INTO THE SNAKE PIT
Ssythar Nahazir crouched low behind the altar, gazing intently into Nag’s slitted pupils. The cobra has just informed him of the infidels’ impending arrival, and now the self-proclaimed prophet of Merrshaulk was formulating his plan. He would not allow the soft-skinned filth to desecrate this holy place. The only reason he abided the other Cagewrights was because they had promised him a prominent place for his people in the New World Order. The Vilhon Reach and its surrounding lands would be controlled by its rightful rulers, the yuan-ti, once again. Just then he heard a stealthy footfall on the stairs leading above. Silently, he ducked back into concealment, signaling his minion as he did so.
Grimm made his way cautiously down the curving stair that was revealed behind the illusory wall the will-o-the-wisp had shown them. Oddly enough, torches were lit at intervals along the stone wall. In their dim light, the half-ogre saw numerous tiny snakes slithering across the floor, or coiled around a sconce. Somewhere in the distance a faint rattling noise echoed.
Shortly, the stairs opened on a large, unlit room, its ceiling supported by ten thick pillars. Deep alcoves were recessed into the west and east walls. A sculpted stone altar rested in the middle of the chamber, its surfaces stained with dry blood and carved with serpentine motifs. One end of the altar curled up to form the head of a great snake with stony fangs and gems for eyes. As Grimm scanned the room for signs of life, he spotted a slight movement from behind the ophidian altar, the flutter of a dark cloak.
At that moment, a tall, thin figure stood. Its head and face were snake-like in appearance, but its body was humanoid. It was clad in a form fitting, hooded, black robe. A silver pendant, shaped like a tiny cage, hung around its neck, and coiled around its left forearm was what appeared to be a live cobra. The creature began to speak in a hissing, spitting language. Only Kiko, with his encyclopedic knowledge of tongues, could decipher the harangue, which amounted to a barrage of curses having to do with he and his companions being heretics who would soon be sacrificed to someone named Merrshaulk.
“In case any of you were wondering,” the monk said to his companions, “he’s not exactly welcoming us with open arms.”
“The cage around his neck was my first clue,” Ike snorted. If there was still any doubt, Nahazir ended it when he began gesturing rapidly, uttering words that were obvious to Gunther and Dalthon those of an arcane spell. “Scatter!” the sorcerer shouted, but it was too late. A forest of black tentacles erupted from the floor, all too familiar to the Bright Axes who had fallen victim to the enchantment too many times. Ike, Rusty, Gunther and Dalthon were ensnared immediately, the ebony coils wrapping tightly around them. Grimm, thanks to the magic in his ring, slipped easily from the flailing appendages, and Tilly managed to somersault out of the area at the last moment, triggering the magic in his own ring to render himself invisible. However, as the halfling tumbled behind a concealing pillar, the yuan-ti’s eyes locked on him, watching his every move. “There,” the sorcerer shouted in his own tongue, speaking to someone or something out of view. Suddenly, from out of the shadows slithered a huge creature with the bottom half of a snake. Its torso was humanoid, but its abdomen gaped open, revealing its entrails, which writhed like a mass of serpents. Its head was skull-like, with burning coals for eyes, and from out of its mouth coiled a horrid tongue, fully two-feet long. It began racing towards Tilly’s hiding place at incredible speed, but no sooner had it started across the floor, than Grimm moved to intercept it. Lashing out with his chain, he caught the beast near the end of its tail and pulled. The half-ogre’s strength managed to yank the horror flat on its back, where it thrashed and hissed in fury.
Dalthon let himself go limp within the tentacles. He knew it was futile to struggle. Instead, he closed his eyes and centered his mind. Concentrating, he uttered one sharp word, and in a flash of light, he vanished, only to reappear several yards away, free from the Evard’s.
Ike was not so subtle. Grabbing the tentacle that embraced him with his bare hands, the goliath twisted and ripped, bit and tore, until the appendage was a gory stump. Bellowing, the liberator forced his way to freedom through the remaining tendrils, until he stood on the opposite side of the altar from Nahazir. Still without his weapon, Ike lunged for the yuan-ti, but with blinding speed, the sorcerer drew a scimitar from his robes, raking it across the goliath’s cheek. As Ike drew back in surprise, he saw Tilly suddenly appear behind the yuan-ti. Nahazir saw the rogue as well, but a fraction of a second too late. Tilly drove his sword into the sorcerer’s leg, but as he did so, a flash of black fire erupted around Nahazir. Tilly knew he had wounded the creature, but he suddenly felt his own strength being sapped by the unholy aura now surrounding Nahazir. The yuan-ti quickly spoke a word, and vanished into thin air, reappearing on the far side of the room, beyond his undead servant.
The creature on the ground began to surge upright, but as it did so, Grimm struck again, slamming it back to the floor. At that moment, Kiko moved to the half-ogre’s side. The monk had also been caught in the radius of the tentacles, but his agility and quick reflexes had kept him from being caught, and he had escaped their crushing coils easily. Now he stood over the undead abomination, and added his strength to that of Grimm. Each time the horror tried to rise, they rained blows upon it, until finally it collapsed into a gelatinous mass as it decomposed.
Gunther was one step behind Dalthon. Casting his own Dimension Door spell, he appeared beyond the tentacles, and then immediately began a dispelling. In an eye blink, the Evard’s vanished, freeing Rusty.
Dalthon had noted Nahazir’s Teleportation location, and as soon as the yuan-ti sorcerer reappeared, he unleashed a volley of Magic Missiles. Dalthon wasn’t very surprised when the projectiles bounced harmlessly off an invisible shield before the sorcerer. He would have taken the same precautions under the circumstances. “Let’s see if he can deflect this,” Ike growled from behind Dalthon, hefting his warhammer and smacking the head into the palm of his hand. With a goliath battle-cry of challenge, the liberator charged across the room. Nahazir’s eyes went wide, and he cast one last desperate, defensive spell, one that would make him appear to be a couple of feet away from where he actually was. Ike’s first blow did indeed miss, but with his second, he closed his eyes, and felt the satisfying crunch as Nahazir’s skull imploded.
“So much for the welcoming committee,” Rusty said. “As usual, our stealthy approach never fails. It’s gonna be a runnin’ fight from here on out, lads, so let’s hit’em hard and fast before they can form up against us.”
The group continued across the entry chamber to an archway on the far side. A second, larger hall awaited beyond. Thick pillars supported the ceiling. Four alcoves held heaps of dust and bone intermingled with shards of painted ceramic. A stone arm…the remains of a shattered statue…rested on the floor between the pillars. The arm looked human-sized and was broken off at the shoulder. On one of its stony fingers was an iron ring. Curious, Grimm approached the arm. “Hold on there, boy,” Rusty said quietly. “Don’t ye be touchin’ nothin’ in here afore we check it first.” Quickly, the old priest cast a minor divinatory spell, and concentrated on the arm and ring. Instantly, the ring began glowing blue to his sight, a tell-tale sign of magical emanation. “’Ware the ring,” he cautioned Grimm. The half-ogre nodded, and leaned over to pick up the severed appendage, careful not to touch the ring.
Suddenly, four of the pillars shattered in an explosion of stone and plaster. Where they had been, now stood four creatures. Two had the lower torsos of snakes, but the upper bodies of bare breasted women, though their hair was a mass of writhing snakes. The other two were humanoid males, their bodies intricately tattooed. Each carried a shortbow and a shortsword. Instantly, Tilly was in motion, tumbling across the floor to position himself behind one of the males. As he moved, the creature’s eyes followed him, and when his own eyes met that penetrating gaze, he felt himself go rigid. To the horror of his companions, Tilly was turned to stone right before them.
Before the Bright Axes could regroup, the assassin’s fanned out around and among them. One of the females jabbed at Rusty with her shortsword, burying it deep into his ribs. The old dwarf collapsed to his knees, his breath coming in ragged wheezes. One of the males tried the same tactic on Ike, and though the blade succeeded in opening a deep gash in the goliath’s hide, he managed to twist at the last moment, and parry with the haft of his hammer. As the remaining two moved in for their own lethal strikes, Dalthon acted. Noting how effectively Evard’s had been used against he and his friends, he chose to learn from enemy tactics. With a word and a gesture, he conjured up his own nest of the black tentacles. In a matter of moments, three of the monsters were ensnared, though their piercing stares continued to search out their opponents. The last one, a male, tumbled out of reach of the grasping appendages, rolling to his feet right beside Dalthon. As his blade struck the sorcerer, Dalthon finally realized what it was they were fighting. “Medusae!” he shouted to his companions. “Cover your eyes!” Unfortunately, his revelation came too late to save his own life. His mouth froze as his final words formed, his limbs hardening into rock.
Kiko and Ike heeded the warning, and quickly shut their eyes. Both warriors, however, had been diligently trained by their mentors in the art of blind-fighting, and both immediately moved towards the edge of the Evard’s, intending to dispatch the trapped medusae there before any more of their companions could be petrified.
Grimm had no such training, and as such, was reluctant to lose the advantage of sight. He chose instead to avert his gaze, hoping to avoid the deadly eyes of the medusae. He was mistaken. A third statue joined the growing stone garden of Bright Axes.
The free, male medusa noted the tactic of Ike and Kiko immediately, and quickly moved to intercept them. With three, lightning-fast strikes, he left gaping wounds in Ike. Kiko instinctively turned towards the sound of the attack, and lashed out with one of his legs, sweeping the feet from under the medusa. As he heard the creature hit the floor, he leaped to straddle it, grasped both hands in a double-fisted, overhand hammer blow, and brought them down on the monster’s forehead. Rolling to one side, and arching its back, the medusa managed to tumble away from the monk, but as it tried to stand, Ike was there. Eyes still closed, the goliath struck blindly with his hammer. The blow was deadly accurate, just the same, and Ike knew the coast was clear when he felt his face spattered with gore.
It was only a matter of time before Ike and Kiko, with the magical assistance of Gunther and Rusty, managed to dispatch the remaining three medusae. The creatures could not bring their weapons to bear while entangled in the tentacles, and their deadly gazes were useless once the heroes learned to counter them. As the last one fell, the companions opened their eyes once more and looked upon their fallen comrades, locked in life-like images of stone. Rusty knew that the power to transform stone to living flesh was beyond him. It was, in fact, a spell known only to powerful arcansists, well outside of Gunther’s capabilities. However, the priest had an alternative. His god, Dumathoin, would, on occasion, grant his most devoted priests a Miracle. The need must be great, and the price the priest must eventually pay, either in the present or in the after-life, even greater. Rusty asked for that boon, praying for the dwarf Lord to return Dalthon to life once more. None of the Bright Axes ever knew what Rusty exchanged for that service, but whatever the cost, it was acceptable. Before their eyes, Dalthon became flesh again. He understood immediately what Rusty had done, and he nodded his gratitude to his friend. The sorcerer then set about casting the spells necessary to restore Tilly and Grimm, and before long, the Bright Axes stood reunited.
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Further into the underground compound, the party entered another pillar-filled room. The four innermost pillars bore lit torches in serpentine sconces, and the flickering light cast sinister shadows upon the walls, ceiling and floor. Some of the pillars were cracked and crumbling, revealing slick, black stone beneath the plaster murals. The murals depicted masses of writhing snakes and yuan-ti clad in black robes and golden armor.
Tilly was the first to enter, scouting ahead. He paused at the arched entry to the chamber, and peered about cautiously, pricking up his pointed ears for any sound. At first he heard nothing, but just as he was turning to motion his friend’s forward, he caught a faint clink, as if someone in mail shifted slightly. This was followed by a low, throaty growl. Quickly, the rogue signaled his companions of danger, and then, using the magic of his ring, promptly vanished.
Grimm was the next to enter, and with his vision attuned to see even invisible creatures, he scanned the room. He picked Tilly out immediately, hiding behind a nearby pillar. About ten feet beyond the halfling was another invisible creature, but it seemed to be a large animal of some sort, perhaps even a badger. Standing behind it, was a humanoid shape in armor. This second being seemed to instantly note Grimm’s scrutiny, and it stepped forward, becoming visible to all as he did so. He appeared to be a human male in full-plate armor, that seemed to have shadows rippling across its matte surface. He wore a cloak and gloves made of stitched, human skin. His hair was black and shaggy, and blood-red tattoos patterned his face. One of these was the unmistakable symbol Cyric, the good of death and murder, and this same symbol was displayed on his shield. The man spoke as he appeared: “ I am Adimarchus, god of madness.” He then pointed towards Grimm, and the smoking red eye he bore. “You dare to steal from me? Occipitus is mine, not yours, and so it will always be!” With that, he drew his sword, and ran forward, yelling incoherently. As he moved, the giant badger appeared, ripping and tearing at Grimm’s feet. For a moment, the half-ogre was taken aback, but when he regained his composure, he immediately went to work on the ankle-biter. With three, powerful strikes, the dire badger collapsed.
Rushing past Grimm, Ike met ‘Adimarchus’ head-on. However, as he swung his hammer towards his opponent’s head, he was surprised to see the man duck the blow effortlessly. As he came up inside Ike’s defenses, ‘Adimarchus’ unleashed. His first blow nearly decapitated the goliath, laying open the skin at his neck several inches. This was followed by two, quick thrusts to the mid-section. With the final strike, ‘Adimarchus’ called on the power of Cyric to smite his foe, and as his blade connected, Ike felt his flesh burning.
The Bright Axes did not hesitate. As a unit, the surrounded ‘Adimarchus.’ Tilly struck first, drawing his blade deftly across the black guard’s Achilles tendon. Kiko tried to follow up by quickly taking the man off his feet, but even crippled, the mad man was fast. He rolled to one side, catching the monk’s foot as he went. With a wrench and a twist, it was Kiko who wound up on his back, not ‘Adimarchus.’ As he raised his sword to finish the monk, Grimm’s chain suddenly wrapped around the blade, and with a jerk, sent if flying from his hands. ‘Adimarchus’ didn’t even slow. Laying himself out flat, he dove for his sword, but as he moved, so did Ike. The goliath swung his hammer high above his head, then dropped it like a stone across ‘Adimarchus’ lower spine. In snapped with a satisfying crunch. “So much for gods,” Ike smirked. “If that was Adimarchus,” Grimm scowled, “then these Cagewrights are the worst group of pansies I’ve ever come across.”
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