When she had stepped onto the false floor and dropped through it,
Arahna had stretched out her legs below her automatically, bent slightly at
the knees and ankles to absorb as much of the impact as possible.  She hit
the floor below and rolled, almost losing her balance as something shifted
under her, coming back up to her feet only slightly worse for wear.
     She quickly took in her new surroundings.  Around her, bones and the
remains of previous adventurers were scattered haphazardly all over,
covering the floor and accounting for her awkward landing.  Nearby, Hawn
sat clutching his leg in silence, a look of extreme pain on his face.
     A sudden cry alerted Arahna to Gael's descent.  She dropped her sword
and stepped under the priestess, deftly catching Gael in arms made strong
by a lifetime of exercise.  Gael quickly recovered her feet, shaking off
the dizziness of the unexpected fall as she moved over the hurt elf.
     "Your leg is broken," she observed with some concern as she
examined the leg he clutched.  He merely gave her a look of marked sarcasm,
having already figured as much out on his own.  To Arahna, she added, "Give
me a hand, we need to set the bone."
     Disregarding Gael's attempt to help her, Arahna gripped the elf's leg
at knee and ankle, pulling with all of her immpressive strength.  Hawn
released an inarticulate cry of pain as the broken bone shifted within his
leg, moving back into place.  Gael quickly placed her hands of his leg,
beginning to channel the powers of Poseidon into mending the broken bones.
     A look of calm spread over Hawn's features as an aura of blue energy
surrounded his leg, fusing the bone whole again.  Arahna's eyes widened at
this sight, for she had never before actually seen a real priest
channelling the powers of a deity, not having paid any real attention to
the act when Gael had healed her shortly after they had met, the pain of
her wounds having served as a significant distraction.
     Hawn muttered some vague words of thanks, his dislike for relying on
others still growing worse ever since the destruction of House Ambrosius.
He struggled to his feet without help and limped around, testing his leg.
     As Hawn was slowly moving about, one of the corpses laying on the
floor shook and sat up awkwardly, its dead eyes drifting across the
chamber.  It stood up in a clumsy fashion, its rotting flesh hanging
loosely from its bones.  In one hand it loosely gripped a long, curved
sword of a design similar to Arahna's falchion.  As it raised the weapon,
light began to shine from the blade.
     Hawn quickly backed away from the walking corpse as it swung its
weapon, pulling his silvered blade from its sheath.  Arahna moved in,
putting a large gash in the creature's side.  It let out a hollow moan but
otherwise ignored the blow and she who dealt it, instead reaching for Hawn.
The elf lopped off the outstretched appendage, quickly following up with a
thrust of his sword into the creature's throat that pressed upwards into
the horror's brainpan.
     With another moan, the animated corpse dropped back onto a heap of
bones, dead once again.  Hawn judiciously carved off its head, booting it
across the room with his good leg to be safe that the thing was finally and
truthfully dead.
     As Arahna nudged the corpse's sword, which had ceased glowing, Hawn
commented, "You might want to keep that sword.  Its blade has obviously
been charmed, though you should be wary until I can examine it to learn
what its powers might be.  Its wounds could be most deadly or its blade
cursed, so have a care."
     Arahna tentatively picked up the weapon, examining it closer when
nothing untoward occurred.  The blade was well-polished and its edge was
keener than any she had before seen, and a few practice swings proved its
balance to be most remarkable, as if it had been forged specifically for
her hand.
     Hawn shambled towards the passage that exited from this chamber of
death, eager to be done with this venture.  He gave the decapitated head a
second kick for good measure on his way out, immediately regretting the
action when his weakened leg nearly gave out beneath him.  The two women
followed him down the passage leading off from the pit chamber, not about
to let the foolhardy elf get away from them.
     The passage led into a larger chamber.  Mounds of rot were all that
remained of the furnishings of this chamber.  A badly warped and rotted
door was set into the wall on either side of the chamber, and there was a
staircase leading upwards, no doubt to the main chamber above.
     As he headed for one of the ruined doors, a mound of rotted furniture
was knocked aside by a serpentine creature with metallic scales.  Rearing
upwards, the snake-like thing lashed out, striking at Hawn.  The elf
managed to avoid the assault.  Swinging his sword with both hands, the
enchanted edge of the his weapon bit deep into the gleaming scales and
severed the serpent's head.  Its body flopped to the floor, twitching like
a fish out of water for some moments before it was still.
     "What manner of snake is that?" uttered Arahna, astonished at the
brevity of the battle.
     "Its origin belies my knowledge," commented Hawn, eyeing the edge of
his blade and then the hard metallic hide of the serpentine creature.  He
was glad of the dweomer of sharpness on his blade, otherwise it would
likely have been broken by the force of his blow.  He had never before even
heard of any creature with metallic scales.  But then now was not the time
to dwell upon this strange creature.  Greater matters pressed for his
attention.
     Chosing one of the two doors at random, Hawn forced the weaken portal
in with his shoulder, fragmenting the rotting wood and nearly falling on
his face when his knee buckled again.  Like the previous chamber, all of
the furnishings of this room had long since rotted away, leaving only a
single throne formed from countless bones.
     Doubting the Tome would be found it this room, owing to the fact that
there was nothing for it to be hidden or otherwise contained it, Hawn moved
over to try the door in the opposite wall.  Because of this, he did not see
the bone throne shift its position and begin moving, the bones shifting
their position to form a huge skeletal creature like no living beast that
had ever walked the face of this world.
     Seeing this, Arahna shouted a warning to Hawn and moved to block one
flailing tentacle of heavy bones.  The appendage struck her in the side of
the body, slamming her effortlessly against the wall, where she slid down
to the floor.
     Gael moved to Arahna's defense, thrusting her light war-trident
outwards to block another bony tentacle.  The limb knocked the weapon from
her hands and smashed her across the room.  Battered from the force of the
blow, Gael crumpled against the wall for support.
     Not wanting to try his own sword against this monstrosity, Hawn closed
his eyes, summoning up his sorcerous powers.  A crackling stream of
electricity arced from his fingers, striking the bone creature, engulfing
it in a shroud of electrical current.  The thing seemed to shudder for a
moment before it exploded, fragmented bone shards raining across the room.
     If nothing else, Roarshahk had proved useful in that his spellbooks
had provided Hawn with a much expanded repertoire of magics to call upon.
     Gael was softly muttering, a blue aura surrounding her battered body
and healing her wounds.  Straightening up, she moved over to Arahna,
extending the power of Poseidon into healing the young warrior maiden.  An
electric blue glow spread over Arahna as well, mending her broken form.
     Regaining consciousness, she leapt to her feet, then almost fell down
again as a wave of weakness passed over her.  With a supporting hand from
Gael, she stood up straight and looked around for the creature which had
attacked them.
     "It is destroyed," Hawn informed her, brushing bone chips from his
clothing.  When she prompted him for how it had occurred, Hawn merely
relied with, "I know a few spells of destruction."
     Recovering from the battle, they forced the next door with a bit more
care.  The furnishings of this chamber had also rotted away under the
inevitable force of time.
     Looking over the remains, a thought occurred to Arahna.  "Everything
down here is completely rotted away.  How can you be certain that this book
you seek has not also mouldered away?  I have seem many texts that have
grown so brittle that they crumble the instant you touch them or turn a
page."
     "I doubt that will be a concern," said Hawn.  "This tome is obviously
magical in nature and as such would not have been affected by time."
     Then Hawn's eyes widened in anticipation as he spotted a small niche
in one wall.  Considering the outline on the wall around the niche, it
appear that when this shrine had been in use a picture or something similar
had been hung to conceal the niche.  But time had also taken its toll on
this as well, leaving the niche in plain sight.
     Examining the niche, Hawn discovered an ornate case carved from some
polished black stone, perhaps basalt or obsidian, thrust into the depths of
the wall.  Pulling the case from the niche, he turned it over in his hands,
trying to find a means of opening it.
     "Does it contain the Tome of Malakai?" Gael wondered aloud.
     "Doubtful," muttered Hawn.  "Too small.  Whatever is in it might still
prove useful, though."
     Giving up on trying to find a mechanical means of opening the lid on
the case, Hawn chanted a spell of opening.  For a moment he could sense the
power of his spell clashing with some magical force which sealed the case,
then the brief battle ended and the lid popped open.
     The inside of the case was lined with some material similar to felt,
upon which rested an athane -- a ceremonial blade used for performing
sacrifices.  The blade of the knife was of the same type of stone as the
case, while the handle was fashioned from some type of bone or ivory.
Finely inscribed runes covered the blade and the hilt, and Hawn could feel
strong magics bound up within the knife.
     When he picked up the knife, Hawn sensed some sort of awareness which
was contained within the blade.  He started to put the knife back in the
case, but there was a voice, a will other than his own, demanding that he
make a sacrifice to Orcus.  Hawn ignored the urge, again trying to replace
the knife in its container.  The knife resisted physically this time.  A
burning desire flashed through him, demanding a sacrifice.  The stone blade
started to pull him towards where Gael and Arahna stood watching in
bewilderment.  Hawn planted his feet firmly, resisting the pull.  Raging
pain shot through his body and he cried out in pain, dropping to his knees.
     Gael started towards him but he screamed at her to keep back.  She
said something he could not understand.  The athane pulled Hawn towards
her, urging him to slay Gael for the glory of Orcus, the Lord of the
Undead.
     Hawn cried out as the knife slashed out with brutal force, sending
sparks flying as it struck the wall.  "No."  Hawn stood up, staring at the
knife, shaking with rage.  "You have no control over me.  My will is mine
own."  He replaced the knife in the jeweled box, which he stowed in the
bottom of his pack with abrupt motions, enraged at nearly having been
controlled by this enchanted talisman.
     "What were you trying to do?" came out Gael finally.  "For a moment
there I thought you were trying to kill me with that knife."
     Forcing himself to calm down, Hawn looked her calmly in the eyes and
explained, "This knife is enchanted -- or cursed if you prefer.  It was the
ceremonial athane used to perform sacrifices in the shrine above.  The
knife was trying to force me to make a sacrifice to Orcus, but I was able
to overcome its compulsion."
     "Then why are you keeping that accursed knife?" asked Arahna.
     "It may have its uses.  The tome for which we search is not here.
There are still other places to search, and this knife might be of use in
getting there."
     "How can you be so calm when you just tried to kill me?" Gael demanded
in surprise.
     "I did not try to kill you: the knife attempted to force me to take
your life, something which I could not do."  He appeared to grow
uncomfortable as some thought crossed his mind, a closeness, a degree of
familiarity which he did no want.  "But come," he added quickly, clearing
his mind, "we must still recover the Tome of Malakai.  There is still
another door to search.  Perchance that will lead to success."
     The other door Hawn spoke of opened into a small antechamber, which
was unremarkable except for a pair of humanoid skeletons standing on either
side of a door in the opposite wall.  The two skeletons remained immobile,
the rubies set in their eye-sockets sparkling dimly in the reddish light
cast by Arahna's pendant.
     "Do you think they might be enchanted to attack anyone trying to
pass?" considered Arahna.
     "Almost certainly," uttered Gael, suddenly swinging the tip of her
trident in front of the face of one of the skeletons.  It raised its
fleshless forearm to ward off the weapon.
     Both of the skeletons stepped forwards, their hands reaching for the
intruders.  Hawn struck the arm of one with his sword, shattering its
forearm and sending finger-bones clattering across the floor.  At the same
time, Arahna brought the blade of her enchanted falchion down on its skull,
shattering it and causing the magic animating the body to disappear,
allowing the bones to drop to the floor in a pile.
     The other animated skeleton advanced on Gael.  Flames leapt from its
ruby eyes, and she only barely dropped below them, thrusting her trident
into its face, dislodging one of the rubies.  It grasped the shaft of her
trident in one hand, clawing her with the other.  Gael lashed out with her
foot, breaking a couple of its ribs.  Pulling her trident free, she brought
it up under the skeleton's ribcage and jerked sideways, sending the bones
flying.  Swinging her trident at the off-balance skeleton, the priestess
knocked its skull off of its neck.
     Standing over the remains of the skeleton, Gael quickly checked
herself over.  Although there was blood on her clothes, she had
miraculously received naught more than a few scratches from the enchanted
guardian.
     She looked over and the others when she sensed something dark and
brooding beyond the door which had been guarded by the animated skeletons.
There was something familiar about it, and then she recalled the battle
with Roarshahk and recalled what this feeling reminded her of.  "There is a
demon beyond that door," she stated with absolute certainty.  It was the
same feeling of corruption she had sensed when Roarshahk had summoned the
demoness to help him in his battle against them.
     "Can you be certain of that?" inquired Arahna, not yet fully
acquainted with Gael's powers, as she carefully gathered up the rubies
which had been set in the skulls of the two skeletons.  Perhaps they might
retain their magical power, she considered.  But even if they did not,
the the gems were large and well-cut, and as such would be quite valuable,
were she to have need of money.
     "I've felt the presence of demonkind once before," Gael assured the
warrior maiden, paying no attention to Arahna's examination of the rubies.
     Hawn nodded his understanding, voicing "Skellig," the name of the keep
they had won from Roarshahk.  When Arahna started to ask him what he meant,
he only said, "Later."  They readied themselves for an even more dangerous
confrontation and forced the door open.  This led them into a large chamber
unadorned except for several statues of skeletons and a large stone block
which might have once served as an altar.
     Lying on the stone block was a skeletal shape covered in what appeared
to be a tight covering of black leather, with abnormally large hands, feet,
and head.  A long, forward curling horn protruded from the top of its head.
     Hawn held up his hands, gathering energy to attack the first thing
that moved.
     Without any warning, the skeletal creature leapt from the altar and
sprang towards those who dared to intrude on its sanctum.  Hawn released
several bolts of glowing force, catching it square in the chest.  The
creature howled with rage, but was slowed not in the least, continuing its
charge.
     Arahna slashed it, and Hawn followed suit, only to be slashed in
return by the demon's long, razor-sharp nails.  Arahna slashed the demonic
beast again.  It turned on her, rending her arm and side, knocking her to
the floor.  Taking advantage of its unprotected back, Gael stabbed it with
her trident, noticing that some manner of red ooze was starting to run from
the pores of its body.
     The thing started to turn on Gael, but was distracted by another cut
from Hawn, who it ripped into with its talons.  The elf fell back, torn and
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