Well, I'm glad THAT'S over...
Lirya's corpse run was finally completed, thanks to Mvire the WONDERFUL, the Glorious Divona, and the sick and therefore acerbic Eliri.


The Ballad of Lirya "Leaps In Without Looking" Potter

So after the giant raid the other night, Lirya wends her way home through the Plane of Knowledge, intent on making poison vials. But what does she see, but a bikini'ed white tigeress with a last name, Zahla. (The last name has been lost to the mists of time.)

Lirya hails her kinswoman, and asks if indeed she has been ressurected recently. Alas, this is so -- Zahla, Beastlord of the 28th season, and a Cleric of the 13th season, were both fighting in Befallen, and what befell was Zahla. To the 3rd level, that is, through a pit trap. And there her body -- and all her STUFF -- did lie.

"Dost thou need help, fellow Vah Shir?" asks the plucky young Bard of 22.

"Aye," replies Zahla, and doth indicate that she thinks she and Lirya could handle the situation well enough. Lirya lends her newfound companion a pair of Horns of the Spirits, and they set off.

And so they journey, past Freeport, to the East Commonlands, to the West Commonlands (possibly not in that order; the trials that ensued have taken their toll upon this poor Bard's fuzzy brain), and finally to the gates of Befallen, where we saw the corpse of the poor Cleric who had almost -- but not quite -- escaped that dread den of undead.

So within the halls of that horrible place, Zahla summoned up her spirit warder, a tiger of middling good size, and the pair of Vah Shir did journey for the required keys. Twas bold Lirya who discovered how to hold a key so as to open the locked doors within, and the pair ventured to the second level with little trouble. Indeed, they did even loot skeletons within the walls on the first and second levels, affording Zahla some extra cloth armor to ward herself somewhat.

Then, as Zahla began to battle another dread Shadowknight for the second key, Lirya fell through an unseen hole in the floor! Catlike, she landed next to a pile of rubble that almost -- but not quite -- afforded egress to the level above, which she could dimly see through its concealing illusion. Then down tumbled Zahla's tiger, which began to seek its mistress, walking out the door. And, a short time later, down came Zahla herself, hissing mighty curses.

In vain the pair of Vah Shir did seek to determine whether or not the rubble might afford some means of escaping the room they found themselves in -- then suddenly, the door burst open and the room was filled with undead! Mummies and skeletons, who threw themselves at the pair of feline adventurers! In their midst, a human woman, a Shadowknight. She began to flee, and the pair chased after her, slaying her on the doorstep of a door. But as bold Lirya strove to loot the body of the keys it carried, the rest of the howling mob of undead came upon the pair. In vain did they do battle, Zahla and Lirya and Zahla's mighty tiger companion -- young Lirya was the first to fall.

Since the guiding spirit within Lirya was sore tired by that time [it was 2am at the time], she pulled her oldest armor from the bank, bid Zahla a sad good night, and camped.

The next day, glorious Divona and wise Eliri (who was sick with a cold, but agreed to help even so) joined with the poorer Bard and sought out Befallen again. There, Eliri warded the younger Bard from the eyes of undead, and gave them all invisible wings with which to avoid pit traps, and they journeyed within.

Once inside, they determined that Lirya's body would have two of the keys, if not all three, required to escape that basement of base beings, and so they flew down a steep tunnel -- save brave Divona, who merely jumped. Once down, they battled vile undead who threw themselves against Divona, most graceful of beastlords, and her ferocious tiger warder - alas, bereft of her dagger, Lirya could hardly even touch most of the horrible things, and without her armor, was even easier prey than the first time she had ventured within. Though Eliri did her best to keep the bard invisible to undead eyes, the few necromancers within sent their pets against her as well.

The lovely Divona first found the body, and dragged it to where Lirya and Eliri waited, so that the Bard might equip herself with her rightful belongings while the elder pair battled the fierce ice-bone skeletons, ghouls, and greater skeletons who came to the attack, hating that Lirya might be escaping their midst.

The shadowknights who should have held the third key were not there, unfortunately. Only spinning willowhisps whined in their place, and the spells that ward against the sight of the undead are, to put it bluntly, flakey. As the trio journeyed about the dungeon of death, many things strove to attack Lirya -- and finally, struck by more spells than she could even recognize, she fell again, her body decorating the floor once more.

During this time, the magnificent Mvire, a high elf wizard of at least his 30th season, contacted Eliri, and she sought his aid. He agreed to help, and Eliri used her mystic Gate to escape to the Plane of Knowledge. She met up with Lirya there, and the pair journeyed to the mouth of Befallen again, collecting the mighty wizard there. Again, Eliri cast the spells of warding and flight, and again, the group journeyed to the bottom of the dread basement of horrors.

Another battle ensued upon Lirya's corpse, elf skeletons attacking the Bard as she knelt beside her body, and the enchanter Eliri. But the mighty Pathfinders (plus Mvire, the superlative) vanquished them. Then Mvire cast a mighty spell and transported the whole group to the spires of the Nexus and safety at last!

Politely declining the offer to affiliate himself with the Pathfinders, Mvire was thanked many times, and took his leave. He is Most Good People. So is Divona, the glorious. Likewise, Eliri, acerbic from her illness but relieved to escape the foul gloom of Befallen.

Meanwhile, Lirya must go wash her shoulder a very great deal, because there is a lot of embarrassment there.


Then, later, Divona suggested that a group should go back into Befallen to look for that verdammet third key that we never got.

Eliri and I declined Quite Hurriedly and with Polite Force.

Then I came back to my computer to find that the flakey powercord had come undone and it had gone to sleep on me, disconnecting me from chat. Oh, well, at least backscroll is still there.