Hiding in the Bottle

Finishing the Bottle

    The morning sun hung just over the tree tops and the bard had already started to bug the barbarian. Now that the Half-Elf was back to full strength he had spent the better part of the night and this morning trying to convince the Half-Orc to return to the monastery. Yakha wanted to leave that town as soon as possible but Adven wouldn't have it.

    "We can't just LEAVE! What if someone else wanders into that crazy place!" Adven once again had his mind made up. As much as he hated to admit the bard was right, he knew that they couldn't just let the place stand. He would have tried to destroy the place himself when he rescued Adven, but between his battered body and the Half-Elf barely breathing he had other priorities.

    Yakha could only let out a deep sigh, knowing there was little chance he would change the bards mind. Plus he was certain that even if he didn't go Adven would do it on his own. He was not willing to let that happen again. "If I find out we are doing this just to get your stuff back. I'm going to break that damn lute over your head."

    Adven ignored his comment as they finished up their breakfast at the inn. They went into town to buy some temporary gear for Adven. Once Adven was restocked and Yakha picked up some special equipment, they set out for the monastery. Oz remained in the woods near the town, electing to stay away from the cold in the mountains. The climb was thankfully uneventful. The snow that had slowed them down the last time had become more of a minor annoyance then a real obstacle. They made it through the mountain pass on the morning of the third day.

As the pair approached the monastery they saw that the large metal door had been knocked off its frame. Yakha drew his ax while Adven drew a short sword as they approached the now broken door. They stuck together as they walked through the door prepared to defend themselves but were surprised when nothing happened.

The monastery appeared to be completely empty. There were no monks posted along the wall, or even inside of the gate. They made their way through the dining building. While the monks appeared to have vanished the inside of the building looked as if a tornado had ripped through them.

The kitchen had bits of scattered food along the floor, walls, and ceiling. The large pots and pans lay cracked and bent, some even embedded in the floor. The tables and chairs were thrown against the walls in piles of broken furniture with bits of broken wine bottles and shattered mugs. They moved through the building finding nothing worth salvaging before moving on to the living quarters.

The living quarters looked even worse then the dining building. Doors laid broken or ripped off their frames, windows were shattered as each room looked like they had been thoroughly thrashed. Adven managed to find the room he had placed his gear in and found most of it was there, though a portion of it was destroyed. He picked up his rapier, swinging it a few times smiling seeing it still in good condition. All three of his wine skins lay torn open and spilled out on the floor much to his disappointment. He saw his lute broken in half on the floor, "I guess you can't break it over my head." He said with a slight smile trying to lighten the mood.

Yakha picked up the neck of the lute and looked at Adven, "I could still break this off somewhere else..." Though his voice carried a serious tone, a small smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. Adven just shook his head with a mocking laugh as they continued to search the monastery.

They decided to skip the brewery and made their way up to the temple. The once large green grassy field was now nothing more then barren dirt. They could see long gashes in the ground like something tearing through the field. The scratches extended from the dirt up onto the outer walls and the walls of the temple.