4 - 056: The Fourth Piece

[K Man]

Very well. Both Udjat and Wizard will be coming back in. Look for their first post tomorrow.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Romar -

Irinys scoots you out of the audience chamber and into the strange glass elevator that brought you here before. As it drops quickly to ground level, the prince of Elves smirks.



"Well, that should make short work of your hunt."

He nods to the amulet you wear around your neck.

"All that we need now of you is to return to the Desert Palace, make sure all goes well with the exodus of the crystal, and accompany them for the two days it will take for our force to reach them."

"Then, you are free to go about your revenge."

The elevator strikes the ground floor with a thud and you're released into the cold night air. Irinys escorts you to the area where you've been so many times before and nods to a pair of mages following.

He bids you a fond farewell and before you can react, the world of Astoril fades away and is replaced with that of the Desert Palace. The cold breeze of the desert night wraps around you, taking your breath quickly.

You look about, noticing that the Elves have placed you in a darkened alley, not far from the ziggurat where the 'Life-Giving Lake' lies. Though the town should be sound asleep, it is a buzz of life. Citizens mill about the streets, talking of the evacuation to take place tomorrow. Some are excited by the news, the first real interavtion with the war that has waged so long outside their comfortable desert buffer, others are less than pleased to be leaving their sanctuary.

Through all the discussion and nightlife, you don't seem to have been noticed yet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

All but Romar -

Moving up the flight of stairs, once Mordrock deems it clear, you are greeted by yet another strange room in this fortress of oddity.

The room expands on all sides to be just as large as the one above it. However, where that room was solid floor, this has become cavernous pit surrounded by a simple foot-wide ledge on all sides. In the center of this darkness lies a stone pillar, less than three feet in width. Above this pillar is a hole in the stone ceiling, a good ten feet from the pillar top.

It's pretty clear that this is meant to be an obstacle to any invading force. A pillar in the middle of a pit beneath a single portal to the floor above--if nothing else, this should be a challenge.

The pit below you seems to be magically created, the darkness extending well beyond what the floor between here the level below should be.

You wonder what to do...

Map;

 _________________2_________________
|  _______________#_______________  |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................|R|
| |...............................|T|
| |...............................|D|
| |...............................|M|
1#................*...............#3
| |...............................|K|
| |...............................|G|
| |...............................|A|
| |...............................|Y|
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |...............................| |
| |_______________#_______________| |
|_________________4_________________|

[/pre]
<<<Legend>>>

* = Top of Pillar (3ft wide)
# = Top of Staircases, 1-4
...... = Darkened Pit
A = Galdren
G = Girud
M = Mordrock
D = Adelia
T = Alton
K = Krysta
R = Garor
Y = Yuri

[You're 75+ ft. from the pillar]
__________________________________________________________________________________________

{By the way, Garor is not dead or dissappeared, he simply went on a business trip and forgot to mention it to anyone here. }

[VemuKhaham]

First of all, before we're all surprised another time about yet another gay-cruise type of banner appearing on this site in the next few days, let me show you something:

...|G|
...|A|
...|Y|

Girud, Galdren and Yuri make quite the team...

---

Romar merely nods as Irinys briefs him on the last part of his mission. There were no unexpected things noted, so he would basically go on with what he was doing.

After arriving back in the Dune Palace, Romar quickly resumes normal types of activities, as if nothing happened. He begins to look around for some kind of place to stay for the night, like an inn that seems somewhat hospitable.

[Japic]

/me looks at character sheet. "Yup, got it covered."

Wondering what sort of oddball challenge this is Girud's mind automatically seeks the easiest answer.

In his mind's eye he sees the rescue of trapped souls in hell, and the safe return of Karn's Tomb. He'd used his boots of levitation then, and could probably do the same now. If not him, then perhaps another, someone with their full wits about them (unlike dex 2 Girud). He offers the solution to the team, wondering if it's the right answer.

I have boots that can carry us over; is this as easy as it seems?

[Jevva]

"More likely, as soon as you set off across the pit with your boots, demons will materialize and attack you while you're helpless in the air. But...that seems to be the only way."

[Japic]

As almost a forgotten thought Girud turns to Yuri...

"Wait a minute, can't you fly?"

(that would be a safer bet, since he can still maneuver freely out there.)

[Fangor the Fierce]

Krysta looks down the emptiness, trying to see if there is indeed anything there. She hears the words, but is still focused on the matter at hand. With weapons in hand, she reaches down with an arrow, stabbing at the emptiness, to see if anything happens, or if in fact it is merely an illusion.

If it is indeed empty, she looks up at the warrior. "We may be able to get across with the boots, and with a rope as well. I can get to the center of the ceiling, secure a rope, and let the lighter ones swing to the pillar, with someone there to catch them and swing the rope back for another. As for fastening the rope to the ceiling, these might work..." She then procures a set of Tanglefoot bags, sure to fasten anything to the ceiling, especially rope...

Whispering of course, as she has no idea what is up in the next level....