Medriev's FR Thunderspire Labyrinth - Concluded Apr 13

[Medriev]

Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 1)

Dulvarna listened carefully at the door and heard voices speaking in a guttural tongue. A rumbling voice interrupted the speakers and the first speaker laughed harshly and then resumed talking.

“This one’s not empty,” she whispered to the others. They had crossed the found all the rooms of the hold now empty apart from this one, across the corridor from the thane’s chamber. Dulvarna drew her sword and held it in one hand, propped against her shoulder, as she reached out for the iron ring door handle. Erlmoor, his sword similarly propped against his shoulder, reached for the handle of the other door. Together they turned the handles and pulled open the portals.

Within, a tall double door of solid iron stood in the southwest corner of the irregularly shaped chamber. Four orc warriors were milling about, talking and keeping watch while in a corner of the room, a hulking ogre with an iron collar was hunkered down.

Enlishia rushed into the chamber with an arrow nocked to her bow and began firing while Telkya followed, light issuing forth from the amulet in her hand. The orcs picked up huge axes with jagged blades and started forward, one meeting Dulvarna in the doorway and another rushing at Telkya. The orc swung his axe low at the priestess and as she turned to face her foe, the jagged blade drove into her side. She staggered back, bleeding and sorely wounded. Another came at her from her right and smashed the haft of its weapon into the side of her head sending her reeling into Enlishia. Dulvarna smashed her sword hilt into the face of the orc before her and as its staggered back, she forced her way into the room. Behind her, Lavren and Litiraan took the chance that she had given them and loosed black and silver magic at the orc, forcing it back another step into the room. Then there was a roar from the southeastern corner of the room and all knew that the ogre was coming.

The huge ogre loped surprisingly quickly across the room and with another roar swung its club at Telkya who was only now recovering her senses. She ducked and the huge club whooshed over her head, missing by a mere hands-width. To her right, another orc rushed at Dulvarna, slashing its axe into her arm and driving her back against the wall of the room but then Telkya saw Erlmoor coming into the room to aid her. The dragonborn roared his anger and slashed his blade across the chest of the nearest orc sending it reeling away from him. Beside the paladin, Enlishia threw her bow out into the corridor where Litiraan stood and drew her sword from her back. She started towards Dulvarna, her blade singing out and slashing into the shoulder of the wounded orc between her and her friend.

Telkya began to pray to Corellon as she drew her sword from her belt and as she prayed, divine healing flowed through her and stopped the terrible wound in her side from bleeding. She stabbed out with her blade at the orc that Erlmoor faught, driving the point into the warrior’s leg and pushing it away from her. Again, divine healing flowed through her, taking away the dizziness from her head wound and all but closing the wound in her side. She thanked her god then and turned her attention back to the orc before her, just as his axe descended towards her head. At the last moment, she dodged aside but the jagged blade still cut down the side of her arm, tearing her robes and the flesh beneath. Telkya staggered back and faught as she had never faught before.

An orc came at Dulvarna from her left, slashing his axe in low to strike her thigh just below where her mail coat covered her. She staggered as the leg gave way beneath her for a moment but lashed out with her sword anyway. The blade clove through the neck of the orc and beheaded it where its stood. Head and body tumbled to the floor leaving Dulvarna to turn to the second orc she faced while Lavren and Litiraan now had a clear path to loose their magic at the ogre. Both took the chance and the ogre roared in response as black, crackling energy struck it in the chest and silver bolts began flying at it. Again the creature lashed out at Telkya with its club and again the priestess ducked under the wild swing of the huge weapon. Lavren and Litiraan desperately began more spells, seeking to distract the ogre before it landed a killing blow on Telkya and Erlmoor followed suit, roaring again and surging at the orc before him.

Enlishia stabbed at the orc that Erlmoor faught and as he blow was parried, she twisted away and ducked back through the double doors. She sheathed her sword and reached for her bow while Telkya did the same, stabbing her blade into the side of the orc and then retreating towards the doors. The other orc she faught came after the priestess, lashing out high with his axe. Telkya raised her sword to parry and deflected the blow but the jagged axe blade still tore down her forearm and forced her back against the doorframe. Lavren and Litiraan struck the ogre with silver and black bolts and again the creature roared, lashing out with its club. Again Telkya ducked and this time, the club struck the door frame with earth shaking force. Telkya forced the orc in front of her away and glanced up nervously at the cracked and chipped stone above her head. She thanked Corellon again that her skull had not been in the way of that huge blow.

Erlmoor felt the ogre’s blow shake the stone floor and knew he had to reach the huge creature. With another roar, he sprayed acid over the orcs and the ogre and then plunged his blade into the face of the orc before him. It fell to the floor, sliding from the paladin’s blood-soaked blade and Erlmoor strode forward, trying to reach the ogre. As he did so, the ogre battling Telkya slashed his axe towards the dragonborn and he parried. It seemed he would have to deal with another orc before he reached the ogre.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 2)

Enlishia picked up her bow and darted across the doorway, loosing an arrow as she went. It drove into the ogre’s shoulder, drawing forth another roar from the creature and while it was distracted, Telkya stabbed at the orc before her and ducked through the doors out into the corridor. The orc snarled its anger but turned on Erlmoor instead, lashing out with its axe and smashing the jagged blade into the dragonborn’s hip. He roared in pain this time and staggered and the orc came forward to finish the dragonborn.

Dulvarna wove her blade before her and then stepped forward suddenly, driving Aecris into the orc’s shoulder. The creature hissed and reeled back from her towards the ogre that stood behind it. Black, crackling energy seared past the ogre then followed by a silver bolt that struck one of the iron doors behind the creature. Wildly, it cast around, seemingly seeking Telkya but when it found her beyond the doors and out of reach, it lashed out at Dulvarna with its huge club. The warrior woman saw the blow coming and raised her blade to parry but such was the power of the blow, she was thrown back painfully against the wall anyway. The orc came forward then, smashing the haft of his axe into Dulvarna’s face and shattering her nose in a spray of blood. Her head flew backwards and struck the wall and for a moment she saw only white light. Dulvarna staggered as her knees buckled and felt blackness reaching for her but then she heard a familiar roar of defiance and pulled herself back from the abyss.

Erlmoor roared and drove the orc back with a flurry of brutal blows that cut at the creature’s chest and shoulders. An arrow flew past the orc then and it glanced back over its shoulder. As its did so, one arrow and then another drove into its throat and it fell to the stone floor at Erlmoor’s feet. The dragonborn nodded his thanks to Enlishia and then let forth another roar as he charged the ogre. He heard Telkya praying behind him and as he reached the creature, a bolt of searing light struck it in the hip. It roared its own response and readied its club to meet the charging paladin.

Dulvarna shook off her dizziness just as the orc came at her again, its axe raised high for a killing blow. The warrior woman raised her sword and parried the blow, forcing the orc away from her. As it stepped back, she brought her blade in low, slicing into the creature’s hip, splintering the bone and driving her blade through into the orc’s guts. With a pained gasp, the creature staggered back another step, tearing Aecris free from its belly and then fell over backwards on the stone floor at the feet of the ogre. Dulvarna looked up at the fierce ogre then, expecting it to strike at her but suddenly, it staggered lashing out at imaginary foes while clawing at its own head with one hand. As it reeled from the effects of one of Lavren’s most powerful curses, a silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the creature in the chest. It roared and lashed out angrily at Erlmoor. The dragonborn leapt aside and the huge club struck the floor beside him, cracking the stone there.
“Kill it!” roared Erlmoor as he drove his blade into the ogre’s side. “Kill it now!”

An arrow drove into the ogre’s neck and it staggered and then a bolt of golden light seared into its chest, piercing its heart. The ogre looked down at the blackened and burned wound dimly for a moment as the last life faded from it and then it pitched over backwards on the floor of the chamber.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 3)

Enlishia looked up from her breakfast as a kobold, small even by the standards of its kind, entered the inn. They had returned to the Seven Pillared Hall the previous afternoon and now the Halfmoon Inn was filled with the rescued elves and thralls. Erra Halfmoon was fretting at the extra lodgers but Dulvarna had paid her handsomely once they had returned from the Deepgem Company each wearing an amulet that protected them and Dulvarna carrying a longbow on her shoulder. This morning, the companions had been the first to come down for breakfast and so there was no one else in the common room when the kobold entered other than Rendil Halfmoon who bustled back and forth with platters and jugs.

“A message for you,” said the kobold haltingly as it reached the table where the companions ate. It proffered a rolled scroll of parchment, unsealed.
“A message from who?” asked Dulvarna.
“I know not,” answered the kobold. “A cloaked figure met me in the shadows of the hall and paid me in silver to deliver this.”
“Then you have earned your pay,” said Enlishia and the kobold, grateful to be dismissed, turned and ran from the inn.
“Your actions against the duergar are commendable,” Lavren read aloud once he had unrolled the parchment. “I am in a position of power in the organisation behind the duergar’s actions and I wish to help you defeat my comrades. I have been seeking a way out of the organisation, and I believe you can help me. Follow the map so that we can meet in secret.” A second parchment within the first showed a small chamber off the Road of Shadows not far from the Seven Pillared Hall.

“We should go now,” said Lavren at once. “This should surely lead us to the gnolls and the last of your band, Litiraan.”
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “The longer we wait, the further away the remaining captives are taken from us.”
“You are right of course,” said Litiraan. “But if we wait until tomorrow then the others will be rested enough to come with us, We can take them to the door out of the mountain and then visit this chamber as we return to the Hall.”
“That would seem to be a sensible course,” rumbled Erlmoor. “If whoever wishes to meet us will wait that long.”
“And like as not he will not,” Enlishia said. “We have to go now for the message was brought this day. We have no choice.”
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna at last. “Make ready. We leave at once.”

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 4)

The Road of Shadows was the wide passage that led south eastward from the Seven Pillared Hall and not far inside, the companions turned aside towards the place marked on the map. At the end of the passage, at the place marked on the map was a natural cave with a ten-foot high ledge that ran around its interior perimeter. Several large boulders crowded the area. At first there was no sign of anyone waiting to greet the companions, but then suddenly creatures sprang out of hiding to attack and all six knew that they had walked into a trap!

Telkya drew her sword and then reached out her left hand towards the ledge on the left where a tiefling stood. A bolt of light shot out from her hand and struck the rock close to the tiefling’s head and the devil-blooded creature flinched while beginning his own spell. Another tiefling on a rocky outcropping that extended from the ledge into the heart of the cavern hurled pale flame that struck the ground near Enlishia. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt at the tiefling to the left and in answer, the tiefling hurled pale flame itself towards Enlishia. The ranger ducked and it struck the wall beside Dulvarna. Lavren rushed ahead into the cavern but stopped a little way into the chamber as he saw something else moving behind a boulder to the right. There, he saw a bronze likeness of a minotaur with a huge bronze axe that he would have taken for a statue had it not been moving. He recalled their like from an ancient tome he had studied before he left Cormanthor. It was called a bronze warder, a magically created construct that would obey the orders of whoever wore the amulet that commanded it. He looked up at the tiefling on the outcropping and could see no amulet around his neck. Only when he looked back to the other tiefling did he see the chain of an amulet around his neck. It mattered not, the warder had to be destroyed and so Lavren uttered a spell and unleashed black, crackling energy.

Enlishia rushed into the cavern behind Lavren, firing at the tiefling on the outcropping as she came. Dulvarna and Erlmoor followed, the dragonborn moving to the ledge against the south wall and starting to scramble up to it. Dulvarna charged around the boulder and rushed at the bronze warder, lashing out with her blade only for it to clang off the leg of the construct and strike the floor. A ball of pale flame struck her in the shoulder then and set light to the jerkin Dulvarna wore beneath her armour.
“Take care of him,” Dulvarna called back to the others, pointing up at the tiefling on the outcropping.

In the cavern entrance, Telkya and Litiraan loosed bolts of silver and gold at the tiefling on the ledge above them but each time he ducked back and their spells struck only stone. Suddenly, the tiefling seemed to panic and looking along the ledge, the brother and sister saw why. Erlmoor had clambered up onto the ledge and was rushing along it towards the tiefling. The devil-blood drew forth a curved dagger from its belt and prepared to defend itself. As Erlmoor reached him, the tiefling lashed out with the dagger and drew blood from the dragonborn’s face. The paladin roared his contempt for the small wound and raised his blade.

Lavren loosed black, eldritch fire towards the tiefling on the outcropping and smiled as the bolt seared into the devil-blood’s shoulder, knocking him back a step. Then the boulder began to move as the bronze warder shoved its shoulder against it and Lavren panicked. He looked towards Telkya and Litiraan in the entrance and could see that they were retreating, but nevertheless they would be cut off from the others. The boulder rolled into place, lodging in the entrance and Litiraan and Telkya disappeared behind it. Dulvarna slashed at the back of the warder’s leg to try and distract it and this time, she gouged a small cut in the metal. There was no need to distract the construct, though, for its work with the boulder was done. Raising its huge axe, the bronze minotaur turned towards Dulvarna with all its power and fury and she fell back, afraid of the doom that faced her.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 5)

Telkya threw herself against the boulder and with strength she did not know she had, she moved it! She shoved again and it moved enough so that there was now a way past it into the cavern on either side. She ducked through to the left and rushed to join the others. From the outcropping the tiefling uttered another spell and Dulvarna suddenly began swatting at her own arms and legs with her sword.
“Snakes!” she cried out. “Get these snakes off me!”
“An illusion,” said Litiraan with a sneer as he too, rounded the boulder and saw what was happening. He lashed out with his wand and loosed a silver bolt wildly at the tiefling on the outcropping. The missile flew wide and struck the cavern wall behind the devil-blood. The tiefling laughed in response.

On the ledge, Erlmoor came back at his foe, slashing his blade to the left and then, when it was parried, twisting the sword and driving its point into the tiefling’s shoulder. His enemy vanished an instant later and as a ball of pale flame struck the dragonborn from the left he saw that the tiefling now stood in the ledge across the entrance from him. Cursing, the dragonborn began to judge whether he could jump the gap.

Dulvarna ducked as the warder swung its axe towards her and lashed out at the back of its thigh as she twisted around to her left. She rose and saw Enlishia loose an arrow into the tiefling on the outcropping. The devil-blood cried out and then staggered as a bolt of searing light struck him in the arm. He hurled pale fire desperately at Telkya but it struck the boulder beside her and Litiraan answered with a silver bolt that seared into the tiefling’s hip. Hard pressed now and weakening, the tiefling staggered and retreated a step but there was nowhere for him to go. He began another spell desperately as Lavren leveled his wand.

Erlmoor ran towards the edge of the ledge and hurled himself into space. He cleared the cavern entrance easily and barreled into the tiefling, forcing it back from him. He slashed out with his sword while uttering a prayer and as the blade glowed brightly, it clove into the tiefling’s side. The tiefling vanished again and this time appeared further along the ledge. It hurled a ball of flame that struck the dragonborn on the arm as he tried to fend it off. His sleeve caught fire but still he started after the tiefling.

Lavren loosed black, crackling energy into the tiefling on the outcropping and he staggered again but then he smiled for the bronze warder had turned on the spot and lashed out with its axe. Dulvarna was struck in the chest and hurled away from the construct to land on the floor several feet away. In two strides the warder was upon her once more, raising its axe for the killing blow. The axe fell and Dulvarna rolled aside, rising to her feet and lashing out with her sword. The blade clanged against the bronze creature and bounced into the floor again. Enlishia raised her bow to the smiling tiefling as she tried to ignore the brutal drama unfolding before her. She held two arrows in her fingers and then let fly. One drove through the throat of the tiefling and the second split its forehead. Its grisly smile fixed forever on its face, the tiefling pitched forward from the outcropping and landed with a dull thud on the cavern floor.

Dulvarna struck the bronze warder once and then again, great ringing blows that chipped lumps from the metal of the huge minotaur body but seemed still not to weaken the creature. A column of searing light descended just to the right of the bronze minotaur, summoned by the prayers of Telkya but the warder paid it no heed, striding at Dulvarna once more. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared into the left arm of the bronze creature and it turned its glowing red eyes on the elf lord. Suddenly, it altered its course and turned aside, rampaging towards Litiraan, Lavren and the others.

Erlmoor charged along the ledge towards the tiefling who flourished his dagger and seemed to be ready to teleport away once again. The dragonborn roared fiercely and thrust his blade to wards the right of the tiefling. The devil-blood brought his dagger across to parry but at the last, with a mighty prayer to Lathander on his lips, Erlmoor redirected his thrust towards the tiefling’s heart. It pierced his enemy’s chest before he had chance to react and drove through his heart and out of his back. With a gasp, the tiefling died with its eyes wide in surprise and fear and as his enemy slid from his blade, Erlmoor turned to clamber down from the ledge.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 6)

Lavren held his ground as the bronze minotaur started towards him and with a curse in his own tongue, he loosed a bolt of black, crackling energy into the warder’s chest. The construct strode on, unfazed by the blast, and knocked Lavren and Litiraan aside as it came. When it reached Enlishia, it lashed out with its huge axe and knocked the ranger to the floor before spinning and lashing out at the two elves who now lay against the south wall of the chamber. Lavren and Litiraan both ducked and threw their arms above their heads and the axe nicked their flesh and clove into the stone above them, spilling small rocks down upon them.

Enlishia scrambled away from the bronze warder, loosing arrows as she retreated but only one drove home into the metal of the construct. A searing bolt of light from Telkya’s amulet flew past the warder and struck the cave wall above Lavren and Litiraan and as more rocks began to fall, the two elves scrambled away from the construct. Behind the bronze minotaur, Erlmoor reached Dulvarna and with a prayer, he healed the worst of her hurts as she gathered her strength to charged the construct again. Then, when both were ready, they charged the bronze minotaur with their swords held high.

Lavren pushed himself to his feet as Litiraan scrambled away and, as quietly as he could, he darted around behind the minotaur, his back to the boulder that now all but filled the cavern entrance. Just as he thought he had evaded the creature’s notice, his foot scuffed a stone and the minotaur turned around toward him. The huge bronze axe came down and Lavren raised his arm hopelessly to defend himself. The axe haft struck his forearm painfully but miraculously he kept the blade away from his head. Twisting away, he scrambled along the boulder while nursing his now wounded arm with the hand that held his arm. The warder turned towards him but then an arrow ricocheted off the back of its shoulder and the minotaur turned away towards Enlishia instead.

Dulvarna slashed out with her sword as she reached the minotaur but her blade only clanged off the back of the construct’s thigh as it turned towards Enlishia. A bolt of light from Telkya’s amulet struck it in the shoulder and it turned towards her but she was beneath the promontory of rock now and beyond the minotaur’s reach. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand flew close to the bronze construct and then Erlmoor reached the creature and with a roar, he struck at it. There was a loud clang and his blade, too, was thrown aside. Lavren drew his sword and stabbed at the creature but the battle seemed hopeless to him now. The foe was beyond them. Even then it turned towards him, the huge axe lashed out and he was thrown from his feet as it smashed his sword aside and struck his chest.
“Retreat towards to the north into the chamber,” called Litiraan as he loosed another silver bolt that flew wide of the mark.

The elf darted around the back of the boulder and emerged on the far side. Erlmoor stabbed his blade into the thigh of the bronze construct, barely nicking the metal and drew back from the minotaur, trusting that the elf had some new way to fight the warder. Lavren scrambled away, pushed himself to his feet and retreated past Litiraan. Wildly, the construct turned towards Dulvarna and Erlmoor and lashed out towards the dragonborn with its axe. The paladin raised his blade but the axe smashed it back against his face and sent him sprawling back across the cavern floor.

Enlishia loosed more arrows and one struck home in the shoulder of the minotaur drawing the construct back towards her. She ducked around the boulder next to her and emerged on its far side next to Telkya. As she leveled her bow again, Dulvarna lashed out at the bronze warder, cleaving a chunk of metal from its hip. The warrior woman retreated as the others had done and as a beam of light from Telkya’s amulet seared past the minotaur’s face, a globe of orange flame coalesced in Litiraan’s hand. The elf brought his hand forward and the orb flew past the minotaur before bursting into searing flame against the wall at the warder’s back. The bronze construct staggered as the fire rolled over it and then Erlmoor charged at it with a roar.
Acid sprayed from the dragonborn’s mouth as he reached the minotaur and then his blade sang out and gouged a line across the bronze belly of the construct. The warder staggered back from the blow and then began to flail wildly with its axe as Lavren uttered a curse and unseen jaws began to snap at it. Then, the jaws were gone and with a high swing it brought its axe down on Erlmoor’s shoulder. Flesh and bone were cloven apart and with a gasp, the dragonborn crumpled to his knees before the minotaur. With another barely audible gasp the paladin pitched forward and lay face down and unmoving at the feet of his enemy.

Enlishia cried out and began firing again, an arrow glancing off the bronze but then a second driving into the side of the warder’s head. Dulvarna charged into battle and lashed out wildly, missing the warder completely. Telkya prayed loudly then and from her amulet, another bolt of light seared forth, this one striking the minotaur and searing a hole in its chest. Litiraan stepped forward and loosed fire from his left hand that engulfed the minotaur and drove it back towards the cavern wall. Lavren uttered a curse and from his wand came black, crackling energy that flew straight and true towards the head of the warder. It seared through the beautifully carved bronze face of the construct and drove a hole through the heated bronze before bursting from the back of the minotaur’s head to strike the cavern wall. The warder’s head seemed to collapse in upon itself then and the construct toppled backwards and fell against the cavern wall with a boom that shook the cavern. It lay there unmoving, half sitting up and propped against the wall but beaten at last.

Next..... The Red Eye Gang

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 1)

“It was certainly a trap then,” said Enlishia as she examined the parchment they had taken from the tieflings once more. She read it to herself one last time. I don’t care how you do it, but deal with these adventurers, she read silently. Take one of the bronze warders if you must. If they remain in the Labyrinth they could disrupt my plans. Once you’ve dealt with them, deliver their bodies to our gnoll friends along with the other scroll I have sent you. It was signed simply Paldemar.

“The other offers our corpses to Maldrick Scarmaker, Exalted Chieftain of the Blackfangs and Chosen of Yeenoghu,” said Dulvarna, raising the second parchment they had recovered. “Apparently our corpses were to be given as a token of ongoing friendship from Paldemar to the gnoll chieftain. It was sealed with an ornate P rune which must be the mark of this Paldemar.”
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “And he seems to have left a map to the lair of the Blackfangs.” She pointed towards a third parchment that lay on the table before them. They sat in the common room of the Halfmoon Inn having just finished another of Rendil’s sumptuous breakfasts.
“We should set out now,” the ranger said with unusual impulsiveness. “Before they have chance to move the two remaining elves.”

“According to this, we need to go west from the hall and descend into the lower levels,” rumbled Erlmoor while unconsciously flexing the shoulder that the bronze warder’s axe had crushed. Telkya had restored the bones and the flesh but it still pained him a little.
“Enlishia is right,” said the dragonborn at last. “We cannot wait. We must go forth now.”
“And what of the elves and thralls we rescued from the Horned Hold?” asked Dulvarna. “We have yet to take them from the mountain. The longer the stay here, the more likely it is that they will become slaves once again. I would hear Litiraan speak on this.”
“You are right, of course,” said Litiraan. “We cannot set out for this place that is called the Well of Demons while leaving my kin behind in this inn. We must take them to the Minotaur Gate and then seek our reckoning with the gnolls. It will delay us little.”

“It will delay us enough,” said Erlmoor. “If we take this course then we must return here and wait another day. We will likely meet some dark denizens of the mountain while we march to or from the gate and will need to recover before facing the gnolls.”
“And perhaps we shall not,” said Litiraan. “We have seen little of the mountain’s denizens when we have walked the dark halls since we have arrived. Only in their holds do the denizens of Thunderspire seem to dwell.”
“Then we will take that chance,” said Dulvarna and as she said it, Erlmoor nodded his consent. He would bow to her wisdom as he often did. “Make the former thralls ready. We make for the Minotaur Gate as soon as they are able.” With a scraping of chairs, the companions rose from their breakfast table and set about busying themselves with their own preparations for travel. The name of their goal, the Well of Demons, hung heavy upon them all as they made ready to leave.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 2)

Erlmoor was the first to emerge from the Minotaur Gate and stand in the warm sunshine of the spring morning. He looked over to the rising sun as it crested the highest point of the Immerflow Vale and he knelt to pray. Dulvarna joined him while Litiraan and Telkya said farewell to their former companions.

“The weather seems pleasant enough,” said Litiraan. “Take the high pass beyond the source of the Immerflow back to Cormanthor. It will be quicker and less troubled than the Thunder Gap to the south. Fare you well and take word of us to our kin.” Lavren watched the farewells and thought for a moment of asking for word to be taken to his kin but then he knew that he could not. He would not let his family be known to Litiraan and Telkya lest it taint their view of him. Better to let his kin hear of him on their own. His father had eyes enough to learn of his son.

“Lathander’s blessing goes with you,” said Erlmoor as he rose from his prayers and watched the three human thralls make their way down the steep valley beneath the gate toward the Immerflow Vale. The woman turned and waved and then the dragonborn turned away from the growing dawn. The others turned away as well and made their way back into the darkness of Thunderspire Mountain.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 3)

The six companions had almost reached the Seven-Pillared Hall again when they saw two figures blocking the lantern-lit passage ahead of them. One was a strange bipedal creature with a spider-like visage that had two black eyes and six other tiny eyes along with prominent fangs . Two of its four arms were long and gangly, ending in a hand-like appendage with three digits, including a thumb. A useless pair of vestigial arms sprouted from the lower portion of its ribcage. One of its three-fingered hands held a spear while the other rested easily on the head of a snaky, spiky, and wingless drake about the size of a riding horse with bright, crimson scales. It had a frill around the back of its head, and its tail was short while its powerfully muscled forelimbs ended in feet tipped with wicked talons.
“You pay toll to Red Eye Gang,” the creature called out in a scratchy, insect-like voice.
“We pay nothing,” answered Telkya, drawing her sword and striding forward with her hand extended.

A bolt of white light lanced out towards the insect-like creature but at the last moment, the creature ducked to one side and the bolt flew past to strike the wall beneath one of the copper lanterns that hung there. Suddenly a grinding sound came from the left wall of the passage and a portion of the wall slid aside to reveal two huge bugbears, each wielding an equally large morning star. One cast around for a moment until its eyes settled upon the companions and it lumbered towards them.
“Not yet fools,” said the insect-creature in its scratchy, clicking tones. The bugbear paid it no mind and charged at Telkya.

The bugbear swung out wildly with its morning star and Telkya ducked under the blow with an ease that surprised her. Dulvarna rushed forward to join Telkya, her sword before her. She stabbed Aecris into the bugbear’s leg, driving it back from the priestess and drawing a pained grunt from the creature. Dulvarna looked up then as the insect-like creature lashed out with one of its limbs and as a web of spider silk flew towards her she knew that they faced an ettercap, a strange creature that had a kinship with spiders and scorpions. She ducked and the web-net engulfed one of the copper lanterns sending it rocking and the green light it cast dancing back and forth across the passage.

With a roar, the drake charged, rushing out at Dulvarna and lashing out with both claws as it reached her. She ducked under one but the other claw came in low and struck her hip, throwing her against the passage wall painfully. Another bugbear charged into the corridor past the one that Dulvarna but it found quickly that its companion and the drake blocked the way to its enemies. Litiraan watched it come forward and then uttered a phrase in his own tongue. He vanished suddenly into motes of light only to reappear behind the bugbear and between it and the ettercap. The elf drew his sword and spun around to lash at the bugbear but as he did so, the creature sensed the threat and spun around itself. The swing missed and the bugbear raised its morning star as it advanced on Litiraan.

Telkya stabbed out at the bugbear before her and as it parried her thrust she drew back, retreating from her enemy. The bugbear stepped forward but found Dulvarna blocking its path and it lashed out at her instead with its morning star. She raised her blade and parried with her sword held downward towards the passage floor. She twisted her blade then and lashed it across the bugbear’s shoulder before carrying the blow onwards into the flank of the drake that snarled at her beside the bugbear. The drake reared backwards and let out a roar of anger. Then it came at her again.

The ettercap lashed out with another of its limbs and hurled a net of spider silk over Litiraan that pinned him to the right hand wall of the passage beneath another copper lantern that was now swaying and throwing dancing light over the elf. The bugbear to the left of the elf staggered back as two arrows drove into it from Enlishia’s bow and then Lavren vanished in his own cloud of light motes and disappeared from the corridor altogether. Only when a bolt of black, crackling energy struck the bugbear still in the alcove in the back was his presence revealed. The bugbear roared its anger, raised its morning star and turned back into the chamber from which the hidden door had opened to take its revenge upon the elf.

The drake roared and lunged at Dulvarna but she ducked back and its powerful jaws snapped shut on empty air. The bugbear behind it lashed out at Litiraan who was pinned against the wall in the ettercap’s web but the elf managed to twist his body downwards and the morning star struck the lantern above him. The blow stove in the copper lantern but its magical light did not go out and it swung even more wildly sending dancing shadows across the corridor.

Lavren looked around the room desperately for somewhere he could evade the bugbear but the chamber was an ancient storeroom similar to the chamber where they had rescued Rendil Halfmoon and while it had a side chamber where the bugbears apparently slept, he could not reach it in time. He drew his sword and held it before him but the bugbear was too strong and as he raised the blade to parry, the creature’s morning star drove the blade out of its path and smashed down on the elf’s shoulder. Lavren reeled away from the bugbear and raised his sword again, cursing his own recklessness hoping against hope that his friends would reach him in time.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 4)

Erlmoor charged past Telkya with his blade before him and roared as he met the bugbear, showering acid over the enemies before him. Litiraan shrank back against the wall in the web that pinned him there and avoided the acid but both bugbears and the drake were burned. Erlmoor’s deep voice intoned a prayer as the bugbear parried his first overhead blow and then he twisted his blade to the right and drove it into the creature’s side. Blood sprayed out and the bugbear fell back a step, tiring and sorely wounded.

Imprisoned within his web, Litiraan twisted around and stabbed out at the bugbear before him clumsily. His blade drove into the creature’s shoulder and drove it back a step, allowing the elf to pushed himself off the wall and try to free himself from the web. With a huge effort, he tore the thick silk strands from the wall and dodged back from the bugbear as it came at him again. Then he saw movement from the right and with horror he saw that the ettercap was coming for him with its spear before it.

Telkya closed her eyes and silently asked Corellon to guide her way as she uttered a word and vanished into a cloud of light motes. She reappeared in the chamber where Lavren faught, against the left wall and behind the bugbear. She stepped forward and stabbed out with her blade but her boot scuffed the floor and at the last, the bugbear twisted to one side and dodged her blow. He put his back to a stack of jars and barrels against the opposite wall and raised his morning star, looking from one opponent to the other as though trying to decide which to deal with first. Telkya raised her blade warily and stood ready to parry.

The bugbear before Erlmoor lashed out desperately as the dragonborn came forward and smashed its morning star into the paladin’s jaw. His head was jerked around and he staggered away as his mouth filled with blood. Dulvarna stepped to her right to meet the bugbear and swung out with her sword, cutting through the place where Erlmoor had been moments before. Aecris clove into the bugbear’s neck from the front and right and took its head from its shoulders before driving into the top of the drake’s shoulder and drawing blood there. The bugbear fell to the floor of the passage, the drake roared and then Erlmoor added his own roar of pain and triumph to the cacophony of battle. He rushed at the drake then, knowing that it would be the next to fall.

Beyond the drake and the bugbear, Litiraan watched the ettercap stepping forward and waited for the thrust but it came too quickly when the creature seemingly was still out of reach. The steel point drove into his leg painfully and he staggered back and nearly fell into the web that was still attached to the wall. The bugbear came at him from the other side but again he ducked and the spiked head of the morning star struck the stone above him with a dull thud. Te bugbear cursed and Litiraan stabbed at him desperately, knowing he was doomed if no one came to his aid. The bugbear parried and snarled but then Erlmoor was behind him and he was forced to step back towards the doorway. Litiraan had surely been saved!

Lavren retreated from the bugbear knowing that Telkya could hold her own against it for a little while. He reached out with the wand in his left hand and loosed black, crackling energy but the blast flew wide and struck the frame of the hidden door to the chamber. Lavren cursed and the bugbear sneered as it turned on Telkya and lashed out with its morning star. Telkya ducked the blow easily and rose, smiling at the creature as though the battle were already won. She stabbed her sword into the bugbear’s hip and drew an angry snarl from it. Desperately, Lavren began another curse as the bugbear raised its morning star again.

The drake darted at Dulvarna with surprising quickness and seized her left arm in its jaws. She tore the limb free but as she did so, the dagger-sharp teeth of the beast ripped open her flesh painfully and left her arm bleeding. Erlmoor stabbed his sword into the drake’s flank then before turning to face the bugbear that Litiraan faught and then Enlishia loosed an arrow and then another into the beast’s left shoulder. It roared its pain and defiance and staggered as its left front leg threatened to give way beneath it. Then it snarled, baring its terrible teeth and promising death to any who came near to it.