October

The wind as chilly as it blows
Cuts deep to the bone
Sharp and steely against my cheeks
Hair in every direction

Shadows follow right behind
Without the sun's light to cast
Grass and leaves crunching round
In time with my footsteps

No costume to show
Soft, fleece sweatshirt and blues
Boots as high as my friends
Tied hastily to be alone

The aura calls the soul
As if it belongs there
The dead whisper my name
Calling to the wandering heart

Tombstones hidden behind trees
Knocked over by disregard
Barely visible to the human eye
Gray and shining before me

Hard and cold, yet welcoming
My body rests on nature's dead
Eyes closed, ready to go
But somehow wanting to stay

Mist awakens the others
Eyes fly open, waiting for rain
Faces, transparent, white
Watching me watching them, smiling

Earthy, dying smells in the air
Beauty overtakes tears in my eyes
Forms of night alone before me
I am afraid, but only of the end

Damp and cold, never more warm
Darkness looming, warming me
Rain dripping through the trees
Reminding me of walking

I remember the sun, the sky
But the stars are so much prettier
And the moon so much wiser
Why would I ever leave?

Love and Cold Winds, Part 5: Sympathy for the Midboss

    There was nothing but a heap of discarded weaponry, cast aside armor, and magic items sucked dry to purpose their ether. And of course the vast array of smears across the floor and walls like a impressionistic painting were all that was left of this floor's monsters.
    "Well, this is equal parts impressive and morbid." Garn said after shifting though the remains of a smashed treasure chest.
    "Yeah, that's hard core Grinders for you." Vort said, scooping a few gold trinkets into a bag.
    During the silent trek though the maze-like hallways of the dungeon proper, passing mauled traps, cleared out treasure rooms, and the slowly dissolving remains of minor spawning pits, the party knew there had to have been a particular group of Grinders. These were adventurers who neurotically enter dungeons and ruthlessly clear them out, often times leaving to allow the dungeon to reset and re-spawn its denizens to do the aforementioned sweep all over again.
    Done to attain better loot, better experience, or hoard rare resources, those dubbed Grinders often left a trail of cast aside gear and trinkets as they collected new and better ones. Some believed they did this so the dungeon could remake what they left behind into something even better, others thought it was they didn't want to haul what they deemed junk around. 
    "Should we be concerned?" the dragonborn asked as the group as they headed for the stairs downward.
    "As long as we stay out of their way there wont be issues." Norra checked the stairs before allowing the others downward. "More than likely they'll clear the floors their level allows them and then leave."
    Garn nodded, lagging behind with the storm mage as the expert hunter and tracker made her way downward. The next few floors were more of the same, monster-less and loot-less with only the occasional straggler for Garn to bisect with his blade. The large rough stones that made up most of the dungeon soon changed into solid smooth dark marble that arched into wooden beam and arch accents with everything lit with large amber sconces.
    Another (less talkative) set of carved doors stood at the end of the hall, a group of people standing by it and bickering. The party quickly ducked behind the pillars, dragging the dragonborn with them, making space a bit difficult for everyone. Voices were certainly raised among the other group before a whoosh was heard. Peaking out, Vort quietly informed everyone their party mage had opened a Gate back to the outside, and they had made their way through.
    "Odd," Vort said once the party came out of its hiding place, "They usually take on this floor's boss."
    "Well, We can actually get loot then!" Lym said cheerily as he approached the door.
    The party gathered around the halfing and began to push, but they all found that the door usually meant to be easily swung open on its hinges to have a grand reveal, were completely locked. They continued to push, and then push even harder, eventually going into a full on assault to get the firmly locked doors to budge.
    "Go away!" A deep bellow from behind the other side of the door pushed the adventures away from it. " I will not suffer further humiliation form you all!"
    "What..." Lym said looking between the group, finding equally perplexed looks.
    "I think that's the boss." Vort said.
    "Can they just do that? Bar entry into their rooms?"
    "Yes I can! The Dungeon Master put me in charge of this floor so I can bar you horrible monsters from killing me over and over again!" The fearsome beast wailed, akin to a small child being bullied.
    "Wow." Norra said flatly.
    "Never thought I'd feel bad for a floor boss," Mumbled Lym.
    "Hey," Vort knocked on the door. " We aren't the other party, we can have some tea!"
    Garn blinked looking down at the little mage standing at the door, he wouldn't be surprised if the beast behind actually complied to the request. And almost exactly after he had this thought the door cracked open a peek.
    "What kind of tea?"
    In a short amount of time the party found themselves sitting in the center of a circular arena around a short table, a well maintained tea set placed before all parties. One cup was daintily being held by a marble gargoyle big enough to eat a plow horse in one go. They had all heard the tragically hilarious story of the Midboss' 5 weeks of solid pummeling from the Grinders before finally reaching a threshold in the rules of this strange place that allowed him to lock his doors and regain his composure.
    "That's terrible." Vort said after the gargoyle concluded his tale.
    "It is horrible, sometimes I didn't even have time to fix the traps and get my minions spawning." The beast took a sip from the tea cup carefully held in his claws. "So, this question may be redundant but what brings you down here?"
    "Oh we were planning to head through the dungeon as normal." Lym said, "Your typical affair."
    "Oh of course, its a shame I'm not up for the usual affair." The Gargoyle said, setting his cup down. "As a consolation I will allow you to pass through my gate to the next floor."
    "Wait, really?" Garn asked, "Just like that?"
    "I am absolutely not up for a fight I'm afraid." The Gargoyle stood up, moved to the other end of the cathedral arena and pushed open a well hidden door with a grand staircase leading downward.
    With very little fanfare, the tea and table were packed up and the group bid their goodbyes to the monster and made their way deeper.
    "Did you plan for any of that?" Garn finally asked Vort.
    "Nope! I had no clue any of this would happen." The mage cheerily stated, patting Garns arm.
    "I doubt the next boss will be as talkative." Norra said, "So let's prepare ourselves."
   

Love and Cold Winds, Part 4.2

There was a brief pause as the echos of the living door faded, a silent agreement passing between the party members before Garn charged. His blade swung in a high arc before coming crashing down with an echoing boom that shook the dust off the walls.

"THAT IS THE INCORRECT ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE, AND QUITE RUDE!" The door bellowed.

The dragonborn winced as the sword dropped from his numb fingers, arms trembling from the shock of the impact.

"You okay Garn?"Vort walked up to him as he managed to get enough feeling back to give the mage a thumbs up.

"It was more cathartic than painful." he grinned.

"Well, before we try bludgeoning the door down again, let's perhaps try the riddle?" Lym strode up to the door with conviction. "Riddle me, door!"

"VERY WELL!" The door pretended to clear its thoughts before proudly proclaiming; "WHY IS A RAVEN LIKE A WRITING DESK?!"

Almost immediately Norra unleashed a volley of arrows at the doors eyes, while Vort called down bolts of lightning to punctuate the stream of colorful insults pouring out of Lym. Both the door and Garn looked on confused for the minute of coordinated abuse before the three stopped.

"Am...I missing something?"Garn asked in the ensuing rage-silence.

"The 'Riddle' this waste of metal and magic proposed technically doesn't have an answer." Norra explained,

"The answer is subjective to the person who set the door, which isn't part of the dungeon." Lym sighed and rubbed his temples, "Someone, presumably a mage of some kind set up this door to keep other adventurers out."

"Why, though?" asked Garn.

"Its a rule set down by the high guilds. If we managed to catch up with the party then the bragging rights and loot have to be split fairly among each group," Norra stuck her thumb toward the door. "So some simply make that impossible to happen."

"That is incredibly distasteful,"The group nodded in agreement to the former show fighter's words. "Can we do anything about it?"

"Because they are both obnoxious!" Lym shouted at the door

"INCORRECT!" the door shouted back.

"Because they both have shiny things?!"

"INCORRECT!"

"They both give authors ennui?!"

"INCORRECT!"

"Because they are both as ugly as you are?!!"

"INCORRECT AND HURTFUL!!"

Norra sighed, turning to the giggling storm mage.

" Vort? Do you have something up your sleeve?"

"Yup!" the mage grinned as he quite literally pulled a rod of glowing sky blue crystal from his sleeve at the same time as his sword unsheathed.

Garn blinked as he watched Vort make his way toward the door, the crystal rod pulsating and casting strange shadows over the scene unfolding. Lym managed to finish a long string of creative swears mixed with door puns before the mage smashed the rod against the steel of his blade. The tinny sound of vibrating metal mixed with the ethereal tinkling, before everything rose in pitch. The crystal broke down and sucked into the blades intricate runes, causing them to burn so intensely Garn was afraid the metal would melt away.

The scent of ozone filled the air as the tip of Vort's blade slowly leveled itself at the door, so bright it lit the worried expression of the Riddle door. Errant bolts of energy shot out as Vort slowly drew back, before forcefully stabbing at the general direction of the door.

A long whine filled the air before a hefty thump and the screech of lightning tore though the air, as a vertical beam of energy hit the door and obliterated it. The little mage was sent flying in the opposite direction. Garn, ever quick on his feet for such a hearty fellow, managed to position himself in time and catch Vort, the impact sending him sliding a few feet back.

“Good gods what was that?” Garn wheezed as he set Vort down on his feet, knowing an ache would be the first thing to greet him in the morning.

“Storm’s Fury.” Replied the mage cheerfully. “Add one ether crystal and watch doors fly.”

“Yeah but those crystals are expensive.” Norra pushed in.

“I have two more, we’ll be fine!”the little mage limped slightly toward the door, friends following after.

“As fine as people who loudly blew a Riddle door off its hinges, anyway.” Lym pipped up.