their broadswords, Miidnight landing solid hits with her scimitar, Gabela attacking with her arzfilt, and Cunculchian making quick, fluid strikes with his jeo'telo.

The skeletal warrior began to stumble back under the large assault he was faced with, unsure of his strength. I jabbed forward, pushing him back further, Camielia chopped in with her broadsword, Cunculchian jabbed in sending him reeling back even further. Gabela stepped up, landing a solid hit with her arzfilt, and Redarch following in with his broadsword, shattering the skeleton's left arm to a thousand shards of bone. Surely knowing we would win, Miidnight stepped forward and brought a strong blow down on the skeleton's leg, shattering it and sending the creature reeling back to collapse into a pile of bones on the floor.

With the creature dead, we frantically searched for the book, to secure its location. At first we thought it must have something to do with the parchment, but could not find it. Just as Gabela located the parchment, I thought to look on the stone to see what Amberly was pointing at. Lying on the stone was a dusty old book, forgotten throughout the centuries.

I pointed out the book, saying that I would be wary of taking any such old relic into my own hands, to which Camielia offered to lift the book, in case of any dangers. She took the book carefully, then held it up for all to see.

After passing the book to the High Priest, he said he did believe it was the holy book of Chadatru, and that it was necessary to take it to the chapel in Theren Keep, for he wouldn't dare open such a relic in this location.

"Once there", he said, "I will call a meeting for all to attend, and open the book ceremoniously, for all to see, then one of you will tell the tale, of the paladin, and your own, in tribute".

And so we set out to return the fabled book to the Chapel of Theren Keep, where many quickly gathered to hear the tale. Brivibas placed the book upon a stand, and called upon Gabela to read the words within. She cracked the book and read it slowly, cover to cover, as everyone listened attentively. After the reading was finished, the Clerics and Paladins among us fell to their knees in prayer, and many others followed their example, dropping to one knee.

After a few moments of silence, Brivibas announced that there were more books to be found.

"I will pour my entire being into it", he said, "With these books, we can pull the land back from the darkness that has befallen it."

Brivibas then took his leave, and our small band exited the keep by means of a Moon Gate, and used another to return to Crossings, where the adventure began. Thus ending our tale.

When it was finished, however, we remained friends, and our lives returned as they were before.

By my hand,
Vereth Llweleth