Caves of Sorrow: Ophe



? AL



 Darkness.

 Nothing but darkness.



 Only a faint melody of a harp is heard in the distance.

 I feel Her  presence, Her <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;"> loving embrace.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:24px;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">The all-consuming feeling - <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">She <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is not finished with me yet.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:48px;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">Then there is nothing.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:72px;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">A flash of light.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:96px;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">No.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:120px;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">No, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">NO!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">I wake up with a scream and a sharp pain in my left shoulder.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">Where am I!?

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">My feet brush against a sandy ground.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">That’s a good sign, right?! Right?!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">As I slowly come to my senses, I look around and see that I’m back at the camp.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">Was this just a nightmare?!

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">No, it can’t be, as I’m not so gently reminded by the pain shooting from shoulder. Where I discover a deep gash stretching further down to my midsection.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">The memories slowly returning to my now conscious mind slightly overwhelm me.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">Ah, yes, we were to accompany a group of miners to close by caverns and secure their safe return.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">The first day went by rather smoothly, as we’ve pushed forward to our destination. Only encountering an ankheg and three of its swarms, thanks to the prowess of Murdock we've dispatched them without any major problems.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">The second day things started going south fairly quickly. Only a few feet into the cavern entrance we were greeted by an ambush from a roper, without being able to react fast enough one member of our expedition was slain. Even I’ve fallen unconscious during that fight, but thanks to the magic of our mighty Golin it was just for a mere moment. <span style="color:rgb(255,255,255);font-family:Calibri;font-size:11pt;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">After defeating that nasty looking creature, we decide to venture further into this cave.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">I could have sworn that I’ve heard the sound of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Her <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">horn, but I haven’t heeded <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Dark Maiden’s <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;"> warning - a mistake that I won’t repeat ever again. <span style="color:rgb(255,255,255);font-family:Calibri;font-size:11pt;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">Just a few moments pass and we are attacked by a group of four-handed creatures and their spider-like leader. Their attacks ruthless as <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;"> a stings <span style="color:rgb(255,255,255);font-family:Calibri;font-size:11pt;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">of angry wasps, daggers coated with poison slowly chip away our resolve.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">My companions start to fall one by one, first is Murdock a fierce dwarven warrior, then Phalanx <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;"> leader of Freewind Company and then there is me, a devoted servant of the Dark Maiden.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;">The last thing I hear, as the poison pulses through my body, are short dwarven footsteps of Golin slowly fading into the distance...

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Then there is darkness.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:24px;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Nothing but darkness...   <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">