#Lore24 – Entry #332 – Fantasy Month IV #27 – Battle for the Vault
From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos
I must admit that I had hoped for a relatively peaceful return to the temple site, to simply open the doors and examine the space beyond with the eye of an attentive archaeologist. I should have known better, given our experiences thus far. Perhaps it was simply me wishing to be clear of the horrors we had encountered within the swamps and still feeling fatigued after the unnatural sickness had threatened to overwhelm us.
Regardless of what I may have hoped for, it was not our fate to have a peaceful return. As we approached the temple site, Shassk alerted us to the fresh tracks that lay ahead of us, and in moments I could see them myself, footprints of a large number of men and perhaps a half dozen horses, perhaps a day or so old, with no efforts to hide their tracks. Shassk and Korvalis scouted ahead, returning in only half an hour perhaps, with word that two dozen bandits at least had taken up position around the entrance to the temple, not to camp, but waiting to attack. Worse, they’d spotted some of the other adventurers who had gone missing working with them, leading them in fact. There was plenty cause for worry since they had an arcanist and priest of their own amongst their number.
Somehow, they had gotten wind of our quest and had decided to take our hard work for themselves. I’ll admit it got me rather angry; my companions were in no mood for mercy at this point either. So, we formulated our plan of attack against the much larger force, deciding to camp well away from the valley and rest ourselves, take stock of our supplies, and make the effort to attack when they would least expect it, in the darkest hours just before sunrise; only Risai and myself would be greatly disadvantaged in the dark as we were human, but not for very long. Ellisar had since managed to recover a few charges into his wand of fireballs, and would have a few more he could cast into the crowd prepared; Shassk and Korvalis would go ahead of us, taking out any sentries they came across as silently as possible, while Risai and I would move into the confusion Ellisar caused to deal with the bandits in the main camp, with Gresilda keeping behind us to provide support; I had learned that though she seemed delicate, she was an accomplished warrior in her own right when the need arose.
That would not be all, though; Korvalis insisted that he would deal with the arcanist and priest himself. We tried to talk him down, of course, but he was absolutely convinced that he could sneak in through the camp after he and Shassk had seen to the sentries, then make his way to the other party and strike from the shadows when they lest expected it. We all knew what would happen if he were to get caught, but he was set on his own devious plan, and however reluctantly, we would allow him to follow it. Given his success with the druids, I was inclined to think he may well pull it off.
We rested, then, and set out an hour before the deepest night would settle in, in the hours before sunrise. The sentries were dealt with in short order, and Korvalis disappeared into the gloom without a word, Shassk shaking his head, but admitting that he had lost sight of him within a matter of moments. “The very shadow of death, that elf,” he had said with some amount of awe in his voice. From our position amongst the rocks and remnants of the temple to either side of the valley, we waited, giving Korvalis the time he needed. After another half hour or so, with the night at its deepest, we began our attack, with Ellisar opening up with a fireball, quickly followed by another that I launched from his wand.
Fire, smoke, and screams filled the night, and after another pair of fireballs, we descended into the chaos we had caused, me leading Risai against the disorganized mob of panicking bandits, dancing amongst them to create openings which she exploited with deadly force from her dragon-steel blade. Though scattered and burned, the bandits were still numerous, if unorganized. Another dozen rushed out from the temple entrance to add to the defense with bows, but their arrows were turned away from us with a prayer from Gresilda to call up a defensive wind barrier, with Ellisar scattering them from the shadows with a rolling ball of fire that he sent careening through their line.
As we ascended into the temple entrance, the last of the bandits, the leaders of the band, greeted us, along with the remaining members of the opposing party of adventurers. We saw no sign of their spellcasters amongst them, and their warrior seemed to be struggling to move, showing signs of having been wounded already (I would learn later that Korvalis had stuck him with a poisoned dart). As we engaged them, Korvalis would reappear as if by magic, striking when their attention was fully upon the rest of us, driving his daggers into their flanks to open a bleeding wound, then darting back into the shadows. The look I saw upon his face was, for lack of a better word, terrifying, a sadistic, predatory glee.
With their leaders dispatched, along with the opposing party of adventurers, the remaining handful of bandits fled into the predawn gloom. As quiet settled in around us, save for the crackle of burning tents and bodies around us, we stood victorious atop the temple entrance, bloodied but far from the worst we had experienced. It seems the gods were with us this night. As we regrouped and looked through the dead for any treasures and supplies we could use, we would find the bodies of their arcanist and priest, both still upon their bed rolls around the camp they’d set up in the open chamber we’d used the first time I’d come there, slumped over and bled out from wide cuts across their throats, caught helpless as they had prayed and meditated for their power.
I for one was quite glad that Korvalis was on our side and would hope he would remain so for the foreseeable future, though now that the fighting was done, he seemed quite cheerful and every bit as friendly as he usually was. We would rest for a while as dawn came, helping ourselves to some of the foodstuffs the bandits had with them, before making our way to the vault door and what lay beyond.