Home > Campaigns > Book 2, Chapter 2 - Pain and Celibacy
Pain and Celibacy
Mical tracked the horses through the woods, which is something he is really good at. Too bad he isn't very careful about holding branches for those behind him. Several of them slapped me in the head before I traded places with Lagasse. After some time, we could see that the woods thinned and a sheer cliff loomed before us. A door leading into the mountain was barely visible through the gloom.
We fanned out among the trees, planning to approach the door from different directions. Mical climbed a tree to try to glimpse the horses. Suddenly, thunk! An arrow slammed into the tree scant inches from his head. He scrambled down, just avoiding another arrow. We all hit the dirt, scanning the area for archers.
Lyra whispered and pointed at two tree houses we had totally missed before. Now that we were aware of them, we could see there was something warm-blooded in there. I shot at one of the forms, and don't know if I hit or not. However, one of them did hit me, twice. It was difficult to breathe, but I ran from the area as best I could. I knew if I got hit one more time, I was dead. I could taste blood, and collapsed once it seemed I was less obvious a target. I broke off the arrows, and waited for someone to find me. I hoped it would be one of my friends.
Meanwhile, Lagasse fired at one of them, while Mical climbed into the other tree house. He wrestled with the human, and finally pushed him out, only to fall too. Lyra rushed over to them, finding that Mical was barely scratched, though the other guy had broken his neck. They turned out to have little of value on them.
One of the priests healed me, but I don't remember which. After a brief rest, I felt a lot better and rejoined everyone. Mical climbed to the tree house and rang a bell that was hanging from a branch. The door in the mountain opened, and we could see someone peeking out. Mical yelled, "I hit two of them! They're fleeing into the woods!" Two men ran out of the mountain, and the surprisingly quick-thinking Lagasse cut a rope to a log trap he had just noticed. The log swung out of a tree and slammed into the two guys. I swear I heard their bones crunch, but we shot them just to make sure.
We advanced to the door. Inside was a long, dusty hallway. After lighting torches, we could see that footprints led to each of the seven doors. The first two rooms both had bones (elven!) on the floor and empty sarcophagi. We returned the bones to their tombs and replaced the lids. Damn grave defilers? The third room had an apparently undisturbed sarcophagus, and the fourth needed the lid replaced. At that point we began thinking that stairs may be concealed in one of the sarcophagi, but decided to investigate the remaining rooms before going back.
The next to last two rooms both had the lids still on the tombs. Only the first two rooms had been remotely clean. Before we could go back to check, we heard voices from behind the double doors at the end of the hall. An elven inscription over the doors said 'The Beginning of the Beyond.' The people were arguing about seeing what was past a particular door, and that there would be trouble if their master didn't bring the item, and that they were bored. Good, bored people are easily surprised?
We burst into the room, shouting loudly. Three men stood, and another, tied to a chair, whimpered through his gag. Must be Lular? Lyra fired an arrow right through the eyeball of one of them. Hurray, I love gruesome wounds when they aren't ours. I guarded the hallway, but couldn't help watching in awe as Lagasse fought. He fell, but still managed to kill both the other two.
While Lyra untied the hostage, I searched two small altars. They were actually two sarcophagi with elven skeletons inside. Lyra, the amazing secret-door finder, found a tiny, broken door. The closet within was filled with stuff. There was some junk there, but also two silver candlesticks, an amethyst, and coins. Also a painting of a farm.
The floor in the main room was really clean. Lyra then noticed scrape marks on the floor, and found yet another secret door. This girl is amazing. Despite our curiosity, we had to sleep. When we were settling down, Mical, who was on watch, started teasing Lyra about keeping her bed warm. I think he was just joking, but it's hard to tell with males.
Anyway, Lyra told us she has taken a vow of celibacy. It has something to do with her goddess and unicorns. Wow, that seems strange to me. My family has always had what I consider a healthy attitude toward sexuality. It is accepted, even celebrated, but should be done with care not to hurt anyone, especially a resultant unwanted child. Hmm, that must be why my parents had so many kids. But to imagine never knowing the touch of a man? Lyra doesn't know what she is missing.
