With a shrug of his shoulders Krazixs follow Kentelos to the door.

(OOC: Oopss..sorry guys I though Darghon was looking through the door Attrah and I are at to figure out what the howling was behind it. He is instead looking out the back door so ignore my last post... Krazixs and Kentelos you don't need to go to the back door (unless you want to)).

All:
* After you see Darghon stick his head through the door briefly,
he flinches back as if in pain,
and then widens his stance as if the hold himself up and steady.
A clawed mark is across his face, and his visage looks a bit more drawn.

Then suddenly, you notice a mist coming through underneath the door, and between the cracks. *

Krazixs & Kentelos:
* You open the door at the back of the room easily.
Inside you see a landing for a very small spiraled stairwell going down.
This stairwell is lit by fluttering torches in iron sconces.
A chilly wind rushes up from the circling stairway,
seeming to kill the very heat of the torches. *

"Well it appears we may have a way out of this mess, from what I can tell it's all clear through this passage way. Now should we take the clerk or leave him? I vote we take him if we can calm him down maybe he will be willing to help us."

Kentelos looks back down the stairs and hopes it really is safe to go down.

Watching the mist seep into the room and shivering slightly at the howls coming from behind the closed door, D'Aleen grasps her bow tightly and turns from following Kentelos and Krazixs to address the others.

"I think we had better leave...and we'd best do it quickly. Leave the old man - he is a slave to his master and I don't think we should trust him at all to help us."

The elf is just about to start over to the door at the back of the room when her glance rests on Darghon.

"Darghon! Are you badly hurt?"


ooc: Sorry for my lag in the game.....fiscal year end at work which equates to all work and no play! :(

(OOC: Cubby, don't worry mate, rogue thought so too, I will have to make myself abit clearer next time.. my fault :))

"Argh.." Darghon steps back through the door and clenches at the strike with one of his hands... As he takes his hand away the cuts look better already.."Yes thankyou D'Aleen, this will be fine in a few hours..." He grins... "There's three rather large wolves on that side of the door.. possibly of the were kind..."

Darghon casts wood to stone on the door to hinder the process of the beasts... Darghon sees the mist.. "hrmm.. could they?" Darghon for abit.. "Thantos.. Attrah.. When I tell you to move.. move out of the way.." Darghon starts to summon the energy to create an air tight invisible wall against the door and surrounding wall.. "MOVE!" As Thantos and Attrah move to the side he casts the invisible wall spell.. the door opening slightly as he does..

"That should hold them.. But I don't know for how long.. Shall we leave?" Darghon looks abit sluggish after expelling that energy..

"Let's get out of here and leave the accountant to the dogs."

Vinoh says this grimly, as he is aware that probably none of the present situation would have materialised if he hadn't acted so impetuously beforehand. Resolute, he starts to make his way down the spiraling stairwell.

D'Aleen locks eyes with Thantos instinctively and then turns to follow Vinoh down the stairwell.

"I think our energy is better saved for our ultimate battle....I choose flight before fight this time around. Leave the "dogs" to Darghon's barrier."

Darghon pants and leans on a wall.. "This is not normal.." Darghon looks for the father.. "Father.. could you check me over please"

"Where do we want to go..? I think that we should head maybe through the door, then we'll have something between us and them when my barrier vanishes.. But either way we have to keep moving..." Darghon shakes his head blinking abit.. then slides down the wall.. "urgh.."

Krazixs looks at the fallen Darghon slumped against the wall. Not waiting for the Father the small elf instinctively steps to his fallen comrade. Grasping his injured head in both of his hands Krazixs let's his energy flow into the wounds and the poison flowing through Darghon's body. A brilliant white light shines from his hands as the wounds close and the venom in his veins subsides. With a small smile of satisfaction on his face Krazixs falls unconcious in utter exhaustion.

Watching everything happening,the knight begins to wonder about the mark on Darghon's face.

"Werewolves? Might I remind everyone that Lycanthropy is a disease...and Darghon may have contracted it.I doubt I need to say this,but a werewolf half dragon could become a problem."

Watching Krazixs' actions as well...

"As noble as that may have been,our problems might have just gotten worse..."

Drawing his Father's sword...

"Father Quadrial,unless you can assure me that this disease can be cured,I'm afraid I will have to put them down."

Krazixs sits up in a dazed stupor, head on his knees panting. He felt as if he had just tried to lift the entire castle on his back. Looking at Darghon's wound the elf see's he wasn't succesful in healing his wounds. They were half healed, and although they did not look as festering as before the elf could still sense a illness emmanating from him.
Krazixs looks at everyone with a shamed apologetic smile.

"I don't know why I thought I could heal it, I haven't used healing abilities since before . . . " Krazixs voice trailed off, before what, he couldn't remember.

While everyone is fussing over Darghon's wound Kentelos moves over to the door and opens it, not sure, and not really caring whats on the other side.

"We need to keep moving friends. Time is not something we have alot of."

Having come down behind everyone, Thantos takes a look at the situation and agrees with Kentelos.

"Kentelos...check out what's on the other side quickly...we still have time to head down further if needed. Attrah..put your sword away. Darghon is one of us. We have no idea if they were in fact werewolves and even if they were we have no idea how they will react with a half-dragon. Most dragons have some sort of magical resistance and he may be able to fight this off. "

Glaring at Attrah, Thantos moves sheaths his sword and lifts Darghon as best he can. Since Darghon is in his dragon shape and is quite large the best Thantos can do is get under his arms and drag him. Thantos will start to drag him towards the door unless Kentelos comes back with bad news about the room...

"Thankyou Krazixs.. It would seem you have a great power hidden with in you.. almost forgotten with time.." Darghon gets up with Thantos help.. "Thankyou as.. well.. Thantos.."

Darghon waits for Father Quadrial..

Reaching out to touch the half-dragon Father Quadrial feels a horrible sorrow like something has been torn away.
A piece of the warriors soul has been carried away to who know where.
He remember some of the learned texts he had read describing just such an effect when an undead master tried to drain the life force of a cleric and had been fought off.
The only problem was that the cleric had gone mad and spent the rest of his days weeping and mourning the loss of that part of his soul that would never return.
But this was no cleric it was a warrior with the magic of a dragon.
Only a true master of darkness could do such a thing.

"OK, you annoying amulet this is your chance to prove yourself worth my having to listen to you whine and complain all the time."
"What are you talking to me? When some dumb dragon warrior needs help you decide to ask me for help? And without a bit of common politeness I might add..."
Not willing to listen for another minute, Father Quadrial reaches out with both hand and digs deep into the blisters on the half/dragons skin/hide.
With a moan he lets every bit of him self that he can afford to release go.
Slowly the dark void is filled.
Staggering backward, he sits with a thump on the floor.
"My friends, let us hope I don't have to do that again very soon or you will have to carry me from this place on my sheild."

Darghon listens to the father and agrees.. "Yes it does feel like something is missing now that you mention it.." Darghon watches the argument between the father and his beads.. he tries to laugh.. but can't be bothered..

After receiving the healing he grins.. feeling better and whole again. Getting up he lends the father a hand picking him up to his feet and thanking him gratefully "Don't worry father.. if you need to be carried out I'll be glad to lend you a hand.."

"So all.. shall we go.. but which way? Onwards or down the stairs?" Darghon raises an eyebrow..

Wondering if Father Quadrial had done the trick,Attrah looked back into Thantos' glare.

The knight once again weighed his comrades.This "bond" they shared could get them into trouble.In times of war,you cut your losses and saved what you could..it simply made sense.Attrah didn't exactly feel the need to attack Darghon or Krazixs..but he also didn't exactly like the idea of having two possible werewolves getting a sneak attack.This left the knight with two options,trust Father Quadrial's abilities..or he could attack Darghon and Krazixs..

Trust...or safety...

The knight stepped foward toward Thantos,put his sword away..and simply stated..
"I am with you.Let's hope it doesent cost us our lives."

Having to rely on someone else..give them his trust..a very new concept to Attrah..and one he didn't like very much.

Sparrow watching from the back, steps up to the center of the group, "friends we have two choices, stand and fight, or move on. We need to choose and choose now." He looks back toward the stairs they had just came down. "It is my duty to myself to fight but my duty to you to see you to saftey." He draws his sword. "I am ready either way but please choose now so we may be ready with what we choose."

"It's possible that either way we go we are going to start running into resistance, obviously we've alerted the master of this place, as if he didn't already know we are here."

Still a little shocked with Attrah's callous attitude towards her comrades, D'Aleen is thankful to see that the Father and Krazixs were apparently successful in aiding Darghon.

A slight frown flitted across her face as she thought about the trials they would face in the near future. They would need to stick together as a group and stand united in order to succeed. She reminded herself that she knew nothing of the knights past and that he may have very valid reasons for his apparent mistrust and aloof attitude. Sighing she looked to the rest of the group gathered on the landing.

"I suggest going through the door.....whichever we choose I agree it should be done with haste. We have, quite obviously, lost any element of surprise we may have had."

Relaxing noticeably when Attrah put his sword away Thantos tosses a quick, "thank god" glance towards D'Aleen and then turns towards Kentelos, thankful he wouldn't have to fight one of his own party.

"Kentelos...did you see anything behind that door down the hall? I'm leaving my vote up to you considering you have a little more info at to our current situation. "

Kentelos:
* As you glance through the door you note this...

A hall stands in deadly silence.
The low ceiling sags from heavy beams.
A fog clings to the floor in thick patches, obscuring everything less than 3 feet above the floor.
You see double doors to your left on the wall near you,
and you see a door across from you and one further down.
The hall extends farther you can see in the shadows to your left. *

(OOC: 'Deadly Silence' Don't like that rogue :p)

"Yes Kentelos.. This is your choice.." Darghon stands ready..

Peering over Kentelos and into the hall, Vinoh speaks in a whisper.

"I don't really like what I'm seeing here, but you all know how I dread going downstairs, for perhaps this place has catacombs as well. Therefore, I'm for going through this hall. Any light magic would be most appreciated."

Then, thinking back to the powers of Attrah's shield, the mind mage gets an idea.

"Attrah, why don't you activate that air bubble again? This could help dispel the fog..."

Finding that the various aches and pains that have come age and battle have returned in full force, Father Quadrial limps a bit.
He raises his staff and a warm light flows from it out into the hall.

Darghon notices the father limping and wishes that there was something he could do.. but even he could not turn back time.. "Hey father.. if we need to move quickly I can always just throw you over my shoulder.." Darghon gives Father Quadrial a grin..

Darghon follows the group into the foggy hallway

Krazixs falls back towards the father.

"Here we can both lean on each other"

The small elf takes the fathers arm and helps him down the hall.

Kentelos, looking down the dark hallway decides to light things up a bit and creates fire that sticks to the walls, they almost resemble torches. He also prepares to cast a rather large fireball that will fill the hallway, torching anything in it's path.

Speaking low "If you all wouldn't mind letting me lead the way I have something in store if this creature is dangerous and I do not want to hurt any of you."

Darghon looks over Kentelos shoulder and see the ominous figure walking towards them... "Great.. we just can't win can we.." Darghon prepares himself for anything..

The knight raps his shield three times...

And while staring ahead at the creature..

"Don't act so suprised by my actions,I would expect no less in return if I had been the one infected.From now on I will hold my ideals to myself."


The knight realized his relationship with the group was beginning to sour.Everyone besides himself were friends ...Friendship..love..two of the things Attrah had seen kill more men than the sword.Emotion was poison to the mind.

Dismissing his thoughts..the knight readied himself for battle.

*In the lighted hall now you see a shriveled old man in tattered clothing
slowly shuffling towards you...when he started mumbling. *

"heh....heh"
"must finish the meal"
"come, come....lords & ladies you must retire to your rooms"
"fancy up, get ready"
"dinner will be soon, you need to look you best"
"hrmph...heh.....heheheheheehehehehe"
*cough*

Remembering what happened with the last "servant" type Kentelos takes no chances and launches a Ball of fire that fills the hallway at the old man. He hopes that all that will be left is a pile of ash.

"Begone servant of the dark master!!"

Upon seeing the unexpected actions of the fire mage, Krazixs throws up a shield around the stranger, hoping that it may save him from a emblazened death.

Seeing Krazixs shield go up Kentelos attempts to pierce through it and heat the old mans blood to a boiling point.

"Krazixs do you not remember what happend with the last servant don't be foolish!"

Krazixs looks at Kentelos with a sorrow filled gaze.

"Kentelos, you are right, however I cannot let you kill this man without finding out more about him."

Looking at the party who view Krazixs' actions with speculation, the small elf looks very small and afraid.

"Some people here are slaves rather than servants. . . I know. . ."

"Sounds like you've fought battles before Krazixs.." Darghon raises a brow "Knowing when to kill and when not to is a knowledge of the highest of warriors.." Darghon looks away back towards the stranger "But sometimes if you make the wrong choice things can come back to haunt you.."

"I don't wish to retire to any room, that only means splitting us up.. but I would like to know who we are guests for indeed.."

* As Krazixs' "fire shield" blocks Kentelos' incredible fireball.
The fog is asorbed in the blast,
revealing a set of bars making up the back wall of this hall
and a second door on further down the wall to your left,
and finally a broad set of stairs between them going up.

The ancient man doesn't even blink as the blast echoes resoundingly along the hall.

He then smiles a toothless grin, and claps his hands together cheerfully. *

"hoo-hoo! heh...hehehehehe...cough"
"That reminds me....I have to stoke the fires for the meal"
"Don't want it to be late now"
"Must keep that in mind"
"OK, young masters & mistress up to your room"
"You must be properly prepared, perhaps a good read while you wait?"
"I've got to check on the helpers in the kitchen"
"But I do have time to guide you to your room"

* He smiles broadly, his grey gums showing with no teeth,
and his head nodding up & down approvingly*

Krazixs expells a great sigh of relief, sweat stands prominant on his brow, Kentelos was indeed powerful, it took everything the small elf had just to hold up that shield.

Glaring at Kentelos' rather brash initiative that put even his previous actions with the accountant to shame, Vinoh decides to play it safe and use his paralysis on the shuffling servant, so that he may be more manageable.

*Psychic power: evil eye - paralysis*

After this, the mind mage turns to the fire wizard:

"You would do well to learn from our experience with the accountant above. I acted without much thought and it reaped rather horrendous results, so I hope everyone would rein their tempers, although that may be asking much from one who commands such a volatile force... We are very lucky that Krazixs' magic was able to stop the loss of someone we know nothing about."

"Vinoh I have an idea" the small elf looks around "Since we didn't have much chance with the book keeper and we currently have this one captive, see if you can delve into his mind and look for some rational thought in his madness"

"Well I was only trying to prevent what happend before from happening again. I apologize for acting so hasty, this whole castle has me on edge. Please remember I mostly have just come from a school, seen very little of this so called real world."

"Very well, Kentelos, just take it easy from now on..."

Upon hearing Krazixs suggestion, Vinoh tries to find out more from the old man, but not through telepathy, which could prove dangerous on an unstable mind, but rather through empathic reading. While this power is in effect, the mind mage asks the following questions and feels for changes in emotion from the old man, to figure out if he is lying...

*Psychic power: empathy*

"So, old man, you wish to take us somewhere. Will we come to any harm? If we refuse to follow, will you be punished? Will there be pain? Do you like being in this place?"

Darghon raises an inquisitive eyebrow towards the old toothless man and his antics.. "Intriguing.." Darghon stays at the back of the group and waits for Vinohs reading...

Vinoh:
* Your empathy spell tells you one thing,
this old man is extremely happy. *

Standing protectively beside Krazixs D'Aleen thinks to herself that both Darghon and Vinoh speak wise words. They must not always react so quickly for there can always be some good to be had in every situation. And, they may not always encounter enemies here despite their present situation. Resting the tip of her bow on the ground she looks to the others and lowers her voice slightly...

"It may be to our benefit to "befriend" this old man. He obviously knows his way about the keep and he believes us to be guests - he isn't likely to harm us. He could be a valuable source of information without even knowing he is providing it. I say we risk it....especially if Vinoh can keep some control over him."

(OOC: Sorry for the delay all...job interviews and all...)

Coming into the hallway just a little late, Thantos only hears the last bit the old man says. Upon hearing D'Aleen's comments Thantos pipes up with.

"I agree with D'Aleen. I don't think we should trust this man but we could end up walking around this tomb forever. If this man is a servant of the evil resident of this place then bringing us to the evil is probably a good thing. I say we play along. I have this feeling that nothing bad will happen to us at least until we are at dinner. Regardless, I don't think we should entirely split up. I say we get this man to take pairs or threes of us to the rooms and 1 or 2 people take watch while the other "prepares" for this dinner. Or we can all go and do the same thing but that could take a long time. "

Waiting for comments from the others, Thantos moves over to stand next to D'Aleen, trying to gain strength from her while providing some comfort back.

"Hmmm... it would seem this man is extremely happy, though whether from genuine contentment or insanity, I am unsure. Perhaps he and the accountant have been stuck here and kept alive for so long without visitors that the only way they can remain functional is to fully embrace their assigned tasks."

*Vinoh then speaks telepathically to the group.*

*I think we should play along for now and pretend we are official guests. Thantos and D'Aleen can pretend to be diplomatic envoys from a king, Darghon and Kentelos can claim to be representatives from a magic guild, Krazixs and Father Quadrial can say they are clerics from the local denomination, and finally Attrah and Sparrow can be freelancers wandering the land that joined forces. As for I, well I can claim to be an escort that led you all here. Perhaps I may convince this old man to let us pair off into rooms according to my scheme, while I go with him to check up on what's ahead and report back to you telepathically. What do you think?*

With that, the mind mage releases his mental hold on the old man, so as to ease any suspicions he might have and waits to see if the others choose to play along.

Listening to Vinoh speaking in his head Kentelos just says

"Sounds good. I'm willing."

Darghon telepaths to Vinoh.. 'Excellent plan my friend..' Darghon plays along with the plan "Well then.. show us to our rooms so that we may wash before our meal.." Darghon smiles and nods slightly..

* With a twinkle in his eye and a large smirk and nod
The old man turns and starts shuffling towards the door you just came from *

"Very good young masters & mistress, please come with me."

Attrah moves out of the way to let the old man pass.
Once the group has gone through the door,the knight will take rear guard.

The good father frowns. In low tones he warns the party,
"I still think it would be best if we were to stick together. This smiling fool does not have my trust in the slightest."
Smiling he steps forward,
"Kind sir, I would like to offer a gift to your master. Perhaps you take it to him."
Reaching into his pouch he takes the splinter of wood encased in resin that he has used before and holds it out to the man.
This would work either way, if the man refused to touch it then much would be known of his nature and if he took to his master then there might be an edge for them.
Since it would return to the pouch if it was just thrown away the risk was worth it.

* The old man squints at your "gift" and smirks and nods *

"Oh thank you, sir"
"It's always SO nice to get new spices from fellow cooks"
"This will go, oh so well for dinner in the stew"

* And with this he turns slowly with great intent in placing his foot upon the first step up on the spiraling stairwell. *

"Do you all realize we are heading back to the beast that nearly killed Darghon, doesn't anyone else see the madness in trusting this old man?"

"Better to have your enemy ahead of you than behind you, personally I'm tired of skulking through this place, whoever's here let's meet them head on we've already lost what little surprise we have." an unusal resiliance has entered the small elf's voice. Something was drawing him deeper and it's insistence was beginning to gnaw at the elf's mind. With that Krazixs moves to follow the old man

"Not quite Kentelos.. The 'others' are back down that way.. where we on the other hand will be goin up" he says quietly, he looks up the stairs and follows krazixs..

"Sounds good to me Vinoh. D'Aleen and I will play along. But let's all be on our best watch. Vinoh I don't know if you can have a small mind link to us all that can trigger if we think help real quick but that would be a little more comfort to me.

And everyone if he is just leading us back to that creature so it can eat I'll try to hold it off and you all take off back down here."

Following the servant, Thantos gives D'Aleen's arm a squeeze and moves towards the front, one hand on his sword hilt.

(OOC: I start a new job tommorrow (well just a short term contract with my old company actually) so I may be incommunicado for a couple of days. I'll try to log on at night but sometimes with a kid it isn't easy. Take care...and D'Aleen if you need to get me to do something...feel free to take care of my character).

"Hold, old man! Where are you leading us? We just came from up these stairs and saw no rooms there."

"Why of course they are, my lord...if you just follow me.
I shall refresh your memory"

Drawing confidence from the knight, D'Aleen smiles at him upon feeling his touch on her arm and proceeds to follow him and the servant. She slung her bow over her shoulder as she didn't want to appear too threatening to the old man, but her hand hovered close to the dagger on her thigh.

Hoping they weren't being led blindly into a trap, she glances back to ensure the rest of the group was following.

OOC: Sorry for the delay but I'm not online at home at the moment. Should be back to normal this week.

Krazixs looks behind him to make sure everyone is coming

* The ancient man makes his way up the stair agonizingly slow
each step a process, mumbling to himself the whole way.
The conversation he is having to "himself" makes no sense whatsoever.

You comes around the one bend in the spiral staircase finally,
seeing a landing that looks familiar.
The door is firmly closed, and you can hear someone complaining from the inside.
Strangely, the staircase continues upward with the torches lighting the way.
You can swear they only went down before...
The old man slowly makes his way past the door's passage humming a cheerful tune and not noticing any change or activity.*

"up, up, up...got to remember to add those spices soon...
those helpers never get it right...hrmph...hehehehehehehehehe"

Dargon keeps following the old man.. noticing places.. but not exactly sure if he's been here before or not.

Curious as to the addition of an entire flight of stone stairs..Thantos can contain his curiosity no longer...

"Sir, I don't recall these stairs going up from that last landing before. Does this place change regularily? How can you remember how to get from one place to another if it does keep changing? "

Krazixs' eyes burn with an intensity staring fixedly at the door ahead

Kentelos speaks in a low voice.

"Anyone else wonder if maybe this old man is trying to keep us from getting to our destination by taking us this way, we didn't even get to see where we were headed. Maybe two of us should sneak back down and check it out. I would be willing to go if someone else comes with me."

* The ancient man continues to climb step by step. *

"Oh no, my lord...this place is unchanging...
always the same...
ever the same..."

D'Aleen places her hand on Thantos' arm to catch his attention, and glances uneasily back at Vinoh and the others to observe their reaction to the strange words of the old man.

"I fear this is a trap....or just a simple delay tactic to slow us, to confuse us, to wear us out. The master of this evil place knows of our presence - I regret my decision in following this old man when he just leads us to places this hell creates of its own.
I'm confused....."

And with that D'Aleen lowers her head and slumps against the wall with a sigh of frustration.

Hearing D'Aleen's words Kentelos gets a small smug smile on his face.

"This is what i've been saying the whole time, all we have to do is turn around and go back the way we were going, instead of following this old man blindly."

Feeling a hand on his arm, Thantos turns and is suprised to see D'Aleen leaning against the wall. Turning back to her Thantos, leans in close but speaking loudly enough for all to hear, he asks.

"Do you sense something wrong..well more wrong than normal, love? I still feel that following this man is where we need to go but I will follow you wherever you may lead or feel the need to go. We shouldn't tarry long or else we will lose the group."

Moving even closer to D'Aleen, Thantos places his hands around lithe body and pulls her to him in a soft embrace. Whispering into her ear...

"Be strong my love, we must see this through to the end if we are to ever be free of this accursed place. Remember the good times of your life, relive them as you walk these halls of horror. Feed on the strength of your memories. They and I shall bring you through this nightmare and back into the garden's of beauty that you deserve. "

"Old man my patience is thin, I may have been mistaken in stopping my fire minded friend from incinerating your lousy exsistence, take us to your master now!" Krazix's voice ends with disturbing finality. The normally quiet weak voice, is now deeper and tinged with anger

"I shall feed off your strength, my Lord."

D'Aleen sighs and leans into Thantos' embrace with such a feeling of trust it frightens her. Drawing strength from his words and his unerring belief in what they were doing, she smiles up at him and runs a soft finger across his cheek. Realizing she must not show any weakness she pulls away reluctantly yet holding his eyes with her own gaze.

"Of course you are right...we must go on. I just tire from the illusions of running from place to place, not knowing if we are even going in the right direction. I will fight to the end for you, my sweet, and for the lives of the others but I am frightened."

Darghon stays quiet and patient... following the group..

Still feeling the touch of her fingers across his face, Sir Thantos keeps her gaze for a moment, closes his eyes to savour the moment, and then moves back to the task at hand.

"It is good to be frightened, D'Aleen. To be frightened means you are still alive and filled with emotion. To not be frightened in a situation such as this means you are dead, a fool, one of the enemy, or so far gone from reality that there would be no returning. At little longer and we will all have to eat and sleep. It has been a very long few days. "

* As he gingerly places his foot on the next step
the old man croaks...*

"The Master? heheheheheheheheh!
The Master is DEAD....DEAD!
Although he might be kind enough to join us tonight.
I must remember to set another place, just in case?
And where is that cat to chase?
The rats must not go to waste.
good meat, good meat to stir in, to stir in.
*cough* *cough*
almost there, almost there....
heh...heh....hehehehehehehehehehhe!"

Darghons eyes open slightly wider... "So you're master is dead? Does he still 'command' you.. so to speak?"

"And I'm not eating anything with rats in it...."

Slowing his ascent as the old man speaks rather unsettling words, Vinoh speaks telepathically to the group once again:

*My friends, I fear that I no longer like where this is going. Kentelos is right, it does seem as the old man is leading us away from some place, and I fear my curiosity has now grown bigger than my trust. I must find out what we missed downstairs!*

With that, Vinoh uses his powers to turn invisible and makes his way back to the place where they all met that crazy old kook, hoping for more promising leads and wondering if anyone else would follow.

Already being at the back of the group and seeing Vinoh vanish he quietly turn around and heads back down the stairs towards their previous destination. Hopefully this is where Vinoh was going.

* The ancient man cheerfully humming to himself
takes no notice of any change in the group's size
And continues steadily upward and onward around another corner of the stairwell.*

"Almost there, almost there young lords & ladies"

Vinoh & Kentelos
* Heading back down the stairwell,
you see nothing has changed.
The torches still flicker from the chill air from below.
And you pass the landing, with the hall & door you initially came through.
But now silence instead of the noises you heard before behind the door.
You reach the bottom of the stairwell and the connecting hall with no issue
except for the difficulty of negotiating a steep narrow way.
The door is open and in front of you, to the large hall.*

After hearing Vinoh's comments Thantos turns around and whispers to the group.

"I'm going to continue on with this servant unless we all want to take off back down. I still think that there is something he can show us. "

"Thantos I think you might be right.." he whispers to thantos.. Darghon keeps on following.. whispering to thantos again "Vinoh will find us if we are needed"

Glad to see that Kentelos is willing to explore the area further, Vinoh whisper to him (while dropping his invisibility power):

"Well, looks like it's the two of us for now. Please try and keep up, will you? The last time I went off with another of the group, we ended up separated. I don't want that to happen again. Now, which doors should we check out first? How about the double doors to the left?"

Without waiting for an answer, the mind mage slowly makes his way towards the doors, club and mind at the ready.

Sparrow remaining silent continues to follow the group up behind the old man. He watches their backside closely looking for anything out of the ordinary.

He whispers to them, "I am still here friends. I say we follow the man to his master and we can end this here and now."

"Do not worry Vinoh I will stay by you, these double doors look like a good as any place to start."

Kentelos's eyes begin swirling as he prepares for the worst.

Vinoh & Kentelos:
* When you go through the double doors
Darkness, cold as a winter sweat, wraps around you.
Large tables, scarred & beaten, lay scattered like toys about this room,
their wood crushed and splintered.
Dark stains cover the floor and wall.

The large room is 30 feet on all sides from you front, left & right.
There is a door in the center of the wall on the left end.
There is a door in the center of the wall on the right end.

The hall behind you is still clear of the silent fog,
but the fires from Kentelos' past spell have died.
It is still eeriely quiet. *

The party:
* The old man finally leads you up spiraling stairs ending on a landing.
The landing of flagstone 10 feet wide by 20 feet long wobbles slightly underfoot.
The chill draft of wind whistles mournfully through the room,
rushing down from the circular stairs on the wall right next to you.
A completely different set of stairs spiraling up in the opposite way.
Pausing only for a moment through the landing,
the wind continues down the stairwell you are on.
A single doorway with a heavy plank and metal-handed door is opened by the old man.
Beside this door, an ancient portrait stands watch over the area,
its eyes staring defiantly back at your own. *

"heh, heh...*cough*...don't let anyone tell you Cyrus Belview isn't a good servant...heh
*cough* Here you go lords & lady, you may refresh yourselves here before dinner"

* Inside the room a low ceiling, supported by heavy beams,
seems to press down on this room.
The west wall curves with the tower you have ascended to
and is fitted with three windows of leaded glass in steel latticework.
You can see flashes of the storm's lightning refracted through the glass.
Plush overstuffed chairs and couches are placed about the room.
Their fabric has faded with age until the prints are nearly gone.
A bookcase lines the wall on your side
between the door you are at and another on the other side of the room.*

Darghon looks about the room.. "Antiques.." he mutters to himself while surveying the chairs, he then wanders over and peruses the book shelf..

"Hmmm, it seems that this hall has seen its share of action, much like the rest of this castle... Let's check out the damage before heading for the doors."

With that, Vinoh starts to look through the shattered furniture, looking for any clues, and takes care to avoid the dark patches on the floor, which he still examines from a safe distance.

"Kentelos, how about some light?"

Kentelos nods at Vinoh and, in the same manner as in the hallway, creates fire torches along the walls every few feet

"There much better. Wow it would be really interesting to find out what happened here. It seems like a war was waged."

With that Kentelos also starts looking around not really sure what he's looking for.

The party upstairs:
* On the weirdly clean bookshelf, you find books such as...
"Embalming, The Lost Art"
"Life Among the Undead: Learning to Cope"
"Identifying Blood Types: A Beginners Handbook"
and "Masonry and Woodworking"

The rain pelts heavily against the stained lead glass.*

Vinoh & Kentelos:
* The stains are dark, old almost a part of the stone now.
Although violence has been done here nothing is fresh from those marks.

In the tables though, claw marks?
and along the walls, you see faint lines of five trailing along at mid-height. *

Walking along the bookshelf, Thantos feels a shiver go down his spine.

"All these books seem to have something to do with the undead. I wonder if we can find a book on how to kill the undead or perhaps the history of this place?"

Thantos keeps looking for books related to the subjects he mentioned.

Curious as to what sort of books the knight has discovered D'Aleen moves over to the bookcase to peruse the titles. Leaving Thantos to search for one that may be of help to them she wanders over to gaze up at the eerie portrait hanging on the wall. Feeling uncomfortable with the way the dark eyes seem to follow her every move, she turns her back on the picture with a determined shake of her head.

"I don't know about the rest of you but I am eager to meet this "master" and finish this once and for all."

"Well Vinoh, I certaintly don't want to see what made these marks on the walls and furniture. At least not with the whole group. Should we check out whats on the other side of this door?"

Kentelos walks towards what would be the left door. As he gets there he turns and waits for Vinoh to be there also.

Sparrow smiles at D'Aleen. "I don't know if eager is the word I would use but I agree." He draws his sword and notices the glow. "This place is evil, very evil."