We were back in the tower, planning to raise the Phoenix at the Fount of Power. We had managed to trump into one of the lower levels, so that we didn't get any trouble with any demons on the roof or other levels.
Charity had said that this was as far as she got before. There seemed to be a locked door at the end of the corridor. Pattern locked apparently. As long as this was true this would be an advantage - the demons in the tower wouldn't be able to get past the door so we should be safe.
Unfortunately unlocking the door wasn't easy. It took all of us working together to open the door mentally, and this was exhausting.
Once we did manage to open the door we were faced with a very odd scene. Two people were in a small(ish) room - one dressed with a Red Indian's head-dress. One turned out to be Corwin, and one (slightly oddly) turned out to be the Serpeant. At least this would make casting the ritual easier - hopefully the Serpeant would be able to remember what to do.
After quickly re-locking the door we walked across the room to head towards the Fount of Power. The scale of the room - it seemed to take far longer to walk across it than expected (several minutes instead of seconds).
Eventually we got to the Fount of Power. This was an energy stream in the middle of a large room. Near the edge of the room was a demon of some sort which had been turned into stone. I hoped that it wasn't going to turn back while we were there.
The ritual itself seemed quite easy, and slightly similar to that performed to summon the unicorn. The book had said that when the Serpeant turned up here before it became obvious what it was to do. Although I had assumed that I would be performing the ritual, it was the Serpeant who actually did this, reciting the ritual in groups of seven, as is often the case with magical rituals.
During this time Cordellia was in the stream of the Fount of Power itself. After a while it became obvious that she was in pain. Although I don't get on with her, I hope that she wasn't raped as part of the ritual as well (as Sorcha).
Eventually the ritual ended, and standing over Cordellia was the Phoenix, an enormous bird. The ritual seemed to have drawn all of the power from the room, and Cordellia was unconcious under one of its talons. The Phonenix and Serpeant had a short talk and then the Phoenix disappeared - flying through the ceiling to do whatever it needed to do.
We now had various choices about what to do next. My idea was to get the Book of Selheim back, and we had a rough idea where that was. Allagahan kept on talking about getting his sword back. Charity had received a trump call saying that Benedict was in trouble near Ygg, holding back an army of demons, and would appreciate some assistance.
Our first call then was to Ygg. Trumping there, myself and Allagahan soon found that there was no army at Ygg, or in the shadows immediately around Ygg. We came back, unsure of whether this was a trap or not. Perhaps someone had deliberately tried to get us away from the Fount of Power.
We decided to speed up what we needed to do. Getting the Book was our top priority, and Allagahan said that he would go and get it. I still think it would be better to all go together, but he insisted. A spell was prepared for him which would make him invisible for a short time - long enough to fly down the side of the tower, and hopefully long enough to retrieve the book itself. Meanwhile, we would stay in this room and await his return (he should knock 3 times when he returned, or many times in an emergency).
So we waited, and waited. After a while the sound of running feet told us that several people were approaching the door. They charged into it, bursting it open but a quick fire ball from myself soon finished them off. Obviously we were discovered. We trumped out of the tower.
Presumably Allagahan was in trouble. We decided to try to find where he was, so trumped back again outside the tower. This didn't seem to help - we killed a few demons, but were driven back without finding either Allagahan or the Book.
Beating an orderly retreat, we ended up back at Deirdre's tower. Tired, and only partly successful. Forcing myself, I prepared another fireball spell and then retired for the night.
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| Hero of the Hour - Alfred | The Keep of the Thirteenth Hour |