THE TESTS OF THE IRON LORD
The natural tunnel that burrowed into the side of the cliff soon gave way to a worked passage carved from pale stone heavy with iron ore. The oxidized brown stains gave the corridor the appearance of long dead flesh streaked in dried blood. After a dozen yards or more, it ended in a square chamber that contained three alabaster statues carved to depict well-proportioned Kellid men, each set in a different war-like pose. The room was not unoccupied when Velox and Davrim stepped in. Two women, clad from head to toe in black, stood clustered in one corner. Arrayed protectively before them was a pair of emaciated figures that looked like horned human skeletons smothered within a bone-tight hide of slimy leather.
“Do not allow these blasphemers to pass!” one of the women hissed.
“Say,” Davrim asked aside to Velox, “don’t the amulets those ladies are wearing look familiar?”
“Gyronna,” Selena snapped. “The same cultists who tried to form a cell in Veritas. These seem a bit more prepared. Those are babau demons they’ve summoned. They aren’t light weights.”
The demons carried wickedly barbed spears, and as Davrim, Stevhan and Velox fanned out, they began twirling and flipping the weapons with practiced skill, their tongues flicking from their leering mouths.
“Nice moves,” Stevhan growled, “but do you know how to use those pig-stickers?”
The ranger lunged towards one of the demons. The fiend thrust his spear at Stevhan’s gut, but the ranger easily batted it aside with a powerful parry from his sword. He quickly reversed the blade and drove it with both hands through the babau’s chest. He used the sword like a fulcrum, and twisted the demon so that its back was to Velox. The oracle didn’t waste the opportunity, and ran the fiend through from behind. In a flash of noxious, yellow smoke, the demon vanished.
The second demon darted towards Selena, its spear clenched in both hands. Before it could reach her, however, the witch forked her fingers towards it and a ray of green light struck the creature. It wobbled in its charge, and fell to its knees, weakened by the potent magic of the hex. Mox stepped to Selena’s side and loosed a barrage of arcane bolts into the fiend. It reeled back, and as it exposed its neck to Stevhan, the ranger neatly lopped off its head. It vanished just as quickly as its brother had.
The two sisters stood undefended. Davrim rushed towards them, Stevhan and his wolf companion a step behind. One of the priestesses cast her hands before her, and a wave of power emanated from her. Davrim and Stevhan felt it pass over them, momentarily clouding their minds. The wolf, however, was not so strong-willed. It immediately began growling and snarling in a maddened frenzy, chewing at its own leg as if trying to free it from a trap. Stevhan and Davrim didn’t hesitate. Each of them hit one of the sisters like a battering ram. The women raised their hands to cast their spells, but they never got the chance. It was over in seconds.
“Does anyone else find it an odd coincidence that priestesses of Gyronna are working with Armag, who in turn is working with Pitax, which instigated Fort Drelev’s attack on our country?” Mox asked.
“And that those same cultists tried to foment dissent within our capital city not long ago?” Velox added.
“I guess that’s one more thing Armag will have to answer for when we find him,” Davrim snarled. “So what are we waiting around for?”
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Two pairs of iron doors exited the square chamber. The companions chose the set directly across from the entrance. Beyond them lay a long, wide corridor. Four boulders of varying size lay within it. At the far end, progressively larger steps rose toward another set of iron doors. Each step bore a round depression that corresponded in size to one of the boulders below.
“So what’s the point of this, do you think?” Davrim asked to no one in particular.
“Some sort of trap, I would guess.” Velox replied. “This is a tomb for a champion of Gorum after all. I expect he’d want to make sure any visitors would be worthy.”
“Why don’t we just walk on through an’ open th’doors?” Tungdill grumbled.
“You could try,” Velox answered, “but I’d wager they’re locked.”
The oracle was correct. Not only were the far portals sealed, but there was no visible locking mechanism. The lock was a magical one. The puzzle seemed simple enough: put the corresponding boulder into its indentation. The problem was the sheer size and weight of the stones. Even the smallest looked to be several hundred pounds. Velox solved this dilemma by casting a spell upon Stevhan that doubled the ranger’s size, and correspondingly, his strength. The two of them then began rolling the stones, larges to smallest, up the stairs and into their depressions. It was long and grueling work, but as the last one settled into place, the doors swung silently open.
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Columns of fused iron weapons emerged from a sheet of iron on the floor of the chamber beyond the iron doors. A single iron wheel protruded from the floor in the middle of the room.
“Another test, I suppose,” Davrim grumbled. “Makes me glad I follow Iomedae.”
“That makes two of us, brother,” Velox smiled.
Cautiously, he, Davrim, Stevhan and Tungdill moved into the chamber, leaving Mox and Selena behind. Once again, another set of iron doors exited the room on the far side, and again, it was magically sealed.
“Well,” Stevhan shrugged, “I guess someone wants us to turn the wheel. So, do we turn the wheel?”
Velox nodded. Stevhan, still giant-sized, reached across the metal platform and began to spin the wheel. Several things happened at once. First, the open doors slammed shut, locking Selena and Mox on the other side. Next, thick sheets of ice formed instantaneously along every surface in the room…walls, ceiling and floor, covering both exits and immediately lowering the temperature to bone-chillingly frigid. Everyone in the chamber wore and/or carried metal on them, and as the air became colder and colder, the touch of that metal began to burn their flesh.
“Keep turning!” Velox shouted to Stevhan.
Though the iron wheel felt like it was grafted to his hands, Stevhan continued to spin it. Each revolution seemed to take an interminable amount of time, but after seven such turns, he was rewarded by the click of the lock from the doors on the far side of the room. Yet the ice still remained.
“Selena, Mox, can you hear me?” Velox shouted.
“Yes!” came Mox’s muffled reply. “What’s going on in there?”
“Just get in here as quickly as you can!” Velox cried.
A moment later, the witch and the sorceress appeared in a flash of light.
“It’s freezing in here!” Mox shrieked.
“No wonder yer th’queen!” Tungdill snarled.
The dwarf spat out the words to a spell, and a large sphere of fire appeared in the middle of the room. At Tungdill’s command, it rolled towards the far wall, and when it struck the ice, it quickly began melting a hole through it. In a matter of seconds, the doors were exposed, and they were open.
“Let’s go!” Velox commanded.
The companions bolted towards the doors, and as they passed through the freezing air where the ice wall had been, their flesh blistered as though it had been burned.
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The corridor beyond the doors was filled with thick fog. The group moved through it single-file, Velox in the lead. After several yards, the hall gave onto a flight of stairs, but they were clogged with thick webbing from ceiling to floor. Tungdill, his flaming sphere still trailing behind him, sent the orb ahead, setting the webs ablaze and quickly clearing the stairwell. Velox led the way up, only to come up against a blank stone wall. The oracle closed his eyes and began moving his hands along the wall, searching for any hidden seems or triggers. To his surprise, his skin touched not stone, but metal. When he opened his eyes, it seemed as if his hands had passed completely through the wall.
“It’s an illusion,” he grinned. “Clever.”
However, even though he’d found the hidden doors, they were sealed.
“I’m getting sick of this!” Davrim snarled.
He walked up to the doors and placed one gauntleted hand against them.
“I bought this little beauty for just such an occasion,” the big half-orc grinned. “One touch and the metal in that door should rust completely through.”
The glove began to glow, but as soon as it did, a flash of black energy surged from the doors, engulfing Davrim. He screamed as he fell to the floor, blood flowing freely from his eyes, nostrils and finger tips.
“There’s some sort of ward in place,” Mox said. “I can sense it.”
“Th..thanks for w..warning m…me!” Davrim stammered.
“Lemme try,” Tungdill grumbled.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Mox warned, but the druid wasn’t listening.
His form melted and shifted, until his body appeared to be made of living earth. He began to sink into the floor, but he gone no more than an inch or two before he too was blasted by the backlash of energy.
“I told you,” Mox shrugged.
“Perhaps I can assist,” Selena offered. “My hexes aren’t simply curses. They have positive benefits as well. Observe.”
The witch laid her hands on Tungdill’s shoulders for a moment, then released him.
“I don’t feel no different,” the druid said.
“You can’t feel luck,” Selena smiled. “Just go with it.”
Tungdill sighed and turned back to the doors. Once more, he began to sink into the floor, but this time, there was no backlash. Within seconds, he had submerged completely.
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When Tungdill emerged from the floor on the far side of the doors, he found himself in a large, dome-shaped room. Four massive pillars held up the high, vaulted ceiling, and at the center of the chamber stood a towering suit of spiked armor, at least twice the size of a man. Two more sets of iron doors sat in the walls on the far side. Tungdill began moving further into the area, looking for any signs of danger. He realized it was right in front of him when the helmet atop the armor slowly swiveled towards him. A moment later, the entire suit began to move. Wisely, the druid sank back into the floor, miraculously with no magical backlash.
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“We don’t have much choice,” Mox said after Tungdill had explained the situation. “The way back is sealed. We have to keep moving.”
“How do you propose we get past these doors?” Selena asked. “We can use transdimensional travel again, but there are sure to be more of these portals. I can only do that trick so many times.”
“The simplest solutions are always the best,” Mox shrugged.
She extended her hands, palms out, careful not to actually touch the doors. Concentrating, she felt for the lines of magic that enmeshed the portals, and calling upon her own power, began to unravel them. A few tense moments later, the portals swung silently open.
“Should’a tried that earlier!” Tungdill snapped.
“Like Selena said,” Mox replied, “I can only try that a limited number of times.”
“Um, guys…,” Davrim said, “I think we need to have this discussion later. There’s a ten-foot tall suit of armor headed our way, and it doesn’t look very friendly!”
For its bulk and size, the lumbering behemoth was surprisingly fast. Even as Stevhan moved to interpose himself between it and the women, it swung one massive arm and clubbed him, sending him tumbling into a nearby wall. Davrim charged into the breach, swinging his sword in a broad arc. He knew that striking the iron-hided construct would be like hitting a brick wall, and so he called on Iomedae as he struck, using her power to imbue his blade with the capability of piercing such defenses. Consequently, when he hit, his sword cut into the armor as if it were flesh. The thing whirled towards him, its arms a blur of motion. Before it could smash him to a pulp, however, a cascade of lightning engulfed it. When the barrage passed, the construct moved as if it were walking through molasses.
“I just figured out what th’bugger is!” Tungdill shouted. “It’s a golem! ‘Lectricity slows it down! Oh, but watch out fer its…,”
Before he could complete his sentence, the golem exhaled a cloud of noxious, green gas from its helm.
“…breath!” the druid finished.
As the vapor washed over Davrim, he felt his strength begin to leave him. His vision began to blur, but the last thing he saw was Stevhan and Davrim launch themselves at the golem, their swords smashing it to so much scrap metal.
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A couple of potions later, Davrim was back on his feet, only slightly worse for wear. While he was being tended, Stevhan’s search of the chamber uncovered one more exit…a hidden one. Mox managed to dispel the warding spells on all three exits, but the obvious choice seemed to be the one they weren’t meant to find.
The corridor the door opened onto was once again filled with webs and mist. Sigils marked the walls, but judging by the dust on the floor, the hallway appeared to have lain unused for centuries. As Velox started down the passage, however, a strange cacophony of clicking and chittering began echoing from somewhere ahead in the darkness. After Selena burned away the webs in front of him with a convenient wand, the oracle gripped his sword more tightly, and pressed on.
The fog was so dense that Velox could barely see more than a few feet in front of him, and so it wasn’t until he was literally face to face with the derghodaemon that he even knew it was there. The creature was a looming, five-armed arachnoid monstrosity, the personification of death from being eaten alive. The sight of the fiend was a shock to Velox, but the oracle had faced worse. What caused his mind to snap, however, was the incessant grinding and clicking of its mandibles and chitinous plates. One moment, Iomedae’s grace had fallen over him, and in the next, all he knew was a gut animal instinct for self preservation. His sword clanged to the floor at his feet as he turned and fled back up the corridor in blind panic, shoving through his startled companions.
Davrim, who had been in the rank behind Velox, had no idea what was happening. A moment after Velox ran past him, the air filled with a thousand buzzing, stinging wasps, while the floor beneath him came alive with an equal number of scurrying spiders. The inquisitor rushed forward, trying to escape the bites and stings, and ran headlong into the daemon. Reflex took over, and he swung his sword with all his might. The blade glanced off the creature’s exoskeleton and lodged in the wall, firmly stuck. As he struggled in vain to free it, Stevhan darted past him and drove his own sword through one of the fiend’s claws.
At the back of the group, Tungdill couldn’t tell what was happening in the chaos around him. What he did know, however, was that he couldn’t see a damn thing inside the fog. He quickly called up a stiff wind that ripped the fog away in tatters, and suddenly the entire scene unfolded before him and the others. Selena saw the spiders swarming towards Davrim and Stevhan, and she quickly hurled the flaming sphere at them, destroying them all in a fiery swath. She immediately followed that with a fireball centered upon the daemon itself. When the flames cleared, however, there wasn’t a mark on the fiend. Selena’s heart beat quickened in fear.
The ravening daemon gestured with its claws, and a new wave of insects burst into existence, this one extending down the entire hallway and consisting of foot-long, blood-red centipedes. The creatures sank their mandibles into the flesh of the companions, and their bite carried a potent poison. Stevhan and Tungdill were immediately overcome with debilitating nausea. Selena felt weak, but she managed to call down another spell, a column of white fire that engulfed the daemon, but once again, the fiend emerged unscathed. Then Mox stepped forward…
The Queen of Kardashia mustered all of her focus, ignoring the biting, stinging swarms all around her, and wove her most potent magic. Though the derghodaemon was a being of the outer planes, it still needed air to breath, and Mox’s spell stole that from it. The fiend simply collapsed to the floor as its respiratory system shut down. A moment later, Tungdill recovered himself enough to increase the force of his conjured wind to a minor gale. The blast blew all of the insects to the far end of the passage. Once they were all massed together, Selena lobbed another fireball, instantly destroying them all.
