Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1763151" data-attributes="member: 1210">In the AbyssTime and date unknown, somewhere on the AbyssThe sky screamed red down at the disoriented pirates as the demons shambled towards them.“Oh crap!” cried Akakathan, pulling free his blade and starting to sing, and then the shambling little horrors were upon the adventurers, tearing with their claws, snapping their gaping, broken mouths.  They were pitiful, but dangerous; the souls of the departed chaotic evil people unworthy to be made into something better.  Then the demons were upon Vosh, ripping and tearing at him, and one of them clawed at his belly.  He shrieked as his entrails dropped out.  He had been gutted!  Groaning, he swung his scimitar, trying to move back, but his hooves tangled in his intestines, pulling out even more of them!I will be more than this after I die! Urdor Darkwind vowed defiantly.  The dwarf’s axe whipped out and through one of the little demons, killing it, and it dissolved into a cloud of greenish, foul-smelling gas.  The stench made Delilah first wrinkle her nose in distaste, then suddenly turn her head and vomit.  Clutching at her belly, she sank to her knees, stomach heaving.Urdor and Akakathan moved together to strike and destroy the next one, drawing back from its vapors before they inhaled too much.  The remaining manes hurled themselves at the party, but they could not withstand the pirates’ skill with steel.  In a few minutes the battle was done, and the group took a deep breath and looked around. Vosh was groaning and barely conscious.  He stumbled, nearly falling.  Quickly, Urdor moved over to him and invoked the glory of Bleak, providing what healing he could.  Vosh’s guts were sealed up tight, but his belly still bore a livid wound.  “I’ll live,” the centaur gasped.   The ground all about them was rocky and sharp.  It was certainly unfriendly, especially for Vosh.  In the distance was a large finger of rock thrusting into the sky.  As there were no other obvious landmarks, the band set out for it.  Almost immediately they were set on by another group of manes.  The battle went very much like the first one.  In just a few minutes the last of the demons was dissolving into nauseating green gas.Continuing to pick their way along the rocky ground, the group passed between a pair of ragged, short hills, and on the far side they found themselves facing the finger of stone.  Now that they were closer- within a hundred yards- they could make out a layer of webbing around the base of the finger.  Urdor grinned.  If a drider is like a spider, this is a clue.Caught in the web was a disgusting demon that seemed to be a parody of a fly, but enlarged to a gruesome eight and a half feet in length.  The gross thing was stained with fecal matter and vomit, and it stank nearly as bad as the clouds that the manes had become upon death.  As it saw the approaching adventurers, the demon began to buzz.  “Help meeezz,” it croaked.  “Hey, look,” said Akakathan, pointing upwards. Crawling slowly down the side of the finger of the stone were three huge spiders.  “Looks like you’re dinner, buddy,” the merellin cracked at the demon.“ZZZhelp me!  I will helpzz you azzzz wellzz!”“We seek Lesaonar,” Delilah said without preamble.  “Tell us where to find him and we may free you.”“He izzz within the stonezzz!  Now, quickly- before zzzthe zzspiderszz get me!”“Thanks,” Delilah said, and the party left him to his plight, allowing the spiders their meal, and moved closer to the finger.  They waited until the spiders were fully occupied, then warily sliced their way through the webs to a passage that led within the finger.  They passed into a chamber littered with demonic corpses.  Standing over them was a beautiful, fierce-looking woman.  They eyed her warily and vice-versa; finally, Vosh said, “Hello... who are you?”“My name is Clarissa,” she answered.  She let her gaze linger at Urdor’s symbol of Bleak.“What are you doing here, child?” Urdor asked.  “Heh heh heh.”  He glanced at the amulet around her neck- it bore some sort of phallic symbol.“I am looking for a way out, unholy father.  I am a fallen paladin, and I seek escape from the Abyss.”“Really,” Vosh said.  “Well, we’re on a mission- presumably once we complete it we’ll be brought home magically.”“I sure hope so,” Akakathan interjected.  “But, hold on here- do we trust this woman?  No offense, lady,” he added.“None taken,” the stranger said sweetly.“Well, she didn’t attack us on sight,” reasoned Delilah.  “Anyway,” Vosh argued, “we’re going to have to battle some demonic force in here, and we could probably use her help.”Akakathan shook his head.  “It’s against my better judgment, but all right.”Clarissa nodded.  “Thank you.  You are most kind.  Perhaps I could offer you a kiss?”“No, thanks,” Akakathan answered nervously.The group moved deeper into the finger of stone.  Soon they happened into a huge hollow chamber, and awaiting them was Lesaonar- with a drow upper body, the thorax and abdomen and legs of a spider, and a hideous scorpion tail fairly dripping venom.  “So!” he boomed.  “Why do you come to Lesaonar?”“We come seeking knowledge!” Delilah tried, and the drider-demon laughed.“Liar!  You come seeking my staff!  Lesaonar is no fool!  Who sent you?  Tell me- and I will make your deaths quick and easy.”“Well, that doesn’t sound like a very good deal,” grated Urdor, and as he sprang forward with his axe firmly in hand he heard Delilah the Damned casting a spell from behind him.  The irony made him smile as a spider the size of a child’s hand appeared, biting at Lesaonar viciously.  Their newfound friend Clarissa swung and struck with a flaming sword, inflicting terrific damage on the drider-demon.  The battle raged as the demon jabbed at the pirates with its tail and slashed viciously with a battle axe, which tore through armor with disturbing ease, leaving it rent and useless.  Urdor’s axe tasted demon blood, as did Akakathan’s rapier.Then it was done.  With a last despairing howl, Lesaonar fell beneath the onslaught.  The group quickly stripped him, finding a staff, a ring and his axe.  They began to glow.  “This is it!” cried Akakathan.  “Clarissa, grab on!”  He extended his hand, still not trusting her, but admitting to himself that she had kept up her end of the deal (not that that had helped the fly-demon in the web).She grasped it just as the Abyss faded from around them.Next Time: Treachery at the hands of Arvandor Illspree!</blockquote>

Verification