High Rollers - 'The Lightfall' - Episode 1

Chapter 12 - Crossed Swords

The party of four, once again, entered the room in which they first encountered Gulthia and crossed over to the opposite corridor. They found that the next room was very similar to the one they had found Tomas in. Alcoves housing bodies lined every wall. But here, across the floor, the mist that they'd seen previously dissipated. Engraved across the entire, they found a mural of sorts, depicting elves and hill giants in battle. On the mural itself, they found worn-looking elven writing, which Elora was able to roughly translate.

" Let Corellon guide the worthy, not with crossed blades but with great deeds."

"Interesting..."

Slowly, Cam began to tiptoe into the room, stepping gingerly across the mural. There was no way to avoid, since it blanketed the entire floor. He scanned the floor warily, keeping an eye out for anything 'naughty'. As he proceeded, one of his footsteps landed on an area of the mural where one of the elven swords crossed with one of the hill giant's swords. As he stepped, the two swords pressed into the ground. Suddenly with a cacophony of whooshes, darts flew out from the ground around him. They whizzed through the air, embedding into Cam's flesh. A wave of nausea suddenly overcame him. In his eyes, the room began to spin and change color.

At that, now that they looked more carefully, similarly crossed swords were scattered all over the mural. But now that they were aware of them, they seemed easy enough to avoid. Cam stayed where he was, swaying almost drunkenly, on the spot. They watched in nervousness as he started to lurch, seemingly ready to stumble and possibly set off more traps. But he managed to catch and steady himself, allowing the other three to let out a sigh of relief.

They gingerly started making their way across too; making sure to avoid stepping on anymore crossed swords. As they approached where Cam was, Elora gently held him and guided him with them to the other corridor; perpendicular to the one they'd come from. Cam stared at Elora's face in confusion and mild terror.

"Stop...stop melting your face!" he groaned, as Elora's face shifted and distorted. Her skin changed from purple to orange to red and then to yellow. "Someone give me a potion!"

They all turned to Trell. He had the potions. He didn't seem to be rushing to Cam's aid. Instead, he paused, thinking and smiling mischievously. "Hmmmmm."

"You have the potions."

"I do have the potions, but..."

At this point, Cam slowly sat down and began to sway in circles.

"He's not doing so good. If we're going to get through this, we might need to give him one."

Trell remained silent, pondering whether or not he should give him one. "Maybe it'll just wear off eventually."

Elora sighed, annoyed and started examining Cam. She inspected his eyes and his body, and made him drink lots of water. A few times, Cam retched throwing some of it up. After checking him, she figured, it seemed so minor that it would probably wear off in about five minutes. The intent of the darts would probably have been to force an individual to stumble onto more swords, activating more darts and causing further damage. But Cam had managed to steer clear, avoiding the worst of the trap.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, the effects of the poisoned darts began to subside. Changes in color became less severe and less frequent. The nausea died down, but Cam still felt pain radiating from where the multiple darts had stabbed into him. But he brushed them off, nursing the areas.

"Thanks for the help...Trell," Cam said, sarcastically, "I'm very, very injured from the darts shootin' up. So whoever had that potion...I think it was old Trelly-belly. Come on man! Stop holding back! Look at me!"

"Could you not, perhaps, make it worth my while?"

Cam started at him in amazement.

"What do you want? A flower from my crotch?"

"No, no, you can keep that."

Elora, using her druidic magic, crafted a small flower and held it out to Trell.

"Come on, please?" she asked, innocently.

"Your floral ways have no effect on me."

After searching through his things briefly, Cam spoke up again. "Best thing I can do," he sighed, "I've got a purple hanky. I mean, I was saving this. I've got a very nice silk, purple hanky with some lovely embroidering on it. It would probably fetch for quite a lot. It'd look great with, you know, your complexion."

Trell stared back skeptically.

"Come on, look how good it is! So soft! Touch it!"

"Well...it is quite nice I suppose. Don't know what I'd really need a hanky for, but...alright then. I'll take your hanky."

They made the trade, Cam quickly snatching the potion out of Trell's hands and downing it. As Cam's body finished neutralizing the rest of the poison, they turned to look down the corridor. Very unlike the rest of the barrow, the walls and floor were void of any vines or thickets. The mist that swirled across the floor in the other rooms ha completely dissipated here. There was a very cold, unnatural air about the place. Ahead of them, they could see a large oval room with another sarcophagus in the middle. Each one of them felt their skin ripple with goose bumps and their hair stand on end.