Chapter One: Sweet Dreams are Made of These

[Ginrai]

Ginrai sighs and breaks his long period of silence.  "Personally I don't like the notion of basically sacrificing half of our already small group, but I will follow whatever everyone else here wants to do."

As he follows the others Ginrai wonders if he can recall anything about the tome he's carrying or of the necklace he's wearing or the items in his pouch.

[Brian]

You don't remember anything about them in particular.  But you trudge on through the wasteland, until you return to the building you started out in.

The sun is still in the sky, if much further west, and lower to the horizon.  But it looks like it's going to circle to the north rather than set.  "We can either sleep here, or push on," Liandral says.  "We should conserve our strength, though."

The lady disagrees, "We must not flag so soon.  Hamar will lend us strength, if we stop and ask of it."

Liandral nods.  "Very well," he replies.

[Ginrai]

'Hamar....'  Ginrai tries to see if that name reminds him of anything.

He also decides to put aside some time to read through the tome if everyone decides to take a rest.

[Brian]

Reading time would be good.  However, the lady wants everyone to stand in a circle and hold hands.  Preferably with bowed heads.

[Rezantis]

Nathan followed along with the lady's wishes, realizing something . . . odd . . . as he did so.

There might actually be something listening to a prayer, here.  Hell, it could be considered almost likely.

. . . interesting little twist, to actually -mean- something like that.

[Huitzil]

Paul joins the prayer-circle as well, his head already bowed in either thought or desperation.

[Dracos]

Dracos frowns but joins in rather than cause a ruckus or disruption.

Dracos

[Bjorn]

Bjorn joins the circle, quietly, without giving any sign of approval or disapproval.

[Ginrai]

Ginrai joins the circle, hoping that this will be as helpful as the lady seems to imply.

[Brian]

The lady murmurs something quietly for a moment before calling out, "Hamar, please lend us your strength, in your service from the towers of dawn to the towers of the sunset, as long as life breathes, and the sun shines upon the world below."  There's nothing to see, but you all FEEL energized by this.

She breaks the circle by releasing Bjorn and Paul's hands, then nods.  "Let us  continue," she says, quickly turning southeast and marching onward again.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn takes up the rear guard position, and marches on.

[Brian]

Hours pass.  This is strange, because from what you know, this area isn't quite cold enough to be arctic (or antarctic, for all you know of where you are) but the sun is not setting.  It dips low to the horizon, the lower portions actually passing beneath the edge of the wastes to the north.  This causes the black stone cliffs south of you to light up and shimmer from the reflected light, turning most of everything north of you into a cold, blinding glare.

But when you look south, the entire mountain range looks like it's underwater.

You press on, feeling energized and boosted from the prayer.  The cold doesn't seem to really even bother you for nearly an hour after the prayer, and then, it becomes noticable.  It takes some hours before you feel as tired as you were the first time the prayer was uttered, and when it happens, the lady calls everyone to pray again.

This continues on until you lose track of time, for the most part.  The sun has swung eastward, and then south again, barely clearing the rise of the mountain range.  If you continue further, it'll be into the shadow.

Here, Liandral points to a great stone building, as high as the mountain walls themselves, and apparently build right out of them.  Great statues adorn the front, easily a hundred meters tall, but the features weathered to blank planes by the harsh wind and snow.

"There it is," he says solemnly.  "We will need rest -- true rest -- inside.  The welcoming chamber of the old hall is still intact, and not as dangerous as the depths of this passage."

The lady nods, looking a bit more tired than any of you feel.

The building here has to be about four hundred meters high, and fifty wide.  The mountains on either side rise up as sheer cliffs until they vanish into whispy clouds, the sunlight barely penetrating.  But when you close the final few kilometers across the waste to the building, whatever it is, the only light is that which briefly shines down through the gap in the mountains, and over the roof of the building.

Then, you pass into shadow, and light pours from Liandril's friendly fire spirit (or whatever it is) and the lady's pendant.

The doorway of this building rises fifty meters high, but the doors themselves were torn off long ago, lying in pieces across the ground as you draw near.

Inside the arched portal to whatever will happen next ... is only darkness.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn grunts.  "Well.  Can't rest inside..." he mutters quietly.  

Gesturing at people to stand back from the door and cover him, Bjorn steps through the arch into the darkness, quickly sidling sideways to stand beside the door, and prevent himself from being backlit.

[Brian]

It's dark inside, allright.  After a moment of hesitation, Lalandril follows you.  The light from his bobbing flame thing illuminates a little bit of what you imagine to be a massive room. About as high as the bilding is, anyway.  Smaller but more severe (and less weathered) statues of men in armor surround the perimeter, though the far wall is lost to darkness.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn sheathes his sword, and then looks at the others.  "If we're going to rest, let's rest quickly," he says, quietly.  "We don't have time to lose, and I don't like this place."