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In the Valus - The Heroes of Marchford (Chapter 14 Continues - 12/24/08)
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<blockquote data-quote="Funeris" data-source="post: 1977076" data-attributes="member: 22792"><p><strong>Chapter 8: Into the Deep Continued</strong></p><p></p><p>A large insect with thousands of legs slithered into the main tunnel from the side corridor. Its writhing legs scuffed and clawed the dirt floor, pulling its bulbous mass along. The shrieker fungus tried alerting the Heroes, but they were already aware with hands clamped over their ears. Shades of dark rotting greens and putrid deep earth browns swirled over the insect’s body, decent camouflage in the dark of the deep. However, Fitz’s ascendant powered pebbles cast shifting shades of black on the movement of the beast, allowing the Heroes constant, if somewhat blurred, sight of the bug.</p><p></p><p>The bug shifted onto its haunches, half of the terrible frenzied appendages waving futilely in the air. With only half of its body lifted into the air, the creature was a good two feet taller than any of the Heroes. Two long, feelers attached to its swollen forehead searched the air for a scent of its prey. Three high-pitched whistles filled the air as arrows and a bolt pounded the thick exoskeleton. Magnus’ grin could’ve lit the cavern because he had actually hit his target.</p><p></p><p>Tobias had no time for pointless facial expressions; he dropped his bow and drew the great sword. He leapt to a lower perch of rubble and prepared to meet the wounded insect head-on. The beast would’ve squealed if it had the vocal chords for such a task. Instead, its bloated body collapsed back to the floor and charged dinner. As the insect sped toward Tobias, a smaller version peeked out of the corridor, its feelers pointing toward the group. It slithered out, alerting the shrieker, as did two of its brothers.</p><p></p><p>Arrows rained down upon the three smaller beasts as Motega loosed them rapidly. His arms were a flurry of trained motion: grabbing two arrows at a time, tossing one into the air then nocking, pulling, and releasing the first, catching the second arrow and repeating.</p><p>But few of the arrows found their targets. The inhuman beasts seemed to sense the speeding projectiles and slithered just to the left or right to avoid wounding. What they couldn’t avoid were Magnus’ bolts, that filled the gaps in Motega’s pattern. Each bolt tore into the thick bony hide, slowing the creatures down.</p><p></p><p>Tobias’ sword leapt in a great arc as the massive mother bug’s head lifted again. With a squelch, the blade pierced the exoskeleton, spurting greenish bile all over Tobias’ armor. He just as quickly wrenched the blade from the hide, and spun the other way nearly mirroring his first cut. More bile exploded and the bug shuddered, its frenzied claws scrapping at Tobias, pushing him backward into the rubble. With a scream the paladin charged forward, the bug started to pull away but the blade was much too long. The steel of the blade parted the armored hide, slicing upward and splitting the grotesque insect in half.</p><p></p><p>“Tobias!” Magnus’ scream would have alerted the paladin, if his survival instinct hadn’t already kicked in. The blade that had nearly pierced the ceiling of the cavern arced back down to the right, spinning with the warrior, and slicing the baby insect horizontally into two nearly even length pieces. Where the smaller creature had just been, a fine green mist hung momentarily in the air, before plummeting like its owner onto the dirt.</p><p></p><p>Tobias stood from his position and looked out at the battlefield. The other two insects had been stopped by arrow and bolt only five feet ahead of him. The shattered carapaces of the mother and the first brother lay disjointed and broken at his feet.</p><p></p><p>Three minutes passed, then ten. Still all was silent in the hallway besides the breathing of the Heroes. Motega clambered down the rubble and handed Tobias his bow. The paladin wiped as much of the muck off his face and blade as possible. Then the Heroes descended the rubble and started toward the side passage.</p><p></p><p>They followed the passage back to a series of natural rooms and searched each room. Aside from a few coppers and a few dwem corpses stashed in a nest, the rooms were empty. The side passage continued in a northwestward direction but the Heroes chose to fall back to the main corridor and begin their journey into the deep there.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Funeris, post: 1977076, member: 22792"] [b]Chapter 8: Into the Deep Continued[/b] A large insect with thousands of legs slithered into the main tunnel from the side corridor. Its writhing legs scuffed and clawed the dirt floor, pulling its bulbous mass along. The shrieker fungus tried alerting the Heroes, but they were already aware with hands clamped over their ears. Shades of dark rotting greens and putrid deep earth browns swirled over the insect’s body, decent camouflage in the dark of the deep. However, Fitz’s ascendant powered pebbles cast shifting shades of black on the movement of the beast, allowing the Heroes constant, if somewhat blurred, sight of the bug. The bug shifted onto its haunches, half of the terrible frenzied appendages waving futilely in the air. With only half of its body lifted into the air, the creature was a good two feet taller than any of the Heroes. Two long, feelers attached to its swollen forehead searched the air for a scent of its prey. Three high-pitched whistles filled the air as arrows and a bolt pounded the thick exoskeleton. Magnus’ grin could’ve lit the cavern because he had actually hit his target. Tobias had no time for pointless facial expressions; he dropped his bow and drew the great sword. He leapt to a lower perch of rubble and prepared to meet the wounded insect head-on. The beast would’ve squealed if it had the vocal chords for such a task. Instead, its bloated body collapsed back to the floor and charged dinner. As the insect sped toward Tobias, a smaller version peeked out of the corridor, its feelers pointing toward the group. It slithered out, alerting the shrieker, as did two of its brothers. Arrows rained down upon the three smaller beasts as Motega loosed them rapidly. His arms were a flurry of trained motion: grabbing two arrows at a time, tossing one into the air then nocking, pulling, and releasing the first, catching the second arrow and repeating. But few of the arrows found their targets. The inhuman beasts seemed to sense the speeding projectiles and slithered just to the left or right to avoid wounding. What they couldn’t avoid were Magnus’ bolts, that filled the gaps in Motega’s pattern. Each bolt tore into the thick bony hide, slowing the creatures down. Tobias’ sword leapt in a great arc as the massive mother bug’s head lifted again. With a squelch, the blade pierced the exoskeleton, spurting greenish bile all over Tobias’ armor. He just as quickly wrenched the blade from the hide, and spun the other way nearly mirroring his first cut. More bile exploded and the bug shuddered, its frenzied claws scrapping at Tobias, pushing him backward into the rubble. With a scream the paladin charged forward, the bug started to pull away but the blade was much too long. The steel of the blade parted the armored hide, slicing upward and splitting the grotesque insect in half. “Tobias!” Magnus’ scream would have alerted the paladin, if his survival instinct hadn’t already kicked in. The blade that had nearly pierced the ceiling of the cavern arced back down to the right, spinning with the warrior, and slicing the baby insect horizontally into two nearly even length pieces. Where the smaller creature had just been, a fine green mist hung momentarily in the air, before plummeting like its owner onto the dirt. Tobias stood from his position and looked out at the battlefield. The other two insects had been stopped by arrow and bolt only five feet ahead of him. The shattered carapaces of the mother and the first brother lay disjointed and broken at his feet. Three minutes passed, then ten. Still all was silent in the hallway besides the breathing of the Heroes. Motega clambered down the rubble and handed Tobias his bow. The paladin wiped as much of the muck off his face and blade as possible. Then the Heroes descended the rubble and started toward the side passage. They followed the passage back to a series of natural rooms and searched each room. Aside from a few coppers and a few dwem corpses stashed in a nest, the rooms were empty. The side passage continued in a northwestward direction but the Heroes chose to fall back to the main corridor and begin their journey into the deep there. [/QUOTE]
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