Update #37: A Guide Pays Off
Feels nice to pick up the digital pen again...
Sasha leads the way inside the spire, a piercing glass nail in the coffin of Fallen district. The Irregulars fan out soon after her, Elisa flanks her to her right, greatsword resting against her shoulder. Loki is to her left, the half-giant’s axe held firmly in both hands. Alexandre moves quickly towards a passage extending to her left, his thinblade and dagger drawn, checking it for any threats. Audric, with heavy crossbow held in tow does the same to the right. Dox follows behind, along with Ruel, who holds the group’s everbright lantern high, illuminating the crumpled and fused chamber of rock and glass.
Tension runs high among them. Fallen has an oppressive feel that is palpable, a foul, provocative aura that sets anyone on edge. Sasha has lived in Fallen for three years, she is used to it – the Irregulars are not.
Alexandre flexes his fingers around his dagger, gripping it tightly. He whispers harshly, through gritted teeth, “I hear more voices, more Ravers, get ready!”
“No!” Sasha commands sternly. She strides up to him and gives him a hard look, “Remember your promise. You agreed not to shed blood needlessly.”
Not giving him a chance to respond, she steps into the dark passageway. She is fully aware she is presenting herself as a target, if these are truly mad or hostile Ravers. She doesn’t look back, but the sudden wash of lantern light suggests that at least Ruel has moved behind her. Softly she calls out, “Hello? Is anyone there? Won’t you come out? We are friends.”
She’s certain she hears Alexandre groan from behind her. She resists the urge to turn around and slap him.
“Sa… Sa?” A disheveled face peers out into the corridor. She recognizes it even in the faint lantern light and smiles. “Sa-sa!” The man comes all the way out in the open, but hesitates at the armed bunch of Irregulars behind her.
“It’s okay Crah. They are friendly,” Sasha says gently. Following her initiative, the Irregulars sheath or at least lower their weapons. The man grins and comes up to Sasha and gives her a fierce, friendly hug.
Sasha gently separates him after returning the hug, but holds him by the shoulders. Behind him she can see the other members of his gang, the Nightstalkers peeking out, but none venture any further when taking in the large armed group behind her. “Crah, have you seen any bad gangs inside? We’re looking for a bad gang that stole something they shouldn’t have.”
“Bad gang, yes,” nods eagerly. “Bad men and bad… gone dogs.”
“’Gone dogs?’ Ruel questions suddenly from behind. “What are these ‘gone dogs’?”
Crah looks at the wizard strangely for a moment, then looks back to Sasha. “Here. Then… gone. Gone dogs. Very bad.”
“We’re going to talk to them, okay? Can you show us where they are?” Sasha’s voice is gentle.
“Yes, I show. Come!” Crah grabs her by the arm and urges her down the corridor. She follows, and the Irregulars press into the corridor behind her. As they pass the chamber where the rest of Crah’s gang huddles, they quickly dart away from the Irregulars, afraid. Stoically, the Irregulars pass them by with barely a glance between them.
Crah doesn’t tug Sasha far. “There. Right, then up. Careful Sasa, very bad!” Crah looks wide-eyed at Sasha, imploring her for caution.
Sasha smiles and gently pulls her arm free, “Thank you, Crah. We’ll be very careful. These men and women will protect me.”
Crah looks at the Irregulars, then nods. “Strong gang. Good. I go.” Crah leaves them, skulking back past the rest of the group. Crah and each Irregular give each other as wide a berth as possible in the cramped corridor.
“Sasha, why don’t you let me go first? Whatever is ‘very bad’ up there, I’d like to see it before it sees… or hears us.” Dox squeezes forward, after Crah has left. He barely goes 2 steps before his foot slips into a pile of crushed glass with a loud ‘crunch’. He winces, looking back at Sasha with a self-depreciating shrug. She smiles sympathetically.
Despite his misstep, he continues forward, but not far before coming up to an abrupt stop. After a moment he shakes his head, and then returns to the Irregulars. “Something is… babbling up ahead.”
Elisa sighs, “Babbling!? Are you sure?”
Dox nods quickly, “Yes! I can’t make out what its saying, but it just sounds like really quiet babbling.”
Sasha nods, “Let’s go forward together. Dox, you first. Please.”
Dox leads them forward, one by one they follow after him. They hear the babbling Dox heard, one after the other. Some stop in their tracks to try and pick out the words to it, and only continue when prodded by the person behind them. Sasha observes this with a soft frown, though none of the Irregulars seem to have any ill effects from hearing the disturbing whisper.
They follow the babble to an open doorway, leading to a small room, still mostly intact despite its proximity to the crash site of the glass spire.
“You gonna try and talk to it?” Alexandre smirks at Sasha.
“No,” Sasha responds seriously. “I think this is a mad spirit, we should banish it quickly. I should be able to, if it is what I think.”
“By all means,” Audric agrees immediately.
The Irregulars scramble forward, Dox and Sasha still in the lead. The babbling doesn’t stop, but it does intensify as its source detects their approach.
The babbling creature hovers spectrally a couple feet off the ground in the small room. Its form wavers upwards, as if constantly consumed in a dark figure. Its figure is poorly formed, and only two arms can be distinguished from its torso. It is faceless, but conveys a terrible, insane anger as it focuses on the living creatures approaching it. Wrathfully, it turns upon the one who angers it the most – the cleric of Dol Arrah. Shrieking, it grasps at her, intent on wringing her neck. Its fingers have no strength, and pass harmlessly through Sasha’s armor and skin. Its touch, however, is madness. Sasha reels, paling as the creature assails her very sanity. Her faith, strong as iron, sustains her – yet she feels the strength of her connection to the divine weaken and wither. Her cry is strangled, not from the creature’s insubstantial grip, but from the horror of this terrifying realization.
Tears spring from her eyes, as she grips her holy symbol lying over her rose-embroidered chest plate. With a hoarse voice, she calls out, “Dol Arrah! Bring light to end this madness!” She raises her symbol high and it flares brightly in answer to her cry, a blinding flash of light explodes from the symbol and the creature is thrust back, and then ripped apart by the greater turning. The light from her symbol lingers briefly in her golden hair, illuminating it softly before it fades, along with the maddening babbling.
“What was that?” Loki asks, letting out a heavy, relieved sigh after it disappears.
“It was the spirit of a creature that took its own life, in grief or madness here. It is called an ‘Allip’.” Sasha replies, laying the holy symbol carefully back against her armor. “It is a great mercy that it has been driven away – hopefully it will find a measure of peace now.”
With the Allip gone, the Irregulars search for a way forward. The outside wall of the glass spire blocks further progress, but they discover that there is a narrow passage circling the outside of the glass wall, braced against one of the stone walls. It is a tight fit, especially for Loki, and none of the Irregulars make it through without cuts or abrasions in their clothing and skin.
First through, Dox sucks on his bleeding little finger. His eyes widen as he realizes the Irregulars have made it through inside the glass tower. Looking down, he is amused to find he is walking on what was built as the ceiling – the glass tower obviously flipped around before hitting the ground. Furniture is scattered across the floor, as well as a very secure looking metal chest. Grinning, his nicked finger is quickly forgotten, “Nice, jackpot!”
Bending over it, he pulls out his tools and inspects it quickly for traps. “No traps, that’s good. The lock is pretty good, but not good enough…” His picks make short work of the lock and it gives with a satisfying click. Pulling off the lock he opens the lid.
Unfortunately, he missed the slender protruding wire between lid and case, which, with equal misfortune, is rigged to a magical device which showers the area around the chest with arcs of electricity!
Dox’s only warning is a sudden thrum and a prickle on his skin, but his reflexes are sharp and take over as soon as he is conscious of the danger. Throwing himself backward he flips head over heels, landing on all fours several feet from the discharging box.
Alexandre whistles, as he emerges from the cramped tunnel, “Nice moves, that looked like it would have hurt.”
Dox laughs, “Probably. Well, I take care of the traps, one way or another!”
Audric shakes his head, “Are you sure it won’t do that again?”
Dox nods, “Oh yes. Well, pretty sure. Most traps don’t go off twice.”
Audric sighs, “You can check and make sure.”
Dox shrugs and steps up to the box, then opens it once again. Sure enough, the trap doesn’t spring again. Still, he disables it – magic can be tricky, and it could recharge in a few minutes. He pulls out a few sheets of paper, “Letters of credit! Think they’re still good?” He hands them to Audric behind him.
Audric considers, and then nods, “They are not made out to anyone in particular. And I don’t believe Kundarak typically has expiration dates for these.” He carefully tucks the bank notes away.
Dox pulls out a small rod, turning it over in his hands a couple time, “Ruel, is this a wand? It looks odd for one.”
Ruel takes the rod from Dox, then shakes his head, “Close. It is a rod. I recognize it, it is attuned to dragonmark magic. Most likely it would affect the strength of a dragonmark ability.”
“Magic rods are worth a lot, aren’t they!” Dox exclaims.
Ruel smiles faintly, “Most are, but this one would not be particularly valuable. It has only a minor effect on the least of dragonmarks. We should hold on to it for now, I think.”
Audric agrees quickly, “Yes. I don’t think we should sell that.” Ruel raises an eyebrow at Audric’s unexpected agreement, but nods and stashes the rod in his belt.
Elisa, bored with the lack of weaponry in the metal chest, walks up to a stairway that leads upwards. She notes that the actual stairs are on the top of the stairway, and there is only a smooth incline to use to ascend. “I think this might be a problem.”
Sasha walks up to Elisa and shakes her head softly, “I cannot climb this.”
Ruel shines the lantern up the stairway and smiles, “It shouldn’t be too bad, with a rope. You think you can hook this, Elisa?” He withdraws a grappling hook and length of rope from his Handy Haversack and hands it to her.
“Hah! No problem!” It takes a couple throws, but Elisa soon hooks the rope at the top of the stairwell. Giving it a couple strong tugs, she decides it is stable enough and using the rope as a hand hold, she walks up the incline with ease.
“Cramped and dark up here guys, but room for everyone. Come on, who’s next?”
Alexandre volunteers, and he is halfway up the stairway when Elisa hears a low growl from behind her. Turning, she sees it is from a dog. Then in an instant it is gone. An instant later it reappears and bites at her, and she just snatches her leg away from it. Then it is gone again.
Drawing her greatsword out she exclaims, “Crap! Gone dogs!”
I remember looking at Sasha and thinking how trusting can a person be? Walking into a dark passageway and ANNOUNCING that we're here - WHAT? 
