Graham the Gray sat in the library tower the darkness was encroaching, Samba sat across from him, in deep though. After tonight’s events, Sambas information about a ward and that it was no longer on the court building. Samba could not remember exactly what the ward was for be he was sure he was connected with it.

“Nothing?” Graham the Gray asked

“No” Samba replied “I wrote things down in books, so I didn’t have to remember, Muldran must have them somewhere”

“He would have put them somewhere safe” Graham replied

“Perhaps he doesn’t want me to remember” Samba responded “but let me tell you this, the ward is still active but just not here, I am connected with the ward if the ward fails, I fail so me been here is a indication of that the wards still active just not on this building”

“Are you saying that where ever the old Library vanished too, that the wards are still active” Graham questioned

“Yes the old library still stands somewhere” Samba replied “Lets get out of this chilly place and back to our homes we are not going to find anything more here tonight”

“Agreed, that ghost you told me about makes me feel that I don’t want to hang around this place much more” Graham responded

“It might be wise, not to be here too much by yourself given the circumstances, though I’m not entirely sure why” Samba answered “I wish I could remember more”



The pair left the library late in the evening as Graham looked back on the darkened build he swore he saw a face in a window on the upper floor.
__________________


Samba, sat in his house pondering, Muldran had given him his books back, at long last. He now understood about the wards, but did that matter now that Muldran had moved from the old library.

Perhaps it was time to conduct new wards on the new place, time to gather up the required items, and some powerful Mages. Samba was determined to keep evil out, and this time it would stay out...

He turned back to his books, the air was chilly he added another log to the fire.
__________________


Graham the Gray looked out across to Sambas Rune Library, the old man was creating a few bangs..on his top floor..there had been shouts and screams of pain..Something was wrong with Samba, he had been acting strange for sometime. Ama T'amer had said she had seen strange things and lights coming from his house. Perhaps this is something for the court to look into Graham thought, another flash of light burst out the buildings windows. Ever since Sambas had performed a wards ritual in Naethol he hadn't been the same..
__________________


Samba sat within his darkened room, a cauldron boiled with red liquid, books lay littered around. Samba knew something was happening to him..the darkeness had come, it had caught up with him after all these years of running, ghostly shadows in the house formed, its evil green eyes glowed. There was a scream, Samba remembered the gypsey girl he had taken near vesper, she was sobbing as the ghostly creature headed towards her. Samba closed his eyes..he didn't want to watch this again..but he knew the creature would make him..

There was a shrill scream..and it was over, and another set of bones piled up on the floor..
__________________


Ama T'amer saw the commotion, and the screams from her window, she watched as large four armed demon chased Eleanor Rigby through Rhovanion, she noticed that iy was growling and howling..And that Kharis the Wise from next door had sort cover as well..She had heard whispers in the Inn that a blue demon had been seen before in Rhovanion.

Samba, awoke on the floor of his house, his memory was faint, his hands covered in blood..he had a splitting headache..blood was splashed across the floor, Samba crawlled into the corner..he felt the darkness approaching again...
The creature spoke out..
"i want more sacrifices"..."find them.."
__________________


Muldran flicked his hair over his shoulder, then chuckled at the vain movement. It had been quite sometime since he'd actually felt so... human. He effortlessly plucked the words to form a gate out of the air, gently opening a door that lead through to Trinsic from the warm stone of the Vinyamar.

He stepped into a scene of chaos. A huge blur of blue ran past him, and some shrieking and shouting was going on. And, even more intimidating, Commander Soulshadow was marching towards him, a worrying look in her eyes. "Muldran!" she bellowed, "Stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Muldran panicked in response. "No!" she replied, "That thing! It's one of yours!"

Muldran looked around in disbelief, but the blur had vanished. Speaking with the Kaldorians and townspeople, they trekked into the woods, but couldn't locate the beast. The Kaldorians revealed that the creature had dropped a rune - and had mentioned Samba.

Muldran looked at the rune Cal had handed to him. It hummed with the signature of Rhovanion, and Mul's heart sank. "It can't be Samba..." Mul mumbled, "He's been missing, and his home has been sealed for months, since... Naeloth."

Taking a group of Kaldorians to Rhovanion, Muldran and Cal were immediately involved in a battle with a demonic presence - thanks to the Kaldorian's quick responses the beast quickly fell. Aragorn strode out of the stables, and gestured upstairs, as a shadowy form raced past, screamed and vanished.

The group quickly scoured Rhovanion, and located the wratith near Faramir's house - but the thing rapidly faded away before their eyes.

---

faramir's house - the spirit cornered

Reassembling at the Stables, the group discovered rooms filled with bones and blood - definitely not the formerly pristine stone chambers that Samba had worked in. Sithra the gypsy mentioned that Samba used to call himself the 'empty one'. "Perhaps," she mused, "Something or someone has been found to fill the emptiness."

The group spoke a little while longer - and at one point a creature flicked into existance, then screamed and was drawn away again - and then they discovered the skeleton of a gypsy girl; a happening that caused Sithra to go very cold and quiet towards Muldran.

Muldran stated that he had no choice; he had to call a meeting for the Court to resolve this situation. Muldran's still not to sure if the apparations are Samba, some creation of his, or something else pretending to be Samba to draw the Court into disrepute.

He's invited the Kaldorians to the Vinyamar at 8pm on Wednesday - although he'll also collect people from Serpents Hold and Trinsic Gates at 8pm. "I can't have a rogue Court agent on the loose..." he was heard to say.

__________________

Samba awoke briefly, his skin crawlled and was covered in blood yet again..this was becoming a nightmare...he felt he was screamingf out but no one was hearing his call...the demon master would be through soon..a few more sacrifices is all that it wanted.his master craved new followers..

Graham the Gray Surveyed the terrified peoples of Vesper and Trinsic..there were mutterrings that it was unstoppable..the Trinsic guards said they killed it at least twice and that it comes back...That was not the only strange events..the weather in Rhovanion had turned bad..deep snow had fallen, and blizzards raged though the mountains turning day into night..the locals were getting restless..Lord Bohemond had even decided to put an extra log on his fire this was how bad it was going..

Faramir and Lurtz, had had enough of trudging around in the snow..they had pulled up body parts from the snow..the body count was ever increasing..the village had not noticed to many of them vanishing so they would be outsiders..loners, wanderers people that would not be missed perhaps..
__________________


The third bottle of wine lay on the table before her, half empty, an overturned glass beside it, but no matter how much she drunk, the image of the girls remains, of the tower itself would not leave her. She'd been a little wary of Samba ever since the ritual that bound her walls, but this ...

... she wasn't sure what to think anymore. Mulduran had the right of it, and he had been honest with her, even if that honesty had been far, far more than she'd bargained for. She'd just have to go along and see justice was done, one way or another. The clans couldn't allow this outrage to go unpunished.

Tomorrow, forget all about it until tomorrow, blue creatures, blood and bones, and an empty space in someones soul filled with something .. who knew what. The only thing she could be sure of, this wasn't right at all.
__________________


The blizzards were getting worse Graham the Gray though, his servant Igor was busy shovelling the snow away muttering under his breath. Graham the Gray looked back at Sambas books, he had taken a few of them from the house to see if they held any clues to what was happening..witness accounts said the beast had mentioned his master..and that sometimes called help but in a whisper..so was that Samba inside that thing..trapped. Faramir had put the local guard on watch, a man stood on Sambas door, to guard the building.

If something evil was coming through and had taken over the space that was left in the souless one..who or what was it..
__________________


Muldran spoke with the two Cloaks - Caladras and Vie - who had pulled him to one side in Trinsic.

They revealed that they had managed to calm the beast long enough to get some further coherency out of it. Muldran's worst thought was true; the creature was, in fact, Samba. However the creature still referred to a 'Master'. That gave Mul some small glimmer of help; if Samba had invited something in (as Sithra suggested) then there surely must be a way to bring him fully back - or at least break the connection with this Master.

However, another problem reared its head; the creature was looking for an 'elf' to complete the ritual. Muldran hoped he'd managed to secure the uses of a person who could act as bait - but would he be in time?

---

Okay - there is missing stuff; this is what I could drag back from the cache. Can anyone get any more?

Samba
17th-May-2002, 21:12
A dark figure sat at a large oak desk, carefully writing words upon the blank page of a vast book. Only the silver hair was visible in the near darkness of the room, lit only by a single candle. A strange light filled the room suddenly, emanating from the water that rested on the curved stone table in the centre of the room. With a wince of pain, the figure looked up, revealing the face of Samba, it’s features marred by an uncharacteristic expression of pain and anger. Placing the quill pen he had so recently been using down onto the table, Samba rose and walked over to the scrying pool. Looking in, he saw the spidery writing fade slowly from the Mirror of Sorrows, as Mirror left the room, leaving a stunned Muldran behind.

With a frown of consternation, Samba swept from the room, his voice echoing in the air. “I am getting very sick of this.”

With that, Samba stormed out of the room, and headed to the tower roof. As he walked, he incanted several spells, bringing items and reagents to him from his stores in his study. As he reached the roof, a whole mass of items and reagents circled around him, before heading of at his direction to the cardinal points of the Towers roof. As he stood in the centre, a ritual circle slowly formed around him, candles setting themselves on stands and lighting themselves accordingly, one for each cardinal point, one for each element, and one in the centre to represent the balance between all.

As Samba took his place in the centre, he could be heard chanting words over and over again, the sound echoing off the very heavens themselves as storm clouds gathered overhead.

“Ex Accerso et Magus Appello, Exigo et Orbis…… Kalimarr, Taelos, Indrazearo, Repanse.”

As the names were spoken, flashes of light heralded their appearance, as each was called from their locations. The expression of those called roamed from surprise and shock to expectation and understanding as they each realised where they stood and the meaning of the circles inscribed around them.

As the power raged around the tower Samba quickly spoke to the gathered sorcerers.

“Yet again the wards of this tower have been breached, though this time the breach was only minor, still, it is time we fortified these wards with more than just my own power. If you would each remain where you are, the ritual to link your strength and power to the wards requires little from you, other than your presence and your willing participation.”

With that Samba turned back to the circle, and the power gathering around him. With a smile, he looked around at the gathered mages, and put out the mental summons to the beings that would help him alter the wards. Above the candles at the four elemental points, beings started to form, elementals of perfect form and symmetry, yet female in appearance. Each held an instrument, two flutes and two violins. As they floated above the candles, they began to play a haunting melody that plucked at the very souls of those listening, bringing tears to the eyes and a sense of joy at the sound.

“What you hear is a part of the music of the spheres, the notes that link all of creation together. Melody is at the core of all things, for all things resonate with their own tune.” Samba’s voice can barely be heard over the raging storm, as he shouts into the wind, yet the music reaches to all, unaffected by the other sounds around it, cutting clearly through the storm.

As the tune continues, strands of energy reach out from the wards that surround the tower, linking themselves to Samba and the four musicians. The four sorcerers looked on with some apprehension at the level of power being woven around them.

In turn, Samba looked at each of the gather mages, his expression asking them only one question. Are you ready. As each nodded, a tendril of power reached out from Samba, and linked them one by one into the weave of energy that surrounded the court. To each, the feeling of power flowing through them was different. To some, it was a sense of completeness, as the power filled a whole in their being that they previously had not known existed, to others it brought a sense of joy, of a connection with reality that bordered on the miraculous. Yet others felt a healing energy surge through them, filling their limbs and leaving them with a sense of well being and understanding of the universe that transcended anything they had known before.
One by one they were brought into the weave, as the haunting melody floated around, echoing through their bodies as their power was lent to the whole, enhancing it, strengthening it, and becoming more than the sum of it’s parts. Overhead, the wards shimmered and grew, as the connections were woven into the very hearts and souls of those involved.

Slowly, the power dimmed, and flowed into the walls of the tower, and into the shields that surrounded it. To those involved, the wards felt as real as their own limbs, a part of them, extended beyond the physical and linked directly to the source of their own powers within them.

In the centre, Samba collapsed to one knee, exhaustion evident on his face and in the way he knelt. He nodded slowly, in thanks to each of the elementals as one by one they faded away, their music lingering slightly after they left, before it too faded away, leaving only the memory of it’s haunting tune behind.

Rising wearily to his feet, Samba looked at the gathered sorcerers and smiled. “My thanks my friends, this now should keep the court secure from more prying spells and destructive magics, and in the event of something occurring to me, or to any one of us, the tower will still be protected.”

Samba looked around at the dimming lights of the wards, and at the storm that still raged overhead, before adding.

“If you do not mind, I need to test the wards, and let you know what it is like for spells to attempt to penetrate them.”

With that said, Samba incanted a quick spell, and rose silently into the air, soaring above the tower, and out beyond the wards. As he rose, the storm built around him, and those gathered below could hear the chant of spells, many of which they recognised. Within seconds, a single bolt of lightning lanced down, striking at the wards, crawling across the shields as its energy was played out. To those gathered within the wards, the impact of the lightning coincided with a tickling sensation within their minds, as their link to the wards let them know of the attack.

Above, more chanting could be heard, as a bolt of flames leapt downwards from the heavens, slamming into the shields with a great fury. The sensation this time was more painful, like a sharp stab behind the eyes.

After a few more moments, whilst those below rubbed their eyes, the pain fading quickly, the sound of more chanting could be heard from above, only this time, the words were not those familiar to the sorcerers, but rather were strange, darker, and they seemed to echo in the mind unnaturally. The storm overhead grew, spiralling above the tower. In the distance, the floating figure of Samba could be seen chanting and moving his arms in mystical gestures. The power around Samba grew, beating on the air like a giant heartbeat. Those below waited with some apprehension for what was to come next.

No amount of preparation could have prepared them for the sheer ferocity of the next assault. A vast beam of energy, wreathed in the lightning of the storm slammed downwards towards the wards, striking them with a force that would have levelled mountains. In the heads of each of those within the ritual, pain exploded, threatening to burst out of their heads. But this pain did not end, as the fury of this latest sending did no abate, but instead continued to strike at the wards, sending cracks of energy spiralling all around, and clouding the tower from the view of those outside. The pain was becoming unbearable, as those on the tower roof were driven to their knees. Yet the wards held, and the attack stopped, to reveal a battered and weary Samba slowly descended to the stunned sorcerers below. His own face was a mask of pain and fatigue from having felt the attack on the wards.

As he landed, he chanted a few more words, and gently touched the brows of those gathered around, healing the wounds and bringing an end to the pounding pain.

Samba nodded to himself. “That is more than I could have hoped, you have added more strength to the wards than I had believed you could have. I suggest you find out how to tap that strength normally, for with it you could master magics well in excess of the battle magics we learn in this land.”

With that, he stumbled away from the gathered sorcerers, fading from view as his spell took him home, to recover from the exertion of casting two such powerful spells, and resisting such a strike on the wards of the Shadow court.


[This looks like it may come from the thread before this one]

Sambas master had ordered one more sacrifice should do it if it was an elf..so he scoured trinsic..but no elves but a few angry guards again..then he was transported to cove where the guardsmen made him feel right at home..an alliance with his master...


The Blue Meanie joins the Barony of Cove Guards
After a fruitless search in Cove, he headed on orders to vesper..and he found his prey an lone elf stood near the bank, she ran at the first sight of the monster all the way back to the swaggers inn..where another elf was..He turned this into an attack to grab the elf, but sorely outnumbered he had to retreat. Master then sent him to Yew...

The Yew guardsman in response to the phrase "i wants elfs" directed him to the entrance to the elven tree heartwood..where he grabbed his last sacrifice.

The snow piled up in Rhovanion, the weather had taken a real turn for the worst, the blizzards had come thick and furious, Graham looked out of the Inns windows, to across to where the Sambas stables and library was, you could hardly make out out a meter away. The piercing scream could be heard...the ground shook violently. Faramir, Ama, Thorgun and Beren rose from the tables in the Inn where they had been drinking, to look out of the windows into the blizzard.

"You don't think that was the last sacrfice that it was after?" Faramir asked
"We'll soon find out" Graham the Gray responded "I would ready yourselves people of Rhovanion"

The Inn door swung open, and Samba stood there in his black cloak, he looked much paler, and covered in snow, he collapsed on the floor muttering "its coming"

"Whats coming?" Beren asked
"Thats what we all want to know," Graham the Gray responded "Faramir go to Muldrans Library and take him this message, we need to gather the Shadowcourt"

Graham the Gray and Lord Bohemond, ransacked Sambas house looking for the books that Samba had referred to that would hold the information about a binding spell that would reseal the Dark LOrd back into the demon Dimension from whence he came. Callum & Salazar stood guard outside in the Blizzard much to there dislike. Faramir and Lurtz had headed to serpents hold to try to pick up from where Samba had flet to after telling his tale..

"I've found it!" Graham the Gray exclaimed " this is the book that i think Samba was referrring to, it has the details that we want about the Dark Lord"
"Good, lets get out of here before he come back..this house gives me the creeps" Lord Bohemond responded.

The pair exited the house and moved over to Bohemond's sitting room, as the group studied the the book there faces drained, there would be some hard times ahead to gather what was needed for the binding spell.

Samba, stood in the swamp not far from trinsic, his cloths were all sodden again. After his tail telling in front of an audience..at least he had warned them all and the had a clue on how to prevent the dark lord himself from taking over..he just needed now to figure out how to stop the dark lord using him as a vessel for his dark deeds..

Samba now sat in the cell in the watchtower warded so the darkone could not use his magicws to break him out, he uttered a few curses, if the court had have thought of this earlier the Dark Lord might never has broken free.


Graham the Gray with the aid of Willie McTavish and Ivor cleaned space on the floor of Sambas tower, soon the first items gathered to seal in the dark lord back to where he came from could take place.

Faramir, road across the lands of Malas looking for the items needed to complete the ritual, and then to perform the ward on Samba to prevent something from taking that small space where His Soul was.

Graham the Gray cleared the Arcane circle that had been drawn on the floor of Sambas house and placed the power cores around the circle. The next stage was to recover the words from one of Sambas burried chests. Some of the other ingredients for the spell had been gathered, Eleven Mushrooms, Heart of Miasama, Wing of bat, crushed bones of a dragon. There were still some items to gather according to this list..

Hydras Scales..
Fang of a Serpent
Eye of Something (Sambas handrwriting to to scrawny to decipher)

And help is needed to dig up Sambas books from where he has buried them..

Graham the Gray looked around, and left Sambas house, feeding the fish as he left...

There was an earth shattering bang, and suddening Faramir was awoken from his slumber, he heard a loud raw, he looked out into the night. He could see nothing through the blizzard that was ravaging through the vallage. Faramir grabbed and lantern and headed out into the darkness his sword draw. As he headed towards the watch tower, he saw in the darkness a demon devouring what was left of the local guardsman. There was a cloaked blacked figure and a blue four armed demon. Faramir realised, the Dark one had freed Samba from his warded cell. Faramir Quickly rushed back to raise the alarm, but by the time that many of the Shadowcourt members had risen and had at least one round of toast, the dark lord, Samba and the demon were gone and there footprints quickly been filled by the falling snow.

Faramir thought the court had been dalling with binding the dark lord back to his own dimension, it looked like that this demon lord was getting stronger, and now he had his faithful mind slave back.

The blue Meanie struck the streets of Trinsic terroising the citizens, telling them that the army of the dark lord was gathering, and that his demons would soon rule the lands. The guards paid little heed an tried to strike down the demon. The blue meanie headed back into the forests of the the land, and out of a dark cave his master emerged.

The blue Meanie struck the streets of Trinsic terroising the citizens, telling them that the army of the dark lord was gathering, and that his demons would soon rule the lands. The guards paid little heed an tried to strike down the demon. The blue meanie headed back into the forests of the the land, and out of a dark cave his master emerged.

"The time is nearing, we will soon be able to strike out across the lands, we shall leave the cities in flames" the Dark lord boomed

Faramir's investigations had led him gravely to Trinsic, after seeking the guards that had experienced the attacked by two blue Meanie demons and a second large red demon. A running battle had occured, which one of the blue meanies was struck down and a shivering samba had appeared. The guards had escorted the shivering and screaming Sambas into the Jail cells.

Faramir knew what was coming, after The blue meanie had escaped from from Rhovanion, no normal jail could hold this beast. Faramir followed the Trinic guardswomen to inspect the damage, the cell door had been completely ripped off, masonary lay around as repairs were underway. The guardswomen reported that they had managed to force the blue meanie back into its cell, which after some retorts it stepped through a magical gate created by the dark lord, the guards and Seriya from the darks cloaks had followed the creature through the portal to Sambas house in Rhovanion.

Faramir, wrote his report and left copies for Muldran and Graham the Gray, this Dark Lord matter was getting worse..now there were two Blue Meanies and they said the army of demons was coming!

[Page two of Rituals and Wards Revisited]

Graham the Gray on the way back to the Rhovanion Inn from speaking to Berek in the healing house in the town, felt sure he saw the Dark Lord or whatever it was moving through the blizzard, he guessed at this due to the intense coldness that you felt when been near the Dark Lord. He really needed to find Sambas books that he had buried to figure out what Dark thing they were dealing with..

As he entered the Inn Shadow was curled up in front of the fire, his tail swishing side to side, Igor had given the critter a bowl of milk. Graham walked up the stairs and pulled a book off the shelf about demon law..the only freezing demon he could find was a lesser one by the name of Jack Frost..not really what they were dealng with, he let out a long sigh..

The Dark Lord, stood in a cave not far from the Village of Rhovanion, the Blue Meanie stood by the door, another minion Lurtz, was next to the fire, and a small number of vampires were talking amongst themselves. The Dark Lord grined, his sharp teeth shone in the cold darkness, his eyes were glowing red. His allies were growing, he would defeat the forces of good and take this world as his, allies were growing, Vampires, Orcs and unsavory folk were flocking to him. His army would strike soon, rather than the ususal parly with the mortals in Trinsic..soon there would be blood on the streets of one of the cities.

# # # # # # # # # # # #


Graham The Gray studied his books, they still needed to recover Sambas buried books, this Dark Lord was becoming troublesome. Salazar had described, his close up encounter, and how the dark lord reacted. This evil demon had't shown much of its power yet, other than claiming it was immortal, and been able to chill people...and cause a sort of blacking of parts of the body that he touched. With Mul still missing, the court was starting to flake at the edges..

Graham the Gray Sat amongst a pile of Sambas books, these were ones covered in dirt, they had been dug up from one of Sambas burried chests, the guardians had been taxing but nothing that Jake, Ama and Bertrand couldn't defeat.

Theres was nothing of that much help in this lot of dirty texts so far that would cast the Dark Lord back to whence he came.


Ivor was bashing out weapons in the forge, ready to defeat the dark lords hordes of foul demons.

The Dark Lord, sat on a thrown, in a dark cave in the mountains of Malas. His plans were moving slowly..demons had emerged through his portals in a number of parts of the land. Soon he though..soon...his armies would ravage the world..and this dimension would be his...

Graham the Gray sat recovering, Igor had brought him a nice warm drink, he was confused something had happened that Blue meanie had touched him, and it had paralysed him somehow, then the Dark Lord had spirited him away. The next thing he reembered was waking up with a number of the court around him in a cold icy cave east of Rhovanion.

Muldran in his efforts to seal the cave had injured Scatach, who was tucked up in the bed at the Inn. Graham signaled to Faramir, that he should help the guild to track down these demons more.

Graham sipped his tea once more and started to doze in the reading chair, he could hear Ivor in the background bashing away in the forge.

As Graham the Gray read through the book, he stood up suddenly.

"I've found it, i think i've found it" he shouted out

"What have you found Mar'ter" Igor replied
"A way to banish the dark lord" Graham the Gray responded
"well done mar'ter" Igor
"Now we just need to find the items needed, and there is a spell that might allow us to help Samba as well" Graham the Gray said with enthusiaism. "Right igor another hot drink, and i'll start planning our quests to recover the items"

Igor hobbled away towards the kitchen, to boil up a mixture od strange leaves and hot water that Mr Gray drank, and he added milk to it as well. Why didn't he drink ale like the others, or a nice hot mead, or mulled wine.

Faramir, had followed the leads it had taken him to some unfriendly areas of the lands but he had it the first item that they needed to help banish the Dark Lord and his minions. It had been buried in the tomb long ago, the tomb now was full of lets say no longer dead... It was the Crystal ball of demon seeing, it had been burried in the depths of the decit dungeon, with its former owner. Some information believed that it was now in posession of a liche or a vampire controlling the undead in that place.

Graham the Gray, would have taken this information to Muldran, but it seemed he just was not about when you needed him, it was time to gather forces and take a trip, and gather some more hapless voluteers....

[page three of Rituals and Wards Revisited]

I think that's pretty much all up to date - well done, Harmony.

Graham, do I detect a tear in your eye?