Library: Charsis

I am but a humble rogue; I prefer the swamps to the forest and the smell of trolls to my own kind. My elvish brethren don.t share my love of the dank and cramped dungeons, oh but to be misunderstood. Its of no matter though, my traveling companions share my thirst for dungeons and the dank, for they know as I do treasure awaits within. I am Noctur, the wood elf rogue, though elf in name only, for surely there was no more un-elvish a being as me. I prefer the dirt and grime, the swamps and bogs, and the tight tunnels of crypts to the sickeningly wholesome valley of the elves. Anyway, as I was saying my traveling companions don.t mind my odor or choice of hangouts. Ristorielle a druid of some repute heals our ills and keeps us more or less in fighting form. Though of course I avoid any direct confrontation, some wary adventurers have proven to be a little quick of reflexes and more protective of their purses than I would like. There is also Bruneor the dwarven cleric, he grumbles so much about his god that I am growing weary of listening to his constant chanting. However, I can.t argue with the effects, so I leave him be. Finally, in our little band is Omodan. Omodan, what a poor misguided fellow, not of the elven race and yet striving to be like them in every way. I believe the humans call them Rangers, but I call them deranged. In any case, he doesn.t seem to have a problem with that bow or sword of his, and he can be handy in a fight. Ristorille had heard in the local tavern of a crypt that lay off to the east of the Ogre city of Mithak. I believe, Charsis is what it was called by the ogre.s, though most outlanders call it Howling Stones. When I heard that awful screeching coming from below us, as we stood at the great red portal leading within, I should have decided to pray on some fat merchant .. Ah but Ristorielle is so persuasive at times. Course, as we stand outside the portal, everyone in our little company is looking at me as if they expect something. "What?" I said. Omodan pointed to the portal and said "We need you to scout." "Why is it always me?" "Hey the crypts are your deal Noctur, If we were entering some forboding forest, I.d be the first to volunteer." Grumbling I crept toward the portal, closing my eyes tightly I winced as I touched the portal and I felt the sudden wrenching motion sickness that always accompanies these portals. It was much darker than it had been outside. I could hear the faint clicking of something walking off in the distance. It didn.t sound like boots on metal though, more wooden, more hollow. I.m not sure I really want to see what.s making that noise. In any case, the area around the portal looked safe enough. I touched the portal again, and had to suddenly squint my eyes as the bright light of the Rashag desert was once again in my eyes. "It looks clear below." Each of us in turn again put our hand to the red orb and transported into Charsis. We looked about us and noticed four exits. I softly crept up toward one of the doors, just as I was about to take another step I felt a sudden updraft of air. What matter of sorcery is this?? The steps before me appear to be there, yet not be there. I reached around and grabbed a hand full of dirt from the dry crypts floor. I threw it out over the steps to watch it all fall through as far as 15 feet away. I grabbed another hand full and repeated the process. This time I threw it further. It appeared that roughly 20 feet from where I stood, was solid ground once more. I decided without some serious gear that route was best left unexplored. We scanned the room and eyed the other three exists thoughtfully. Omodan piped up, "Let.s try south, the beautiful green forests are on the southern side of the continent, so south is bound to be a good direction." I grunted, "rangers!." "South it is." They were all looking at me expectantly again. I sighed. "Fine, I.ll go see if it.s safe." I carefully walked up the steps leading to the door, pausing about midway to make sure the ground was solid. The ground appeared solid enough and so I walked up to the heavy stone door. There didn.t appear to be a way to open it, but as I stretched my hand out and brushed the door it slid all the way open with a loud groan of rock on rock. I peered inside. Nothing seemed to be in the chamber immediately ahead of me. So I sneaked in to the best of my ability. I stayed low to the ground making barely a whisper. I could hear a faint moaning from the next room and some dry scratching. Using every ounce of my ability I crept into the room to see what lay beyond. Immediately upon entering two of the most horrid things I had ever seen fixed their missing eyes upon me. A grisly skeleton and some floating wraith like creature lurched toward me, I turned to run but the door behind me had slid to a close and sealed shut. I began to run furiously through the corridors ignoring all caution; any pretense at stealth was gone. As I rounded a corner at full speed I stepped onto a rug that appeared to be solid enough, but immediately gave way beneath me. To my horror I was quickly plummeting down a concealed pit to some unknown corridor beneath me. I remembered my many tumbles from tall roof tops and poised myself to absorb the impact. I stopped abruptly on the stone floor beneath, with the exception of a mild strain I appeared to be more or less unharmed. As I peered above I could see the glowing eyes of one of my pursuers. The walls of the pit were way too smooth for me to attempt to climb back out in any case. As I looked out from where I had landed, I heard the faint rustling of bone on stone. The way out of here wasn.t going to be any safer than the area above. Stealth hadn.t served me well before, so with a feral growl I darted out of the room and into the corridor. Two more of the skeletal inhabitants of this dank dungeon stood leering before me. With a quick double punch I laid one of them low, the other managed to hook one of its bony claws into my cloak. I quickly let it have my cloak in order to make good my escape. Running from corridor to corridor I found a large open room. As I stepped out into the room the sight before me made me take a quick double step back into the corridor I had just so carelessly darted out of. Ahead of me in the gloom had to be over fifty sets of glowing eyes. In the very center of the chamber stood a stone structure that appeared to have some kind of glowing platform. Ristorielle had mentioned that a rather shifty fellow had said that the treasure rested in a room that was well guarded with a portal leading back out to the hot desert above. With hope I darted across the room, dodging every groping claw. Just as four of the guardians closed on me I managed to step into the glowing light. The floor seemed to drop away from me with a gut wrenching twist, and I had to suddenly shelter my eyes from the intense sun of the desert. Phew, I have made it out. Then it suddenly hit me, my companions were still inside that forsaken place and the only way out lie through the portal I had just come through. I hung my head, and wearily walked back to the red glowing portal. As I rest on my hand on the portal, I felt the now familiar sensation of being warped into the crypt below. Omodan looked at me expectantly as I re-entered, "Well?" I replied, "It.s not worth it, there are a ton of undead monstrosities below and we would need an army to take the treasure." Ristorielle sneered, "You mean the sneakest thief in the world is scared of a few old bones?" I looked hurt, "Hey! Those bones were moving, and very unhappy to see me." The group had always trusted my judgment before, and this was no exception. With a weary sigh Ristorielle announced to the group, "we need not go through the danger.s below, I can teleport us out to the nearest druid circle." Omodan looked up happily. I was just relieved, after what I had seen below, the last thing I wanted to do was return to the belly of Howling Stones.

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