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.At the moment, the adventurers stood in a loose half circle surrounding Zandria as she faced the wall opposite the entrance—except for the swordsman Brunn and the Tyrian priest, who deliberately watched the hallway outside for the approach of any enemy from that quarter.Jack nodded in appreciation; these were professionals, as he'd suspected.He stopped about ten feet short of the two sentries and studied the scene.Now choked in rubble and ruin, the chamber had once been grand indeed.Two twenty-foot pillars had been carved into the likeness of grim dwarven sentries, guarding the entrance to the room.The chamber itself was a high rotunda, its walls lined with tall columns.A great carving in relief circled the entire chamber, a pastoral scene of grain fields and vineyards.In the center, directly opposite the entrance, stood a smooth glossy stone with a smaller, more intricate carving."Zandria's inscription," Jack whispered to himself."Excellent!"The red-haired mage stood with her back to him,facing the wall.She carried a long staff of dark, rune-engraved wood and wore a short sword of strange black metal at her side.Holding the staff in the crook of her elbow, she studied a parchment scroll."Now, ten paces south from here," she said."South is toward the entrance, correct?""Aye," said the priest of Tyr, speaking over his shoulder."The hall outside runs straight north and south."Zandria turned and began pacing straight toward Jack, her expression fixed in concentration.She counted ten paces and then halted, very near the entrance to the chamber.She referred to her notes again."Now, I speak the words kharaz-urzu."As soon as the dwarven words left her lips, a bright silver light softly grew in the chamber.High above, shining orbs hidden among stone carved to resemble the boughs of trees began to glow magically, overpowering the adventurers' own spells of light.The swordsmen shifted nervously, vigilant for any sign of impending attack, but instead of heralding the arrival of some ancient guardian, the light simply cast a glimmering field of slanting silver beams throughout the room as each ray bounced and rebounded from hidden, polished surfaces."What's happening?" called out the priestess of Tempus.She whirled from side to side, her battle-axe poised to strike."Zandria?""Hold a moment.Nothing threatens us," the wizardess replied.She turned slowly, studying the patterns formed by the argent beams.Six rays gleamed in the chamber from six silver apples hidden in the stony leaves at the apex of the room; each reflected four times from smooth, glossy spaces cunningly hidden in the carving that surrounded the room, creating a cage of light that spiraled down to meet at one common point in the center of the chamber—a large seven-sided stone that stood perhaps an inch higher than the rest of the floor."The seven stone," Zandria breathed."Brunn! Kale! Crowbars, quickly! Raise the stone in the center!"The swordsman, Brunn, abandoned his post at the entrance to the rotunda and shrugged off his pack.The slender half-elf in gray joined him.Both men rummaged through their backpacks and came up with short iron crowbars.Then, silhouetted by the silver light, they worked the tools under one edge of the stone and slowly levered it up.The stone was about six or seven inches thick, and almost four feet in diameter."There's a staircase hidden under here!" called the half-elf."The Guilder's Tomb," Zandria whispered.She glanced around.Thieron and Durevin, stay up here and guard our exit.Kale, you take the lead.Be wary of traps; Sarbreen's full of them.Brunn, you follow Kale, and I will follow you.Maressa, you bring up the rear.Any questions?""It's dangerous to split up," said the priest of Tyr."What if you have need of Durevin and me when you get to the other end of the passageway below?""Well call for you to join us if it looks like we might lose contact, Thieron," Zandria said."All right, then, let's get to it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]