From: Mike Sander <344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Date: Sunday, 11 Oct 1992 18:55:55 EDT
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [DQ] Week 10, part 4-- Lancos: A grave situation

[ADMIN: Here's the LONG awaited w10p4 stuff. Coming soon (hopefully tonight
 or tomorrow): part 5, the 'conclusion' of the cave exploits. And yes, I
 AM trying to win the "worst pun of the week award" :-)! ]

>A soft white glow impregnated the wall in front of them. Something was
>illuminating a room at the end of the tunnel.
>
>ShockWave moved forward
>
>"Don't move!" said 'Raelf, nearly shouting
>
>"What?"
>
>"Don't move." he repeated softly. "Listen."
>
>They all stopped breathing, and listened...

ShockWave heard it first, but the others soon showed signs of recognition.
The all-too familiar humming sound of the PCD eminated into the room.

Valgar: "Not AGAIN!"

ShockWave barked out a few word, "OK, 'Raelf, go in and see if you can
disble only the charm this time. Get as much info as possible, and in
particular see if you can do anything about SunStorm's condition.

'Raelf went into the room proper, while the others just waited.

Lancos scanned what little of the room he could see. There was what seemed
to be a gravesite. He marked that for his first focus when 'Raelf returned.
"Heck, why should I wait?", part of him thought, " 'Raelf is taking longer
than he should be, and probably needs help." As he edged towards the
entrance, 'Raelf rounded the corner, and the two barely avoided collision.

'Raelf only seemed to note Lancos' expression, stepping away a bit before
giving his report. "Sorry, buds, no progress.  The charm is gunked up in
the transport mechanism.  Fubar.  No crack in this one, either - can't
make it go away."

Nevertheless, he lead the group into the room. It appeared as if the cave
ended here.

William: "So where is it?"

'Raelf: "What?"

William: "The PCD. You said you couldn't get rid of it!"

'Raelf: "Oh. It's over there, behind the wall of rock I used to block it off."

Lancos looked at the spot. 'Raelf's masonry was excellent --you couldn't tell
where the cave started and the wall ended unless you were really looking for
such a thing.

Then Lancos suddenly felt an eerie chill, as if someone passed through him.
And it was unlike when someone stepped into his medallion's protective field.
"Is everything set, then? Things don't still seem right to me."

"Just a sec, dudes, let me check out the vibes here," and 'Raelf's eyes
and the runes edging his voidsuit, turned deep blue-black, with a faint
faery-fire gleam of Cherenkov radiation. He looked around, and as his gaze
went across Lancos, the latter felt a brief sense of presence.

Lancos was uncomfortable with the exchange, and went over to start
examining the grave.

"Most mean mama-jama. We've got company, guys." The mage stared, almost
entranced, at a point above and behind the group.

"What is it,", Lancos queried, spinning around towards the point 'Raelf was
viewing, "anything dangerous?". He reflected further on the recent feeling.

"No, it's gone now. For a moment I thought I saw Alita. Oh, the grave is
quite empty. No trace of spirit around it. No trace of bones, either.",
'Raelf answered, the last comments obviously aimed at Lancos.

But that didn't surprise him, especially considering they had just fought
a necromancer. Still, it was worth an attempt. No obvious marker, only a
bit of dirt disturbed --mysterious. On an impulse, he sifted through the
dirt for a headstone. Instead, he found something 'No-- YES! A lever!'.

He looked around. 'Raelf still appeared to be searching, his eyes unfocused
on reality. ShockWave was talking to the mages, asking about trying some way
of finding Vornik, or his trail. William was scanning the room loosely,
probably in case any usuable clay could be found. And Valgar was peering
through his book for some reason. Feeling it was as safe as it could be,
Lancos pulled the lever.

An audible movement was heard by all --and all turned in the noise's
direction-- as a door opened, revealing a small passageway.

"That's intriguing!", Lancos summed up, "Although the question remains as to
whose grave this is."

Valgar closed the book and spoke: "It belongs to the guy who wrote this
book --I can tell. It's not totally understandable, but it talks about a
hidden passageway, and how he might prefer death over what it contains."

Lancos showed no worry. "Well, _I'm_ certainly not listening to someone
who was insane. _I'm_ going on!"

The others followed for their own reasons. The movement came slowly, as it
was obvious that this route was underused, and generally not constructed all
that well.

Lancos smiled when the passage finally widened a bit, allowing two men to
stand next to each other safely. Ahead, he spotted something, and jogged
towards it. He saw a shimmering, swirling mist, contained improbably along
a rectangular shape. A portal, he realized from having dealt with them
before, the last time being when he came to Nexus.

'But a portal to where?', he thought, his gaze immediately going to 'Raelf.

==========================================================================
Michael Sander 344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
AKA Lancos Erredan