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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 750954" data-attributes="member: 7737">Off to NosopNosop was a fortified mountain village in the forbidding Zanzur peaks, the last settlement before the crags became impassable. Apparently, a wizard called Sionas the Shaper had purchased land in Nosop and hired the villagers to excavate the foundation for a home. Unfortunately, a cave-in had trapped several men under the rubble. Why Sionas didn't use his magic to free them remained a mystery, but for whatever reason, he insisted that arcane energies would only exacerbate the cave-in.After a hard night of digging, the Kestrels helped to free the men. Two were dead, but a young boy had survived. Upon questioning him and examining the bodies, the group deduced that the men had been killed not by the cave-in, but by some THING that had strangled and bitten them. Further investigation revealed a narrow tunnel, burrowing into the earth. Sionas, alarmed, asked the Kestrels to root out the unseen creatures and destroy them.And Sionas was even more alarmed when the Kestrels refused. "Why should we slaughter some innocent creatures of the earth just so that you can build a house?" asked Quaddla. The other so-called adventurers agreed with Quaddla's position – except for Brogun, who was willing to assist Sionas.But the group could not come to an agreement on how to proceed. The next morning, all except Brogun departed.Sionas sighed and looked down at the dwarf. "So," began the wizard, "you are of the dwarven lands of Bor? I journeyed there once, in my youth…."= = =Brogun and Sionas chatted amiably. The cleric of Kirabá found the wizard a widely-traveled and well-read man who was genuine in his desire to settle down in the remote village of Nosop to continue his academic research. Sionas was also genuinely upset about the deaths of the villagers, and, at Brogun's urging, made sure that their families were well compensated for their loss."Now," growled Brogun, "I will take care of whatever beasties killed those men." Clapping his helmet onto his head and hefting his axe, the dwarf began pushing his way into the tunnel. "No magic!" cried Sionas behind him. Brogun rolled his eyes: as if the divine grace of a dwarven god would disrupt the earth. Preposterous!The tunnel twisted its way deeper into the earth, and soon the last bit of light that had been filtering in behind Brogun faded away. He switched to darkvision, and saw the featureless tunnel curving on before him. Brogun's sense told him that this tunnel was not naturally occurring, but had been burrowed into the earth. And a burrow this big meant… the dwarf swallowed his fear and pressed on. A priest of Kirabá shies not from battle, he reminded himself.At last the tunnel opening into a large cavern, stretching away in all directions. Brogun couldn't see the ceiling or the end of the cavern, but he could FEEL that it must be at least a hundred feet in each direction. Cautiously, he began to edge his way along the wall of the cavern, keeping his back to the wall. That way nothing could sneak up on him.So Brogun was quite surprised when something dropped onto his head from above, smashing him to the ground. The dwarf let out a gurgled yell of fright as he felt slimy tentacles encircle his neck. "Gaaaaauugh!" Brogun screamed, and managed to wrench the creature off of him before it could crush his windpipe.With his darkvision Brogun could make out his adversary: a centipede-like creature, but much bigger. Ten feet long at least, with plates of hard chitin around its front section. A mass of writhing tentacles emerged from the creature's face above two mandibles, dripping with slime.The creature let out a high-pitched shriek and charged at Brogun, attempting to plow him into the ground. Brogun stood firm, bracing himself against the creature's rush. He batted away its tentacles with his shield, and concentrated on infusing himself with the strength of Kirabá. At once, Brogun felt divine power coursing through his muscles. He hefted his axe and hacked at the thing's midsection. The blade bit deeply into the creature's flesh. Slimy blood poured out, provoking another scream from the thing.It bit Brogun twice in the leg, chewing right through the links of his mail, before he brought the axe down on its back, cutting the creature in two. With a final ear-splitting shriek, the creature expired.Brogun stepped back from the corpse and wretched. He was covered in sticky slime, and his leg bled profusely. Closing his eyes, Brogun drew on the healing energies of his god, causing the wound in his leg to knit itself up. Feeling better, Brogun brought forth a glowing ball of divine light, centered on the top of his helmet.By the light of Kirabá, Brogun examined the cave. In one corner he found an old skeleton, probably human. Its clothing had mostly disintegrated, but it still wore an ornate belt. Brogun carefully freed the belt from its resting place, and found that it contained 20 Gold Crowns sewn into the leather. The coins bore the stamp of Durenor, but from a time almost 100 years ago. This cave must have existed for some time, and the creature had been living in it undisturbed until Sionas began his excavation.Satisfied that the cave contained nothing else of interest, Brogun returned to the tunnel, taking the two halves of the creature with him. He had just entered the tunnel when he felt a familiar weight land on his back and shoulders. Slimy tentacles tried to close around his neck."Gaaaaauugh, not another one!" Brogun yelled. This time he reacted more quickly than the creature had anticipated. With two mighty sweeps of his axe, Brogun decapitated the thing before it could land a blow. "Take that, beastie," the dwarf spat.Hefting his burden once more, Brogun pushed his way out of the tunnel, blinking in the light of day. Sionas was still waiting, and he stared at Brogun, aghast.Brogun waited for the wizard to congratulate him on his kills.Sionas stammered, and finally managed to speak. Pointing at Brogun's glowing helmet, he said, "You used MAGIC?"</blockquote>

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