Having survived the Nothic, Malzeer and Keleth set about exploring the cavern behind the waterfall. Over the course of an hour they found that a gnome named Flilen had sequestered himself within the cavern at some point in the recent past, and had been "on the verge of a major discovery" if his journal was to be believed.
They also arranged several objects in a specific order to unlock a puzzle room and obtained a small treasure hoard. Keleth quaffed down a water breathing potion, and began exploring a narrow chute of water. Malzeer stayed behind in the main cavern when he heard a commotion fast approaching from the direction of the log cabin.
Thinking fast, Malzeer set about a plan of escape, or perhaps infiltration. He stabbed himself, then used magic to trace a message upon the wall as though written in Flilen's hand:
Sacrifice a demon child. The blood will guide the river. The ultimate spell. My research is complete.
When the interlopers found Malzeer, he was lying below the message feigning unconsciousness. They revived him, and Malzeer assessed his situation. A trio of robed figures loomed over him, with five other cultists dissecting the rest of the room. Malzeer managed to persuade them to help him back to town with the rest of their number, which would have worked out great... until Delba revealed herself as one of the cultists by recognizing Malzeer in shock.
Malzeer dashed to the edge of the waterfall and nearly began climbing it, but one of the cultist's magic froze him in place. Keleth by now had emerged from the water chute down into the waterfall's basin and gazed up at his brother, frozen stiff. One of the other cultists launched a projectile at Malzeer, which knocked him off the edge and down into the basin below.
The cultists watched the basin for signs of life for several minutes, but after waiting long enough to be satisfied that Malzeer was dead, they went back to their work in the cavern. Underwater, Keleth used his waterbreathing to filter the water into air, then breathed into Malzeer's lungs through a "kiss of life" that both brothers vowed to never speak of again.
When they felt it was safe to return to land, Malzeer gave Keleth a grin and showed him what he'd taken from cavern: an amulet taken off of Arelen, that matched the one Keleth used to get into the academy.
No comments:
Post a Comment