Haudh Iarchith

Zara was frightened but determined. It was the morning after they had agreed to accompany Sebbi into Haudh Iarchith and had decided to meet up with him outside the Prancing Pony Inn. Rua thought it would be better to leave the ponies Marshmallow, Peppermint and Toffee in the care of the Prancing Pony stables and made arrangements with Mr. Butterbur's stableboy for their care. This meant they would have to go on foot into the Barrow Downs. The three went to the market and bought all the supplies they thought they would need for the next few days; food, water, rope, torches and other odds and ends. Rua was grumbling that he couldn't bring an ale keg with him but without Toffee to carry it, there was no way to bring one. They soon had they had all the things they needed so set out from the South Bree Gate and headed towards the Barrows. Sebbi knew of a tunnel into the Downs through the hills of Andrath and the others followed him. They camped in a small copse that night, a few hundred yards away from the tunnel entrance. It started raining so they tried to rig a makeshift shelter by spreading some cloaks between branches. It was difficult to get the cloaks to stay in position and they spent a miserable, sleepless night under the clouds. It was a cold, damp trio that approached the tunnel entrance in the early hours of the next day. Immediately they drew near, they got their first look at one of the horrific denizens of the place. A noxious barrow-wight wielding an ancient sword pulled itself out of the earth and attacked. Sebbi immediately parried the blow with his hammer, while Rua chopped at the wight's arm. Zara circled round until she was behind the wight and delivered a devastating blow to its neck. The head lolled, half-severed. Sebbi swung his halberd again, hacking through the wight's spine so the upper half fell to the ground. The lower half lay in the grass, spasming, while the upper half pulled itself after them, until Rua chopped it's arms and head off completely at which both halves finally lay still. They were all breathing hard from the unexpected exercise, but no one was hurt. They gathered up their belongings and entered the tunnel. On the other side, the trio found a wet, misty landscape. They could barely see three feet ahead of them. Barghests roamed through the mist searching for prey and rats were everywhere, though what they lived on the group tried not to speculate. Strange shapes loomed out of the mist, only to reveal themselves as white rocks and stunted trees. They moved as carefully and quietly as they could, but still managed to disturb a barghest which snarled and tried to bite Rua. The dwarf was too quick for it though and in the blink of an eye it lay whimpering in the dirt with a severed spine. Another blow with the axe smashed its head in and put it out of it's misery. At last they came to a marshy place. Diseased-looking trees grew here and there and the water had an unhealthy yellow-green colour. The group was glad to have watertight boots on their feet. Sebbi pointed to the south, to carvings on the rocks surrounding a cave-like entrance. Several tall, white standing stones towered over the entrance like sentinels. The group moved under them quickly and descended the steps into the burial mound. Inside was stuffy and warm. Dimly lit braziers barely illuminated the cavernous room they were standing in so torches were lit. There was a slight breeze which made the shadows dance erratically, making it even more difficult to see where they should go. Hewn into the rock walls were crevices, large enough for a human to lie down in. Several had bones lying haphazardly in them, but more often they were empty. Pieces of masonry littered the floor, obstructing their path and here and there light from holes in the roof attempted to penetrate the darkness. Making their way carefully to the other side of the room the party went down the steps they found there. At the bottom, four tombs stood in silent symmetry, their lids half off. 'Grave-robbers,' Sebbi said simply. Carved pillars disappeared into the gloom above them. Ahead of them, stone steps led into darkness. To the right, a ray of sunlight penetrated the shadows, illuminating the tomb of some long-dead hero. Four others were placed around it in a square, similar to those in the room they were standing in. To the left, a stone stairway climbed up to tunnels that were half hidden in some white stuff that turned out to be spiderwebs. Zara shuddered. Her action moved the webs slightly and suddenly four huge spiders were rushing towards them. Rua charged forward, chopping his axe in a wide arc and hitting three of them. They turned towards him, chittering their hatred. Sebbi yelled and swung his hammer. Zara ran around the back of them, stabbing everywhere she could, trying to hack off legs. They quickly killed the spiders and wiped the ichor off their weapons. After a check to see no one was bitten and a stern look from Sebbi at Zara for being so careless, he suggested they take the centre passageway and they started to ascend the stairway. Two wights blocked their way. 'Try to lop off their heads,' Sebbi called out, but it wasn't that easy. In the end, Zara tripped one, which fell on top of the other. In their confusion, Sebbi smashed in one wight's head and Rua chopped off the other's. There was no blood which made it somehow even more horrifying. After cleaning and sheathing their weapons, they ascended the rest of the stairs. At the top of the stairs they came to a fourway junction, but Sebbi motioned them continue forwards. They climbed a short set of steps and entered a winding tunnel. Haunting laughter echoed down the corridors and wights appeared every now and then, but they were easily dispatched. They were strong, but not too clever. The laughter was unnerving, but they ignored it as best they could. As the trio passed through several large rooms, their footsteps echoing off the walls, Zara became amazed at the extent of the catacombs. They seemed to stretch for miles. At last they came to a halt in a tomb much like any of the ones they had passed through alread, Sebbi stopping them with a motion of his hand. 'Here is the home of the spirits,' he said and as soon as the words left his lips, they were surrounded by azure apparitions. It was difficult to fight them, ephemeral as they were, but somehow they managed to rend the spirits, their weapons leaving holes gaping in the insubstantial flesh. Zara lost count of how many they destroyed, her only concern was to stay alive in this hell they had entered of their own free will. Rua was laughing and his axe swished in the semi-darkness, occasionally flashing brightly when torchlight caught it. Sebbi's face was grim in the gloom, his eyes glittering coldly and his hammer swinging with precision. At last the tide of phantoms abated and they could catch their breath. 'Not a bad beginning,' Sebbi said satisfied. Zara looked up in horror. 'You mean there are even more?' Sebbi grinned cheerlessly. 'Oh yes, that was just a few. But we have done well.' Zara shook her head and started to inspect the vault. Mumbling to herself over various items she found, nothing of real value caught her attention until she saw a glint of something lying in a corner of an alcove. She immediately moved closer, carefully pushing aside the bones covering it. Picking it up, she discovered a necklace, made of fine silver. 'It is time to move on to the cause of this abomination,' Sebbi said to Rua. Zara quietly put the necklace in her pocket and joined the other two. 'There is a tomb deep in this labyrinth that Faegfar haunts. We must go there and put an end to his agony and that should put an end to the restless spirits of this place.' They walked the winding tunnels cautiously until they came to where Sebbi said Faegfaer dwelt. A green apparition floating on the far side of the room greeted them with a hissing smile. 'Sebbehhh,' it hissed, apparently recognising him. 'Join meeeehhhh!' Sebbi looked horrified and seemed to want to turn and flee, but instead was mesmerised, rooted to the spot, as was Rua. Zara tugged Sebbi's cloak, but when that didn't have the desired effect she nudged his ankle none to gently with the toe of her boot. The spirit was coming closer, it's arms outstretched as if to embrace them but they just stood there, as if made of stone. Zara trembled and pricked Sebbi on his upper arm with her dagger, just hard enough to draw blood. That seemed to wake him out of his trance and he raised his halberd in the air, shouting something defiant. Zara then pricked Rua who awakened from his stupor and shouted a dwarfish war-cry. Then Faegfar was upon them. The spirit was incredibly strong for something so insubstantial. The only one who seemed to do any real damage to him was Zara. Her daggers tore long rents in the spirit, making him howl furiously. Sebbi managed to wound the spirit a little, but Rua's axe seemed to pass through the spirit without hurting it in the slightest. Laughing hysterically, Faegfar threw his arms wide, casting a spell. They fought with all their strength for several minutes, neither they nor the spirit seeming able to get the upper hand. Then Zara feinted, turned around and plunged her dagger into the place where the spirit's heart should have been. It gave out a long, haunting scream, fell to the ground, then dissipated before their eyes, leaving nothing but a strange golden coin. When they inspected the coin, they found that one side was inscribed with a face, contorted in pain. Zara shivered and let Rua take it. As they were about to leave, Sebbi asked Zara how it was possible that she could do so much more damage to the spirit than either he or Rua. Zara put her hands in her pockets. As she shrugged, not knowing herself, her hand closed on the silver necklace she had picked up. She drew it out and showed it to Sebbi. 'Where did you get that?' he asked. 'It was lying in a pile of bones. I found it when we were resting after killing the horde of spirits,' she answered. Sebbi did not look very pleased with her, but he said, 'I believe that might be the reason you were so strong against Faegfar. Perhaps Anglinn is right in wanting to remove the treasures of the Barrows. It would make more sense to have them protecting the living, rather than the dead.' With a curt nod, he strode past Zara to lead the way out of the haunted place. It would be good to have a pint at the Pony and sit in the warmth and hear the laughter of the living. Rua quickly followed him, with Zara at his heels.