The Skinsaw Murders

Thinking quickly, Xer splashes a rough line of lamp oil across the mouth of the hallway, then grabs for her flint and steel, attempting to light the oil with a spark ( since no one had a torch ready - the disadvantage of magical light sources).

Li Kao's incantation goes off above the monk's head as she kneels down with the flint, filling the room with a scinitlating flash of colours.  Hundreds of rats are stunned by the kalaidoscopic assualt, buying Xer enough time to get the oil lit.  The rats mill about in confusion on the other side of the knee high barrier of flames.  Li Kao and Xer have only bouth the party a few momments though, as already the flames begin to burn lower, and the rats unnaffected by the colour spray push through their blinded cousins.

Near the door, Sasha grows desperate, and lashes out at Seoni with her whip.  She tries to entangle her former friend and drag her away from thedoor so Malvick and Yola can force it open the rest of the way.  The whip snakes out and wraps around Seoni's outstretched arm.  Unfortunately, Sasha had not counted on the infernal strength granted to Seoni in her undeath - yanking on the whip she finds it is like trying to move a stone column.  Seoni turns to Sasha in fury.  "Do not come between me and my husband!" she snarls and batts Sasha aside with a collosal back hand that nearly breaks her jaw and sends her crashing into the stone wall behind her.

While Malvick stands agahst at the powerful attack, unsure whether to jump to Sasha's defence or not, Yola seizes the momment, and deciding the door is the greater threat charges headlong into it with a ferocious yell.  The heavy frame finally cracks and Yola stumbles into the narrow corridor beyond.  "Okay," she yells back to her friends, rubbing her badly bruised shoulder, "Lets go!"

Seoni hears the shout and spins away from Sasha.  Seeing that the door that blocked her path is now open she hisses in triumph and runs through, pushing past Yola as she takes up her pursuit once more.

Sasha picks herself up limps through the door after Seoni.  Malvick grabs Xer and Li Kao and ushers them and Ariva through next then follows and jams what's left of the door back in place just as the oil-fire barrier burns out.

Seoni bursts through the door at the other end of the hall and the party follows her at a run into a room that looks to have once been some sort of arcane workshop, littered with broken glassware, shattered jars of pottery, and rusty instruments and tools.  Muddy sunlight streams into the room from tall stainglassed windows to the right.  There is no time to take in the details however, as Seoni smashes through another door and disappears down a spiral staircase.  Yola yells back, "Hurry, we're losing her," and she and Sasha follow down the stairs.

Li Kao, huffing and puffing from the run, is next to the stairs.  "Come on grasshopper, put those younger legs of yours to use.  Grasshopper?"  Li Kao looks over his should, but Xer is no longer behind him.  He sees his young apprenticeover by one of the workbenches her hand palm down on an open book and a vacant, trance-like look on her face.

Then Malvick enters the room and takes in the scene, but before he can understand what is going on Xer lets out a scream and doubles over in agony.  She looks up, with panicked eyes, seeing Li Kao in the doorway to the spiral stairs, and Malvick in the doorway back to the rest of the house.

Xer, CLICK HERE... 

blue dots = Malvick &Ariva

yellow = Xer

green = Li Kao

red = Yola

orange = Sasha

grey = Seoni