Forgotten Lore (Updated M-W-F)

[Lazybones]

Chapter 281

The ground was too hard for digging, so they buried Elias under a cairn of piled rocks. By the time they were finished the sun had risen fully and it was time to get moving again. They shared out the fallen soldier’s gear, the sailors dividing his armor and weapons between them.

The climb up into the mountain pass was long and arduous. There were numerous places where the route was steep enough to require using both hands and feet to ascend, and they had ample reason to make use of the coils of rope that Rodan had brought along. They were wary of threats, especially after the mysterious death of Elias, but nothing materialized out of the rocks to challenge their progress. The clouds thickened above them, growing steadily darker as the day progressed, but mercifully it did not rain. From all the loose rocks dislodged as they climbed, it seemed like rockslides could be a hazard here.

It took them a good chunk of the day to make their way to the summit, at least six hours of climbing after they left their camp in the canyon below. The jungle stretched out behind them, a vast expanse of green that culminated in a faint blue haze on the distant horizon. They took a brief pause for lunch, but only a few other breaks, since they had the shared motivation of not being caught in the mountains by nightfall.

It looked as though they still had quite a long way to go when they reached a crest to find a deep cleft in the rocks ahead. The cleft passed between two peaks that rose up hundreds of feet to each side, leaving the interior deep in shadow. Alert to something that might be hiding in that darkness, Rodan led them forward.

The cleft quickly narrowed from maybe twenty feet across at the opening to ten feet, then even further until they were forced to walk single file. It was all but impossible to speak since the wind blasted through the gap with a dull shriek, tugging at their clothes. The sky remained a thin line of blue far above them, except occasionally where a boulder had fallen from above and gotten wedged into the cleft. At one point they had to duck to creep under one such slab that had almost managed to block the route completely. They negotiated the obstacle carefully, looked around to confirm that there was nothing waiting to ambush them, then continued forward.

The narrow passage continued for several hundred feet before it widened again and deposited them on a broad stone shelf. Even with the overcast skies the transition left them blinking against the intensity of the light. But as they recovered, their attention was drawn to the remarkable view that stretched out ahead of them.

The valley was broad, miles across at least, the far side just a vague haze in the distance. It looked like the mountains surrounded it on all sides, the pale gray peaks forming a sharp backdrop to the jungle that filled the interior. It extended for as far as they could see, but in the center of the valley, sticking out from that green expanse, was what they had come to find.

“Savek Vor, I presume,” Glori said.

It was difficult to make out details from their current vantage. Wisps of fog hung low over the valley, even at the height of the day, and at places it was difficult to tell where the jungle ended and the city began. The uneven lines of the structures they could see confirmed that the place was in ruins. But they could clearly make out a number of monumental buildings that were still mostly intact, rising above the level of the surrounding jungle.

“It looks like a big place,” Xeeta said. “Spread out.” She cast a meaningful look over at the sailors, who were staring at the city in a mix of trepidation and wonder.

“Lot of ground to cover before we even get there,” Glori said.

“We might be able to get to the base of the range before nightfall,” Rodan said. He’d gone over to the edge of the protruding shelf to scout the best route down. This side of the range looked shallower and less steep than the route they’d spent the day navigating, but it was still a considerable drop to the tops of the trees that filled the floor of the valley.

“We’ll let’s get going, then,” Bredan said.

 

[carborundum]

Cool!
I'm not so familiar with 5e, but can't Quellan do some sort of commune-type divination to see who the killer is? Or at least get a "the killer walks among you" type hint?

 

[Lazybones]

Cool!
I'm not so familiar with 5e, but can't Quellan do some sort of commune-type divination to see who the killer is? Or at least get a "the killer walks among you" type hint?

They're still just shy of 9th level, so no commune yet, though Quellan will have cause to try a divination a bit later in the story.

* * *

Chapter 282

The route down was not especially difficult, though Rodan’s chosen path frequently came close to sharp drop-offs that had them all treading carefully. But the descent stressed new muscles, and soon they were all feeling the strain in their legs. At one point, Bredan slipped and slammed against a jut of stone, hard enough to scrape the dwarf-forged breastplate of his armor.

“You okay?” Glori asked as she offered him a hand up.

“Only hurt my pride,” he said.

“Pride can be weighty, but sixty pounds of steel plate is heavier,” she said.

Rodan had paused at the disturbance and called back, “Do you need a rest?”

“I’m okay,” Bredan said. “We should keep going, it’s getting late.”

“Umm… is that bird heading this way?” Xeeta asked.

They all looked up into the sky. The dark clouds still hung low overhead, but they could see some specks in the distance, hovering high over the center of the valley.

One of them, in fact, did seem to be moving in their direction.

“That’s not a bird,” Rodan said after a moment.

“Perhaps it would be a good idea to seek cover,” Quellan said.

The stretch of descent they’d been navigating had been fairly open, but there were plenty of spaces among the rocks that suggested possible hiding places further on. Rodan led them that way, careful of loose rocks or anything else that could cause one of them to take a badly-timed spill.

The companions took frequently looks up at the approaching creature as it approached. As it got closer, they could see that it had a huge, pointed beak and a crest of some sort that rose up above an elongated skull. It was descending swiftly in a glide, its broad wings extended like sharp blades. It was difficult to gauge its size from a distance, but its wingspan had to be at least thirty feet.

Rodan found a deep gap in the ridge, flanked by a litter of boulders that were each large enough to conceal a few of them. He had unlimbered his bow, and quickly set the string as the others rushed past him.

The thing continued to streak down toward them. They could see that it had thin claws situated midway up each wing, and hind legs that were folded back against its body as it flew. Its beak was like a huge sword, and it seemed to shift slightly as the thing considered targets.

The last members of the column were still straggling toward shelter when the thing tilted its wings back and plummeted through the final gap that separated them. Xeeta spun suddenly and lifted her rod, summoning her magic. A bright point of fire shot out from its tip and streaked toward the creature. For a moment it looked as though the shot would miss, but then the bead exploded into the bright rush of a fireball.

The beast jerked to the side, but its size and momentum carried it through the blast with only minor damage. They could see that its wings and head were scorched with char, but it quickly recovered and shot once more toward its prey.

Rodan fired his bow, but the arrow narrowly missed the creature’s head. Bredan, already in cover, started to rush out to Xeeta’s aid, but Kosk and Glori pulled him back. The sorceress was already running toward them, even as the huge monstrosity loomed large behind her.

“Jump!” Rodan yelled.

Xeeta flung herself forward. Rodan caught her and pulled her behind the nearest boulder just a fraction of a heartbeat before the monster flashed past. It came so close that they could all feel the rush of air from its wings as it went by.

Bredan pulled himself up and poked his head out. He could see the creature as it pulled away, slowly beating its wings to regain altitude. Bits of sparkling light trailed from it briefly; Quellan had blasted it with a guiding bolt in the final moment before its attack. It didn’t look to be that badly hurt, but it no doubt had learned that this prey bit back.

“Is it coming back around?” Sandros asked.

Glori peered out past Bredan. “No, I don’t think so,” she said. She tapped Bredan on the arm. “Sorry about that, before. As big as that thing was and as fast as it was moving, it would have shot you off this ridge like a bullet from a sling.”

“It was the right call,” he said. “A close one, though.”

Xeeta rose, brushing off her leggings. “I do know what I’m doing, you know,” she said lightly.

Malik emerged from behind another of the boulders, staring at the shadowed form still visible in the distance. “What was that bloody thing?” he asked.

“I’ve actually seen something like that before,” Quellan said. “There’s a skeleton in the National History archives back in Severon. It was called a ‘pteranodon.’ Though the one they had was much smaller, its wingspan maybe six or seven feet. They have been extinct in Voralis for millennia.”

“Apparently rather less so over here,” Kosk noted.

“We should keep on moving,” Rodan said. “Keep an eye out in case that thing or one of its friends decides to make another go of it, but don’t go tumbling into a chasm because you’re staring up at the sky.”

The sun had already dropped below the line of peaks on the far side of the valley by the time they reached the base of the mountains, but Rodan found them a good site for a camp before the arrival of full dark. The site was a good bowshot back from the jungle’s edge, in a sheltered nook surrounded by a scatter of boulders. A stream that trickled out of the rocks fed a broad pool that filled half of the nook. Just past the stream there was a gap that led to a hollow protected by a thick overhang that made it almost a cave. The space was clean, without any droppings or other indications that some creature used it as a lair, and it was easily big enough to accommodate the entire group.

The hard day’s climb and descent had left them all exhausted, so after a quick meal and refilling their various containers at the pool they unrolled their bedrolls, set watches, and collapsed into an uneasy sleep.

 

[carborundum]

They're still just shy of 9th level, so no commune yet...

Ah, they seem stronger I'm looking forward to your description of the divination though. Hope it helps!

And a pteranodon? Awesome! Lost Valley time! :-D

 

[Lazybones]

When preparing Weltarin I drew inspiration from my old Isle of Dread story.

* * *

Chapter 283

Kosk awoke feeling stiff. There must have been a rock or a bit of protruding stone under his bedroll, and it felt like a part of it had gotten under his skin and taken up residence in his muscles.

Kosk had spent the last several years training his body, gaining control over it by asserting control of his ki. He had learned to ignore pain and discomfort, but that didn’t mean that he no longer felt it.

It was still early, the sky outside their little shelter just beginning to brighten with the coming dawn. It looked like most of the others were still asleep; faint sounds of snoring issued from further back in the cleft. Kosk grabbed his robe—what was left of it, the garment was starting to come apart at the seams—and made his way to the narrow opening that led outside. He was already beginning to stretch his muscles when he saw something that brought him to an abrupt halt.

The rocky hollow was full of creatures. Each was about the size of a cart, with a long neck and tail sticking out from a bulbous body supported by squat legs shaped like inverted tree stumps. Their hides were hairless and wrinkled, but looked thick.

Most of the creatures had gathered around the pool, and were dipping their blunt heads into the water to slurp up water. One turned its head slowly around to regard the dwarf with eyes that reminded him of some cows he’d encountered in his earlier days.

“They’re herbivores,” Quellan said.

Kosk turned to see the cleric sitting on a rock nearby. He had a small leather book out and appeared to be sketching the creatures. He had his armor on, and Kosk nodded in approval when he saw his shield and mace sitting next to him, within easy reach.

“I gathered that when they didn’t immediately try to eat us,” Kosk said as he went over to join his friend. “You taking notes for a book on the Weltarin fauna?”

“I can certainly gaining enough data for such a study,” Quellan said. “It looks as though the evolutionary paths diverged significantly on the two continents.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m mostly worried if these things have predators that will try to eat us, like those creatures that ambushed us when we rescued that cat.”

“It would be logical to expect larger predators, given the size of the herd animals here,” Quellan said.

“You always know how to make me feel better,” Kosk said with a growl. “Who else is on watch?”

“Sandros. He’s keeping an eye out on the other side of those rocks over there, just in case one of your predators decides to head over this way for breakfast.”

Kosk nodded. “Good. Speaking of breakfast, do you think these things are edible?”

“Perhaps, but I would not want to risk provoking them. Even an herbivore can be lethal if roused to panic. In any case, the tabaxi have provided us with ample supplies.”

“For now. But we don’t know how long it will take us to find what we’re looking for.”

“If it comes to it, there appears to be no shortage of forage in this jungle.”

“Fair enough. Seems appropriate, given that almost everything we’ve encountered here has tried to eat us.”

“It has been a difficult journey thus far,” Quellan said.

“We’ve seen worse,” Kosk said.

“Aye. We have. But there are still unknown dangers to come.”

“There always are. So what do you think we’ll find in this gods-forsaken city?”

“An interesting choice of words,” Quellan said. “I do not know. I have considered asking Hosrenu for guidance, but it seems that we will find out for ourselves soon enough.”

“I have wondered if Bredan knows more than he’s letting on,” Kosk said.

“Bredan wouldn’t put us at risk,” Quellan said quickly.

“I’m not saying he would. I’m just wondering if he’s fully objective.”

“I don’t know if any of us can say that we are. But we cannot let him go through this alone.”

“Of course not. But we may have to save him from himself.”

Any response Quellan might have made was interrupted by the sounds of activity from within the sheltered nook. A few moments later Malik appeared, followed by Kalasien and then Glori.

“Woah,” the bard said as she caught sight of the placid herbivores. The curious one that had glanced at Kosk earlier turned its head toward her and let out a deep lowing sound. “Cool.”

“Careful,” Quellan said as she went over to it. The creature took a wary step back, even though her head barely came up to its shoulder.

“I won’t hurt it,” she said.

“I don’t think he’s worried about it,” Kosk said.

Glori merely grinned back at them and ran her hand along the creature’s wrinkled hide. “Feels like old shoes,” she said.

Bredan appeared from the hollow, already clad in his armor. He gave the dinosaurs barely a look before he turned to the others. “We should get moving,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.”

There were a few groans, but the members of the little company headed back into the nook to gather up their gear.

What had seemed like a reasonable distance from the ridge above turned out to be anything but once the company reentered the jungle.

They acutely felt the absence of their tabaxi guides. Rodan did his best, but the growth was even denser than it had been on their way here, and the forest floor remained mired in shadows even as the day matured. If anything, it was even hotter, and soon even those not wearing armor were drenched in sweat. Quellan was able to keep them all hydrated through liberal use of his create water spell.

Unfortunately, the cleric could do nothing about the swarms of tiny insects that accompanied their every step for most of the day. It was a miserable and exhausted group that stumbled into a small hollow formed by a pair of fallen trees that Rodan had located as the sun waned. The canopy remained so thick above that their only way of knowing that was when the light started to fade. Night came on so swiftly that Quellan had to summon his light spell to help them clear a space and prepare their evening meal.

The heat and humidity had already ruined some of their consumables, but the tabaxi had also given them a supply of nuts and dried fruit that held up better over time. Rodan had shot an odd-looking monkey thing about the size of a dog that he cleaned while the sailors gathered wood for a fire. They were all alert to the danger of the cooking meat attracting a hungry predator, but with the rigors of the journey they needed something more substantial than insect paste.

But they had only just gotten the fire started when a loud crackling noise within the brush around the hollow got their attention. They all reached for their weapons, but were still surprised when a blunt-shaped head the size of a barrel poked out from the growth and peered at them with fist-sized black eyes.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 284

For a moment the creature and the companions just stared at each other. The dense jungle growth made it difficult to make out any details of the creature, but they could see that it was huge, well over twenty feet long.

After what felt like minutes but what only a matter of a few heartbeats Sandros shifted, adjusting his grip on Elias’s sword. The huge head swung slowly toward him, and the sailor nearly stumbled as he took a reflexive step back.

“Hold!” Bredan hissed. “Nobody make any aggressive moves.”

“Where did it come from?” Malik asked. “Why didn’t we hear it approaching?”

“It must have been nearby when we arrived,” Rodan said.

“What is it?” Glori asked.

“It’s another species of dinosaur,” Quellan said. “Another herbivore, I believe.”

The creature seemed to confirm the diagnosis as it bent its head and took a huge bite out of the tangled brush in front of it. It continued to watch them as it chewed, branches crunching as its considerable jaws worked.

“Shoo!” Malik said.

“Be careful,” Kosk warned. “Even if it doesn’t want to eat you, it can do a lot of damage if it gets spooked.”

“Well, we can’t just let it stay here,” Kalasien said. “If it stumbles into our camp later it could easily step on someone.”

“We could look for another place,” Rodan suggested.

“I’d be more worried about what we stumble into if we go heading into the jungle at night,” Quellan said. “We would need light for Bredan and the sailors to see.”

“I might be able to drive it off with fire,” Xeeta said.

“Or you might provoke it to stampede through the camp,” Kosk said.

“We could climb the trees first,” Sandros said.

“That thing has to weigh several thousand pounds,” Kosk pointed out.

Rodan had slowly circled around to the edge of the camp, leaning into the bushes. “Its body is armored,” he reported. “It has some kind of big club for a tail.”

“Useful for dealing with the local predators, I’d imagine,” Quellan said.

The creature continued to watch them, even as it took another bite of the undergrowth.

“We need to do something,” Malik said.

Glori strummed her lyre. A sound materialized out of the jungle behind them, from the side of the hollow opposite where the creature stood. The sailors tensed as it seemed to draw closer, an echo of the crashing noises that had announced the creature’s arrival.

“Don’t panic, it’s just Glori working her magic,” Bredan said, looking to her for confirmation. They all looked back at the dinosaur, but it continued chewing, unconcerned.

Glori subtly shifted her fingers on the strings, and another sound issued from the jungle: a deep, feral roar. Even knowing that it was an illusion, the others tensed a bit at the sound.

Finally, the dinosaur seemed to stir. It turned and headed back into the jungle, leaving behind a trampled path through the bushes in its wake. As it departed it shouldered aside a tree as thick around as a man’s torso, leaving it leaning to the side with its bark shredded.

“Told you,” Kosk said.

“What if that noise draws a real predator?” Malik asked as Glori let her spell fade.

“It wasn’t as far away as it sounded,” Glori said. “I adjusted the volume to make it seem like it was coming closer.”

“Still…” the sailor persisted.

“If something does show up, we’ll deal with it,” Bredan said. “We need food, and we need rest. We have no idea how much longer it will take to get to the ruined city, but we need to be ready for anything when we get there.”

The meal was quick and nerve-wracking; every sound that issued from the jungle around them had them reaching for weapons. As soon as the monkey had been cooked Rodan smothered the fire. The meat was greasy and not very appetizing, but they all ate their portion without complaint. Quellan covered his shield so that his light spell would give them enough illumination to prepare their camp for the night without drawing excess attention from the jungle. The insects certainly had no difficulty finding them, and he quickly let the spell lapse.

“I’ll take a watch tonight,” Glori volunteered.

“Spellcasters should sleep,” Kalasien quickly interjected, but she said, “I only used one spell today. In any case, keeping watch shouldn’t be a problem as long as I don’t do anything physically or mentally taxing. Besides, if that thing comes back, or a predator does find us, you’ll want a caster ready to deal with it.”

“I agree,” Xeeta said. “Better that Bredan get a full night’s sleep, especially with what we’re heading into. I will also stand a watch.”

Kalasien looked at Bredan, who nodded. “Very well,” the agent said. “Glori and Kavek, Malik and Xeeta, Sandros and Kosk, and then myself and Rodan last. If all are agreed?”

The jungle night was hardly quiet, but their little shelter was still as those not on watch retired to their bedrolls. Glori adjusted her lyre on its strap and went over to the far side of the hollow where Kavek had found a good vantage atop one of the fallen trees. With her elvish nightsight she had little difficulty, but he started visibly as she joined him.

“It’s just me,” she said.

“Sorry,” he replied. “Can’t see much in this dark.”

“That’s why we have someone with darkvision on each shift,” she said.

She watched him, aware that he could not see her. “Are you worried about what we’ll find in the ruined city?”

He shrugged. “I’d be a fool not to be.”

“I’ve noticed that you sort of keep to yourself,” she said. “Apart from the other sailors, I mean.”

“I’m fairly new to the crew,” he said. “They hired me on just before we left Li Syval.”

“Still, the others seem to follow your lead,” she said. “The idea to come with us… that was yours, wasn’t it?”

He fidgeted a moment before responding. “From what I’ve seen since we set out, you guys can kick the ass of anything we’re likely to find in this place.”

“I certainly hope that’s true,” she said. “I’ll be on the other side of the camp by the other tree. If you see or hear anything, give a little whistle. You can whistle, yes?”

He let out a tinny trill. “Good enough,” she said. She made her way across the camp, careful of her sleeping companions. Had she happened to glance back, she might have seen the sailor watching her intently, despite the darkness.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 285

Dawn found them marching through the jungle once more. Progress was again slow. A thin fog hung over the landscape well into the morning, giving the place a sort of ethereal presence. The companions were more alert to potential hazards lurking in the mists, especially after Rodan pointed out a serpent that was thick around as the tiefling’s torso dangling across the branches of a tree. The creature didn’t move toward them, but they gave it a wide berth and continued on.

The fog dissolved as midday approached, but even so the ruins managed to sneak up on them. It seemed like one moment the jungle was the same as it had been since they’d made their way down from the mountain pass, and the next there were crumbling blocks of stone visible among the growth. What had seemed like a narrow trail cutting through the forest became the remains of a road, with ancient cobbles overgrown with tall grasses and creeping vines.

“I’d say we’re getting closer,” Rodan said. The jungle remained thick enough ahead that they couldn’t see any sign of the huge structures they had spotted from the mountains, but the road at least seemed to continue on for quite some distance.

“Looks like we’ll make better time, anyway,” Glori said.

“Just stay alert,” Bredan said.

It was an unnecessary warning; they were all on edge as they continued forward, with Rodan taking the lead about twenty feet ahead of the others. The armored clank of Quellan and Bredan made stealth almost impossible, but they’d agreed to stay relatively close together, at least for their initial survey. They had already learned that one could be standing just a few feet away from a creature in the jungle and not see them; the encounter with the giant dinosaur last night had only confirmed the lesson.

The trees thinned out as they made their way into the outskirts of the city, but they were replaced by the overgrown bulk of ruined buildings. There was little left, just masses of crumbling stone that were not substantial enough to offer clues to what purpose they might have served. There was nothing else left of whatever civilization had once existed here, the jungle having reclaimed everything except for the bare stone. Occasionally they saw something that might have been a carved pillar or part of a statue, but what remained were just hints that invited speculation but offered no answers.

Quellan would have welcomed a chance to study the ruins further, but Bredan urged them to keep moving after just a brief break for lunch. The warrior’s mood became contagious, and all of them began to feel a growing sense of expectation, that the end of their quest was growing near. It was becoming clear that the city was huge, and that they could spend days searching it for the book, but they kept pressing forward, seeking the center they had seen from the pass.

“How could they have sustained this place?” Xeeta asked as they continued down the street. Occasionally the collapsed remnants of an adjacent building spilled out into their path, but thus far they hadn’t encountered anything substantial enough to block them. “We saw no fields, and there’s no way that caravans could have come over those mountains.”

“We’re talking thousands of years ago, potentially,” Quellan said. “This valley could have contained an entirely different landscape back then.”

“Still, why would they have picked such an inaccessible place to build?” Glori chimed in.

“Who knows?” Kosk said. “If the Mai’i built this place, we already know they were kind of nuts.”

“This place seems older than even the Mai’i ruins we’ve explored back in Voralis,” Glori said.

“It’s creepy,” Malik said. “I feel like there’s someone watching me, but every time I turn around there’s nothing there.”

“That is a common psychological phenomenon in situations where there is great stress or uncertainty,” Quellan said.

“For all we know there could be a hundred creatures watching us from these ruined buildings,” Kosk said.

“Great, now I’m feeling it too,” Glori said.

“Quiet,” Bredan said. “Rodan’s seen something.”

They looked ahead to where the tiefling had raised an arm in warning. They slowly moved ahead but could already see what had alerted him. The street ahead of them was blocked by a collapse that had left a mound of rubble a good eight or nine feet high extending between the two ruined structures to each side. The ruins looked as though they had been quite substantial at some point, with a few partial walls suggesting that they’d once had multiple stories. All that was left now were heaps of rubble that formed a cul-de-sac ahead of them.

“Go over, or around?” Glori asked.

“Let’s try moving one street over,” Bredan suggested. “It seems like we’re making progress, the buildings have been getting more intact as we get closer to the center.”

“Assuming we’re heading in the right direction,” Kosk noted.

“Eventually we should be able to see something,” Quellan said. “Those buildings we saw from the mountains should be hard to miss.”

“Over here,” Rodan said. “It looks like there’s a route through this ruin.”

They followed the tiefling through a breached wall, the uneven blocks that remained rising to only four or five feet in height, into what might have once been some kind of courtyard. There was a round depression filled with rubble that might have once been a fountain or other decorative structure. The house behind it was completely collapsed, with bushes and tangles of weeds jutting up from crevices in the mounded stone.

The wall on the other side of the courtyard was more intact, though Rodan found a spot where a few blocks had tumbled free to leave a niche wide enough for a man to fit through. He peered carefully beyond the opening and then slipped through, pausing to check the area more thoroughly before signaling for the others to follow. Only Quellan had difficulty, his bulky armor scraping on the stones before he was able to squeeze through.

They found themselves on another street that continued on a more or less parallel route to the one they had just left. But they’d only covered about fifty yards before they saw another blockage up ahead.

“Are you starting to feel like we’re being channeled?” Glori asked.

“Let’s take a closer look,” Bredan suggested.

They continued forward, scanning the ruins to either side for any threats. Malik’s earlier presentiment was felt by all of them, now, even though they had seen nothing that suggested that this place hadn’t been utterly deserted for thousands of years.

The barrier blocking the street was much like the first, the remnants of the buildings to either side forming a loose wall of rubble about nine feet tall. Rodan clambered up a slanted but still intact fragment of wall to get a look at what waited beyond. “The street continues past the obstacle,” he reported.

“Any sign of anything promising ahead?” Glori asked.

The tiefling ascended carefully, placing his feet with care until he had reached the crest of the mound of rubble. “Actually, I can see a bit of something through the trees ahead of us,” he said. “It could be one of those large buildings we saw earlier.”

“Any monsters?” Malik called up.

“I assure you, you will be the first to know if I see any,” Rodan said.

“How’s the footing?” Kosk asked.

“Treacherous. But manageable, I think.”

The others made their way up, following Rodan’s example of using the collapsed wall as a staircase. Bits of rock shifted as they moved, but they were able to help each other over the more difficult parts. They each paused at the top to peer into the distance. There was definitely something there, but it was impossible to be sure what it was through the obscuring trees. More of the rubble cascaded down as they made their way down the far side of the barrier, but they all made it down more or less intact.

At least they did until it was Quellan’s turn. As he started down from the crest his foot landed on a bit of rock that collapsed under his weight. He tried to recover his balance, but only managed to start a general slide that had him falling hard onto his back. The others quickly got out of the way as he slid down all the way to the street below, bits of rock pinging off his armor.

“Oops,” he said.

“Are you all right?” Glori asked.

“Yes, just a bit bludgeoned,” he said. He accepted the hands that she and Bredan offered and pulled himself to his feet. “For once I am glad for all this weight of metal I’ve been lugging around.”

Sandros and Kosk, who had been bringing up the rear, appeared at the top of the mound. “Is it safe?” the sailor asked, scanning the channel that Quellan had created through the loose rock dubiously.

“If you slip, just drop to your rear and slide down,” Rodan suggested. He started forward to help him, but was interrupted by a sound of shifting rocks that hadn’t come from them.

“That sounded close,” Xeeta said.

“Come on, get down!” Rodan said. But before Sandros could attempt the descent they were startled by another sound, this one an echoing animal roar that seemed to come from all around them.

The companions that were gathered in the street all came together instinctively, their weapons in their hands as they scanned their surroundings for the source of the cry. “There!” Glori shouted, pointing.

They all turned as something shifted in the ruins of the collapsed building to their left. None of them had time to react before a creature suddenly appeared, vaulting atop the even larger heap of rubble there in a single agile bound.

The creature was an ape, a muscled hulk that stood a head taller than Quellan and had to be at least twice his weight, if not more. Its body was covered in a thick hide of pale fur, with powerful jaws that opened to reveal ugly, protruding yellow teeth.

But more notable was the fact that the creature had an extra set of arms that jutted from its torso. All four of those arms spread wide as it regarded the intruders into its demesne, then it pounded its chest as it let out another ear-splitting roar.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 286

Xeeta recovered from the dramatic and sudden appearance of the four-armed ape-creature first, blasting it with a series of scorching rays.

The girallon screamed as the first pulse of fire scorched its side, but it reacted quickly, launching itself forward over the rubble toward them. The awkward footing appeared to give it no trouble as it landed on the sliding edge of the heap and sprang at them. Its quick movement caused Xeeta’s second ray to miss, but the third caught it a solid blow to the belly that caused it to scream again in pain and fury. It landed in a crouch and quickly flung itself at the startled sorcerer.

But before it could get close enough to lash out with its long arms, Bredan and Quellan both rushed forward to intercept its charge. The cleric absorbed a punishing strike on his shield that staggered him, knocking him back several steps. But he retaliated with a guiding bolt, which blasted into the creature’s chest and surrounded it with a limning aura of sparkling motes.

Bredan took full advantage of that distraction, his sword materializing in his hands as he met the creature. Its size gave it a clear advantage, and he absorbed a solid impact from one of its lower arms that failed to gain purchase on the hard lines of his dwarf-forged armor. But that wasn’t enough to stop him as he planted his feet and swept his sword around in a brilliant arc. The heavy blade tore into the thing’s torso, nearly ripping one of the arms clear off its body in the process. The creature, already bending forward in an attempt to bite its armored foe, kept going and toppled hard onto the overgrown cobbles of the street as Bredan and Quellan quickly stepped clear. The dying ape made a few abortive attempts to rise before it slumped down, its blood forming a spreading pool beneath its massive bulk.

The companions had no chance to celebrate their victory, as ferocious cries echoed from the surrounding buildings.

“They’re all around us!” Malik cried.

“That’s just the echo from all these ruins,” Glori said. “They’re mostly behind us and on our flanks, I think.”

Kosk quickly slid down the mound of rubble that blocked the street. “More of those things coming fast,” he said, confirming Glori’s assessment. Sandros slid down awkwardly after him, losing his footing and falling heavily to the ground. Kavek quickly moved to help him up. Quellan went to offer aid, but the sailor did not appear to be seriously hurt.

“This is a bad spot for defense,” Rodan said.

“Forward, then,” Bredan said. “Quickly!”

They ran down the street, glancing back frequently as the sounds of pursuit grew closer. They came to an intersection, but before they could decide on a path the decision was made for them as more of the creatures appeared along the crossing boulevard to either side. The girallons vaulted the scattered piles of rubble and the fragmented walls with equal facility, barely slowing as they closed upon the companions. Rodan loosed an arrow at one of them, but while the arrow scored a direct hit it seemed to do little more than drive the creature into a further frenzy.

“They’re faster than us!” Bredan yelled, turning to face the onrushing creatures.

“Keep going, I’ll try to delay them!” Glori yelled.

She already had her lyre in her hands as her companions rushed through the intersection, continuing forward where the street remained, for the moment at least, clear ahead. Another of the apes appeared atop a partially-intact wall behind them, its weight causing the ancient structure to finally give way and collapse as it sprang forward. There were now three of the apes in view, but they could all hear what sounded like a small army of them still closing out of their line-of-sight from within the ruins.

The nearest girallon was only about twenty feet away when Glori summoned forth a wall of fire from her magical lyre. The blazing flames, which rose to a full twenty feet in height, stretched across the street and extended well into the rubbled structures to each side. She could hear a simian cry of fury from the other side, but didn’t wait to see what they would do, sprinting to rejoin the others.

As she caught up to them the street opened onto a broad open square. Weeds had filled in the gaps between the stone blocks that covered the ground, but the place remained far more open than the portions of the city that they’d explored thus far. Huge pillars that rose as high as thirty feet studded the space, supporting nothing but adding a certain monumental flavor to the place.

The buildings on the near side of the square were all in an advanced state of ruin, but on the far side to the right they could see what looked to be a mostly-intact structure. Flanked by a portico that had collapsed partially on one side, a set of steps lead up to a dark opening that offered at least the promise of shelter.

Rodan and Bredan both saw it and pointed at the same time. “There!” the tiefling shouted, urging his flagging companions forward. They had gotten spread out in their flight, but the scattered column turned and hurried toward the damaged building.

They were maybe halfway across the plaza when a roar drew their attention. They turned to see a girallon vault the uneven mounds of rubble that had once probably been rich houses and shops facing the square. As it crested the top of the heap it lashed out with one of its huge arms and launched a piece of stone at the fleeing companions. The improvised missile bounced off a pillar and unluckily caught Kavek in the left knee, knocking him off his feet. Bredan and Kalasien happened to be the closest to the stricken sailor, and rushed to his aid.

A few of the others hesitated as well, but before they could decide what to do a second creature appeared about thirty feet further along the square. It burst through the leaning remnants of a wall, launching a spray of debris that looked dramatic but which didn’t threaten any of the adventurers. Kosk immediately shifted course to meet it, but it focused on Sandros, who lifted his spear with hands that shook as it barreled forward toward him.

Quellan started after Kosk, but even as he started running he glanced over to check on Glori. The bard had caught up after she’d blocked the street with her wall of fire, the top of which was still visible over the ruins back the way they had come. But she was still bringing up the rear of the column, and even as he spotted her, he saw another girallon that exploded from another street and loped toward her.

“Glori, look out!” he shouted, changing course to join her.

Xeeta had been pacing Rodan at the front of the column, but both tieflings came to a stop as the apes assaulted their comrades. Rodan fired an arrow at the one rushing toward Bredan and Kalasien, scoring a hit but barely slowing it. “If they get us with numbers in this open space, they’ll tear us to pieces,” he said.

“You don’t have to tell me,” she growled back as she lifted her rod and summoned her magic. The apes were too far apart to hit more than one with a fireball, and they were already too close to her friends to risk a wall of fire. She quickly scanned the ruins for signs of more of them, but for the moment these three looked to be it. Maybe, if they could defeat them quickly before reinforcements arrived, they could still make it to the cover of the far building and make a stand.

But even as she started to summon her magic, movement on the far side of the square caught her eye. She glanced that way, and her jaw dropped.

Another ape rose up out of the ruins. It had four arms like the others, but this one… this one was thirty feet tall, literally dwarfing the heaped wreckage of the surrounding buildings. It rose up to its full height, unleashing a roar that felt like it shook the stones of the still-intact buildings nearby. That shout drew the attention of every living creature in the square, and for a moment both the girallons and the companions could only stare, the former in awe, the latter in terror.

 

[Lazybones]

Chapter 287

The appearance of the massive ape shook the adventurers, but they had no time to deal with it as the girallons hurled themselves into melee range.

Quellan’s warning had given Glori a moment to react before the pursuing girallon overcame her. She instinctively strummed her lyre, trying to infect it with fear, but either its rage protected it or her casting faltered as it barreled into her. It lashed out powerfully with its claws, trying to drag her into an embrace that could have only ended one way. But she was able to twist free of its grasp, narrowly escaping its snapping jaws but absorbing a solid buffet that knocked her sprawling. The ape lifted its arms high above its head and sought to pound her into paste, but before it could strike Quellan slammed hard into it from the side. For once the big half-orc found himself yielding the advantage of height and weight to a foe, but despite that he still managed to knock it back a step, his mace delivering a punishing blow to its ribs.

“Get your stinking paws off her, you damned dirty ape!” he yelled.

Bredan had gained the measure of these foes, and knew how powerful they were. But with Kavek still clutching his battered knee behind him he could not give ground. He waited until the last instant, ducking the creature’s first swing before sweeping his sword around in an echo of the stroke that had killed the first one back at the blocked street. But this time the ape surprised him, batting his stroke aside with one of its inner arms before seizing him in a grapple with the other. It wrapped one of its big arms around his body, pinning his arms so that he could not effectively use his sword. It roared in triumph as it bent its head forward to snap off his face with its massive jaws.

Sandros stood his ground as the ape rushed him, planting his spear like a pikeman receiving a cavalry charge. The head of the weapon pierced its chest, its momentum driving the flanged blade deep, but the shaft of the spear snapped as it unleashed a full series of attacks upon him. It seized hold of him, the inner arms holding him while the outer ones delivered crushing blows that snapped bones like sticks. The sailor let out a shriek of pain that abruptly ended as it tore his throat open with a ferocious bite.

Malik had taken a step toward his comrade when the girallons had first appeared, but the sight of the giant ape had overwhelmed him. He stood there, frozen, as the monstrous thing leapt over the remains of what had once been a two-story house and landed on the edge of the plaza with enough force to shake the ground. It reached back and grabbed hold of a massive slab of rock and launched it toward the hard-pressed companions. It hit the ground once, bounced, and then slammed into Malik with such force that he was catapulted clear across the square, finally landing in a broken heap right in front of the building that had been their original destination.

“Gods above!” Rodan breathed. “How do we fight such a thing?”

“With everything we’ve got!” Xeeta shouted back. She held her rod out, and as flames kindled in her eyes she drew upon the power of the Demon, focusing her magic into the concentrated destructive potential of a fireball.

The others fought their own desperate battles, all too aware of the greater threat that was coming up behind them. Quellan managed to hold his ground against the fury of the girallon, even though it hit him with blows that would have felled an average man. But its sheer ferocity would have overpowered him eventually, had he been alone. But he managed to distract it enough that it did not notice Glori coming up behind it until she delivered a thunderwave that knocked it off balance. It staggered right into a guiding bolt that blasted up from Quellan’s shield, dazzling it as the divine sparks flashed around its face.

Bredan flinched back as the girallon’s teeth scraped on his helmet. But with the creature’s powerful arms locked around him, there was no place he could go. But then the ape let out a sharp screech of pain, and its grip loosened. Bredan saw Kalasien dart behind it, narrowly avoiding a sweep from its free hand. The warrior took full advantage of the distraction to slide his own arm free, lifting his sword and driving it deep into the monster’s body. The girallon reared back and let out a pained roar, but Bredan held on, using his weight to rip the terrible wound wider.

With Sandros’s death Kosk faced the last creature alone, but the dwarf did not quail against this foe that rose to more than twice his height. Even with his staff he could barely reach higher than its chest, but he delivered a series of punishing blows to its legs and body that soon drove to a wild frenzy. But even with four arms and that huge advantage in size it somehow found itself grasping only air each time it lunged at him. The staff in turn seemed to be everywhere, smacking into its leathery hide with enough force to numb muscles and shiver bone. Arrows jutted from its upper body; Rodan had done his best to even the odds. Blood trickled from one side of the dwarf’s jaw where a claw had scored a glancing hit, but thus far his patient defense had frustrated the creature.

Finally, the ape let out a violent roar and threw itself at the dwarf with wild abandon. But to its surprise, instead of running or evading its foe in turn leapt to meet it, his fists and feet moving in a blur as they unleashed their own deadly flurry.

The giant ape roared as the wisps of smoke from Xeeta’s fireball cleared; she’d certainly gotten its attention. Her companions seemed to be holding their own against the girallons, but it looked like they would not be able to help her for at least the next few moments. There was a pillar nearby, a reassuring solidity that offered a place to hide, but instead she strode further out into the open center of the square.

“What are you doing?” Rodan yelled. His quiver was empty; he’d just fired the last of his arrows at the monster battling Kosk.

“Buying us some time,” Xeeta said.

The giant ape, its upper body scorched black where the fireball had struck, reached back and yanked another hunk of rubble from the mound that edged the plaza. With an angry roar it hurled the missile at Xeeta. The tiefling barely had time to flinch before the stone skipped by her, so close that she could have reached out and touched it as it passed.

“You have too much luck for your own good,” Rodan said.

At that moment Xeeta could hardly disagree with him. The giant ape, seeing that its shot had missed, had already started forward. It was still more than sixty feet away, but with its size it would not take long for it to close the distance. She knew that she only had time for one more spell before it reached her. She glanced over and saw that Bredan had finished off his foe and was helping Kavek to his feet, but he was too far away to reach her in time.

“Get behind one of those pillars,” she said to Rodan.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. He’d drawn his sword, the slender weapon almost laughable in the face of what was coming.

The ape surged forward, moving every bit as fast as she had expected. But it had only covered a few huge strides when it staggered. It drifted to the side, clearly thrown off balance by something. Xeeta scanned the plaza and quickly spotted Glori, strumming her lyre from the shadow of one of the pillars. Both she and Quellan bore obvious wounds, but the girallon they’d been battling was on the ground, still moving but clearly out of the fight.

“Come on,” Xeeta breathed. She willed for whatever spell the bard was working to take hold. The ape was moving now as if drunk, shaking its head back and forth as if trying to shake off the magic.

The giant ape was still carrying a lot of momentum as it slammed into one of the pillars. It stumbled back a step, dazed by the impact. The pillar was more than eight feet thick, but it slowly leaned over before it toppled down onto the plaza.

Xeeta’s heart froze in her chest as she realized it was headed right toward where Bredan was running toward the battle, with Kalasien and Kavek just a few steps behind.

“Look out!” she yelled, but the words seemed to hang in the air, overpowered by the beat of her pulse in her ears. There was nothing she could do except watch as the pillar came apart and dropped tons of rock onto the ground. For a moment she caught a glimpse of Bredan, and started to feel a glimmer of relief that it had missed him, that he was alive. But then the ground beneath his feet gave way, and with a sound that felt like the end of the world part of the plaza collapsed, dropping the warrior and the two men with him into oblivion.

 

[Lazybones]

Chpater 288

For a moment the collapse of the plaza overshadowed even the still-deadly presence of the giant ape. Xeeta could only stare at the hole in the ground where Bredan and two other members of their company had been standing just moments ago. Several of the pillars had collapsed as well, tumbling into the sinkhole and filling it with rubble. Xeeta saw Glori standing on the far side, almost at the edge of the hole, a look of stunned horror on her face.

But then the giant ape roared again, pulling them all back into the reality of the moment and the danger that they still faced.

Glori was closest to it now, and clearly it had shaken off whatever spell she’d used to disorient it. Xeeta was quick to draw its attention back to her, hitting it with another fireball. The blast engulfed the creature’s body, briefly obscuring it from view. But it quickly reappeared as the flames disappeared, and it vaulted the edge of the sinkhole to close toward the sorceress.

Xeeta waited for it, her eyes blazing as her magic surged through her. The air began to ripple around her as her Demon woke at her call, and the weeds sticking up from the cracks in the plaza’s stone floor withered and blackened. Rodan, standing a few feet away with his sword in his hand, looked at her in alarm but had to focus his attention on the rapidly-closing monstrosity. The ground was shaking under them with each stride it took now, and the ranger had to concentrate on keeping his footing.

The ape was only about twenty feet away, its huge outer arms already coming up in anticipation of an attack, when a small figure darted out from behind one of the still-intact pillars nearby. It was Kosk, moving with a speed that none of them could have matched, outpacing even the giant ape as it rushed toward the two tieflings. The dwarf’s face was a mask of blood and bruises, and a series of deep scratches had left one side of his robe a shredded and bloody mess, but there was only determination on his face as he rushed toward this even greater adversary.

The giant girallon sensed his approach, but was too late to intercept the monk as he leapt to the attack. The dwarf barely came up past its ankles, offering a truly ludicrous comparison to those watching, but to their amazement he sprang up and swept his staff around to deliver a precise strike to the back of its left knee. The weapon was like a toothpick against the sheer mass of the creature, but somehow the blow buckled the limb and the huge ape stumbled, falling over heavily onto one side. Kosk stayed with it as it fell, delivering a flurry of blows to its body and head. His staff cracked hard into its left eye, drawing a deafening roar of pain from the creature.

Stunned by this development, Rodan finally recovered and rushed forward to take advantage of the creature’s misfortune. He stabbed his sword deep into its thigh, missing the artery there but nevertheless drawing another furious roar from it. Xeeta hit it with a quick barrage of scorching rays, careful to target areas far from where her friends were hitting it. That wasn’t especially difficult; even prone the thing was the size of a house.

The ape had absorbed a beating, but it clearly wasn’t finished yet. Ignoring its wounds, it pushed itself to its feet, its multitude of arms helping it steady itself. It was surrounded by enemies, but its one good eye focused on the diminutive thing that had stung it so and half blinded it.

It lunged for the dwarf. Kosk darted to the side and almost, almost evaded its grasp. But it caught hold of one arm and pulled him off his feet. The lower pair of hands grabbed hold of him, the claws digging channels into his flesh. Even despite that Kosk kept on fighting, slamming his staff into an elbow joint with enough force to disable the limb. But even as he started to fall free it caught him in one of its upper paws, trapping his legs between its huge fingers. He struggled to escape, but its strength held him firmly in its grasp. His face twisted in pain as it squeezed tightly.

“Kosk!” Quellan yelled. The cleric was running toward the fight, his own face a bloody mask of pain. He lifted his shield and projected a guiding bolt that struck the ape in the back, but it was not enough to distract it from its victim. Rodan lunged and stabbed it again in the leg, but the ape ignored him. There was nothing any of them could do as the ape took a single step forward and slammed the dwarf against one of the nearby pillars with all of its might.

The crack of impact briefly overpowered the chaotic din of the battle. The giant ape held up the now limp form of its adversary and bellowed in triumph before tossing Kosk’s broken and lifeless body to the ground.