[Mkguild] Echoes of the Dead Wood Part 5

[Stealth]

Part 5

   Nestorius pointed up ahead where a procession of tall, battered
columns lined the side of the road. Behind them they could see a
battered brick wall with small openings that once had been doorways
and windows. "This is the forum," he explained. "The entrance we're
looking for is in here."

   The trio followed the line of the building till they came to an
opening different than the others. This one was twenty feet wide and
the shattered marble blocks that partly filled it told that at one
time this had been an impressive gateway.

   Stealth stepped around the headless torso of a marble woman. Her
head lay half buried in the rubble nearby. Her mouth was open and her
eyes fixed on him as if scolding the cat for disturbing the peace
here.

   They walked through a large doorway and through the short
passageway behind it. After a moment they stepped into a large open
courtyard. Tall, marble columns lined the arcade that wrapped around
all four sides of the massive courtyard.

   In the centre of the courtyard was a twenty foot tall block of
stone upon the top of which was a battered figure riding a horse. The
head and arms of the rider were gong but the horse seemed relatively
intact except for a missing tail. Peeking through the dirt and brush
in various places were glimpses of red and white marble in various
shapes. Hinting at elaborately decorated flooring lost beneath six
centuries of debris and forest growth.

   "This is where the government was run from," Nestorius commented.
"All around this courtyard are the rooms needed for the clerks,
scribes and officials who administered the district."

   "Which one do we want?" Stealth asked.

   Edmund pointed straight ahead. "The basilica. That is the main
building. Where the governor had his offices. The stairway we want is
probably in there."

   Stealth looked in the direction his friend had pointed and he could
make out a building whose dome loomed tall over the surrounding trees
and casting a large shadow over everything.

   A slow walk across the abandoned courtyard took them past rubble
and debris now covered with a thick layer of earth, grass and brush.
They walked up a short set of vine covered steps and past marble
columns that stood tall and straight in spite of the passing
centuries. Two massive doors of bronze over fifteen feet tall stood
half open in the doorway in front of them. The bronze was coloured a
deep green from age but Edmund could easily make out the designs on
them.

   Edmund halted for a moment and took off his pack. From inside he
removed a small lantern made of brass. He deftly put his pack back on
and looked to the lantern. After a moments work the lantern started
glowing with a soft, white light. Satisfied with the light the paladin
slowly slipped through the opening being sure to avoid touching either
door. He found himself in a large open space with the walls and
ceiling lost in the distant shadows. In here things were cool and
quiet. No moss or grass grew over the beautiful marble floor beneath
his feet.

   "Wow!" Stealth said softly. His voiced echoed over and over till it
faded into silence.

   "Impressive!" Edmund commented. "Truly a work of art."

   "This place looks new!" Stealth knelt down and ran his hands along
the highly polished red and white marble floor. "The floor's not even
dusty."

   "Magic," Nestorius explained. I see some very powerful magic here.
It was woven into the very fabric of the structure when it was built."

   "They wanted it to last forever," Edmund said softly.

   "They've succeeded so far," Stealth added.


******************


   The three explorers walked slowly through the darkened corridors
and halls of the building. The only sounds that came to their ears was
the soft patter of their own footsteps which echoed back and forth in
the darkness that surrounded them.

   Suddenly in front of them a massive shape loomed up out of the
darkness. After a moment the light of Edmunds lantern illuminated the
object, revealing it to be a massive statue. It showed three men
wrestling with a massive snake that was over twenty feet long.

   "I believe that's Laocoon and sons being killed by a serpent,"
Nestorius commented.

   "Looks like a bad night at the Deaf Mule," Stealth joked.

   "I'm surprised it wasn't taken when the city was destroyed," Edmund
said as he walked around the massive statue.

   "It weighs at least 2 tons. They probably couldn't move it,"
Stealth answered.

   "Odd that they did not deface it?" the lion commented. "All the
other statuary we've come across has been smashed."

   "That is strange," Edmund added.

   "Everything about this place is strange," Nest commented.

   "That's the truth!" Stealth said loudly. His voice echoing in the
ancient structure.

   Edmund waved the lantern about revealing more of the large hall
they were in. The small light sent shadows dancing all around them. "I
see doorways leading in all directions. Which way do we go now?"

   The lion pointed off into the darkness straight ahead. "That way,
in the governor’s villa."


****************


  Their walk across the large hall came to an abrupt halt when they
found something laying on the floor in front of them.

   The figure lay stretched out in the middle of the hall. His arms
and legs were splayed at odd angles and his head was turned away from
them. He was laying in a large pool of fresh blood. The man was
dressed only in a bloody tunic and even bloodier pair of pants. Next
to him lay a short sword and a large rectangular shield on which was a
gold scorpion over two crossed lightning bolts.

   "Who is he?" Stealth asked.

   Edmund shrugged. "No way to tell. His has been stripped of all his
clothes. But the blood is fresh so he must have been killed within the
last hour or so."

   Nestorius shook his head. "I believe he has been here like that
since the fall of the city."

   "Impossible!" Stealth countered. "He can't be dead more than a few hours!"

   "It's the preservative magic of this place," the lion explained.
"It preserves everything that is here, even the dead." The mage
pointed to the shield. "That is the emblem of the 23rd legion. And
that legion has not existed since the year 150 when the valley was
overrun for the last time."

   Stealth didn't speak but just stared at the corpse while Edmund was
silently recited a prayer for the dead.

   "You understand what this means?" Nestorius asked. "It means that
everything in here was preserved including parchment, paper and linen.
This building could be filled with astounding treasures."

   "It also means it will be filled with the dead," Edmund added.


*****************


   Slowly the three feline keepers made their way through the halls
and corridors of the gloom shrouded building. They walked through
massive halls with their roofs lost in the darkness above. Their only
companions were the soft echoing of their own footsteps following
close behind.

   The second body they came upon was another man this time wearing
the simple gray coloured toga of a servant. Stealth kept his distance
but even so he could easily see what had killed the man as his head
was some five feet from his torso.

   They found themselves in a long corridor lined with doors along
both walls. Stealth peered into the doorways as he walked past. He
caught site of a room filled with shelves, another was piled high with
scrolls. Many others held a single table or desk. He paused a moment
and looked more closely at one. A wooden desk stood in the middle with
a chair behind it. A scroll rested on the desk with a quill and ink
pot next to it. He stepped close to the desk and examined the scroll.
It was half filled and he could see where the scribe had stopped in
mid sentence. It was hard to imagine that 600 years had passed since
the scribe had left. He half expected some annoyed scribe to come
barging in, annoyed at some stranger being in his room. He quickly
backed out of the room and continued his journey.

   Suddenly Edmund and Nestorius came to an abrupt halt.

   "What's wrong?" Stealth asked.

   "We've found another body," Edmund explained. Sprawled at the
paladin’s feet was the body of an older woman. Her long, black hair
lay spread out in a fan around her head. Thankfully she was laying
face down so he could not see her face. She was wearing a dress of
bright red with white flowers.

   Stealth was content to let Edmund and Nestorius examine the body.
After a few minutes they were done. Edmund pronounced a small prayer
over the body. Nestorius pointed further down the corridor to where it
ended in a large gold covered door. "We're close now. It's only a
short walk in this direction." There was one problem. To continue
onward they had to step over the corpse.

   The lion gracefully stepped over the body without a second glance
at it. Edmund paused a moment and made the sign of the cross before
gently stepping over. Stealth didn't pause but he did look at the
figure as he moved over her body. He wondered for a moment who she had
been. Did she have any descendants still living in the valley? He put
those thoughts behind just as the put her body behind him.


*****************


   "This is the governors’ private office," Nestorius explained as
they stepped into the room. All around them was chaos. An overturned
table rested in the centre of the room. On one wall was a battered and
chopped up wooden object that one must have been cabinet of some sort.
Shattered pottery, smashed wood and stone pieces were scattered
everywhere.

   "The lutins ransacked this place thoroughly,” the lion commented.
Carefully and slowly he stepped through the room.

   "They took everything valuable and smashed the rest," Edmund said.
The paladin made his way slowly into the room placing each step
carefully.

   "I'm surprised they didn't try and burn it all," Stealth asked.

   "They couldn't. The magic protecting this place prevents such
destructive fires," the mage explained.

   Stealth pushed a small pile of pottery with his paw revealing even
more debris underneath. "We're not going to find anything useful here.
The lutins took it all."

   "Agreed," the paladin added. "To find anything useful we'll have to
do a detailed search of the room and examine each piece carefully.
That will take weeks."

   "We will save this place for another time," Nest said. "We are here
to find the entrance to the summoning chamber and that is in the
private villa of the governor."

   At the back of the room was another door. This time smaller but no
less well made. It was made of a dark coloured wood with veins of
white and red running through it.

   Stretched out on the floor in front of the door was the body of a
lutin charred black from some great heat. What remained of the figures
clothing was just as charred scraps.

   "It seems this door is trapped," the lion said calmly.

   Edmund bent over and examined the body closely. In spite of the
damage done by flames he could make out odd stripes and marks on the
burnt skin. "I wonder who he is? What tribe?"

   "For that you'd need to talk to Misha," the mage answered. "He
would understand what all those marking mean." The lion stepped around
the body and up to the door. Nestorius studied the door intently for
several minutes. "The magic sealing this door looks to be intact," the
lion said excitedly. "It's never been breached."

   "Can you open it?" Edmund asked.

   The mage nodded slowly without looking away from the door. "I can.
But it will take some time."

   Edmund watched as the door started to glow a deep, blue colour that
slowly changed to green then yellow. All the fur in the lion’s mane
was standing straight out as sparks danced through it. The light from
the door spread outward till it covered the entire wall. Then suddenly
the light vanished.

   The lion mage leaned against a wall for a moment. "That was
intense," he explained in a tired tone. "I was able create an opening
but not fully remove the seal," Nestorius explained. "So when we are
done exploring I can reseal it to protect the contents."

   Edmund nodded. "Good. This place is a treasure beyond measure. And
incredibly dangerous." He walked up to the door and pushed it open
slowly. The warm light of a lantern spilled out illuminating the trio
and the hallways around them.

   They stepped into a small room whose walls were covered with bright
reds and deep, vibrant green colours. Several cloaks and coats dangled
from hooks on the wall to their left. Resting on the floor beneath the
cloaks was a pair of shoes of a design long out of fashion. The
leather clean and brightly polished.

   Stealth gently ran a hand along the hem of a yellow cloak. "This
feels new, like it was just hung there."

   Edmund felt like he was intruding on someone's home. Like some
burglar sneaking in to steal what he could instead of an explorer in a
ghost haunted ruin.

	"Hello?" he said out loud. The only outward sign of his nervously was
the tip of his tail. Which was flipping back and forth incessantly.

   "If someone answers," Stealth said nervously. "I'm leaving."

   "The magic has preserved the place perfectly," Nest said excitedly.
In one hand he had a pen and the other held a large notebook. The lion
was furiously writing. Taking notes on everything he saw.

   They stepped through the doorway and into a larger room. In the
centre of the room a small fountain sat. Its water danced and burbled
cheerfully. The sound belaying the ominous feeling of the room.
Against one wall rested a small table made of a dark wood. On it
rested a silver bowl filled with apples and oranges.

   Stealth examined the bowl and its contents without touching
anything. "They look fresh."

   "They are fresh," Nest commented. "Everything was preserved as it
was when the building was sealed."

   "Anyone want a six hundred year old orange?" the Stealth asked.

   Slowly the trio of feline keepers made their way through the rooms
of the villa.

   They paused at the door to a small bedroom. Against the far wall
was a large wood frame bed covered by a blanket with multicoloured
stripes all over it. A small pile of pillows rested at one end.

   "They made the bed before they left," Edmund commented. "They
seemed to have cleaned up before leaving. That shows they had some
time for preparation."

   "Or maybe they just liked things neat?" Stealth said.

   Nestorius nodded. "Probably. But however they left I doubt we will
find any corpses here. The people who lived in this place all fled and
either escaped or died elsewhere."

   "What exactly are we looking for?" Stealth asked trying not to
think about finding any more bodies. "What does this door look like?"

   The lion shrugged. "It should be a door like the one at the
entrance to this villa but I cannot be sure. I can narrow down the
search to a specific room."

   "And that room is where?" Edmund asked.

   The mage pointed off to the right where a small doorway led off
into darkness. "That way."

   A few steps brought them to that doorway and they carefully peered
inside. Unlike the other rooms in the villa this room was dark. No
torches or lanterns were lit and no light spread into the room through
the doorway. Even the beam from Edmunds lamp would not penetrate the
darkness. All they could see was darkness.

   "This is the place," Stealth said. "The door must be in here.
Somewhere. In the dark."

   "Do not enter the room. Do not even touch the door frame until I'm
sure it is not trapped." Nestorius stepped up to the doorway but did
not walk in. He spoke a word in soft whisper and a small ball of light
appeared in front of him. With a wave of the hand the mage directed
the light into the room. The small ball of light drifted into the dark
room. Its light illuminated a room with walls of light blue and white
flowers. At the far end of the room was a large desk made of a light
coloured wood. Scattered about the room were a variety of cabinets,
tables and cupboards. On the floor in front of them was a carpet with
two men in strange armour fighting each other. One was using a trident
and the other was wielding a spear with a crescent shaped point on the
end. There was no sign of any doors except for the one they were
standing in.

   "This looks like someone's private office," Edmund commented. "Is
it safe to enter?"

   "Yes!" Nestorius said is a surprised tone. "Surprisingly enough. I
do not see any traps in the room itself. But do not touch the desk.
That is trapped."

   "Must be the governor’s personal desk," Edmund said. "The door we
are looking for must be hidden somewhere. So look around but be
careful."

   The door was a small one and well hidden. Stealth's sharp eyes
spotted a flash of metal behind a large cupboard. It only became
visible after they moved away the lacquered wood cabinet. The door
itself was made of bronze moulded and shaped into a series of complex
scenes.

   "This must be it," Edmund said. "They went to some effort to hide it."

   Nestorius did not approach the door but stood at arm's length and
stared at it for a moment. Then he took one step forward and stopped.