Nicodemus

The wizard closes his eyes and flashes a magical shield between himself and Anatrium's attack. The shield parries the attack but the same moment the sword touches the shield it shatters into millions of pieces and vanishes.

Anatrium

The creature recoils as its attack is deflected. Seeing an opportunity, Anatrium attempts to use the momentum of his sword being pushed back by the shield to perform a back hand attack against Doyl. The blade flies fiercely towards the stoic man.

Doyl

Catching the sudden swing with the dagger's crossguard doesn't work quite as Doyl expected as his grip slips under the force of the blow and the sword rends a long, bloody wound up his arm. Grimacing with pain, Doyl shuffles back a step as the dagger clatters to the floor.

The grimace turns into a grin. Doyl shrugs off his backpack with an exhilarated look on his face. Where before there was fear, there is now homicidal mania. "Ha, not bad!" he growls and charges roaring at the pale figure, his axe swinging at the enemy's sword arm.

Updated 4 September 2013 (02:38)

Sallah

Thinking better off throwing his valuable spear into melee, the elven noble changes his grip on the shaft once again and carefully maneuvers himself between Anatrium and Nicodemus, being defensive all along the way. His strength returns to him as he mutters a prayer to himself. The aura of courage emanated by the sheer presence of the divine warrior affects all three people he considers his allies; apparently not needed by the barbarian but the elf and the wizard feel warmth around their chests as their spirits rise.

"Come and get Sallah you dishonoured spirit," he challenges Anatrium, still on the defensive, praying that he provided sufficient distraction from the flank for Doyl's attack to home in.

Anatrium

Turning with a hiss of pain, the creature soon roars with fury as it spys who is responsible for this villainy. So turning, the axe blade intended for the sword arm instead cleaves a clear path through the robes of the creatures left arm at the shoulder. A piece of cloth falls lithely to the ground as Anatrium shudders from the attack and staggers sideways towards the fire facing Doyl to its left, and the trio of heroes to its right.

Anatrium falls to one knee as darkness again fills the Tavern. The darkness is thick and almost organic as it washes over all those not close to Sellah and his protection. Thoughts of the past fill the minds of those who fall victim to this new evil; dire thoughts of sadness, despair and anguish. The minds of the afflicted are filled with memories of those who have past most painfully; or deeds done that induce the most powerful kind of regret and sorrow. Amidst the haze of torment, Anatrium stands and levels his sword, pointing it towards the amulet Grale wore into the Tavern not so long ago. The amulet still shines from the dim light of the fire in Silme's hand. With a raspy and gutteral sound, the creature manages to stammer, "Mine!"

Sallah

The elven noble raises the translucent tip of his spear, the end of the shaft firmly set with a loud knock against the wooden floor of the tavern where it meets his boots. The eagle feathers at the neck drizzling lightly from the impact.

"That amulet reeks of evil just like yourself, that's for sure," the elf allows himself to acknowledge Anatrium's claim. "Sallah cannot tell the outcome of giving it back to you. This is why Sallah cannot, and will not, allow you to have it. Return to whence you came at once, or feel the wrath of Naïamnë tearing into your incorporeal flesh!"

The thin yet muscular elf does not move to attack but his muscle tense so that he may either evade or launch an attack anytime. Those standing nearby spot a handful of silvery speckles on his temples to glitter for a moment in the eerie light like fine scales as his mandible stiffens.

Updated 9 September 2013 (08:27)

Doyl

Doyl's roar dies down into a growl as he reels briefly, staring in horror into empty space. A tear rolls down his cheek as his eyes refocus on the robed swordsman with burning hatred. "Die now," he mutters through clenched teeth, raises the axe with both hands and lunges forth in a mighty downward swing.

Nicodemus

Thanks to Sallah's presence the darkness doesn't affect on Nicodemus. Unfortunately he knows too well what it does to others and bites his lower lip trying to keep the painful memory of his parents' death away.

Gathering some courage from the lingering memory the young wizard starts muttering words for a spell. A ball of energy starts to form between his hands and he throws the spell toward Anatruim at the same moment when Doyl swings his axe.

Anatrium

As quickly as the creature had appeared it disappears again leaving only a small wisp of grey smoke behind. Doyl's axe finds nothing but empty air, as does the wizards spell. What little light that filtered through the Tavern returns. For those held under the creatures curse, the dim light seems painfully bright compared to Anatriums darkness.

As the remaining patrons of the Tavern slowly gather their wits about them, a chill breeze again filters through the cracks and crevices of the building. Brief yet shrill, Nicodemus catches two words carried on the breeze which translate to, "Tavern Caliph." Silme drops to one knee as these words are uttered. With this final act, all present can sense Anatrium is gone.

Updated 13 September 2013 (15:07)

Silme

Falling to his knees, the Elf drops the amulet as he fades from view. Within seconds, he is gone leaving no trace of himself.

Fred

Fred retires to his room without saying a word. These events have proven too much for a Halfling.

Sallah

The elven noble exhales deeply as he relaxes the spear that was set to receive a charge. He looks around at the patrons and settles his gaze on the young wizard. He nods firmly as if a formal introduction. "Name's Sallah Ilpukiir a Siannodel, Champion of Ehlonna, and bane to all goblinkind!" He exclaims the last part triumphantly, but still, the heavy emphasis on every single syllable of his first name is more obvious. "May Sallah invite you for a drink?" he asks, indicating the general direction of the available tables.

Doyl

Having just barely dodged Nicodemus' spell by virtue of stumbling when his axe didn't connect as expected. He steadies his breathing and looks around, weapon still at the ready. When Sallah mentions drink, Doyl straightens from his fighting crouch, gives the elf's shoulder a friendly slap and, with a grin, grunts "Much obliged, long-name, I could really use a drink!"

"The name's Doyl, Destroyer of Maidenhoods!" he declares as he plops down into a chair as if invited.

Sallah

The elf staggers forward from the friendly slap but manages to hold stations, thanks to the back of the sturdy chair one step ahead. He looks at the warrior with an appreciative nod. "Well fought, Destroyer", he says as he waves at the barkeep. He leans down his weapons by the same table and caresses both as he takes a seat accross the warrior and encourages the wizard to take a seat as well.

"Sallah has been led here by divine inspiration, but does not know about the course of events. Please feel free to debrief Sallah about this evil spirit who's just taken this poor elf. In particular, does either of you have any knowledge of this 'Tavern Caliph'?"

Updated 16 September 2013 (09:58)

Nicodemus

The young wizards stares at the point where the necromancer had disappeared and blinks. Sallah's words wake him from his thoughts and he flinches.

"Umm.. Yes.. Yes... I.. Ummm... I am Nicodemus..", the wizard stutters still a bit confused. "I think a-a-a drink wo-would be n-nice".

Doyl

Doyl looks at the elf with mocking wonderment. "Tavern caliph? Ha!" he exclaims and points at the barkeeper. "There's the ruler of this sty, and this is all you need to know about him," he adds, wagging the extended finger, "wag a finger and he'll grant you the boon of drink, all royal-like, ha!"

He smiles broadly at his quip.

Sallah

"So be it," the elf responds, wagging three fingers towards the barkeep. This time, the barkeep actually seems to have noticed him, unlike his wave just a minute earlier.

Apparently, he isn't satisfied by the quality of information he'd received about the place of his latest interest. "If you have no knowledge of the place," he addresses the warrior, "you can simply say so. Sallah is not the one to blame you for that."

Offering a seat to the wizard once again, the elf says, "Would you please finally take a seat, Nicodemus." After a moment of pause, he adds, "before your nerves make you collapse on the spot."

Updated 26 September 2013 (10:53)

Nicodemus

The wizard laughs nervously at Sallah's comment and with shaking hands draws himself a chair and almost collapses on it. He wags a finger the the barkeep who brings him pint of strong ale. His hands shake so much that he spills almost fourth of the beer on the table. Blushing furiously Nicodemus quickly mutters a small spell cleaning the beer back to the mug. Then he takes long gulp and sets the mug back on the table, hands shaking a little less.

"I am s-sorry that I-I-I wasn't m-m-much of a help...I just don't w-w-work well under pr-pr-pressure and-and..." blabbers and quiets down when he realizes what he's doing.

Doyl

Doyl observes Nicodemus' spell with interest. "Neat trick. That'd save me lots of coin, ha!" His smirk widens when he asks, "Twerp, you have any idea why Master Long-name here keeps rambling about caliphs?" and takes a swig from his pint. "They're even scarcer here than wizards."

Sallah

The elf slides one of his freshly received three mugs of ale to each of his companions. "Drink." And he does so. Stunned for a moment, his expression freezes, then blinks twice before he swallows the liquid; likely some taste he wasn't used to.

Getting back to his senses, the elf turns to the warrior, "Keen ears," he comments briefly. "You must've missed the apparition's words but Sallah would never miss it, especially since it was spoken in Draconic. A rare choice of speech for humans but just natural for dragonkind as well as wizards, right?" he turns towards Nicodemus for confirmation.