Copperheads: Betrayal and Strange Runes and Burning Dead, oh my (short update 02/12)
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arwink
Clockwork Golem
Friday, August 25th, 508 AF, continued
The decision is quickly made to take the tunnel on the other side of the intersection, with Yip sent forward to scout once again. The kobold crawls quietly forward along the short corridor, pausing at the entry to a huge room that extends beyond the range of his vision. He peers around cautiously, taking note of the thin veins of copper ore that appear in the walls, and the aging support beams that keep the huge rooms ceiling from collapsing. He can see no intruders, but there's a large pool in the centre of the room.
"Blarth bring others forward. Seem safe," Yip whispers. At the intersection behind him, Blarth hears and nods to the others. Yip stays still as the rest of the group comes up behind him, wary for any sign of danger. As the light approaches, he can make out small rats and beetles scurrying towards the piles of rubble scattered about the room. Slick patches of slime and mould become noticable, seeming to cover a vast amoung of the room. Most distubing, however, is the sudden realisation that darkvision has at least one drawback. With horror yip realises that in color the pool in the rooms centre takes on a slightly ominous tone - the bright and unnatural blue of the water lends it's stillness sending a sudden shiver up his spine.
Geoffrey arrives at Yip's shoulder.
"What is that?" he damands, pointing towards the pool.
"Blue water," Yip tells him. "Yip not go closer."
"Right."
Everyone looks at Halgo for some explanation, but the dwarven wizard simply shrugs.
"Do we go in?" Geoffrey asks the others. Everyone starts whispering quietly, discussing the pros and cons of the situation. Eventually it's decided that there may be something valueable in the room, and the pool is strange enough to merit investigation.
"Blarth test waters," Blarth states. He picks up a fist sized chunk of rock and tosses it accross the room. It lands in the water with a loud splash. Everyone waits in baited breath for some reaction, but apart from the ripples in the water, nothing seems to occur.
"Blarth try again, see if pool harm skin," Blarth says. There's a sudden tension among the group, nervous that the halforc intends to dip his toe in the water or throw one of them in place of the next stone. Instead he reaches into his pack and pulls out the screaming elfs head. He quickly removes his sock from it's mouth and tosses it overhand towards the water. The elf-heads scream echoes out over the cavern. It hits the water, bobs below the surface then reappears for a few moments. The screaming continues until the head become waterloged and sinks below the surface.
"What does that tell us?" Halgo asks. "It did the same as the rock."
"You hear sizzle?" Blarth asks. "See smoke?"
"No, I just heard a splash."
"Then pool not strong acid," Blarth says, grinning. "Blarth go check head isn't dissolving to be sure.
"Good enough," Geoffrey says. He peers into the darkness beyond their light. "This is a big cavern. Blarth, take Yip and scout out the parts we can't see. Halgo and I will take a closer look at the water."
Everyone splits up, Blarth and Yip circling around the lake cautiously. They've not gone far when Blarth feels his foot squelch into a patch of slime, going in as far as the heel. He pays no attention to it, simply lifts his leg free and flicks it to rid his boots of the residue.
It doesn't come off.
He quickly realises that he can hear a faint his, and that the slime encrusting his boot seems to be creeping up his leg. SEconds later, he can feel the sharp burn of something acidic coming through his boot and biting into his leg.
"Ow," Blarth mutters. He frowns and scrapes at the slime with hs dagger.
Then the pain starts in earnest. Blarth's entire foot suddenly feels like it's on fire, and he can literally feel the slime dissolving his flesh and muscle.
"Aaaarghhh!" Blarth screams. "Help!"
The decision is quickly made to take the tunnel on the other side of the intersection, with Yip sent forward to scout once again. The kobold crawls quietly forward along the short corridor, pausing at the entry to a huge room that extends beyond the range of his vision. He peers around cautiously, taking note of the thin veins of copper ore that appear in the walls, and the aging support beams that keep the huge rooms ceiling from collapsing. He can see no intruders, but there's a large pool in the centre of the room.
"Blarth bring others forward. Seem safe," Yip whispers. At the intersection behind him, Blarth hears and nods to the others. Yip stays still as the rest of the group comes up behind him, wary for any sign of danger. As the light approaches, he can make out small rats and beetles scurrying towards the piles of rubble scattered about the room. Slick patches of slime and mould become noticable, seeming to cover a vast amoung of the room. Most distubing, however, is the sudden realisation that darkvision has at least one drawback. With horror yip realises that in color the pool in the rooms centre takes on a slightly ominous tone - the bright and unnatural blue of the water lends it's stillness sending a sudden shiver up his spine.
Geoffrey arrives at Yip's shoulder.
"What is that?" he damands, pointing towards the pool.
"Blue water," Yip tells him. "Yip not go closer."
"Right."
Everyone looks at Halgo for some explanation, but the dwarven wizard simply shrugs.
"Do we go in?" Geoffrey asks the others. Everyone starts whispering quietly, discussing the pros and cons of the situation. Eventually it's decided that there may be something valueable in the room, and the pool is strange enough to merit investigation.
"Blarth test waters," Blarth states. He picks up a fist sized chunk of rock and tosses it accross the room. It lands in the water with a loud splash. Everyone waits in baited breath for some reaction, but apart from the ripples in the water, nothing seems to occur.
"Blarth try again, see if pool harm skin," Blarth says. There's a sudden tension among the group, nervous that the halforc intends to dip his toe in the water or throw one of them in place of the next stone. Instead he reaches into his pack and pulls out the screaming elfs head. He quickly removes his sock from it's mouth and tosses it overhand towards the water. The elf-heads scream echoes out over the cavern. It hits the water, bobs below the surface then reappears for a few moments. The screaming continues until the head become waterloged and sinks below the surface.
"What does that tell us?" Halgo asks. "It did the same as the rock."
"You hear sizzle?" Blarth asks. "See smoke?"
"No, I just heard a splash."
"Then pool not strong acid," Blarth says, grinning. "Blarth go check head isn't dissolving to be sure.
"Good enough," Geoffrey says. He peers into the darkness beyond their light. "This is a big cavern. Blarth, take Yip and scout out the parts we can't see. Halgo and I will take a closer look at the water."
Everyone splits up, Blarth and Yip circling around the lake cautiously. They've not gone far when Blarth feels his foot squelch into a patch of slime, going in as far as the heel. He pays no attention to it, simply lifts his leg free and flicks it to rid his boots of the residue.
It doesn't come off.
He quickly realises that he can hear a faint his, and that the slime encrusting his boot seems to be creeping up his leg. SEconds later, he can feel the sharp burn of something acidic coming through his boot and biting into his leg.
"Ow," Blarth mutters. He frowns and scrapes at the slime with hs dagger.
Then the pain starts in earnest. Blarth's entire foot suddenly feels like it's on fire, and he can literally feel the slime dissolving his flesh and muscle.
"Aaaarghhh!" Blarth screams. "Help!"
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Mathew_Freeman
Adventurer
Arwink, here is some official praise for your story hours, all of them! 
Take your time, we can wait.
Take your time, we can wait.
arwink
Clockwork Golem
Friday, August 25th, 508 AF, continued
By the time everyone finds him, blarth's rolling around on the floor in agony. He's scarping at his slime encrusted foot with a dagger, but the blade seems to be melting even as he runs it along his legs. Halgo and Geoffrey both swear as soon as the light spills over the half-orcs form.
"Green slime," Halgo barks. "We have to burn it off him."
Geoffrey is quick to produce a vial of oil that the spill over Blarths leg, while Halgo readies flint and tinder to light it. Within the space of seconds the slime and Blarth's leg are ablaze. The half-orc grits his teeth, trying to avoid passing out from the pain. In the end it's to much and he permits himself a strangled, half-hearted scream of pain. Geoffrey and Yip hold him down until the fire has done it's work, then douse the lingering flames with heavy blankets.
"Ouch," Blarth mutters.
"I think we got it," Geoffrey tells him. He winces when he takes a look at Blarth's leg. Large patches of skin have been melted away up to his knee, and there are burn marks up to mid-thigh.
"I can't heal this kind of damange," Geoffrey tells him. "The best we can do is bandage it and get you back to town."
"Just bandage, Blarth be okay."
"You'll be in pain, probably limping for days."
"Blarth can still swing sword," Blarth tells him. "As long as Blarth can limp, Blarth comes along."
Geoffrey shrugs, but he winces slightly as he starts tending to the mangled leg.
"It makes sense really," Halgo reminds him. "Everyone in town is dead inside of a week. We're probably going to need him before this is over, and we don't have time for him to heal."
Geoffrey grunts, concentrating on his work. Halgo shrugs and rummages through his pack for more oil vials.
"Yip, set that on fire," he says, pointing at original pool of slime Blarth stepped in. "Then do a quick scout around the room. There's probably more than one puddle of slime around, so it'd be nice to avoid the rest."
Yip races off. After setting the slime alight, he makes an excited call for Halgo.
"What?" Halgo asks.
"Find writing," Yip calls. "Scratched into stone."
Halgo walks over and reads the writing aloud.
"Here lies Corum Mosstoes, dissolved before we could save him. He was a friend and a hero. We know the children were taken to the tunnels above us; we continue on, as Corum would have wanted. Deke Forgeman, Caliandra Stormhold, Petros Bellson."
"Company of the Bell?" Goeffrey asks.
"I'd say so," Halgo agrees. "At least one of them isn't coming back. Two, probably. Caliandra's an elf name, and that head blarth was carrying looked relatively fresh."
Geoffrey sighs heavily. "Small town heroes. They never learn."
"Puny heroes," Blarth offers.
Geoffrey smiles. "Right."
He lends a hand to Blarth and raises the Half-orc to his feet. Blarth winces in pain as he takes his first few steps, but gradually manages to move at a fast shamble. His wounded leg drags, but it's established he can fight if need be.
"Blarth do job," he assures Geoffrey. "No problem."
Yip comes scampering up out of the darkness.
"Two more slimes," he reports. "Easy to avoid. On south edge of water, nothing down there."
He pauses for a moment, his kobold eyes gleaming.
"Tunnel on other side," he tells them. "Small, cramped, but easy to get through."
Everyone considers this for a few moments. Without a word, they form up and follow yip towards the tunnel.
By the time everyone finds him, blarth's rolling around on the floor in agony. He's scarping at his slime encrusted foot with a dagger, but the blade seems to be melting even as he runs it along his legs. Halgo and Geoffrey both swear as soon as the light spills over the half-orcs form.
"Green slime," Halgo barks. "We have to burn it off him."
Geoffrey is quick to produce a vial of oil that the spill over Blarths leg, while Halgo readies flint and tinder to light it. Within the space of seconds the slime and Blarth's leg are ablaze. The half-orc grits his teeth, trying to avoid passing out from the pain. In the end it's to much and he permits himself a strangled, half-hearted scream of pain. Geoffrey and Yip hold him down until the fire has done it's work, then douse the lingering flames with heavy blankets.
"Ouch," Blarth mutters.
"I think we got it," Geoffrey tells him. He winces when he takes a look at Blarth's leg. Large patches of skin have been melted away up to his knee, and there are burn marks up to mid-thigh.
"I can't heal this kind of damange," Geoffrey tells him. "The best we can do is bandage it and get you back to town."
"Just bandage, Blarth be okay."
"You'll be in pain, probably limping for days."
"Blarth can still swing sword," Blarth tells him. "As long as Blarth can limp, Blarth comes along."
Geoffrey shrugs, but he winces slightly as he starts tending to the mangled leg.
"It makes sense really," Halgo reminds him. "Everyone in town is dead inside of a week. We're probably going to need him before this is over, and we don't have time for him to heal."
Geoffrey grunts, concentrating on his work. Halgo shrugs and rummages through his pack for more oil vials.
"Yip, set that on fire," he says, pointing at original pool of slime Blarth stepped in. "Then do a quick scout around the room. There's probably more than one puddle of slime around, so it'd be nice to avoid the rest."
Yip races off. After setting the slime alight, he makes an excited call for Halgo.
"What?" Halgo asks.
"Find writing," Yip calls. "Scratched into stone."
Halgo walks over and reads the writing aloud.
"Here lies Corum Mosstoes, dissolved before we could save him. He was a friend and a hero. We know the children were taken to the tunnels above us; we continue on, as Corum would have wanted. Deke Forgeman, Caliandra Stormhold, Petros Bellson."
"Company of the Bell?" Goeffrey asks.
"I'd say so," Halgo agrees. "At least one of them isn't coming back. Two, probably. Caliandra's an elf name, and that head blarth was carrying looked relatively fresh."
Geoffrey sighs heavily. "Small town heroes. They never learn."
"Puny heroes," Blarth offers.
Geoffrey smiles. "Right."
He lends a hand to Blarth and raises the Half-orc to his feet. Blarth winces in pain as he takes his first few steps, but gradually manages to move at a fast shamble. His wounded leg drags, but it's established he can fight if need be.
"Blarth do job," he assures Geoffrey. "No problem."
Yip comes scampering up out of the darkness.
"Two more slimes," he reports. "Easy to avoid. On south edge of water, nothing down there."
He pauses for a moment, his kobold eyes gleaming.
"Tunnel on other side," he tells them. "Small, cramped, but easy to get through."
Everyone considers this for a few moments. Without a word, they form up and follow yip towards the tunnel.
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arwink
Clockwork Golem
Friday, August 25th, 508 AF, continued
Yip scampers through the tunnel, ready for anything. It ends in a small, cramped looking room containing a rotting desk and a dragon-headed copper statue laying on the floor. Yip freezes when he first spots the fallen statue, alert for any signs of animation. The statue is badly chipped and dented, and when it shows no sign of movement the kobold quickly scans the room for other danger and whispers to Blarth that everyone can come forward.
The group fans out and scours the office, searching for clues and treasure. Several rusting manacles attached to an iron ring behind the desk attest to the dark purpose the mines once had, and a cursory examination by Halgo determines that the dragon-statue was, at one time, an animated golem. Yip swells with pride at having thought of the possibility on his own.
A search of the desk finds a small hand mirror made of polished copper, and a locked drawer that has held up suprisingly well against the ravages of time.
"Valuables?" Blarth asks. Geoffrey nods solemly, eyeing the lock carefully. For the first time, he wishes the church had thought to send some rehabilitated theif to help him.
"Blarth will open." Blarth says cheerfully. A longsword is pulled from its sheath, drawing looks of alarm from Geoffrey and Halgo.
"It might be trapped," Halgo warns, wincing as the Half-orc sizes the drawer up for his first blow.
"No problem," Blarth says. He adjusts his strike and hammers down on the top of the desk, smashing a small hole through to the drawer. "Yip have small paws, he reach through."
The kobold wastes no time scrambling onto the desk top, and with a nod of approval from Geoffrey spends several minutes playing lucky-dip with the drawers contents. He drawers out several thumb-sized chunks of crystal, a small jar of copper polish, and a copper statue dressed in the uniform of an archaic Empirial Soldier that stands six inches tall. The items are spread accross the undamaged part of the desk, and subjected to quick examination of detect magic and detect psionics.
"Crystal's magic," Blarth says. "Blarth can hear them talking to him. Offering to make him smart at mining."
"So's the Soldier," Halgo adds. He picks the small figure up and examines it, quickly finding a small command word written in common on the back. "Faint transmutation magic. This should activate it."
"What does it do?" Geoffrey asks.
"Who knows," Halgo says. "There's a quick way to find out. It shouldn't be dangerous with the amont of magic it's radiating."
Goeffrey nods and backs away, gesturing for everone else to do the same. Halgo rests the soldier on the desk-top and says the command word. Instantly, the small figure draws a copper longsword but an inch and a half long and marches along the desk-top with stiff legs. It completes it's patrol four times before coming to a halt.
"A childs toy," Halgo says. "We can probably sell it without difficulty."
Geoffrey nods. The toy and crystal mining shards are scooped into a large sack.
"Anything else?" he asks. Blarth lifts the desk on one side, shaking it and listening for a rattle in the drawer. He hears nothing.
"Think that it," he says.
"Right then, lets get back to that main passage. Everyone stay close to the light on the way back. I don't want anyone walking into a patch of slime again, and I'm not sure we got them all."
They main tunnel of the mine proves to be nearly three hundred feet long, with numerous short tunnels and rifts where ore has been ripped free from the earth. It takes the better part of two hours to make their way along it's length, peering into every side-tunnel to avoid ambush. It ends in a large coppor door, it's corrosion so bad the portal looks like it's been weeping green tears. Everyone picks up the smell of musk as they approach, and the smell is bad enough that Geoffrey is soon trembling and weak with nausea.
"Something is rotting behind that door," he mutters, swallowing several times to keep down a mouth full of bile.
Before anyone can reply, they hear a sharp, silibant whisper from the other side of the door.
"You! You hass come back to finissssh the jobbs, yesss? To killssss the ressts of usss off? Comess to killsss me too, if you can. Ssssssss."
Yip scampers through the tunnel, ready for anything. It ends in a small, cramped looking room containing a rotting desk and a dragon-headed copper statue laying on the floor. Yip freezes when he first spots the fallen statue, alert for any signs of animation. The statue is badly chipped and dented, and when it shows no sign of movement the kobold quickly scans the room for other danger and whispers to Blarth that everyone can come forward.
The group fans out and scours the office, searching for clues and treasure. Several rusting manacles attached to an iron ring behind the desk attest to the dark purpose the mines once had, and a cursory examination by Halgo determines that the dragon-statue was, at one time, an animated golem. Yip swells with pride at having thought of the possibility on his own.
A search of the desk finds a small hand mirror made of polished copper, and a locked drawer that has held up suprisingly well against the ravages of time.
"Valuables?" Blarth asks. Geoffrey nods solemly, eyeing the lock carefully. For the first time, he wishes the church had thought to send some rehabilitated theif to help him.
"Blarth will open." Blarth says cheerfully. A longsword is pulled from its sheath, drawing looks of alarm from Geoffrey and Halgo.
"It might be trapped," Halgo warns, wincing as the Half-orc sizes the drawer up for his first blow.
"No problem," Blarth says. He adjusts his strike and hammers down on the top of the desk, smashing a small hole through to the drawer. "Yip have small paws, he reach through."
The kobold wastes no time scrambling onto the desk top, and with a nod of approval from Geoffrey spends several minutes playing lucky-dip with the drawers contents. He drawers out several thumb-sized chunks of crystal, a small jar of copper polish, and a copper statue dressed in the uniform of an archaic Empirial Soldier that stands six inches tall. The items are spread accross the undamaged part of the desk, and subjected to quick examination of detect magic and detect psionics.
"Crystal's magic," Blarth says. "Blarth can hear them talking to him. Offering to make him smart at mining."
"So's the Soldier," Halgo adds. He picks the small figure up and examines it, quickly finding a small command word written in common on the back. "Faint transmutation magic. This should activate it."
"What does it do?" Geoffrey asks.
"Who knows," Halgo says. "There's a quick way to find out. It shouldn't be dangerous with the amont of magic it's radiating."
Goeffrey nods and backs away, gesturing for everone else to do the same. Halgo rests the soldier on the desk-top and says the command word. Instantly, the small figure draws a copper longsword but an inch and a half long and marches along the desk-top with stiff legs. It completes it's patrol four times before coming to a halt.
"A childs toy," Halgo says. "We can probably sell it without difficulty."
Geoffrey nods. The toy and crystal mining shards are scooped into a large sack.
"Anything else?" he asks. Blarth lifts the desk on one side, shaking it and listening for a rattle in the drawer. He hears nothing.
"Think that it," he says.
"Right then, lets get back to that main passage. Everyone stay close to the light on the way back. I don't want anyone walking into a patch of slime again, and I'm not sure we got them all."
They main tunnel of the mine proves to be nearly three hundred feet long, with numerous short tunnels and rifts where ore has been ripped free from the earth. It takes the better part of two hours to make their way along it's length, peering into every side-tunnel to avoid ambush. It ends in a large coppor door, it's corrosion so bad the portal looks like it's been weeping green tears. Everyone picks up the smell of musk as they approach, and the smell is bad enough that Geoffrey is soon trembling and weak with nausea.
"Something is rotting behind that door," he mutters, swallowing several times to keep down a mouth full of bile.
Before anyone can reply, they hear a sharp, silibant whisper from the other side of the door.
"You! You hass come back to finissssh the jobbs, yesss? To killssss the ressts of usss off? Comess to killsss me too, if you can. Ssssssss."
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