The chase!
Stumpwater Jack’s only contribution to the fight was to laugh when the statue slammed Artimas. Otherwise, he simply stayed out of the way, smoking his pipe and looking around. He saw the creature pounce on to Malobar by the exit and begin dragging the elf off by his hair.
“Voltare!” he yelled, hopping to his feet and racing in that direction as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. He activated the power of his boots and charged right up to the beast, surprising it with the sudden burst and getting in a nice hack. It howled in pain and raced away, dragging the elf along. He felt it focus its will upon him in an attempt to hold his body unmoving, but he resisted it easily with his rugged dwarven constitution and continued the chase.
Everyone else glanced over to see what had possessed the dwarf and just saw Malobar’s stiff legs being dragged from view with the dwarf racing after. Welby, Grick, and Quinn joined the pursuit, each running toward the new threat at top speed. Artimas strode to a pile of bones and performed a short ritual. When he completed the final words of the spell the bones snaked around him and formed a protective shell around him. Now encased with his armor of undeath, he continued to follow in the directions the others had run off.
Jack was able to catch the beast once again with the aid of his boots and delivered another jarring chop before it could dodge away. The lightly encumbered Welby and Grick had almost caught up while the armored priestess puffed along behind.
Suddenly the corridor exploded with activity. A large stalagmite grew near the side of the tunnel, almost reaching the ceiling. A large yellow eye opened in the stalagmite and a gaping maw lined with diamond hard teeth yawned beneath. Strands of tough, fibrous material shot out of small holes circling the creature and latched on to the heroes as they ran past. Welby managed to duck the attack, but Jack, Grick, and Quinn were all hit by the sticky snares, which attached to their bodies and began reeling them closer. Quinn discovered that the strands had another purpose as well, feeling her strength rapidly draining away from the glue-like substance that now adhered her to the strange monster.
Jack saw the demonic ghoul getting away from him as he struggled against the strand. Before his horrified eyes, the creature and the helpless elf faded from his sight as it turned them both invisible. No! He was not going to lose another elf! Snarling in rage, he severed the tentacle with his axe and took up pursuit, Welby now leading, tracking the beast by the sound of Malobar’s body being dragged across the floor.
A ghoul appeared before Welby and pounced at him, but he nimbly sidestepped and continued running after the noise. Jack also ignored the new opponent, batting it out of the way with his shield as he thundered past. The two of them entered another large catacomb littered with the remains of countless dead. Welby felt a prickling sensation across the back of his neck like he did when Artimas experimented with the dead, and all around him the skeletons started to rise and claw at him. He vaulted over one bony form as it started to rise and somersaulted between two more without breaking his stride.
Unfortunately, Jack was held up by the newly created undead that formed a bony wall before him. The ghoul caught up to him and jumped onto his back, but he hurled it to the floor and began to take out his frustrations on everything around him. He spun around in a great circle with his arm extended, his battleaxe reducing each undead it came into contact with into splinters. In less than ten seconds he was the only thing moving in the cavern and he sped after the retreating figure of the barbarian.
Welby came to an intersection and halted, listening. He did not hear the noises anymore! He had lost his quarry! Turning to the cat-like shadow that trailed after him he silently asked if it could detect any signs of the ghoulish creatures passing. It indicated the left branch of the fork as Jack caught up to him. “Left,” he stated and loped off.
They entered another catacomb, this one a dead end. Before them the body of their friend lay on the floor with the creature standing over him. Jack cried out helplessly as its claw descended and ripped a great gash in the elf’s throat, but the monster rushed its attack and missed the major vessels. It raised an arm for another strike and Welby went berserk, flying at the creature in a frenzy and running it through with his sword. His blade struck home once, then again, and then the creature grasped him with both its taloned hands, lifted him off the floor, and bit deep into his cheek. The halfling gasped in pain and went stiff, his muscles no longer responding to his mental commands.
Jack charged in. His assault was relentless, his axe merciless as he carved the life from the fiend. It struck him repeatedly with tooth and nail but he ignored the blows, and the beast could not overcome his hardy constitution. In desperation it attempted to flee, once again calling upon its powers of invisibility, but the pain of its wounds made it difficult for it to concentrate and it failed in the attempt. Jack’s axe flashed once more and he lopped the monster’s head off.
Seeing that his friends would take several minutes to recover, the dwarf decided to make a thorough examination of the area before they recovered. Amidst the skeletal remains, five distinct piles of gear lay on the floor of the chamber - suits of glittering mithral mail, weapons, shields, and more. He invoked a detection spell and scanned the mounds, moving anything magical to a new pile. Quite a bit of the equipment did show up as enchanted, although a large steel shield was the only thing that he found useful.
Picking it up, he saw that the front was decorated in a spider web design, the shield of a follower of the dark elf goddess Lolth. Jack snorted in disgust, searched his pack for his whetstone, and began carefully scraping the paint away while he waited.
*****
Grick and Quinn found themselves alone with an angry roper. Quinn struggled feebly against the pull but had been weakened too much from the first attack. A second lash wrapped around her and her muscles gave way completely, dropping her to the tunnel floor, too drained to even move. The tentacles reeled her in at an even faster pace now, and the sound of her platemail dragging the ground crashed through the passageway.
Grick saw his friend drop and quit trying to resist. He could also feel the strength draining from him and knew that he had to destroy the aberration quickly or they might both be lost. He pulled a flask of whiskey from his boot and drained it in two swallows, the strong alcohol fortifying him as it burned down his throat and sent warm fingers stretching throughout his body. He threw the empty container aside and charged the last few steps toward the creature, smashing his fist into its stony hide with all the strength he had remaining.
Artimas finally reached the bend in the passage and stuck his head out around the corner. The situation did not look good. Grick stood before the creature, strands wrapped around his legs, arms, and midsection, pounding at it with increasingly clumsier blows, several bleeding gashes on his body where he had not been quick enough to avoid the snapping jaws, while Quinn’s prostrate form lay unmoving a yard away.
He sighed. It seemed the only way to save the others was to give the roper a taste of its own medicine. Reaching into the spirit world, he summoned a pack of four shadows and unleashed them upon the monster. The beast screamed as the first icy claws sunk into its flesh, stealing the power from its blows and hastening it toward death. It dropped the staggering half-orc and lashed out at these new aggressors, buts its strands passed right through the immaterial beings harmlessly.
The roper’s cries changed from anger to panic as the shadows raked it again and again. Grick stumbled, dragging Quinn back away from the beast, and Artimas ran forward and started rummaging through her pack. He found her scroll organizer and perused the various titles, selecting one marked “Restoration” and reading it aloud over her spineless form. Instantly her strength was returned to normal, and the three heroes turned back to the battle, just in time to see the roper wither and collapse, a lifeless husk, under the shadow’s assault.
Their mission completed, the shadows turned on their summoner, hating any and all life. “Join us, Artimas Sendant,” they hissed as they glided over the tunnel floor, “we will take you to Arawn. You will enjoy…. Being one of us.”
Quinn stepped forward and brandished her holy symbol. “Begone, creatures of darkness!” she commanded, and the undead faded from view as they returned to the Plane of Shadows.
Artimas approached the roper’s corpse and called to his faithful torchbearer, who for once had escaped unscathed from the fighting. “Igor, come,” he said, then, “Igor, push.” The zombie faithfully toppled over the heavy body, exposing a hollow beneath its base. Reaching in, he found several precious gemstones that he handed to Grick for safekeeping.
*****
Malobar and Welby finally stirred after Jack had scraped half of the shield clean. The first thing the elf did was reach up to feel the tear in his throat, but he found it sealed, already healed by the dwarf’s magic. He approached Jack solemnly and extended his hand.
“You’ve saved my life and I am indebted to you. Both of you,” he added, hearing the halfling shifting behind him. “I am in your service now and I pray that the sun never sets on our new friendship.”
“Bah,” Jack snorted. “Didn’t do nothin fer ya that ya wouldna done fer me if the places had been reversed. Besides, an’ don’ let anyone know I told ya this or I’ll have ta kill ya, but I always have had a soft spot fer elves.”
Welby just shrugged and went to look at the gear Jack had piled next to him, then looked at the dwarf hopefully with raised brows.
“Yeah, whelp, its all magic.”
Welby pulled a shirt of fine mithral links from the pile. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, even compared to the shirt he currently wore. He pulled his suit of armor over his head and tossed it to the side, then replaced it with the enchanted drow-made shirt. He nodded at the dwarf.
“Nice shield. Where others?”
“They ain’t caught up yet, Welby.” Jack jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the main corridor. “I went back and made sure they was still alive after that roper ambushed us, and everyone’s still kickin, but then I came back ta babysit ya until ya could move again. They’re waitin fer us.”
They tramped back up the hall until they rejoined the others. When they arrived, Jack noticed something strange about a section of wall. His spell of detection, still active, revealed a ten-foot section of wall that radiated strong illusion magic.
“Uh, guys,” he said, pointing to the patch in question. “I don’t think that wall’s really there.”
Next: The refugee’s hideout.