Arc Sphere Distortions

Arc Sphere Distortions

by Steven "Therian" Matulewicz

What I Did (that you could have too) - Feast of Chimeron XXVI

by James "Tao" Murphy 

The day was comfortable, sun shining through the trees, just pleasant to be outside. I broke my heart when I had to go underground to fight ghost and moving stalagmites.

Kara has been staying in the castle recently so we decided to journey together to the lands of Chimeron for the annual feast. We were able bring the transport close, and unload, but there was not a lot of space near the tavern so I sent her off with it to a local park where she caught a shuttle ride back with Sir Therian.

Chimieron does know how to host a feast, when we first arrived there was a day board of cheese, crackers, bread, and various butters. There were also several types of cold colored drinks; red, yellow, and brown. My favorite thing here was the spiced garlic butter on bread.

Soon it was discovered that regional magic did not have a “future” tense (?) and had to be updated, squished and modified. However to do this first several of us had to go to Castle Chimeron [stomp] in the dreaming. Kind of an unusual group of people did this, myself, Temorse, Kwido, Malaki, and Rorin.

The dreaming is a strange place, sacks of potatoes, crowns, candles, it all went weird, but I guess we saved a princess? Married a princess? Tricked a butler? Still not sure.

After we returned from the dreaming, we enjoyed the appetizers that were brought out to us in the field, while we had some time to just talk among ourselves. Several people started working on modifying the regionals.

After a bit, an apprentice blacksmith/artesan approached us and asked for some help. He had knocked a piece of art off the wall and broken it, and needed some Iron to fix it. We did not know of any sources of iron in the area and kind of forgot about his problem.

While I was waiting for the Poker tournament to start, a fey was confronted in the tavern about stealing stuff in a nearby mine. They admitted to stealing things like candles, dice and other things from the mine. (it had a neat hat that). King Cecil immediately called for the Militia and had her tried, convicted, and sentenced within a few minutes. It told stories of Ghosts in the mine. Using this excuse…. reason to enter the mine, I asked if in return for disposing of a few monsters in the mine, if we could scrounge some iron. The King was agreeable to this and some of us set off to the mine. No, the number of us was something that was not easily determined, some said there were five, some said 7, some said more then 3, counting is hard.

We had to use an L-E-Vater to go down. I was told it was stairs that are easy on the knees. If true I thought I might have to hire someone to build me one in the Castle. However I soon learned that some creature’s tail is used to control the up and down, and, well, I would prefer not to enslave (or have to pay) some creatures for my own comfort.

After we left the sunshine and went down a bit we entered into the mine where Stalagmites and a ghost(?) were running amok. The ghost was only affectable by magic, which we did not have a lot of. I was able to drop it for short periods of time but nothing the party had could keep it down. We were able to break apart many of the attacking stalagmites. While I was busy with the monsters, several pieces of iron were found and recovered. I am not sure we made any permanent solution of the ghost, but now at least they have a way of keeping it down occasionally.

We were unable to find the apprentice when we came back out into the sunshine but some of the party would catch up with him later.

While looking for him we did find someone named Osgood (?) who was asking for help with a ritual. Always leery of these things, I quickly grabbed Kara and Temorse for assistance. He was looking to set up a space he could perform magic in without worrying about things getting out. He did not seem very experienced and we corrected several parts of his ritual so as not to get ourselves stuck in the circle.

It was at this time I went to play in the stacked deck tournament.

On a break from the tournament, several interesting things happened. The first was that representatives want to test/challenge us. They might be connected to several gods from beyond the stars. It might have something to do with Wrake’s father. Several of us feel that it might be better to do things first, then react. Time will tell.

Just as we were getting ready to sit back down I happened to notice that a ragged member of the Risen Kingdom was dragging a dead Temorse. I quickly grabbed weapon and shield and went for them. Rorin was quick to see the situation as well and ran to catch up with me.

At this point I am going to share what Kara told me later:

For the first part of the “Temorse rescue” (as Tao may call it), it really started when someone looked at me and said “You wanna take care of bandits?” (I may be paraphrasing there). The original plan, after ruling out a straight on attack and joining the bandits, was to disguise ourselves as the merchants the bandits kept targeting. I never did get an accurate look at the party, which apparently consisted of myself, Tyruss, Orion, Kwido, and Temorse. I’m not quite sure what happened, as while we knowingly walked into an ambush, we still walked into an ambush. I want to say that there were two in front of us and two in the back of us, forming a pincer attack. I got out of the fray at one point only to see everyone dead and one heading towards me. It’s at this point I cursed myself for wearing a corset that day as running in a corset is a special kind of hell. As you might have guessed I didn’t make it far, until one of them, a kid much younger than me, caught up to me. I’d like to be able to say I was able to convince the kid to leave, but no. The kid got a decent shot to my chest and I fell. I didn’t have my death watch up, so I was out until I regenerated, in one of the bandits arms, being dragged. Thankfully I was able to kill the one dragging me. It’s at this point Tao and Rorin came up and helped. -Kara Niðisdóttir

So the first thing the Risen Kingdom person said was “If I don’t report back in 5 minutes ….” Which is when Rorin hit him with lightning, and I came in from his other side. I looked at Rorin and said something like “They are within 5 mintues go that way” and we took off running.

Around a few buildings and through some trees, I saw Kara with lightning ready, getting ready to attack around a corner. I quickly asked her how many good guys were out here, while finding 4 more Risen Kingdom goons. I should mention, they looked like life had not been treating them well recently. I guess when the gate you came in gets closed, and the rest of your invading force was wiped out, it can really ruin your day. They had turned to banditry to get by.

The smallest of the bandits quickly ran to attack us, but this time Kara was ready with her lightning and took that one out quick. The rest fell quickly to Rorin and I. we poked our head around the corner of a building and found the rest of our friends. Getting some of them up and dragging the rest back to get raised we made our way back to the tavern.

I later saw that some of the party had dragged back the Risen Kingdom goons for interrogation. I still don’t know if they learned anything.

There was also a soup course in there somewhere. Both were pretty good. Later they served a bunch of yummy main courses. I ate too much.

Court happened later. Lots of stuff happened, we might need to go fight snakes soon and then dessert was served.

A lot happened in one day.

10 Questions with an EH

by Callahan "Syruss" Marsden

What events have you previously thrown? 

I have been hosting events for over a decade now, which as I type this seems crazy silly. Now, while I have hosted 12 events in my own right the following is only a fraction of the events that I have had the privilege of collaborating with and working on. But a following is a list of the events I have done starting with my first event back in 2006.

• Feast of Souls, June 16, 2006 - June 18, 2006
• Night Games 2, November 30, 2007 - December 2, 2007
• Grimloch Presents 2, July 20, 2008
• Grimloch Presents 3: Zombie Survival /Bardic campfire, August 28, 2009
• Tournaments of the Blue Rose V, April 17, 2010 - April 18, 2010
• Tournaments of The Blue Rose VI,  April 29, 2011 - May 1, 2011
• Tournaments of The Blue Rose VII, April 27, 2012 - April 29, 2012
• Order of the List Invitational 3, November 16, 2013
• Free Nations Training Night, September 19, 2014
• Dragon Master (Friday Night Carnival), June 12, 2015- June 14, 2015
• Neden Zombie Clean Up, July 9, 2016
• Nedengiving, November 26, 2016

At Tourneys of the Blue Rose VII by Casey Lemay

What led you to start throwing events?

At the time Christopher Marques and I were looking for our next challenge in the game all while finding an outlet to give back. We have been NPCing aggressively a lot those years but wanted to be content providers and frankly, we were curious about the EHC and how the game was shaped.

We linked up with Josh Learned who had some experience working on events beforehand and decided to try our hand at a three-day event that had a bit of everything. We wanted a feast aspect, a quest aspect as well as tournaments. We wanted a fun engaging story told on a 24-hour live site.
Needless to say, we were ambitious for first-time event holders.

We sought a challenge and were given one. We learned a lot by helping events over the years but looking back now we were greatly unprepared for things such as time-blocking encounters, portion size for the feast, props, and ambiance. All aspects we as a team and individuals would grow in over the next few years.


What would you like your events to be known for?  

This is a tough question as the answer has changed from my first event to our last event. At first, I wanted all inclusive an event that had all aspects, something for everyone to do. Now I don’t think that goal has changed, but the execution certainly has. Now that I am throwing events with the Neden EH staff we attempt to throw quarterly events one of each different style (a tournament, a quest, a survival monster hunt, and a feast).

What I love about throwing events with Neden is our prop making department. We strive to have magical artifacts up the wazoo and tons of interactive elements throughout the event.

The one thing I would like Neden events to be remembered for would be for its lighthearted interactive and fun/silly elements. All while providing content for the community that we all love and cherish.


What aspects of event holding do you consider most challenging? 

The issue I often run into is staffing. I love the Neden crew and we always show up the day of, unfortunately (really really fortunately) we have been getting bigger attendances which stretches us somewhat thin. Add the fact that our members all work varying schedules it often leaves a brunt of the prep work to fall on a few shoulders.

With that said I would like to really thank Andrew Whitty O’Leary and Chris Hamblett for consciously helping me with prop projects that take way more time than I ever estimate.  I can always count on my Neden crew to come through with prep either by having a crazy prep party at Andy's, making things from their home and sending it to site day of, or ordering stuff we need and having it shipped to my house (I love seeing Syruss O’Leary c/o Neden Castle parcels) so I never have to worry about props. But more staff would definitely make some of our more expansive events easier.

NPCing for Zombie Clean Up by Dustin Mack

Tell us about an even moment you are particularly proud of. 

I have mentioned this before in a "10 questions" but it bears repeating. The proudest thing I did as an EH was to help to resurrect the Tournaments of Blues Rose alongside Eddie Reed (Qualoyth) and Kyle Vaihinger (Caspian) but more important than resurrecting it we gave it a new role and it started hosting charity events for Fallen Members of the Community or members of the Community in Crises. It all came about when we lost a dear friend Jason Massey, and I was privileged in organizing a charity version of ToBR for the family of Jason Massey alongside the rest of the Blue Rose Squires at the time. I got to see our community step up and really donate to a great cause and show me just how much of a family this Realms community could be. We raised well over what we expected.

Now I am privileged, alongside Andrew “Nymbous” O’Leary and the Neden staff, to throw an amazing Can Drive for Homeless Veterans (Veterans Northeast Outreach Center) once a year. We are also now in the process of making all of our events charity based with the idea to donate all earnings to a cause within the community or to add to the overall donation toward VNOC at the time of our can drive.

But it is humbling to see the love and charitable nature this community posses. Whether it be a fight-a-thon, a locks for love cutting, a can drive, or a charity auction we always seem to face whatever weather or drive and make a showing of force and charitable nature.


Tell us something that went wrong and what you learned from it.

The Zombie Survival Event (aka Monster Hunt) has been one of my long-standing events and I learn something about throwing it each year. With that said I have had the benefit of growing the event each year.

I have learned to walk events sites better, utilize space or lack thereof better and mostly, I learned how to add things to the event last minute and surely how to prepare my staff more effectively.
However, the most important thing I learned from year one is time blocking encounters ahead of time and giving a window for PC’s to mess that up by either crushing the provided time or going WAY OVER.


What do you think makes an event site “good” and how have you gone about locating sites?  

Me personally I love a site with water access, especially in the summer. But a site with cabins, indoor plumbing, a nice central tavern area and a space that noise won't be a problem are all key factors for what I deem a good site.

With that being said I don’t always adhere to my own rules. For starters none of the Neden events have included water, often times we use Public Parks in order to keep costs low so we can spend more on our quest and feast.

We in Neden generally pick Southern NH as that is where most of our staff lives (with exception to our Western ma brothers who often help remotely with prop building)


Have you managed to maintain a balanced budget? Any advice for other event holders on doing that?

A budget you say? That sounds nice… All kidding aside I am almost always over budget and that's ok. Neden for the past few years has been in a rebuilding phase, where we are just now getting used to throwing events four times a year. The previous EH’s in their infinite wisdom did not keep a lot of props, tables/water jugs/clip boards, and other materials so we have been re-buying things we need.

Now that we have most of what we need to throw events our costs have gone way down. We can now budget money by reusing props from our less costly events to save our big spending for our end of the year feast.


What staff positions do you feel are essential to running your events and what do you do to help empower and support them?

I absolutely could not do what I do without co EH’s. Now I know there is only one EH spot per day of an event but all of Neden’s events have multiple people wearing the EH hat despite the fact only one gets the title officially.

Having another one to two people being an absolute voice for both players and staff has made things extremely easier. While most things can get delegated to rolls such as head NPC for your NPC staff, head marshal for your marshaling a feast-o-crat to run your kitchen or even reg desk to prep everyone coming and going, I have found having a person with equal authority to make event changing decisions that I trust allows me to be in multiple places at once. It is however imperative that we are on the same page prior to the event, that we both have a similar vision of how the proceedings should be turning out.


What advice do you have for other Event Holders?

Now, this may seem silly but don’t be afraid to make mistakes. These will only help you going forward.

Ask seasoned EH’s what they did for X maybe it will help you with Y.

But something I wished I learned sooner is PLUG YOUR OWN EVENT and do it  OFTEN. If you want people to show up give them constant reasons why. Until your event is a staple for most to hit annually then they may not know they want to hit it. Try flyers, Write-Ups for the View or follow Neden in making Realms Commercials big:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYeyLFMrnAs (note that event Date was Moved to May 20th)

The whole crew at Feast of Neden

What can we look forward to seeing from you in the foreseeable future?

If you haven't had a chance to check out the Neden Staff in action you have 4 chances this year alone.

So if you are interested in A laid-back BBQ with good old fashion BBQ games, tournaments and prizes then head to Neden for Neden BBQ 3: Burgers Bashing and Besties, May 20, 2018.

If you want more of a challenge with puzzles and fighting and story and pizza zombies then head on up to Neden and see what Emilio Jimenez is cooking up for Neden Questing 3, June 17, 2018.

Because we never seem to clean up the mess during the Quest come help us take care of what forces still elude us during Neden Monster Clean up 3, July 15, 2018.

Now this leaves us with our big finale our Thanksgiving Holiday Can drive. If you love traditional Thanksgiving meals, award-winning cranberry sauce, carnivals, gambling, museums, entertainment and prizes then do we have an event for you. Join us for Nedengiving 3, November 18, 2018, and be prepared to be amazed.

Why I Want To Go - Folkewood Spring Event

by Lani "Gwen" Jones

The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately and I don't know about you but these sunny, warm days have been reminding me how much that I love a weekend outside questing! Lucky for me one of the most ambitious and interesting plots in the game has my back this weekend. The Folkewood storyline instantly gripped my attention when it began last year and this next installment is sure to have all of the things that has made this plotline resound with the community.

If you haven't been to one of the Folkewood events yet you haven't seen the amazing job they've done building an interesting and unique world. The amount of time and energy they've put into their political roles, their costuming, the layers of intrigue and mystery have all made for an immersive, high-roleplaying environment that really makes you feel like you are interacting with another longstanding Realms country with all of its own unique history and culture. Their recent feast was proof of these things and I'm excited to see how they continue that into a full weekend of questing.

Speaking of food, another great part of the weather turning warm are the customary foods of the season and Folkewood has that covered too with a BBQ dinner on Saturday night. Knowing the experience and past success of the feastocrats on their staff I'm sure thats going to be amazing too. All in all, its going to be a great weekend to be outside and its a perfect time of year to dust off your questing gear. This event holding team has already shown us what they are capable of and I can't wait to see what's next this weekend!

What You Missed: Feast of Chimeron XXVI

What You Missed: Feast of Chimeron XXVI

by Kathy "Makhta" Fey

Feast of Chimeron XXVI had a whole lot going on, and all during some of the best weather we’ve had in months!

There was some action and mystery here and there as usual, which I managed to mostly not be in the middle of, mostly.  I heard there were some miners around, having a bit of a ghost problem, for one thing.

Then some sort of bad-god-worshipping masked people (who are definitely not related to Avendar) came in at one point and gave Rekees some pretty dodgy stuff.  Later on, Rekees got some bottled inspiration from a presumably reputable Fae source and when I drank it I could totally decipher the runes on Cecil’s staff.  People were too amused by my readings, though, so I might have been a little off.

There were some ne’er-do-well interlopers who got summarily spacked by our heroes, who then bound the prisoners and raised them to gather information.  I was not privy to the information myself, but I did learn through observation the following: If you use someone’s belt to tie up their hands, they can still run pretty far before their falling pants trip them up.

Oh yeah, more intrigue – I personally witnessed Princess Brynn be serenaded by a bard on behalf of a secret admirer.  When she brought a complaint of this to His Majesty, King Cecil responded with a kind of a verbal flow chart about how we could marry off the Princesses of Chimeron most advantageously.  Not the response I think Brynn was looking for.  Anyway, the day ended with nobody getting married just yet.

Food, food, food!  So much food.  The soups and starters were tasty and included stuffed mushrooms and yummy dips.  The beef stew was great, and I appreciated that there was cheese on a lot of stuff.  The “French onion soup tarts” were delicious – well-cooked and seasoned onions on slabs of bread smothered in melted cheese.  There was cheese all over a vegetable dish too, and the cheesy rice was the best!

The event also offered various classes, dancing beneath stately pines, the KoR Challenge, and the well-stocked Chimeron Shop.  

Highlights form the bardic competition included a song-and-dance number with a message to always strive to be our best selves.  We also enjoyed a song about the heroes employing the musical bones in the throes of their Ragnarok quest.  There was also a prop-assisted retelling of the story of Bedlam (fun to see how history changes, um, slightly, in the retelling!)

The Game Design tourney featured a game with lessons about accruing wealth so I hear, although I didn’t catch wind of what exactly the lessons are… gonna have to play it someday!

Speaking of wealth, I heard from Wil that the Casino was in full swing running two tables plus a bonus “Hold’em” table.   Malaki and Therian won a decent amount of coin, “memorable” in fact, to which Wil noted, “memorable is in the eye of the beholder.”  All I know is those guys are generally better dressed than I am, and definitely richer.

Maybe that’s what made Malaki feel bold enough to smack His Majesty King Cecil across the face with a glove to challenge whether lying to a child to get them to take a knee really happened.  So later during court each side chose a champion and Prince Sam and Dani Danger battled to the touch in an epic showing of bladework.  Dani won, so Malaki was right, and Cecil admitted that Dani’s oathswearing may have been due to some subterfuge.

Otherwise, Royal Court was awash with good news and new titles and accolades, and finished off with a rousing song and cake for King Cecil on the occasion of his birthday.

Dessert!  So much sugar, and I ate all of it.  Peanut chocolate swirl bars, strawberries dipped in two kinds of chocolate, caramel blondie bar type squares of goodness, of course the birthday cake, a strawberry gel over a cake-crumb-type layer – I don’t know what it was but it was good, and heraldic cake pops – those cake pops were awesome.  I don’t even know how many were consumed.  

I was escorted home by the call of the great horned owl, and with my belly full of cake pops and all manner of sweets, I slumbered most soundly.  Thank you to all the hard-working people who made Feast of Chimeron a success this year!

No Better Life - Chapter 5

 By Gerard "Gray" Chartier

[Editor's note: click to read Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4]

The elf straightened from his slouch against the far wall, l, clutching close a worn leather satchel case. “You’re not one of them?”

Gray shook his head. “I’m actually closer to being one of you.” He reached over and pulled Swift into the light, so the elf could see the heraldry he wore.

The elf sprang to his feet and rushed forward, embracing Swift and kissing both his cheeks. “Blessed Creator! I hadn’t dreamed I would portal down to find…” He cast a sidelong glance at Gray. “…civilized folk.”

“Oh, sure!” Gray muttered, “I master arcane arts beyond the ken of most mortals. They poke holes in things with big knives. And somehow every time a new one shows up, I’m the barbarian!”

Killer chittered in commiseration.

The elf disengaged from Swift, clearing his throat. “Ahem. I meant no offense, ahh, Gray.” He straightened up, his hands smoothing down the tattered vest over his filthy tunic. “Diedrich Fessler, Professor of History at the University of Vladivystek.”

Charwindle pressed forward, past the clustering Mayerlingers. “We’re not out of danger yet, Professor. Please, come with us at once!”

Fessler nodded. “Of course, captain.”

Swift stripped a cloak off one of the dead cultists and handed it to Fessler. The academic grimaced, but wrapped the bloody, smelly garment around him, raising the hood to hide his distinctive skin tone and delicately pointed ears. The group followed Boll back the way they came.

Tension rippled through the living members of the procession as they emerged into the courtyard. Fessler hesitated at the sight of cultists dipping buckets into barrels, the smell of oil reaching them as they soaked the mound of firewood surrounding the pole in the middle of the courtyard, but Gray shoved him forward, keeping his hand on the back of his head to both keep the academic advancing and to keep his face down and hidden by his hood.

They were just about to pass the pole when shouts of anger rang across the courtyard, then sounds of fighting, then screams of dying. Dark figures began bursting from doorways, part canine, part humanoid, blood dripping from their claws and maws.

“Darkspawn!” Kamilla screamed.

“You think?” Swift retorted, raising his bow for a snap shot at the werewolves bounding towards them.

“Fall back!” Charwindle shouted at the top of her lungs, “Soft, slow them down!”

“Get’em boys!” Soft cried as he spun and ran for the door they’d just come out.

Bedlam ensued as Soft’s zombies lurched forward towards the werewolves, the werewolves cut their way through cultists, and the cultists realized there were enemies in their midst and attacked indiscriminately with swords and torches.

A few cultists tried to intercept them, but a glancing blow from Eoin’s bastard sword sent one reeling, and Charwindle cut down two others. Gray stopped at the yawning doorway, turning and drawing power to himself as his companions dashed past. Bringing up the rear, Darvan stopped.

“Gray, what are you waiting for?” he demanded.


Gray only had to wait seconds for the werewolves to make it halfway across the courtyard. Lightning arced from his outstretched hand, impacting the oil barrels.

The explosion was titanic, scattering burning debris and splashing flaming oil across the whole courtyard. Cultists were knocked flat with their robes ablaze, werewolves were sent tumbling with their fur on fire, and Gray and Darvan were slammed through the open doorway and landed in a heap on the stone floor. Gray rolled off Darvan, beating out the burning oil spattered on his cloak.

“That was excessive!” Darvan said as he hauled Gray back to his feet.

“We needed to slow them down!” Gray retorted.

“Yes, but now we’re cut off!” Kamilla accused.

“We can try and go around the fire, but we’re bound to run into cultists and werekin!” Charwindle observed grimly.

Fessler slipped between Eoin and Soft. “Captain, I think I can get us out of here!”

Charwindle only took a moment to decide before nodding. “Very well. Lead the way!”

The elven scholar led them back down the stairs into the unlit passageways of the palace’s basement, pulling a leather-bound tome with a silver clasp out of his satchel. Pushing to the front of the procession, Gray summoned a ball of green light to his hand, illuminating Fessler’s tome and their way forward as the sage led them down the lightless hallways.

“How do you know where to go?” Gray asked Fessler.

Fessler flipped through pages of his book, stopping on a partial map. “Because I’ve been studying this place.”

“The palace?” Gray asked.

“Specifically yes, but more generally the whole city!” Fessler stopped and turned to the whole group. “Some of you are from this plane, but most of you are from the Empire, are you not? Have you not felt a certain degree of familiarity to the city above us?”

Gray watched as looks passed between the descended Mayerlingers.

“Ah! You have!” Fessler crowed. He resumed leading them through the basement, but half-turned to keep talking to those following him. “It’s no coincidence! Thought it’s concealed by age, neglect, and the improvised rebuilding the residents have done, but the architectural styles of the structures here mirror those seen on older buildings within the Empire!”

“That must be a coincidence at best!” Kamilla scoffed.

Fessler shook his head. “I don’t think so!” He stopped again, pulled a sheet of paper from his satchel, tucking his book under his arm so he could unfold it for the group to see. “This is a rubbing I took of a memorial plaque stored deep in the archives of the university of Vladyvstek. It commemorates one Kristoff, an early prince of the dynasty, and his retinue. See here, it states “They give their lives to safeguard a great treasure.”

“What does that mean?” Eoin asked.

Fessler folded the rubbing back up, stuffing it back in his bag as he resumed leading the party. “Note the wording. Not, ‘they gave’, but ‘they give’. I hypothesized they portalled down, taking the treasure with them as they went. So far, my studies seem to confirm my hypthosesis.”

“Do you have any proof?” Charwindle demanded, her normally soft voice an almost inaudible whisper, “Other than architectural similiarities?”

Fessler twisted around to nod to Charwindle. “I do. I have transcripts from an ancient tome I found in the catacombs under the ruins of the city’s library. Much of it had already rotted, and the pages crumbled as I turned them, but they referred to angels who descended from the heavens to bring culture and civilization to the savage tribes who’d dwelt here. Some of the angels were described as steely eyed revenants whose touch froze souls. Others were described as gleaming like gold, whose every word was music. And, I have…”

Fessler’s exposition was interrupted by howls echoing from the passageways behind them.

“Werekin!” Kamilla hissed.

“I guess they got around the courtyard,” Gray observed.

“Or plunged through it,” Charwindle remarked grimly, “They would regenerate from being burned.”

“Not only that,” Eoin announced, “But it seems to be getting warm down here.”

Now that Eoin pointed it out, Gray couldn’t help but notice the same thing. Plus, he thought he was beginning to smell smoke. He dismissed his light for a moment. In the ensuing blackness, a distinct red glow emanated from between the stones lining the arched ceilings of the passageways.

“There’s fire above us!” Soft whispered.

“How is that possible?” Fessler demanded, “We shouldn’t be under the courtyard!”

“These ruins are hundreds of years old,” Swift said, “Any wood left in them is dry as bone. The whole palace is probably going up!”

“That is really not good!” Fessler rasped, “Much of the palace used wooden support beams! If they burn, the structural integrity…”

The ceiling made Fessler’s point for him by collapsing, as tons of flaming rubble caved in the ceiling, smashing through the stone under their feet. The floor dropped out from beneath Gray, and he found himself plummeting through the dark.

Arc Sphere Distortions

Arc Sphere Distortions

by Steven "Therian" Matulewicz