It would be hard to say who was more surprised when the hammer eventually made contact with its target, although if it was the zombie then it certainly wasn't surprised for long. Instead of the crunching impact Terri had expected there was a brilliant flash of pure white light and the zombie burst apart in a shower of flesh, bones and purple viscera. While Terri heartily appreciated the intensity of Avandar's assistance, it had the unfortunate effect of throwing her off balance when the impact she had been expecting failed to occur. Terri had swung so hard that she narrowly avoided smashing the hammer into her own knee when the stroke continued far past the point where it should have ended. Stumbling forwards with arms windmilling to try to regain her balance, Terri slipped in the pool of molten zombie before her and came crashing down; first onto the side of the sarcophagus and then on the unyielding marble floor.

Dazed and winded, the young cleric managed to roll off her back just as the second zombie began stumbling slowly in her direction. Adrenaline and fear helped Terri to climb up onto her hands and knees, but that was as far as she got before the zombie's cold dead hands closed around her throat. Terri felt herself being lifted effortlessly off the ground by a strength that was as terrifying as it was supernatural. Already dazed from the head clash and with empty lungs after being winded, Terri began to slip into unconsciousness as the zombie's grip cut off any chance of taking a breath. Panicking, the young cleric beat ineffectually at the monster's head and shoulders with her fists, wishing desperately that she'd managed to hold on to her hammer when she hit the floor. As darkness closed in around her, the young cleric reached up to her neck, grasped her Gravenhall amulet and pressed it weakly onto the zombie's arm while mouthing the words, 'For Avandar.' Then she knew no more.

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When Terri eventually returned to consciousness her first thought was of pain. Her head, throat and chest were all competing for the title of 'worst pain I have ever felt in my life' with her head narrowly edging out the other two contestants. Moving as slowly and carefully as possible the young cleric placed one hand on her head, the other on her amulet and then murmured, "By Avandar's grace I bring healing to my body." Warmth immediately flowed from her hand down onto her forehead before ebbing out through her chest, arms and legs and finally reaching a gentle conclusion at her toes. Although she was not fully healed, all of Terri's competing pains had been reduced to dull aches and she noted with satisfaction that the world didn't tilt crazily on its axis when she dragged herself to her knees.

The young cleric's next priority was to create some light as it had become pitch black in the tomb while she was lying unconscious on the floor. Raising one hand to her chest Terri once again asked Avandar to light up her amulet, and then immediately wished that she hadn't. When the light returned she found herself knee deep in the remains of two badly decomposed zombies. While prolonged exposure had somewhat eased the intensity of the stench, the thick puddle of flesh, bone and unidentifiable 'inside parts' was nonetheless gut wrenching. Even this unpleasant discovery, however, could not stop a feeling of elation surging up from within the young cleric. She had been wounded, terrified and absolutely covered in filth but there could be no doubt about it; Terri had comprehensively and absolutely passed the initiation test and would from now on be regarded as a full Cleric of Avandar.

Shaking with relief and exhaustion Terri pulled herself to her feet and by the light of the amulet was finally able to see what the two undead creatures had been trying to gain access to in the sarcophagus. Unsurprisingly, it appeared to be a human skeleton. What was surprising was that the dark robe it wore seemed untouched by time. There was no mould or discolouration, even the creases carefully steamed into it before burial were still there. More interesting than this to Terri though was the large ruby mounted on a solid gold ring that the skeleton wore on the middle finger of its left hand.

The young cleric stood still for a long time staring at that ring with its ridiculously large ruby. She was not inclined to criminality by nature, and Avandar certainly frowned upon the taking of things that didn't belong to you, but living costs in Providence were extremely high and a ring like this one would pay her way for at least another two or three years. Time seemed to stop as Terri's internal dialogue furiously argued the situation back and forth. First it tried to convince her that the ring was undoubtedly there as a kind of initiation present, it was fated that she should have it. Then it reminded her of another of Professor Nomenclature's many maxims, 'If you want to be morally ambiguous then become a rogue not a cleric, the gods have no time for flimflams or wishywashies.'

Almost against her will Terri's hand reached out and slid the ring off the skeleton's finger, a part of her expecting at any moment to be struck down by either Avandar's wrath, or the bony inhabitant of the stone coffin. When neither of these things occurred she weighed the ring thoughtfully in her hand before looking over her shoulder towards the open door of the crypt. Minutes came and went with Terri standing still as stone, weighing the fortune she held in her hand until she finally straightened her shoulders and made up her mind.

The decision to slide the ring back onto the skeleton's finger and walk out into the graveyard was one of the hardest Terri ever made. Certainly it was much harder than the life threatening decision to jump into battle with the zombies. In the end, however, it had at least some basis in rationality. While the value of the ring would have financed her future questing and training at Gravenhall, such a benefit was of little value if it meant she couldn't rely on her deity when she needed them. Avandar had undoubtedly saved Terri’s life tonight and when it came down to it she wasn't about to say thank you by doing something Avandar would find extremely offensive. So with a resigned sigh Terri turned her back on the elaborate stone coffin, picked up her hammer from where it lay near the door, and walked slowly out into cool night air.

It was very dark outside the tomb as the moon had long since set and a blanket of clouds had swept in to hide the stars. Terri walked steadily along the wide path that had brought her to the crypt accompanied only by the bobbing light of her amulet. She was tired, aching and paying scant attention to her surroundings which is why she failed to notice the stocky figure standing by the cemetery gates until they called out to her.

"Ahoy there Terri, that's a truly gut wrenching stench you've got going on there tonight. Either you've been successful at your task and I'm now talking to Gravenhall's newest cleric, or you must have made a horrible, horrible choice when you put on your perfume this evening."

Terri laughed despite the exhaustion she was feeling. "You know I can't afford perfume Aggy so that really only leaves the first option. How long have you been waiting?"

"Och, it couldn't have been more than three or four hours," Aggy replied. "What in Ogden's name were you doing in there for all that time, having a tea party?"

"Not exactly," Terri said with a smile. "I got a bit 'up close and personal' with a couple of zombies and ended up taking an unplanned nap for a few hours."

Aggy took a few steps away from the young cleric as she approached. "Ogdens beard Terri, it smells like you took a two hour nap in the town sewer not in the cemetery. How did you get so absolutely covered in filth?"

"The rest of the story will have to wait until tomorrow," Terri said to the dwarf as she walked through the cemetery gates. "I'm too exhausted to tell you about it now. All I want to do now is burn my clothes and have a long, long bath."

Despite her curiosity Aggy respected the young cleric's need for silence and kept quiet as they walked through the darkened streets of Providence. Over the past year the two initiates had both worked extremely hard to become full members of their guilds. Aggy had undertaken her mage initiation two days before Terri's test and had passed with flying colours. The mage initiations were quite different to the cleric, rogue and warrior tests. All that was required was the presentation of a spellbook containing exactly six level one spells and confirmation that the mage had fully memorised the magic missile incantation. And that was where the difference lay. While the clerics, rogues and warriors proved themselves by overcoming a single set challenge at the end of the year, the mages struggled with their challenge throughout the entire year itself. By the time the initiations came around the mages had all either mastered the spell or dropped out in frustration.

Aggy had taken two hundred and eighty five days to completely memorise 'the bloody spell', which was a bit faster than average. The record was one hundred and ninety six days and had been set almost nine decades ago, not long after Gravenhall had been established. There was some dispute about this record however as it was speculated that the individual in question had already started learning the spell before they began their first year at Gravenhall. While it was impossible for such a thing to happen now (guild members were forbidden from sharing such knowledge with non guild members), things were a bit more relaxed 'back in the day'.

Once they had reached the enormous castle of Gravenhall and passed through the huge arched doorway that served as its main entrance Aggy paused and put her hand on Terri's elbow, causing the young cleric to stop. "You did a fine job today lass and I know your parents are looking down on you proudly; but for the love of all that's holy and a few things that aren't you've got to promise me you'll fulfil your oath and burn your clothes before this night is over. I'm not kidding, you smell like a dead weasel's rectum. My nostril hairs are trying to climb back up into my head just to get away from you. It's horrendous, there are no words to describe the gut wrenching horror of your stench right now, it's eating away at my will to live even as we stand here. Promise me, promise me you'll go straight from here to the bathhouses and not come out until you've slayed the monstrous stench demon you're carrying around with you."

Terri couldn't help but laugh, "So what you're saying is that I'm a little bit smelly. Ok, I'm going straight to the bathroom and then to bed."

Aggy patted her on the back and then turned away to head towards the dormitories.

"What, no goodbye hug?" Terri called after her. Aggy walked away a bit faster.