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Radon saw nothing but ash where the village once stood. Every building, every treasured possession now dust and rubble. Nothing remained in the ash except useless scraps of what must have been the possessions of the people. Radon knew what had done this, the evidence was here. A pair of of skeletal remains showed that it had been the skeletons that had done this. Scrapes and dents in the bones showed that the inhabitants of the village had fought back. The poor people must have succumbed to the undead army. It was terrible.

The golem was walking through the ash as if he vainly hoped to find something, or someone, still intact. But he found nothing but powdery grey dust. But then Drim spoke, informing the group that he heard a horn. He said that the skeletons must have been sent in waves with what they encountered being a scouting party. He warned that this was their last chance to back out. But the golem would do no such thing, he wanted to stop whatever malevolent force had burned the village to the ground. Drim began moving toward the path toward the mountain and Radon followed. It was clear that both Beyvelea and Reynald intended to come too, the golem was glad that they would.

"I will come with you Drim, whatever has done this must be stopped" came Radon's voice.

Standing either side of the beginning of the path were two stumps. They were charred remains of what were trees that once stood proud. Drim stopped for a moment, taking some charcoal from the stumps he began drawing a pentacle on the ground. Before the golem could ask what he was doing the ritual was complete. A small creature covered in eyes and tentacles came into existence. Drim commanded it to go on ahead and warn him of any enemies that might be coming their way. The creature obeyed and floated off up the mountain. At one point Beyvelea mentioned that she might run out of food before they reached the summit, she said that she could fast until then. But the golem had some food he had bought for his allies.

"Beyvelea, I have brought some bread from Alderquill. Although it might be stale you are welcome to it" the golem offered.

Radon continued walking until he came to a stone carving that had been destroyed. It was a stone statue of a guardian spirit. Radon stared at it for a short while. Radon was a stone carving himself but he was alive and this one had been smashed. It could have once been alive like he was. The golem found this almost unnerving. He soon realised that he should continue and continued walking, glancing back at the statue one or twice as he did.

The air of the mountain was cold and the golem knew that it was filled with dark magic. It appeared to be affecting the golem's allies. Drim's armour looked almost as if it were inhaling the dark magic. Beyvelea said that she could feel the magic getting stronger. The golem hoped that she would be alright. He looked toward the summit, to where he thought the malevolent arcane power originated from. It needed to be stopped before more people suffered.

Drim powered up on the mountain, earlier he had withdrawn three of the thin paper slips of trailmix rations from his armor and offered them to Beyvelea to share among the other members of the party, feeling that he would only need two days worth of rations himself. "One for the way up, and one for when we beat the evil doers into a necromancy pulp." Each stride he took pushed into the dirt at his feet, Drim was determined. Beyvelea had been correct about the mind twisting properties of dark magic, from the path on the mountain a force against will could be felt though it was very weak, as though it was merely in place to keep away mindless creatures. It occurred to Drim that there were in fact no animals on or around the mountain.

Around the halfway point Drim had realised that it must have been mostly perspective, from here the cloud swarming above the mountain didn't even reach past the base... or had it gotten smaller. "We should take a quick moment to rest here, It seems we have reached the halfway point in just over half a day, we should be at the summit by daybreak if we continue." Drim retrieved one of the thin paper parcels from under his armor and tore it open before he began ingesting the mix of dried berries, nuts and cereals. "These are supposed to have the energy of a full meal, good for combat but not very easy on the coin pouch." Drim pocketed the package for use as a firestarter later.

Drim cast another Circle and a fiend like the first appeared, continuing the same scouting task. It flew up and then around 10 minutes later returned. "It looks like the army is moving on too, we should hide soon." Drim looked around, it seemed like the pathside rocks contained many places to hide. "I don't want to alarm anyone, but this lot sounds at least twice as large as the scouting party."

Roshuo

A cold silent wind blows through the remain of a former village, not a single sign of life can heard or seen as far as the village area extended to. The forsaken village no longer holds the similarity of its former traits, none can now recognize the ruins of this village any longer. Standing among the lifeless corpses is a figure donning an full plate armor, the color of the armor however is mostly cover with rust while some of the part remain a dull silver. But the terror of this figure does not lies with the knight himself but rather on the twisted looking sword that seems to be enjoying its meal, the countless sharp fangs dig through the flesh of each corpse with ease rendering them into a pile of unrecognizable corpse.

Without any signs or warning, a mysterious voice spoke to rusted abomination, "Impressive.... I expect no less from the reaper... you seems to lived up to how the rumor describes you...." The pale blade stops its feast and directs itself towards the shade of the shadow where the mysterious voice echoes from. "Keep your life for now... I already hunt myself a satisfying amount of flesh for the time.... but if you insist...." The pale spoke to the voice and finished with an eerie grin. "I am not here to seek battle with you, Reaper... I'm just interested in your work that is all.." The mysterious spoke calmly towards the knight. "I'll just greet you for today... someone seems to be messing with my plan... farewell Reaper.." the voice slowly fade as the living sword continue with its feast.

Deus Oksizz

A spirit fire was lit among the dark woods covering the black mountain, a mysterious armored figure walks among the shade as it proceed towards the mountain summit. Along the way of his travel, he had encounter a number of skeletal soldiers which seems to be roaming the area. It looks like luck is still in favor of him, the skeletal soldier are not so keen with their senses thus is why they could not spot the flaming fire of the figure. "Our flaming head is pretty obvious don't you think? Agreed, we need to move with more caution in order to avoid any unnecessary battle" The figure then keep proceeding while hiding his presence among the shady trees, the flaming fire can easily be spotted by most but it does not seems to apply with the skeletal soldiers.

Radon continued at a steady pace up the mountain. Beyvelea accepted the bread from the golem which left him with one loaf left. She had also been offered food by Drim as well. Beyvelea thanked Radon for the bread, noting that his creator had given him kindness. The trek continued up the eerily still mountain until Drim mentioned that they should get some rest, Beyvelea seemed to agree. She mentioned that it would be too dangerous to travel the mountain at night. She also mentioned someone named Cesare, the golem knew the names of everyone in the group but the Halfling however he didn't know who was named Cesare. Perhaps it was the name of the Halfling, Radon decided that he would have to ask about it sometime in the future. The golem knew that his allies would benefit from a good night's rest.

When they had stopped the golem remembered that he had something to ask the others about. It was the mysterious object given to him by the knight before he left the gypsy camp. Radon did not know what it was or what significance it may hold, so he hoped that his allies might be able to divine some meaning from the silver orb. There had to be some reason for the knight to give the artefact to Radon even if that reason was just to thank the adventurers for combating the demon.

"I just remembered, before the knight left the gypsy camp he gave me something. I'm not sure what it is or what significance it may hold. Perhaps you may notice something I have missed" Radon said, holding out the silver artefact.

Drim drew another runic circle and used it to summon another scout. He sent it on its way. The golem wondered what it would see and what it would find waiting for them further up the mountain's slope. It turned out that he didn't have to wait long for that information as the scout reappeared a mere ten minutes after it had been sent on its mission. Drim told the group what the scout saw. He said that another army was coming and that they should hide. He said that the army would be at least twice as large as the scouting party they saw earlier. Fortunately the copious rocks that dotted the landscape and lined the path could provide adequate protection from being noticed.

"Yes, we should hide from the advancing army. It sounds like the group may be to big to fight on our own" the golem said.

Drim hid in the rocks with the others, Beyvelea's idea to look for a cave had come in handy, a particular inlet in the mountain behind some rocks provided enough cover for many people, though it didn't look like it went very deep, the cave had markings from a previous campfire, many moons old. They had hidden just in time, the Skeletons arrived sooner than expected. It took over two full hours for their creaky marching to subside, at least six hundred foot soldiers armed with various weapons and part of armor, followed by several dozen larger beasts bringing up the rear with larger weapons including a battering ram and some large axes. Drim remained silent for the entire two hours, watching, unable to sleep.

When the skeletons passed Drim quickly began to start to patch a plan together. "We should rest for a few hours, though it must be daybreak soon, we will leave at first light, we need to stop this at the source." Drim stepped out from the cave and looked up, the swarming cloud gave out a slight purple glow, the mountain certainly seemed taller looking up, but when looking down it seemed smaller, the dark magic must also work to make things appear more menacing, possibly to trick dangerous animals that might try to climb the mountain. "Okay, I would guess around four hours until daybreak, we leave then."

Before he made himself comfortable, Drim had some time to go over the silver object the golem had shown just prior to the skeletons arrival. "I'm afraid I have no idea what this is, maybe a magical orb to help channel magic, but that doesn't seem likely due to where it came from and that it does not give off any sort of magical aura." Drim spun the object twice before handing it back to the Golem. "Perhaps it will helps us in some way, the silver knight must have had this before he perished, it seems important..."


[The summit]
Atop the Mountain, five engraved skeletons donned in full Cult attire lay slain, collapsed in on themselves. Amidst their crumpled carcasses stood a single warrior sheathing a sword. The skulls of the cult members appeared to be crushed, their chains and garments stripped of all that was gold and valuable. Five snapped scepters by their sides, an obsidian podium shattered into a thousand pieces, an ominous pentagram scuffed out amidst the heat of battle.

-The necromancers are dead-

Cesare wordlessly rifled through the town, shaking his head in defeat as he confirmed with his own eyes how thoroughly the town was razed to the ground. Scorched earth and various litter of what used to be a town lay all around, though oddly enough, much of the carnage that should still be present was gone, and all that remains were dry, dented bones. A horn sounded in the distance, and as he walked to regroup with the others, he caught the tail ends of their conversation. "Well, if everyone's up for a hike, then so am I."

Two days, with a single break. Not very difficult for a halfling - they were well known for being a hardy, indomitable race. Though he marched with confidence, he held his peace, marching with nary a peep, his mind focused on the singular goal of cutting the magic at the source. A short break was taken, where they rested and shared rations, though Cesare was largely content with the one he packed for himself, glad for the variety. With a lighter load, he got up along with the rest once more, and began marching on.

It didn't take long, however, before they were stopped by another one of Drim's summons, a warning of a larger group of skeletons making their move. Quickly bunching up within a nearby opening, they hid for two hours as the skeletons made their way past, during which Cesare decided to simply rest with his back against the wall, keeping his eyes closed as he listened to the rhythmic thrum of the army's march. He opened his eyes once more as the sounds finally faded away, bringing himself back to reality.

Cesare nodded in agreement. "Rest would be good for us, it would be greatly beneficial to be at our best when we finish the last leg of this particular journey." He gave a passing glance at the artifact the golem held, before shaking his head. "I have not encountered it before, either in writing or by word of mouth. It may prove its use to us later, however. It would be best to safeguard it." Taking a short pause, he gave a small smile. "Ah, and forgive me for being scatterbrained earlier. I am Cesare, for those who have yet to know. Now then, I'll be off to sleep."

Radon sat down inside the cave in which he and the others had hid in order to escape notice by the steadily advancing army outside. The rhythmic beat of the skeletal feat could be heard from inside. It lasted for hours before the army finally passed. During that time Beyvelea and the Halfling, whose name was confirmed to be Cesare by Cesare himself, had taken the opportunity to rest with Beyvelea leaning against Radon. Drim, however, seemed unable to rest for the entirety of the duration of their hiding. Once the army had passed Drim suggested that they get some rest before they leave at dawn the following morning.

"That would be a good idea, I can watch out for danger while you rest" the golem said quietly as to not wake Beyvelea.

Now that the adventurers were resting Radon thought that it would be best to let everyone examine the strange silver artefact that the knight had given him. He moved in order to do this and despite his efforts to let Beyvelea sleep she slid to the floor. Drim speculated that it could be used to channel magical power but he also said that it might be unlikely. He said that it may be important. Cesare said that he had not encountered something like it before and recommended safeguarding it as it may prove useful in the future. Beyvelea speculated that if the orb had somehow caused the knight to be killed that he would want to get rid of it as soon as possible after being resurrected. She also said that if it was important then the knight would want to give it to someone who could protect it. She then speculated why Radon would be chosen, coming up with ideas on why Drim, Cesare, Reynald and herself were not chosen.

"Very well, I shall keep hold of the artefact" Radon said as he put the silver artefact away, "You all should get some sleep."

The artefact was mysterious, that was clear. But wasn't clear was what the artefact could do. Was it able to channel magic? Would it prove vital in the future? The golem did not know and it appeared that his allies did no either. The mystery surrounding the artefact would not be dispelled tonight, perhaps it would become clearer as they continued their adventure. Either way nothing was going to happen until the next morning. Radon prepared himself to wait out the night as he usually did as he didn't need sleep.

Drim awoke to silence, there was no third army marching down the mountain yet the animals of the mountain had yet to return. Drim poked out of the cave and looked up, the ominous spiral at the top of the mountain was still present, but the perspective had changed, now looking both up and down the mountain the distance to their respective ends seemed appropriate. -Has the mind magic faded a little?- Drim shook it off and began packing his few things back under his armor. "Okay, soon we shall reach the top of the mountain, make sure you are ready to face whatever we may find."

Drim continued to pace up the mountain with an ever-worried feeling that they would not like what they were about to discover at the summit. Several hours passed and the group began to approach the summit, the jagged, spiralling path quickly converted into a smooth incline of steps enclosed by statues of guardian deities, again which had been smashed just like the milestones that wound all the way up the mountain. "Apparently we are approaching the summit. Keep your guard up, anything could happen."

[the Summit]

As Oksizz watched the warrior in the circle of dead cult members wiped his blade off on the robes of the deceased. The faint glow from the many shards of the obsidian pedastal had begun to fade. Cracks in the ground below the cult members began to appear and dragged their corpses slowly away, black vine-like tendrils curling around their limbs and pulling their bones down, leaving just their robes before disappearing along with the cracks.

Reynald journeyed up the mountain as he guided his horse through. Food was interchanged between his companions, but he needed less. He had enough food to last him for this journey. The knight fumbled around in his satchel, withdrawing a slip of paper from within. He peeled it away to reveal some jerky of unknown origin. It was likely beef, but he couldn't know for sure. Reynald began chewing at the meat to sate his hunger. It was heavily salted to stay preserved, but as a result, the jerky was very tough. Nevertheless, the knight proceeded up the mountain with his allies.

Drim had brought the group to a stop, claiming that they had reached the halfway point already. He suggested that the group rest and hide from an incoming horde of skeletons. Reynald agreed as he peered down the mountain. It almost seemed like the mountain seemed smaller from his position. When he looked up, the mountain seemed much more menacing and large. Perhaps it was dark magic. The knight followed his allies into a small inlet within the mountain, bringing his horse as he did so.

The horse protested to enter the cave, but with the horde of skeletons, it had little choice. Reynald unloaded his bags and saddle from the horse to allow it to rest. He took out a bag of oats and fed his horse a few handfuls, when he was finished, he sat down and ate the remainder of the food from a while ago. The knight decided to take off his armor for the remainder of this respite. As he doffed his armor, his companions discussed a silver orb that the knight-commander had given to Radon. Reynald paid little attention to it, as magic was not his strong suit. When he was done, he laid his armor and weapons on the ground. The knight walked over to his baggage and retrieved his bedroll. With the group deciding to sleep, Reynald did the same, resting with his blade at his side.

Reynald woke up a little earlier than the others. He began to prepare his things for the rest of the journey. He ate a ration, downed some spiced wine and loaded his luggage back onto his horse, not before feeding it, of course. The knight was already donning his armor by the time Drim was awake. He watched as the fiend examined the surroundings. When the group departed, Reynald walked alongside him, bringing his horse as he did so.

Vaelen wiped the last drops of blood from his blade, marveling at his reflection in the once-again gleaming blade. Suddenly, black tendrils rose up and retreated with the suddenly re-dead. Vaelen ignored this, deciding instead to collect arrow bolts he had scattered in the pillars. He could handle a crossbow, but his lack of formal training sometimes showed, and it bothered him. The skeletons being retracted did intrigue him, but he had been in the 'business' just long enough to not be distracted by such occurrences.

Having found all the still-usable bolts, Vaelen turned to the cloaks lying on the ground. "Well then, lads, what do you suggest we do now?" And with that he scooped up one of the cloaks and threw it over himself. One thing I'll say for you, you guys sure do have nice cloaks." Vaelen swept his eyes over the remaining four cloaks, and, with a sigh, ceased his monologue, realising that there was nobody to hear him. He slumped against a pillar, thinking over his next move.

As the crew approached the top of the mountain Drim half expected to see A third army prepping to storm down the mountain. Instead what he saw was a pile of cultist robes moving about on their own. Under the pile of cultist robes stood some sort of warrior, one Drim recognised as being present at the gypsy camp site the first day. "You!" Drim drew his dagger in preparation for a battle. "Don't tell me you are the necromancer and were watching us all along!" Drim had his other hand over his tome just in case. "Who are you, what are you doing..."

Drim noticed the smashed altar and edidential scuff marks of battle. "Or perhaps you have already defeated our foe." Drim lowered his dagger, motioning 'easy' with his spare hand. "Sorry about being on edge, we have travelled a long way and thought we would be facing a mighty foe." Drim looked around. -He must have fought four.. no, five enemies. Were they as strong as this magic would suggest?- Drim took a step forwards onto the summit, a flat peak obviously set up to be a place of ritualistic intent, but as soon as he did so the place where the altar once stood began to creak and fold inwards, revealing a staircase.

From deep within the mountain music the sound of music could be heard along with a cackling laughter. A distant voice reverberated through the air. "Fool, you have only defeated my conduits, I am far more powerful than those foot soldiers." the laughter continued to echo. Drim looked down the staircase. "It looks like fate is yet again challenging our resolve." Drim silently proceeded to begin walking down the staircase, glowing green fireballs that hovered in the air beside the staircase lit the way down, the staircase twisted and twirled downwards in no discernable pattern, seemingly nothing supported its marble steps.

"This one will not be as easy as the fights we have previously faced." The mouth motifs on Drims armor were grinning.

Oksizz

As Oksizz continue his observation on the warrior upon the summit, a new crew of adventurers made their entrance and confront the mysterious warrior. From the slight conversation among them it seems like they've encounter each other before, "What should we do? We should keep on the observation first , it is not confirmed whether these people are allies or foes". The crew proceed forward but once the step forward was taken a hidden staircase reveal itself on the ritual area. However that is not all, a mysterious voice haunted the area claiming its superiority over its minion as the glowing green fireball lit the path to the unknown. "We're moving out. Huh? Now? Oi!..." Oksizz walks out of his hiding and approach the crew, the flaming head of this warrior lit blazing light to the eerie atmosphere as he walk towards the ritual site.

Radon kept watch while his allies slept. The golem didn't need to sleep, his creator had decided this when he was created. The sun's rays were trying to illuminate the ground outside the cave where the adventurers had stayed for the night. Morning had finally arrived and Radon was standing just outside the cave. He heard a noise coming from the cave, someone was awake. The golem turned to see Reynald who already seemed to be preparing to leave. The golem's ally ate, drank and packed up. Drim woke up soon after.

Drim addressed the group, mentioning that they would soon arrive at the mountain's summit and that they should be ready for whatever they would find there. Radon nodded, looking up at the mountain's peak where the magic was thought to have originated from. Then the group began the trek to the peak, a trek that took hours to complete. Every step brought them ever closer to the mystery. The rugged slope turned into a smooth incline bordered by statues like the ones closer to the base. Each of these were smashed just like the others. Again the golem couldn't help but stop when he encountered one of the statues. He felt the same twinge of unease he felt before. He quickly continued the trek, not wanting to be left behind. Drim told them to keep their guard up as the summit was getting closer. The golem did not know what was waiting for them there.

The golem put his stone hand on the hilt of his blade, ready for what he thought would be a battle on the peak of the mountain. The time had finally come when the group arrived and discovered what was waiting for them there. But it wasn't an army of skeletal warriors nor was it a circle of sinister mages. What the group found were empty cloaks and a person who appeared to be a warrior. Before the golem could react Drim spoke, accusing the warrior of being a necromancer who had spied on them. But then something made Drim change his mind and lower his weapon.

Radon saw the smashed altar and Drim changed his mind about the warrior. He said that they could have defeated the foe that the group had come to fight. The golem's stance relaxed slightly, his hand was removed from the hilt of his blade. For a moment it appeared that this would be the end of the journey, perhaps the magic that remained would fade over time until it had completely vacated the mountain and the surrounding landscape. But the golem was wrong, this was not the end. The altar creaked and groaned, moving and folding in on itself until it revealed a staircase.

"Perhaps our journey is not yet over" the golem said, "Perhaps more mysteries remain."

The golem was looking down the set of stairs. They were lit by eerie green fireballs and the sound of music and someone laughing could be heard. It was then that someone new then made their appearance. They wore armour which seemed to be emitting some sort of flame. The golem did not know if they and the warrior were allies or enemies. If they had already defeated their enemies then they might be allies. The golem wanted to know who these two were and if they had a similar mission to that of the group.

"Who are you?" the golem asked the warrior and the one wearing the armour, "Why are you here?"

As he thought, Vaelen suddenly became aware of footsteps. Putting one hand to his blade, he turned his head ever so slightly, as to keep his 'guests' in sight. But then they did the same. Leaping up from his resting place, Vaelen listened intently as the stranger accused him. But just as quickly as he had raised his suspicions, the newcomer lost interest in him as a new voice rang out and the altar shifted. Damn. He'd known there would be more, but Vaelen thought he had halted the enemy, rather than simply alerting them.

As the others began to descend the stairs, Vaelen in tow, a golem of all things addressed him. Ever so slightly taken a back, Vaelen spoke. "I am Vaelen." He made as grand a bow he could in the cramped space between the wall and the golem. Smirking, he continued. "I am an adventurer from an old, distant place. I come here on business that is my own. But I am keen to know who you are, son of stone, and why you are here, with these fine fellows." Vaelen waves his hands around himself. He decided that, if need be, the easiest way to dispose of the golem would be to push him down the stairs, finish off the others, and run for dear life. Golems were not a foe he was well suited for. Never trust a stranger, his father always said.

Reynald walked up the mountain, his hand steadily waiting on the hilt of his blade. He had expected combat, but found none. That worried him more than it did please him. He closely followed behind Drim, who was leading the way. The knight was greeted with a strange sight; the mountain's defenders were gone. Several cloaks, broken scepters, and a broken obsidian podium lay on the ground. A familiar-looking man stood amongst the ruins.

Drim went off the accuse the man of necromancy. Reynald was about to speak up, but his suspicions were erased when the fiend renounced his claims. This man was not responsible. In fact, it seemed like the man was the reason why these necromancers were defeated. Faint markings of what seemed to have been a pentagram was blurred in such a way that its magics would no longer work. The knight took a few steps forward warily.

Reynald eyed the man in an attempt to gauge his abilities. A sword hung at his belt, and a heavy crossbow was slung behind his back. Whatever other weapons the man had went unnoticed. This man seemed armed and skilled to have to killed a cabal of necromancers. Drim walked up to the shattered altar, which suddenly folded into the ground, revealing a spiral staircase.

The knight looked around, first to his companions, then to the mysterious man. The rest of the group moved to investigate. In the corner of his eye, Reynald could spot another figure. He was dressed in strange looking armor. Upon closer inspection, he didn't look like he was a servant of the undead. Then again, he did have a lack of a normal head. Instead having a fireball in its place. In one hand, he had a longsword, in the other, a curved sword, likely eastern in origin. The figure approached the group.

"That's close enough." Reynald threatened as his hand moved to his blade. "Who... What are you and what do you want?"

He knew little of this newcomer, and it was better to be safe than sorry. A quick glance to his back revealed that his companions were already descending down the staircase, paying little heed to the figure.

Oksizz

As Oksizz approach the group of adventurers, most of them seems to be attract to the sudden appearance of the hidden staircase while the few others are aware of the presence of the mysterious warrior that approach them. One of the adventurer who donned a knightly armor speaks to the oksizz in threatening manners due to the unidentified motive of the the warrior. "That's close enough." The knight speaks while slowly move his hand towards his blade, "Who... What are you and what do you want?" The knight direct his question towards Oksizz.

"Greeting, Sir Knight. Our name is Deus Oksizz, an Exceed. It's a pleasure to meet you" Oksizz greets the knight in a formal manner. "It is through sheer luck that we travel through this area during our quest and spot this eerie mountain it seems like evil beings are marching from this mountain, so we sought to investigate it" a rather different voice from the first emerge from the flaming warrior. "We have keep our observation for quite some time now According to it, you people are here for the same reason, no?" Oksizz calmly state his motive to the knight.

Much to the knight's surprise, the being introduced himself. The being had introduced itself as Deus Oksizz. Apparently, he was an exceed, whatever that was. It was likely some sort of obscure construct. Reynald eyed the exceed's weapons and armor whilst listening intently. Oksizz went on to explain himself. The sudden change of the being's voice surprised the knight, but he had seen stranger things. He shifted his stance to a more relaxed posture but remained on guard.

"Hail, I am Reynald Trueheart of the Silver Order. We're here to eliminate the source of the dark magic." Reynald said plainly.

The knight looked again at the weapons of the exceed. It takes skill wield a pair of blades into battle effectively. If done right, most people state that they see only a blur of metal, akin to a dance of death. Reynald spoke up, then looked to the staircase. He began walking towards it as he glanced at Oksizz.

"If you wish to aid us, then I shall not stop you." The knight stated."Know only that I will keep an eye on you."

Radon began to descend the stairs just like Drim and Beyvelea were. The staircase was eerie and winding, lit by hovering fireballs with a green tint to them. The warrior they had met earlier was also descending the mysterious staircase that lead into the mountain. The golem journeyed towards whatever awaited them at the bottom of the stairs, whether is was the source of the music or a group of enemies he did not know. What he did know was that their journey to find and stop the source of the evil magic was not yet over.

As the golem descended the stairs the warrior introduced himself as Vaelen and attempted a bow. He said that he was an adventurer from an old, distant place who had come here on his own business. Apparently his business had brought him to the mountaintop where he seemed to have defeated the enemies that the adventurers expected to fight. Perhaps he wished to stop whatever force was commanding the armies of skeletons. Before the golem could ask about that Vaelen asked Radon to introduce himself.

"My name is Radon. I came here with the others because we believed that there was evil magic here. We saw armies of skeletal warriors on our journey here and the destruction they left in their wake" the golem replied.

The golem recalled what had happened in the journey to the mountaintop and how he met his allies. He had come to Alderquill as a wanderer, he didn't expect to see the dark, swirling cloud on the mountain's peak. It was this that first alerted the golem to the fact that something might be wrong. He then met his allies and began the journey to find out what was on top of the mountain. On the way they found the skeletal armies and what they had done to a village.

"We found a village that had been reduced to nothing but ash" the golem continued, "Have you also seen such things?"

Perhaps Vaelen also knew of the evil magic that seemed to come from the mountain. Maybe he had also come in hopes of stopping its influence. If that was true then perhaps Vaelen would join their group. Another person combating whatever was awaiting them would improve their chances of success. But the golem did not know what Vaelen's intentions were.

Chapter IV: Boss Fight

The stairs did not lead the party too far down, perhaps less than half an hours journey. Drim's sabattons clicked onto the circular marble platform at the end, it too seemed to be suspended in mid air with nothing to support it, green fire balls hovering around the edges lighting the field in a criss-cross manner. "Show yourself." Drim pointed a gauntleted fist toward the opposing end of the circle where a shadowy figure reighned. Green light rained down giving the figure a reveal suitable of a performer. A hag with bony fingers sitting at a pipe organ made entirely from bones.

The hag only cackled, her music pulsating, reverberating. Seven figures of bone crawled their way out of the marble floor as if it were mud, the texture of the floor painting their bony surfaces as they crawled up into view. The Skeletal creatures dragged fully formed weapons up with them, unlike the creatures previously encountered these were a mismatch of varying bones from numerous creatures, mostly symetrical, the only common feature the shared was that they wore crowns made of various metals. "Necromancer!" Drim threw his dagger at the witch playing the bone organ, but it was caught mid air by a hand which erupted from the surface of the marble plate, suspended by more arm bones than made sense.

"Fool, my power here is amplified, some simple adventurers could never defeat me! KEKEKEKEKEKEH!" The hag continued to play, Drim now saw where the rythm of the skeletal feet was being controlled, it was directly tied to her music. "Necromantic Bard..." Drim withdrew his tome which began to float ominously infront of him on its own, flipping between pages rather quickly.

The seven skellingkings advance.

Reynald descended down the staircase, not expecting a response from the exceed. There would be time for pleasantries later. It would seem that the stranger from before was introducing himself as Vaelen. While the knight felt a twinge of distrust towards the man, he could not help but respect the man's skill at arms. He could only hope that those skills would be used for good. It would be a shame to put down such a prodigious warrior after all.

The descent down the staircase took longer than Reynald expected, but it was only a minor inconvenience. Each step downward only seemed to increase the volume of the pipe organ. The knight enjoyed the music, but found it more unsettling than pleasant. When the team had finally reached the bottom, there was a circular marble platform.The source of the music was loudest here, and the platform seemed to be levitating, free of supports and restraints. Sickly green lights lit the way as Drim took the lead, Reynald closely following suit.

"Show yourself" Drim said, causing a green light to reveal something at the end of the platform.

The light shined down on an old hag, who sat at a pipe organ that seemed to be constructed completely out of bones. She continued to play her song as if the adventurers were never there. As the music continued, shadows formed on the marble floor below. As they rose from the ground, the dark incorporeal beings seemed to materialize into bone. Reynald quickly counted the numbers as he drew his blade. Seven enemies had come.

Each skeleton was different from the others. They did not seem to be the simple undead creatures the knight had seen before. They seemed to be an amalgamation of different bones from various creatures. Reynald eyed one of them as they rose. The one he was looking at was larger than the others, easily twice his size. The bones seemed large and tough, likely from some large creature. A crown of dark black metal reflected a glint of light as it sat upon the creature's slightly disproportionate head. The knight could see that the skeleton was hefting a large greatsword akin to an executioner's blade. A skull motif decorated the the blade's hilt, while a dull gray metal made up the bulk of the blade.

The large skeleton stared and pointed at Reynald with a large finger. It raised its arm to its neck, lifted its head, and ran a finger across its neck. It would seem that the skeleton was singling out the knight for combat. Reynald laughed as he drew his shield, switching to a defensive stance. His blade glowed in a bright blue aura, which contrasted the lair's dominant green atmosphere.

"Prodigious size alone does not dissuade the sharpened blade." the knight said to himself as the skeleton drew closer.