Situation Report Thirty Four

General Summary

The last few days have been hairy. Tarek-Nev is a madhouse of demons and devils. And the big bastards aren't as bad as the sneaky fuckers that pretend they're children. Still we're making progress, although I don't know how long Ugnan is going to last here - we're getting injured so often that he's in a permanent state of decrepitude as he draws our wounds on to himself day in, day out - also the mad bastard has dedicated his life to serve Morgiana, some long-forgotten god. Nothing good will come of this. Mark my words. Deep within a large temple we discovered one of The Portal Rods, but not before the thing nearly killed me by dragging me on to a huge spiked plate. More worrying was the nest of skeletal demonic priests of Morgiana that attacked us during our investigation of how to liberate the rod. We suffered greatly as we battled them, not helped at all by the pull of the rod on anything metal nearby which meant I needed to remove my plate mail to survive. Still, Victoria and I, aided by Sylke and Ugnan's spells blocking the door with walls of ice and earth, managed to dispatch two of the priests. Shieldbreaker is a truly remarkable weapon, and seems to drag me in to ancient fighting styles that I have only ever heard about from old soldiers who spin yarns around the campfire. Cherry investigates a crack in the heart shaped altar and discovers The Ashling Stone. Time to get out of here and to find the second rod before leaving Tarek-Nev for good. As we're making plans to exit the room, I am blind-sided by some invisible foe that breaks my leg and leaves my back in searing agony. I drag myself to the cavern wall and expect the worse. After I come round, I discover that Victoria had been possessed by the spirit of one of the twice-dead priests. She attacked me, not some invisible foe, but apparently Ugnan managed to exorcise the priest with the help of his new god. He also makes a pact with her to ensure her dead priests no longer attack us on the way out. Shadow demons are another thing, however. Breatplate on now, and the dying clarion note from the Horn Of Valhalla ringing in our ears, we make our escape. Sylke bolts before anyone else moves and evades four shadow demons in the corridor, closely followed by Cherry. Numal is stricken with fear and blocks the exit for the rest of us. True to his nature, Ugnan stops to help the poor elf, and I vault the kneeling pair to try and hold off the shadowy bastards. As the slaying starts, the arse-gripping fear threatening to overcome my courage is replaced by something much worse. My own inner demons overwhelm my resolve and The Boulder is loose once more. A mad shriek rips through the temple as I begin my methodical work on anything near me. Ugnan and Victoria. I hope you get clear, for all I see now are enemies.