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Back to Empire on the HPe3000
... and ...
This is a first draft of a story set in the world of Greyhawk.
It is based on a home campaign so some of the people, places and things
may be different. Any helpful comments or suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks
Jason Zavoda
Ghibelline threw himself against Telenstil and dragged him around
the side of the pillar as the statue fell. It struck like an avalanche,
stone shattering the tiles and breaking apart under its own massive
weight. The boom was deafening, the floor shook, a nearby pillar shifted
on its pedestal and a rain of rock and stone came down.
A bouncing chunk of granite knocked Ghibelline from his feet,
it caught him in the side and sent him tumbling. Telenstil was stung
by a spray of knife-edged fragments from the shattered tiles. The wounds
were minor, Ghibelline's side felt as if sharp needles had been driven
along his ribs but his skin was not even broken. The blow left a large
black bruise edged with brown and fading to yellow where the stone had
struck.
There was only a moment to react, Telenstil crouched above
Ghibelline and called upon the power of his ring. "Fa-Er To-Re" he
commanded in ancient Suel. A globe of power surrounded them, in the dark
it could not be seen, clear as glass but stronger than steel. As the
stones rained down they rebounded from the curved perimeter of the spell
and landed to either side of the elves.
The torso of the giant landed near the center of the room, a
pit whose depths were swallowed by darkness. One arm broke off at the
massive golem's shoulder, half the head was blasted away by the impact
with the floor.
There had been a passage beneath the chamber. It had ended in an
open door emptying into the pit a man's height down from the edge. As the
floor lifted from the impact the roof of the passage caved in, the torso
of the giant slid shoulder first catching between the doorframe then
tearing free. The frame was ripped from the sides of the opening and
followed the severed golem as it smashed from side to side falling into
the dark.
* * *
A rumble growled down the corridor, Talberth braced himself
against the wall beside him. He could feel the vibration that thrummed
through the stone. It passed quickly but a faint sound like the blows of
hammers echoed faintly from ahead.
"What was that?" asked Talberth. "An oerthquake?"
"No." Ivo shook his head. "That was the fall of stone. Something
large and heavy, listen you can still hear the fall of lighter rock."
"If this place is caving in..." Talberth looked toward the
ceiling.
"We are safe enough." Ivo patted the wall. "But we need to get
back to the others."
"Let's hope that we still have a way out." said Harold.
* * *
The stones had stopped falling, but a patter of dirt and small
fragments of rock no bigger than pebbles continued to drop down. Telenstil
ended the spell he'd cast with a small sweeping gesture of his hand.
Blood dripped from cuts under his eye and along his chin. A small
needle of rock had clipped his nose and left a gash across the tip. The
wounds bled furiously but none were deep, instead they were long, as if a
razor had been drawn back and forth over his skin.
Telenstil wiped his face with the back of his hand, it came away
wet and red.
"You're hurt." Ghibelline said. He tried to rise but gasped in
pain and fell back.
"No, you seem to be." said Telenstil. "This is just a little
blood."
"My side..." Ghibelline pushed himself up while Telenstil reached
out and helped him to his feet.
* * *
(To Be Continued...)