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The Realms of Enlightenment: The Grey Companions
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<blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 427028" data-attributes="member: 2323"><p><strong>[PLAIN][Realms #183] Soylent Green is People[/PLAIN]</strong></p><p></p><p>"Omrixx!" Kirnoth hissed into the darkness.</p><p></p><p>There was no reply.</p><p></p><p>"Well, you're on your own then," the mage muttered as he began to splash over toward the nest. "I have no time to worry about where you've disappeared to."</p><p></p><p>*Does that mean we're getting out of here?* Gordigan asked, his voice filled with hopeful excitement.</p><p></p><p>"No," Kirnoth said flatly and began to climb the nest of twigs and bones.</p><p></p><p>Behind him, the tunnels were alive with the sound of many, many rats.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"What is this madness?! " Ledare gagged, keeping her breakfast down by force of will alone.</p><p></p><p>Draelond found that he had no answer, although madness is what it seemed to him as well. Perhaps he would ask this Nunzio what it all meant... after he'd impaled the foul creature on Ravager's blade. "I don't know what lies at the top of those stairs," Draelond said, motioning to the dilapidated staircase, "but I think we need to find out."</p><p></p><p>"Agreed," Ledare nodded. "Let's press on quickly; the sight of this room makes my skin crawl."</p><p></p><p>"I'll take the lead, but... uh... don't lag TOO far behind. Okay, Ledare?" the big man said as he stooped his head to avoid the rafters and crossed to the staircase. "Who... or whatever is up there surely won't be serving warm tea and pastries." Ledare snorted nervous laughter as she followed him.</p><p></p><p>"You're starting to sound like Ruze with your reference to pastries," she told him. "How anyone can think of food at a time like this is beyond me."</p><p></p><p>"Don't let my comments fool you," Draelond shot back as he glanced uncomfortably at the many pots of meat stew that boiled atop the charcoal stoves as he passed. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat again." He tightened his grip on Ravager in one hand and grabbed the crumbling railing in the other - even if he knew it offered little more than a false sense of security at best.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"Uuurrn," Finian groaned as Shaharizod's favor worked its healing magic on his blistered face. His eyes flickered open and locked onto Ruze's.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, Finian, just what have you launched yourself into again?" the Battleguard chided. He clucked his tongue and shook his head. "You have to remember to not always lead head first into things, because I may not always be here to heal you."</p><p></p><p>"It still hurts like hell," Finian growled and started to get up but Ruze held him down. "How does it look?"</p><p></p><p>"Despite my healing powers, this will still be very painful, and I can do nothing about the scars that will remain," the cleric confessed. "Nasser-Ubeen, yes, could heal without scars, but, alas, it is beyond my powers."</p><p></p><p>Finian nodded grimly and fished out the potion labeled 'Cure Critical', popped the top and brought it to his lips. He only took a swallow - roughly half of the vial - but it hit his stomach like peppermint fire that spread in the space of two heartbeats throughout his body. The pain from the boiling soup was gone. The pain from the fall off the wall was gone. The pain from the knife wound to his forehead was gone. In fact, he felt perfectly fine.</p><p></p><p>He grinned. "Time to go find Nunzio so I can shove my sword up his a**!" the Archer said.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"Get up the ladder!" Kirnoth shouted as he made his way up the side of the nest toward Finian and Ruze.</p><p></p><p>Finian already had his hands on the iron rungs. "That's what I was just about to-" he started to say, but Kirnoth cut him off.</p><p></p><p>"Just do it!" the elf urged. "And hurry!"</p><p></p><p>Finian started up, but Ruze paused. "Where's Omrixx?" he asked and the mage shook his head.</p><p></p><p>"I don't know," he admitted. "But we'll all die if you don't - Hello! What's this?" The elf pointed to an area of the nest that was thickly woven from strips of clothes and human bones with dried gristle still attached.</p><p></p><p>"I don't-" Ruze began, but Kirnoth bent, grabbed hold of a branch and pulled aside a section of the nest that had been cleverly disguised to hide a secret compartment. Hidden within were three smallish chests.</p><p></p><p>Kirnoth tossed the panel back into place. "No time!" he said and pushed Ruze up the ladder.</p><p></p><p>The squeaking was getting very loud behind them.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The stairs led to another storeroom. Sacks of flour were piled in the corner and a pair of floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with spices covered one wall. There was only one door and it stood ajar. The storeroom was dim, but there was daylight shining into the room beyond. Draelond crept toward the door as stealthily as he could despite the fact that his own clinking chainmail and the clatter of Ledare's Janissary plate must surely have announced their presence to anyone who cared to listen. The wood floor creaked and groaned beneath his weight. He pushed the door open with his left hand, keeping Ravager ready in his right.</p><p></p><p>The room beyond was largely empty with only a narrow wooden shelf affixed to the far wall for decoration. A dozen high, wooden stools were pushed against the wall below the shelf. The room itself fell away to the right and there was a pair of narrow windows set high up in the far wall. It was from here that the light was coming and a barred set of double doors was set to their left. In front of the door was a high counter faced with more stools. A charcoal-burning stove sat behind the counter with several covered dishes resting atop it.</p><p></p><p>Draelond stopped short again, a shocked expression growing on his face.</p><p></p><p>"What is it?" Ledare asked as she moved around him. She looked over the place and her face went ashen. She recognized the place. They both did. There wasn't a citizen of Barnacus who wouldn't recognize the homey interior of 'Mom's Pie Shoppe', purveyors of the finest meat pies in the near Realms.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Finian stepped out of the storeroom into the grisly abattoir and let out a startled cry at the sight that greeted him.</p><p></p><p>Behind him, Ruze sniffed the air. "Is that...?" he muttered as he sifted through the contents of one of the shelves. "It is!" he cried and held up a smallish wheel of sickly-looking green cheese. "Emerald Moon chee-" He stopped as he glimpsed the room of horrors. The cheese fell from his nerveless fingers and rolled away across the bloodied floor.</p><p></p><p>"Shaharizod have mercy," he whispered but Finian was already heading for the stairs up.</p><p></p><p>"Come on!" the Archer said. "Nunzio can't get away!"</p><p></p><p>Numbly, his face looking almost as green as the cheese he had discovered, Ruze followed.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Kirnoth had reached the top of the ladder well before the first of the rats entered the junction room. There were just a few at first, and of normal size, but soon there were dozens and many of them were giants. They poured from the tunnel mouths, climbing over one another as they piled into the room. There had to be hundreds of them. They made for the skavens' nest and the ladder with a frightening level of organization.</p><p>Kirnoth remembered all too well the terrible scream that Selejian had let out when the rats had swarmed over him.</p><p></p><p>He cast Grease on the ladder.</p><p></p><p>The rats that had reached it immediately slid off of it, only to be replaced by another, and another until Kirnoth realized that they would keep trying until his spell ran its course. They would pile madly one atop the other until they had made a pile high enough to reach the trapdoor, heedlessly crushing the rats at the bottom as the rats on top sought their prize. His flesh.</p><p></p><p>He cast Stinking Cloud into the junction room.</p><p></p><p>The noisome cloud filled the chamber and the agonized shrieks of a hundred stricken vermin rose up to assault his ears. Kirnoth slammed the trapdoor shut and slid the bar into place.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"This can't be," Draelond muttered as he walked forward into the dining room.</p><p></p><p>"I don't-" Ledare managed to say before she sensed something was wrong. She shouted a warning an instant before Nunzio leapt up from behind the counter, his meat cleaver whistling through the air above his greasy head.</p><p></p><p>Ledare's silver-iron longsword flashed out and struck Nunzio a solid blow to the head, severing the top half of his left ear and opening a bloody gash across his cheek. Draelond brought Ravager up and cleaved easily through the man's groin, despite his hanging belly and the leather apron. Nunzio got a very surprised look on his face before he fell heavily onto the floor. He never even had time to cry out before he died, bleeding onto the floorboards amidst a snarl of overturned stools.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Finian burst into the room followed by Ruze. They both had their weapons ready. The Archer took one look at what was left of Nunzio and lowered his sword.</p><p></p><p>"Oh," he said.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jon Potter, post: 427028, member: 2323"] [b][PLAIN][Realms #183] Soylent Green is People[/PLAIN][/b] "Omrixx!" Kirnoth hissed into the darkness. There was no reply. "Well, you're on your own then," the mage muttered as he began to splash over toward the nest. "I have no time to worry about where you've disappeared to." *Does that mean we're getting out of here?* Gordigan asked, his voice filled with hopeful excitement. "No," Kirnoth said flatly and began to climb the nest of twigs and bones. Behind him, the tunnels were alive with the sound of many, many rats. "What is this madness?! " Ledare gagged, keeping her breakfast down by force of will alone. Draelond found that he had no answer, although madness is what it seemed to him as well. Perhaps he would ask this Nunzio what it all meant... after he'd impaled the foul creature on Ravager's blade. "I don't know what lies at the top of those stairs," Draelond said, motioning to the dilapidated staircase, "but I think we need to find out." "Agreed," Ledare nodded. "Let's press on quickly; the sight of this room makes my skin crawl." "I'll take the lead, but... uh... don't lag TOO far behind. Okay, Ledare?" the big man said as he stooped his head to avoid the rafters and crossed to the staircase. "Who... or whatever is up there surely won't be serving warm tea and pastries." Ledare snorted nervous laughter as she followed him. "You're starting to sound like Ruze with your reference to pastries," she told him. "How anyone can think of food at a time like this is beyond me." "Don't let my comments fool you," Draelond shot back as he glanced uncomfortably at the many pots of meat stew that boiled atop the charcoal stoves as he passed. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat again." He tightened his grip on Ravager in one hand and grabbed the crumbling railing in the other - even if he knew it offered little more than a false sense of security at best. "Uuurrn," Finian groaned as Shaharizod's favor worked its healing magic on his blistered face. His eyes flickered open and locked onto Ruze's. "Oh, Finian, just what have you launched yourself into again?" the Battleguard chided. He clucked his tongue and shook his head. "You have to remember to not always lead head first into things, because I may not always be here to heal you." "It still hurts like hell," Finian growled and started to get up but Ruze held him down. "How does it look?" "Despite my healing powers, this will still be very painful, and I can do nothing about the scars that will remain," the cleric confessed. "Nasser-Ubeen, yes, could heal without scars, but, alas, it is beyond my powers." Finian nodded grimly and fished out the potion labeled 'Cure Critical', popped the top and brought it to his lips. He only took a swallow - roughly half of the vial - but it hit his stomach like peppermint fire that spread in the space of two heartbeats throughout his body. The pain from the boiling soup was gone. The pain from the fall off the wall was gone. The pain from the knife wound to his forehead was gone. In fact, he felt perfectly fine. He grinned. "Time to go find Nunzio so I can shove my sword up his a**!" the Archer said. "Get up the ladder!" Kirnoth shouted as he made his way up the side of the nest toward Finian and Ruze. Finian already had his hands on the iron rungs. "That's what I was just about to-" he started to say, but Kirnoth cut him off. "Just do it!" the elf urged. "And hurry!" Finian started up, but Ruze paused. "Where's Omrixx?" he asked and the mage shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "But we'll all die if you don't - Hello! What's this?" The elf pointed to an area of the nest that was thickly woven from strips of clothes and human bones with dried gristle still attached. "I don't-" Ruze began, but Kirnoth bent, grabbed hold of a branch and pulled aside a section of the nest that had been cleverly disguised to hide a secret compartment. Hidden within were three smallish chests. Kirnoth tossed the panel back into place. "No time!" he said and pushed Ruze up the ladder. The squeaking was getting very loud behind them. The stairs led to another storeroom. Sacks of flour were piled in the corner and a pair of floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with spices covered one wall. There was only one door and it stood ajar. The storeroom was dim, but there was daylight shining into the room beyond. Draelond crept toward the door as stealthily as he could despite the fact that his own clinking chainmail and the clatter of Ledare's Janissary plate must surely have announced their presence to anyone who cared to listen. The wood floor creaked and groaned beneath his weight. He pushed the door open with his left hand, keeping Ravager ready in his right. The room beyond was largely empty with only a narrow wooden shelf affixed to the far wall for decoration. A dozen high, wooden stools were pushed against the wall below the shelf. The room itself fell away to the right and there was a pair of narrow windows set high up in the far wall. It was from here that the light was coming and a barred set of double doors was set to their left. In front of the door was a high counter faced with more stools. A charcoal-burning stove sat behind the counter with several covered dishes resting atop it. Draelond stopped short again, a shocked expression growing on his face. "What is it?" Ledare asked as she moved around him. She looked over the place and her face went ashen. She recognized the place. They both did. There wasn't a citizen of Barnacus who wouldn't recognize the homey interior of 'Mom's Pie Shoppe', purveyors of the finest meat pies in the near Realms. Finian stepped out of the storeroom into the grisly abattoir and let out a startled cry at the sight that greeted him. Behind him, Ruze sniffed the air. "Is that...?" he muttered as he sifted through the contents of one of the shelves. "It is!" he cried and held up a smallish wheel of sickly-looking green cheese. "Emerald Moon chee-" He stopped as he glimpsed the room of horrors. The cheese fell from his nerveless fingers and rolled away across the bloodied floor. "Shaharizod have mercy," he whispered but Finian was already heading for the stairs up. "Come on!" the Archer said. "Nunzio can't get away!" Numbly, his face looking almost as green as the cheese he had discovered, Ruze followed. Kirnoth had reached the top of the ladder well before the first of the rats entered the junction room. There were just a few at first, and of normal size, but soon there were dozens and many of them were giants. They poured from the tunnel mouths, climbing over one another as they piled into the room. There had to be hundreds of them. They made for the skavens' nest and the ladder with a frightening level of organization. Kirnoth remembered all too well the terrible scream that Selejian had let out when the rats had swarmed over him. He cast Grease on the ladder. The rats that had reached it immediately slid off of it, only to be replaced by another, and another until Kirnoth realized that they would keep trying until his spell ran its course. They would pile madly one atop the other until they had made a pile high enough to reach the trapdoor, heedlessly crushing the rats at the bottom as the rats on top sought their prize. His flesh. He cast Stinking Cloud into the junction room. The noisome cloud filled the chamber and the agonized shrieks of a hundred stricken vermin rose up to assault his ears. Kirnoth slammed the trapdoor shut and slid the bar into place. "This can't be," Draelond muttered as he walked forward into the dining room. "I don't-" Ledare managed to say before she sensed something was wrong. She shouted a warning an instant before Nunzio leapt up from behind the counter, his meat cleaver whistling through the air above his greasy head. Ledare's silver-iron longsword flashed out and struck Nunzio a solid blow to the head, severing the top half of his left ear and opening a bloody gash across his cheek. Draelond brought Ravager up and cleaved easily through the man's groin, despite his hanging belly and the leather apron. Nunzio got a very surprised look on his face before he fell heavily onto the floor. He never even had time to cry out before he died, bleeding onto the floorboards amidst a snarl of overturned stools. Finian burst into the room followed by Ruze. They both had their weapons ready. The Archer took one look at what was left of Nunzio and lowered his sword. "Oh," he said. [/QUOTE]
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