In which I discover that the eponymous danger refers not to something we face ourselves, but to something we bring to Liches.

And so the stage was set. Before us sat the great and terrible lich Mazerrackumyandernath. Atop his gnarled head sat a black crown, much like the one worn by the previous chariot of the five black jewels. We would learn in time that this crown healed the accursed and damned soul who wore it.

Supporting this hideous and cursed mockery of the nobility that rule our fair land (or is it a mockery, for the lords of this earth are themselves awash in corruption. Perhaps better, this is sign of their true nature, this is what befalls those who lust for gold and power.) was a faced of fetid horror, and death. I looked only a moment upon the dread visage but its image is forever seared into my mind as a spawning ground for nightmares. Were I ever to have considered straying from the true path of goodness, I shall not now for fear that a fate half as bad could befall even me. Truly, were we not full of a hero’s feast, were I not taught in the belly with beans infused with the grace of our fair lord, I swear we would have been out this dungeon and abandoned our quest without even a first thought, let alone a second. But, with the beans & my calling—my quest to display the beauty of these five rocks to all the world and have them recognized for what they are—I and my stalwart companions were able to stand strong against hell’s servant and, with god’s grace, to beat him to abeyance.

Let me recall for you the struggle in detail. Gwyn, my erstwhile companion recently granted the gift of flight hid in shadows high above the fray. Zombres teleported Can, Kolya, himself and Marcella within feet of our foe. Gershom and I kept watch over the entire room one each at the corners nearest the entrance to this lair of evil. The beast, for I cannot call him a man in his present state, began to flicker in and out & I thought it best to dispel his magics. Two spells, including the blink, were eliminated by my quick thinking. Meanwhile Arben’s magic missles, directed first at the monster, flew back and struck him in the face. With my own two eyes I saw two fly into his nostrils and two into his ears. It seems our foe was able to retain some sense of humor in spite of his blackened corporeal form—thought it were the lowest form of humor, physical in nature. Marcella swung her mighty sun sword and its radiance wounded bathsheba’s pet. Can was next, but his thunderous spell only cast him backward, behind the throne where he hid the rest of the battle—whimpering “I wish I could not believe it, but I must—I must—this battle, it really happens!” Gwyn swooped down to steal the crown, only to puff an image of the beast. Finally, Kolya sacrificed a year of god’s most precious gift—life on this earth—to Zombres’ hastening powers in order that he might preserve some if not all of the time he had left.

The beast, unable to blink, sent Marcella into a maze, but not before her blade sliced him once more with the radiance that was our fathers first creation in this world. This eliminated nearly all of the visible copies of the beast, and Kolya’s strength did the rest—permitting Gwyn to lift the crown for realsies this time, in spite all the odds. This vile creature ought, at this point, known himself to be bested, but it seems that evil robs one of all good sense and fear, and he summoned twin zorns to combat gershom and myself—the two most effective agents in the room—for the remainder of the battle. My view obscured as it was by such a beast, I was unable to catch and will be unable to recount, much of the remainder of the battle—though from what my ears bore witness to I can attest the many were slowed, and we were all near death and despair when we finally beat this creature into submission.

Afterward Zombres talked to the guy as if he were a rock for a while, which for all intents and purposes he might well have been given his age and the state of his body. He serves utpala, but he doesn’t want to. Utpala worships shiva, wants to destroy the world, and aims to burn all the spell books (whose possession is why so many lovely liches serve him). Lanore’s crown which we had has melted, and so we can’t reep any benefit from this guy’s crown either. He wants spells that utpala won’t expect him to have so that he can surprise attack the guy. We’re probably going to be complicit, which I don’t mind. I mean, why judge someone on how they look? That’d be like juding me on how I smell. Ugliness is often a testament to god’s purpose, and he works in ways that aren’t always clear to the untrained eye. If I didn’t know eorl, I’d think he was one of the three dudes that I’m looking for (well, two as I’m one).

Someone casts a cure light, two people break sticks, and that’s where we are right now.