We can't go through the libraries... he'll see us. He is always watching...

the trembling cleric looked back toward the bolted door and made a hesitant step toward it. Even with the warning of creatures hiding in wait, he seemed prepared to face that danger rather than what the library held in store. "We might just make it through... they will let us pass... they must let us pass... the Bishop is watching... he will find me... he knows what I've done...

It was clear that the young priest was losing his mind...

"Stop." Gadwin warned. "If you move forward, i will have to end your life. I do not wish to brother, but i will if that is what it comes too."

The cleric cackled. "You cannot hurt us! The bishop is watching! he will protect us! Yes we he will protect us!" He made a move toward the door.

There was a click, as two arrows impaled him to the wall.

"Well, now that our brother has left us, shall we move on?"

Hikaro took a glance at the dead cleric, before turning back to face the hallway. The end was unclear, but the library was ahead. He was positive that the cleric was mad, but he didn't really care. It was what made him made that worried him. He would've come in here nice and sane, and to return like that... It worried him greatly. It was too late to turn back, so he decided to keep going with the others. This time, he was aware and prepared for any unwelcomed guests.

Walking next to Gadwin, Hikaro asked, "Do you have any ideas as to what could make that cleric lose his sanity?"

Gadwin shook his head in frustration.

"There are a wide variety or possible reasons, but very few feasible. There could be a demonic infusion, a large undead uprising, or zombies of some sort. Or something perhaps of complete sacrilage. Yet there is no one to perform any demonic rituals, the undead would have been pouring out into the monastery and library by now, and the zombies would be relatively few in number as i trust not many people have been buried in the catacombs in a long while."

"And the possibility of sacrilage?"

"Only the gods know."

They reached the end of the hall without much interruption. A soft dripping noise echoed throughout the catacombs, as Gadwin opened the door at the end of the hall.

"Well, those possibilites don't sound very good at all." Hikaro said this and let out a sigh. Why couldn't there ever be an easy way to find treasure?

He raised his torch and looked into the room they had come upon. His torch didn't give off very much light, but he could see some of the room. From what he could see, the room seemed more or less normal. But, he didn't dare just run into the room without taking a few precautions. Using his Sense, he tried to see if there were any monsters in the room. There a few, lying asleep near the wall. He wasn't sure if they could sneak past them, or how many there were.

"There appears to be a few monsters, though all seem asleep. We could try to sneak past them, but I'm not sure if we could. I can't really tell how many there are, though."

With everyone thinking about this, Hikaro added, "I don't suppose someone could cast a trap-detection spell. I'm not sure how well it would work, but we might as well take every precaution we can. I'm in no rush to die."

"Here," Gadwin said, as he cast the spell. "It's clear, but that spell only detects simple traps. If theres anything more complicated than a tripwire or some thatching over a hole, it won't detect it. As far as the hostiles go, I don't think we should go running off just yet. Can you detect what they are? If they are difficult to kill, than we can sneak by. If they stir i can blind them."

Hikaro concentrated on the chamber using his Sense. He tried to figure out what the monsters were, but wasn't having very good luck.

"I can't tell exactly what they are, but they are definitely stronger than the skeletons, faster too. I wouldn't be surprise if they were sleeping due to a fresh meal of clerics." Hikaro had a look of concern in his eye. "Some of the clerics were definitely killed by these, but I can't be sure how many died. I'd prefer to try and sneak past them, but if you all want to try to fight them, I'll help. We might be able to kill them all, but it is difficult to say.

Hikaro looked at the others to see what they wanted.

Gadwin muttered another prayer of protection, as he attempted to find the center of the room. "I will cast what I can from here. Do you know if they are undead?"

Shimmie stared at the crazy man whilst the others conversed. "Ceshplargh" Shimmie's eyes widened as the crazy man coughed up blood, spewing it across the grimy floor. The fresh blood highlighted something... something on that grimy floor. Shimmie's arm stretched out to Silverleaf whilst the other pointed towards the blood. "Hey, hey, there's something over there!"

Hikaro concentrated on the monsters in the room, yet again. Letting out a sigh of frustration, he turned to Gadwin and said "Sorry, but that is unkown to me. However, I don't think they like light. One or two of them seem awake, but unwilling to come near us."

Hikaro looked back into the room, trying to think of what could be lurking in the darkness. Hearing Shimmie speak, he turned to face what she was talking about, sword at the ready.

"What is it? An enemy?" Hikaro was ready to kill anything that wanted to attack them.

"If we need a few stealth kills, I volunteer" Yanshiro whispered, "I wonder............" Yanshiro started to flip a few flash pellets around his fingers.

Realizing that what Shimmie saw wasn't an enemy, Hikaro turned to Yanshiro. When he saw the flash pellets in his hand, Hikaro smiled realizing what Yanshiro was thinking.

"Well, those could be very handy," Hikaro said.

He turned back to Shimmie and said, "What is it?"

"The blast from these flash pellets would blind them, ans maybe stun as well. They give smoke off as well, so I don't know if we will be able to see them either." Yanshiro said as he got into his fighting stance.

"Sounds good to me," said Hikaro, smiling. This would be a lot easier than he expected.

"Anyone have any objections?" he asked everyone.

The room ahead had a set of large double doors that were slightly cracked open revealing the orange glow of flickering firelight beyond. Through the space between the door and wall, there could be seen great shelves housing scores of books.

The floor between the group and the far door was cracked and up-heaved from the earth-shake that the cleric of the monastery had mentioned. in the dim light, it was impossible to gauge the size or depth of some of these fissures...


With little time to react, something large came up behind the group and lashed out with a mighty club, striking Shimmie in the shoulder with a horrid "CRACK"... It was surely a serious break of bone. The creatures where large, fat and disgusting lumps of lard and muscle. Their faces were twisted in rage and hate.

Looking about the room, large bodies began to haul themselves up from the lower depths of the room through the cracks in the floor. There must be a level below that had been exposed when the floor had cracked. If these were the Libraries through the doors, then below must be the crypts... the labyrinth of the ancient tombs of the monastery.

Hikaro charged the deformed monster that had attacked Shimmie. Running up to it, he slashed the monster across the shoulder. The monster, yelling out in pain, tried to smash him with his club. Hikaro raised up his shield and blocked the monster's blow, but he felt his arm shake with the monster's power. He hit the monster with Stun and slashed the monster's throat. The monster's tough skin was able to protect him enough to keep him alive, though blood was flowing out. The monster tried to smash Hikaro with his club again, but Hikaro was able to jump out of the way. Hikaro sliced the monster's wrist as he brought his arm down. The monster yelled out in pain and grabbed his wrist with his other hand. Hikaro stabbed the monster's neck for a second time. The monster let out a few gasps, coughing up blood, and fell down onto the floor. Struggling for life, the monster tried to get up. Hikaro approached it, and severed its head. Breathing heavily, he clutched his arm where the monster hit him. Even with his shield, the blow still stung from the monster's force. He ran over to Shimmie, to see how she was doing. Upon inspection, her shoulder was definitely broken. Letting out a sigh of frustration, he looked around for Gadwin. Maybe his magic could help her.

"Gadwin! We need help!" He was unwilling to leave Shimmie lying there, so he decided to help defend her until Gadwin could come heal her. Hopefully, the others could do okay. Hikaro had his shield and sword ready for any monsters to attack.

Yanshiro went into a spinning and slashing frenzy. One of the beasts brought down the club at Yanshiro, but he spun out of the way to avoid it. Yan quickly recovered and slashed the beast 3 times in the stomach. The beast realed in pain. It screamed in rage and hit Yan in the thigh with the club. Yan Threw a flash pellet at the creature's feet.
"GRAAAAAAAAH!" Yelled the beast
With the distracion he needed, Yan jumped at the best, and caught hif left claw on its face. Yan hooked the beast and spun ontu it's back, where Yan twisted the neck, ending the beast's life in a satisfying CRUNCH
Yan jumped off the beast in time befor it fell, and manuvered by Silverleaf knowing the wizard would need protection.

"CLOSE YOUR EYES!" Gadwin yelled over the din, as a blinding light radiated from his body. The creatures, shrieking at the light, fell a few steps back, dazed by the pure light in the catacombs.

Hearing Shimmie and Hikaro, Gadwin quickly turned around, and motioned for Hikaro to engage. Hikaro leaving, Gadwin administered what first aid he could in the middle of the battle, putting pressure on the stream of blood eminating from the wound. Laying his left hand over her eyes, he attempted to set the bone. Inspite of the shrieks and complaints from the attackers, defenders, and patient alike, he managed to set the bone to some degree. Taking off his robe, he tied it into a make shift sling, and gave it Shimmie to use.

Running his hand over the wound, new flesh appeared, covering the once gaping wound. The tissues beneath would in time heal, and they could make a paper mache cast later with the paper and scrolls he carried with him. Saying a prayer, his body glowed an eerie white, as pure as the heavens themselves, and motioned for the rest of the party to follow, as he draped Shimmie's good arm around his shoulders, using the arm to the outside to brandish a torch.

"To the doors! It is the only way!"

"Oh gods oh gods oh gods we're all going to die!" Silverleaf shouted as the figures drew nearer.

With a panicked look, Silverleaf stepped to the side of Yanshiro and began chanting. A few of the huge figures were close together, so Silverleaf finished casting his spell. The monsters were showered in a gout of flame, and Silverleaf grinned. His expression turned to one of terror as he saw the large figures continue walking towards them, burned, a little injured, but more or less just angry.

Silverleaf screamed and ran behind Yanshiro, ready to cast another spell if the creatures came closer.

Shrieking in horror, Silverleaf sprinted to where Gadwin stood, aiding Shimmie.

"You said we were leaving?" He asked, his voice cracking. "I agree; let's get out of here!"

Without waiting for an answer, Silverleaf sprinted towards the doors, hoping to get to the sanctuary of the library.

Muttering under his breath at his luck with being stuck with a crazed lunatics. Shimmie was beginning to go into unconsciousness from loss of blood, and the wizard was well on his way out of the area. The human warrior was still fighting and Yanshiro was gawking at the sight of unharmed giants. Giving Shimmie to Yanshiro, telling him to keep her upright, the cleric turned to face the giants.

They were starting to close in on the party like a set of doors, enveloping them. Glancing behind him to make sure the rest of the group was advancing towards the doors, he casted a blinding light spell quickly, dazing them for only a moment. Using that moment, he crashed through their lines, mauling and breaking multiple bones. Yet none of them seemed seriously injured, let alone dying. Cursing, he threw one of his torches at them, and dashed toward the door, as the last of the party entered. He quickly locked and bolted the door behind him, as he turned around to face the lights.

The last thing Shimmie saw before dropping into the unconscious was Yanshiro >> O.o.C. sorry for spelling your name wrong earlier << twirling an old silver key covered in the crazy man's blood in his hand. Oh good, he got it...

Black.

Silverleaf slumped against the wall. He sighed, his limbs shaking.

"Alright guys, set up a defensive perimeter, someone get the door." Gadwin said, as he lit a torch. Seeing Shimmie slump over, he picked her up off of Yanshiro and propped her against a wall. Using the holy water that he had, he washed off the wound as best he could.

Turning to the ameteur (sp) alchemist, he asked "Are there any potions or medicines you have for blood loss, head trauma, perhaps a concussion, and maybe some infection?" He tried to make sure the bone was set, only to realize that it was no longer in the right position. Muttering a prayer over the bone, it began to move into a slightly normal position. Thanking the god's, he took what scrolls he had and dipped them into the water from the water skin. Creating a make shift cast, he encased the arm, and refastened the robe as a sling.

He looked up, hoping to see anything forgiving. Yet to his dismay, books of old lay strewn about. Reaching out, he used the pages for a stronger cast. "May the gods forgive me for defiling this knowledge..."

Silverleaf's eyes brightened as he looked around the room, as if seeing the books for the first time. Rows upon rows of untold knowledge were there at his fingertips. Without a second glance at anything else in the room, he rushed over to the books and pulled three of them out. He sat, legs crossed, and began reading with great speed, his eyes flicking over each page as the words etched themselves into his brain.

Hikaro stood near the door, with his sheild held high. He had his sword in his other hand, ready for the monsters to try to break through the doors. He heard a few large thuds against the door, but it seemed to hold strong. But, he wasn't going to let his guard down utnil he was out of this hell. Without taking his eyes off the door, he asked Gadwin if Shimme was going to be okay. The bard seemed nice enough and was very helpful. He hoped that she would be alright.

"I've asked the god's to aid us. She should be okay, but in no condition to fight. Whether she shall be able to fight to her full capacity for the rest of the trip if a question that the gods shall answer in time." Gadwin got up to look at the surroundings more clearly. In the center, a light shone down from the cracks from above. In the center, was an object. it was indiscernible and hard to see.

Storing the knowledge in the back of his mind, he went on tending to the bard's wounds.

"Kkkshhh" Everyone in the room jumped but Gadwin. "By gods she's snoring!" Gadwin had finished making Shimmie's cast not two seconds earlier.

"So the god's have indeed helped in our revival." Praying swiftly, he gently woke Shimmie up. Giving her some water, he checked her vital signs such as pulse and breathing. Both checked reasonably normal, but the arm still did not move nearly as well as it should have.

"Perhaps the gods have been merciful today after all." Yet he knew that her arm would not be able to sustain the amount of wear and tear that it would have, had it not been so greviously injured.

"I work in things like firecrackers, bright lights and rockets. I am sorry, but i have nothing alchemical for her." Yanshiro said uncaringly. Yanshiro went off to the darkness to explore the library.