Medriev's FR Thunderspire Labyrinth - Concluded Apr 13

[Medriev]

Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 5)

Litiraan cried out as the ettercap drove its spear into his hip but he had only one focus now as the bugbear turned away from him and, grimly, he started towards the creature with his sword in his hand. He lashed out with the blade and drew blood from the creature’s shoulder. It gave a high-pitched screech and backed away from him a step. With a fierce look in his eyes, the elf followed.

Behind Litiraan, an arrow clattered into the wall above the drake and then a second from Enlishia’s bow drove into the beast’s neck. The drake roared and snapped at Erlmoor but the paladin dodged away from its jaws. The bugbear came at him then with an overhand blow but he raised his sword and parried crossways above his head. Before twisting the blade away and slashing out at the bugbear. His enemy leapt back and his blade passed in front of it, inches away from the bugbear’s chest. The bugbear snarled and Erlmoor snarled back.

Lavren loosed another blast of black energy from his wand but again it flew wide of the bugbear and again he cursed. The bugbear lashed out at Telkya and again she ducked under the swing. While still ducked low, Telkya drove her sword forward into the bugbear’s thigh and drove it back and away from her. The creature roared in pain and anger and then came forward at the elf maid again but Lavren loosed another black bolt and this struck the bugbear in the side. It staggered to its left, away from Lavren and then lashed out again with its morning star. This time Telkya was forced to parry, raising her blade above her head to block the descending spiked weapon but still she held the bugbear at bay. It snarled at her and she smirked back at it, as though daring it to do better.

Dulvarna ducked low and drove her blade into the top of the drake’s weakened right foreleg and this time the leg did give way. The drake roared and clumsily tried to leap back from the warrior woman but it was already doomed. An arrow flew forth from Enlishia’s bow and drove into its skull, piercing its brain and dropping it to the corridor floor. A second arrow struck the door frame next to the bugbear behind the drake and the creature looked around in panic, realising its peril. Desperately it lashed out at Erlmoor and caught the paladin a glancing blow on the shoulder that he simply shrugged off. The dragonborn thrust forward with his own sword and the bugbear parried but as it did so, Erlmoor moved along the passage towards Litiraan, almost reaching the elf.

The ettercap saw his peril too and stabbed out with its spear to try and keep the elf and the others at bay. Litiraan dodged left and the spear grazed the side of his right shoulder, wounding him and drawing yet more blood but barely halting him. The elf stabbed out with his blade, into one of the ettercap’s shoulders and forced it back another step. The creature looked behind it as though to check its path of retreat was clear and then darted towards the elf once more.

Telkya ducked another clumsy swing of the bugbear’s morning star and then thrust her blade into its hip before leaping up again. The creature came back at her quickly this time but the blow was clumsy and she dodged to her right to throw the creature off balance. Its morning star struck the wall and it all but fell over as it pitched forward. A black bolt from Lavren’s wand seared through the air where the creature’s head had been and struck the wall next to the chamber entrance. Telkya and Lavren shared a glance, knowing they had the measure of their foe and then both turned their attention back to the battle.

Dulvarna advanced slowly on the remaining bugbear in the corridor, weaving her blade before her in a dance that she knew well but that this opponent had not yet seen. As the bugbear tried to watch her approach while also waiting for Erlmoor to strike, Dulvarna dived forward, driving Aecris deep into the creature’s thigh. Two more arrows flew past the bugbear and it lashed out wildly at Dulvarna, all but blinded by pain and rage. She ducked back and parried with her blade pointed downwards before her as the morning star came across towards her. Erlmoor thrust his sword at the bugbear from its left but it twisted away towards the doorway and evaded the sword. Desperately, the bugbear looked towards the ettercap as though seeking counsel or aid but none were forthcoming. The bugbear roared defiantly and raised its morning star to face its enemies once again.

Telkya stabbed forward again with her sword as the bugbear reached out for the wall to stop itself falling over. At the last, it twisted around to avoid the elf maid’s sword thrust and pushed itself off the wall towards the centre of the room again. Lavren was ready for this, though, and from his wand a blast of black energy lanced out to strike the bugbear in the chest and drive him back towards the door. Telkya rushed at the bugbear and he lashed out desperately with his morning star. She parried above her head and then moved forward to finish her foe.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 6)

Dulvarna drove the bugbear back with a slashed cut across its belly and then Enlishia found her mark with an arrow that drove into the bugbear’s shoulder. Beyond the bugbear, Litiraan was keeping the ettercap’s spear at bay now and as the bugbear looked that way again, it retreated from Dulvarna towards the spider-kin creature. Turning suddenly, the bugbear lashed out with its morning star and struck Litiraan in the back, pushing him towards the ettercap. Erlmoor slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of the bugbear’s head and distracted it from what would surely be a killing blow. The bugbear reeled to the left into the wall of the passage and Litiraan ducked right to the opposite wall to try to summon his second wind. The ettercap eyed the elf warily and then levelled its spear at his heart and came forward.

Telkya feinted low and then brought her blade up high while the dazed bugbear barely even tried to raise his morning star. The elf maid’s sword drove into the bugbear’s throat and the creature fell to its knees before her as blood gushed forth. She drew the blade out and the bugbear fell, showering the hem of her robes in deep red blood. She rushed to the doorway as Dulvarna charged the bugbear again and drove her blade into his back as he reeled from Erlmoor’s blow. Litiraan cried out and as Telkya looked she saw that her brother bled from several wounds and had been stabbed again in the side with the ettercap’s spear. The creature retreated down the passageway and as it did so, Enlishia’s bow sang again and the bugbear fell with an arrow through its throat from one side to the other. A second arrow flew forth and drove into the ettercap’s shoulder and then Lavren rushed out of the side chamber into the passageway. He glanced at Telkya and smiled before cursing at the ettercap and raising his wand Flames burst from the ettercap’s skin and it screeched in pain as the fire seared its flesh. Erlmoor charged at the creature with a roar and lashed out with his sword but the creature ducked at the last moment and his blade struck the stone wall above the ettercap’s head. The creature screeched and tried to back away but then Litiraan, wounded but still standing raised his own wand in his left hand and loosed a bolt of silver into the creature, throwing it back against the wall.

The ettercap screeched again and looked back along the corridor as Telkya came forward to protect her brother. With a guttural cry, she rushed at the ettercap and with the same high thrust that had slain the bugbear, she drove her blade into the ettercap’s throat. It half-screeched and then gurgled before collapsing on the floor before her.
“Think I’m starting to get the hang of sword craft,” Telkya said and Lavren and Litiraan both smiled with pride and love for the fair and spirited elf maid.

Next....The Well of Demons

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 1)

They passed through the Seven-Pillared Hall quietly and took a western path that Rendil had called the Deep Stair. Not far beyond the hall the reason for its name became obvious as it began to descend sharply into the depths of the mountain. Following the map, they took a side passage back to the east that zigzagged left and right until it turned south and opened into a large, square chamber. Five columns, three set near the room’s corners and two in the middle of the chamber rose up at least twice the height of the tallest man to the ceiling and into each was carved the face of a leering, fanged minotaur. There was a well in the southeastern corner of the room, and two passages led away, one to the east and the other to the south.
No sooner had they entered the chamber than the deep voice, seemingly of a powerful minotaur, began to come from the columns that each heard in their own tongue, the elves in elven, Enlishia and Dulvarna in the Common tongue and Erlmoor in the ancient tongue of the dragons.

“Greetings, seekers of Baphomet’s boundless glory,” said the voice. “Those who prove unworthy of his attention shall be claimed forever as his slaves.” Suddenly Dulvarna saw something to her left, skulking figure behind one of the columns.
“Those who prove worthy,” the voice continued. “Shall be granted power beyond mortal reckoning. Mask, bell blade and tome.”

As the voice finished speaking, the crouched figure rushed forward and Dulvarna shouted a warning to the others. Telkya turned towards the creature first, drawing forth her sword and reaching out with her hand. A bolt of light lanced out and struck the rushing humanoid which had long, flexible limbs, almost like tentacles that ended in starfish-shaped pads covered with hundreds of tiny bone spikes. The grey-skinned creature lurched to one side and fixed Telkya with its black eyes before rushing on towards her.
“A choker,” Telkya spat as she recognised the creature. “A creature of the deeper, dark places beneath the world.”

Lavren raised his wand and loosed black, crackling energy towards the creature that struck the top of its chest and pitched it over to the right. It half-rolled and twisted to shrug the wound off and kept coming. A cry came from the front of the group then as Enlishia saw another creature, a pallid undead creature that they had seen before under the Keep north of Winterhaven, emerged from behind the far column and rushed at the group.
“A ghoul!” Enlishia cried out. “A ghoul comes from the front.”

The ghoul reached Dulvarna and Enlishia in moments and leapt at them with claws flailing. Both stepped aside and let the creature land between them, hissing and snarling as it reached out ravenously for their living flesh. Enlishia nocked an arrow to her bow and drew back from the flailing arms of the ghoul. She loosed the first arrow into the ghoul’s chest and reached for another, loosing it after the first into the body of the terrible undead creature. Erlmoor rushed forward and came at the creature from the other side, lashing out with his blade and gouging a wound across the creature’s back. The ghoul scampered around on the spot and hissed at this newcomer while Erlmoor snarled in response.

Behind Enlishia, the choker darted to the right and scampered up the north wall of the chamber and then out onto the ceiling. It reached out with a tentacle and lashed its limb around Enlishia’s neck. The ranger gasped as the choker lived up to its name and tried to lift her from the ground. Litiraan raised his wand and loosed a silver bolt from it but the choker swayed to one side and the bolt missed.

Dulvarna looked over her shoulder at the choker as she drew her blade and decided that her companions could deal with that threat. She lashed out with her sword and slashed the blade across the top of the ghoul’s chest above Enlishia’s arrows and the creature reeled away before turning back towards her. Suddenly, she sensed movement from the left and as she glanced that way, Dulvarna saw another slate-grey tentacle reach out from the ceiling close to the westernmost corner pillar. It seized Erlmoor around the neck and started to drag him towards the pillar. The dragonborn opened his mouth to roar but a weak, almost plaintive sound came out instead of the usual deep power. Dulvarna cursed and then she felt the floor shake. Behind her, tentacles exploded from the floor of the chamber, one reaching out towards her and seizing her around the waist. Small toothed mouths on the inside of the tentacle tore into her flesh and she cried out as the creature’s grip tightened.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 2)

Telkya reached out her hand and loosed another bolt of light that struck the choker clinging to the ceiling above the north wall. It seemed to loosen its grip on the ceiling and on Enlishia for a moment and almost fell. Lavren loosed a bolt of black energy but it flew wide of the choker and struck the stone ceiling next to it. Both elves cursed together and then began their prayers and spells to attack the choker again.

The ghoul leapt at Dulvarna as the tentacle tightened its grip with claws tearing at her face and neck. She felt a chill spread from the wound and suddenly her legs became weak as though the cold of the grave had sapped her strength. The tentacle dragged her a few feet towards it and the mouths tore painfully at her flesh. Beside her, Enlishia tried to duck out of the choker’s tentacle but found that she was held fast and so she raised her bow and fired at the choker on the ceiling. The choker jerked her towards it and she loosed her first arrow against the floor at her feet. Her second flew upwards but struck the wall next to the choker. Enlishia cursed silently and gasped as the creature tightened its grip.

Erlmoor tried to free himself from the tentacle around his neck too but found he too was held firmly. Instead he twisted back towards the ghoul and lashed out at the ghoul. The undead creature leapt back beyond the reach of the dragonborn’s blade and Erlmoor cursed silently himself as the choker dragged him back towards it.

Litiraan turned around as the tentacles burst from the floor and seized Dulvarna and he recognised the creature at once. It was a phalagar, a burrowing predator that grasped and crushed its enemies in the deeper darkness beneath Faerun. He drew his blade and stabbed at it desperately while retreating towards the passage which had led them to the chamber. As he drew back he saw Dulvarna duck down and wriggle out of the grasp of the tentacle while raising her blade. She lashed out with the sword but the tentacles rose and writhed out of her reach. No sooner had they done this than tentacles lashed out in all directions, searching for prey. It seized Litiraan around the waist and then grabbed Dulvarna and Erlmoor as well, the tiny toothed mouths tearing at the flesh of their victims. Litiraan looked around at his companions then and wondered whether for the first time in a long while whether they were beaten and would die here.

Telkya loosed a bolt of light from her hand and this time, the divine energy seared through the choker’s chest, finding what passed for a heart within the creature and dropped it to the chamber floor. She looked around for the now familiar smile from Lavren but as she did he vanished into a cloud of light motes. He reappeared next to one of the central pillars, cursing the ghoul and loosing black energy from his wand. The blast burst through the ghoul from back to front, narrowly missing Dulvarna and shattering the ghoul into dust and bone. Suddenly free, Enlishia loosed an arrow towards the tentacles of the phalagar

Though the choker was throttling him, Erlmoor managed at last to roar and as he did so, he sprayed acid onto the tentacles of the phalagar and up to the choker on the ceiling. The nearest tentacles of the phalagar recoiled as the acid burned them but the choker scampered away from the acid, trying to drag Erlmoor with it. The paladin resisted and prayed quietly until his blade glowed brightly and he lashed out at the tentacle that held him. He felt strength flow up his blade and to his right he saw a glow rise up Dulvarna’s form and restore some of her strength as well. He thanked Lathander and then began a new prayer to the Morninglord for deliverance from the terrible predators of Underdark that they now battled.

Litiraan tried desperately to wriggle free of the tentacle that held him but he found that he was held firm and resorted to slashing at the limb with his sword. He cut into the flesh but still it held him firmly and even began to drag him back towards the phalagar itself but looking up, he saw Dulvarna duck free of the tentacle that held her again. She weaved her blade back and forth as though feinting left and right toward the tentacles and then she dived forward, driving her blade into one of the flailing limbs. It recoiled and as it did so, the remaining choker turned its small head towards Dulvarna, its eyes drawn by the sudden movement. It lashed out with the other of its long limbs but Dulvarna leapt back beyond its reach. The phalagar lashed out again then and seized Dulvarna with one of its wounded tentacles. She cursed her ill luck and then began to try and wriggle free once more.

Telkya uttered a prayer and from her hand leapt another beam of light that seared into the choker. The creature shrank back and as it did so, Lavren uttered a curse and loosed his own bolt, this one of black, crackling energy. The eldritch blast burned into the choker’s shoulder and it shrieked loudly in an alarm call that would have sent others of its kind fleeing into the dark passages of the Underdark if any of its companions remained. Enlishia lifted her bow and loosed an arrow into the choker drawing another shriek from its wounded form. She fired again but the arrow clattered against the ceiling and fell to the floor and this time the choker cackled maniacally as though mocking the ranger.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 3)

Erlmoor roared his own defiance then and lashed out at the nearest tentacle with his own, glowing blade. His sword hacked through the flesh of the flailing limb and left a piece the length of his arm on the floor of the chamber while the rest of the dying limb flapped close by like a fish out of water. Across from the dragonborn, Litiraan saw his chance and ducked out of the grasp of the phalagar. With his wand clasped tightly in his left hand and his sword in his right, he ducked back into the northern passage.

Dulvarna likewise, saw her chance as the phalagar was wounded and ducked free of the tentacle that had grasped her. She raised her blade over her head and slashed down on another tentacled, severing it. Beside her, Erlmoor ducked as the choker shot another tentacle out at him and then the phalagar lashed out desperately towards Dulvarna. She ducked herself and a tentacle lashed over her head and to her right, Telkya vanished in a cloud of light motes. An instant later, a column of light descended from the ceiling and surrounded the choker. With a final screech, it plummeted to the floor and landed with a dull thud.

Lavren rushed to Telkya’s side as the choker fell, winking at her as he drew near in acknowledgement of another victory for her. He extended his hand and uttered a curse in elven then that loosed another blast of black, eldritch energy into the phalagar. Enlishia loosed two arrows quickly that struck the same tentacle and drove it back beneath the floor but another flailing limb lashed out at the ranger. She leapt back beyond its reach and as she did so, Erlmoor and Dulvarna rushed at the tentacled creature. Litiraan loosed a silvery bolt into the creature but a tentacle grabbed him and then Dulvarna came forward and hacked through the only other tentacle that remained. The limb that had grabbed Litiraan fell limply to the floor and a deep silence fell over the well chamber.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 4)

Once those with hurts had bound their wounds, the companions talked for a few moments and then headed past the well and into the dark of the southern passage. By the dim light of Litiraan’s wand, they saw a side passage open up on the left and decided quickly to pass it by. The passage ahead then turned sharply to the right and then bent to the left before emerging into a wider hallway where blood stained the floor. Crimson trails ran from a set of double doors in the east, down the corridor, and into a door to the west. All six companions felt a sudden chill wash over them as cold seemed to reach into them to their very bones and cause involuntary shivers. Three spectral figures rose then from the bloodstains before the group. Before any of the adventurers could react, each of the ghostly figures raised a hand in apparent greeting.

“Well met strangers,” said the middle figure, once a burly man with a thick, black beard. He seemed to have been clad in a mail coat but its spectral image was now torn and gashed as though he had suffered a terrible death at the hands of some great beast.
“What do you seek in the Well of Demons?” the man’s ghost asked.
“We seek the gnolls who dwell here,” said Enlishia, the chill refusing to leave her bones and seeming to slow her mind as well. “we have followed captured innocents into Thunderspire and through the holds of hobgoblins and duergar and now we have come here.

“And which gnolls are these,” answered the spirit on the right, once a beautiful but cold-seeming elf maid in long robes. “We met no gnolls when first we came here and you are poor warriors if you know not your enemies. We knew our enemies and vanquished all but one before we fell. Demons and devils, dragons and worse all fell to our might.”
“Our strength lies in our hearts as well as in our blades and our Art,” said Erlmoor. “We seek slaves taken by the Blackfang gnolls. They are friends and companions of Telkya and Litiraan and we have followed them into this mountain to save them. Already, most of their band make their way back to Cormanthor walking free under the sun and the stars.”

“Then perhaps you are stronger and wiser than you seem,” rumbled the third spirit, apparently once a dwarf garbed in plate armour and wearing a helm with the faceplate closed. “But then again perhaps you seek to trick us. As Mendara said, we saw no gnolls when first we came here. How did you learn of the Blackfangs and this place?”
“We defeated the duergar of the Horned Hold, slaying their chieftain and freeing the prisoners that they held,” answered Lavren. “We took a skull-capped rod back to the heart of the mountain with us.”
“And yet you do not know its purpose,” sneered the elf called Mendara. “Instead you have followed breadcrumbs around the dark of the mountain until you have come here.”

“It’s purpose was not relevant to us,” Litiraan bristled, staring at the elf. “We have sought to rescue our kin and that quest has led us here. The staves the duergar carry are of no concern to us.”
“Ah, but perhaps they should be,” answered Mendara. “My companions and I piled duergar staves five and six high in the Seven Pillared Hall before we came to this place and then we broke each every one lest they once more return to the hands of a gray dwarf.”
“But our cause is just,” Telkya pleaded. “We seek no power or spoils. We seek only to save the lives of those who were brought here.”
“And do you do that truly for the sake of those you save?” questioned the dwarf. “Or simply because duty compels you to save them?”

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 5)

“It was not for duty that we threw down the gates of the Horned Hold,” said Dulvarna, her voice rising. “It was not for duty that we slew Murkelmor himself. We came here to save lives and for nothing more.”

“Great feats both I am sure,” answered the black bearded man. “Though the gates of the Horned Hold have been thrown down before and Murkelmor when last we saw him was balding and fat. Age has no doubt slowed him further while we have been doomed to wander this dark place.”
“Age has not slowed Murkelmor and his hold was strong when we came to it,” Enlishia responded. “We faught there strongly for two days but the duergar and their orc allies were vanquished in the end. It lies empty still, I’d wager, and the duergar will not soon be coming back to it.”
“Perhaps, perhaps,” mused Mendara seeming to look upon Enlishia with some form of respect. “The duergar are perhaps stronger now than we remember them. Murkelmor’s father though, was truly a mighty dwarf. We struck him down four times before he finally fell.”

“Pardon me, Lady,” interrupted Erlmoor before Mendara could meander into another boast. “But we surely did not come here to share tales and you, surely, do not keep us here to learn of our exploits. We have told you why we have come here and now we would continue on our way for surely every moment delayed takes the captives we seek further away from us.”
“You are right, of course,” answered the spirit of the dwarf. “But so few come as far as here and none have yet prevailed in this dark place and so we would discern whether you deceive us with your tales. If you deceive us then perhaps you mislead us about the strength of your arms and your Art. We would not see you fail as we did.”

“And we shall not,” answered Lavren quickly. “I am a warlock who has studied the fey mysteries of my kind. Many have tasted the power of my eldritch assaults and fallen to them. Litiraan and Telkya are strong in Art and faith and Erlmoor, Dulvarna and Enlishia wield their arms with rare skill. We shall prevail.”

“Perhaps you shall,” answered Mendara. “But we were strong as you were and had vanquished far more powerful foes when we fell here.”
“Could you hurl balls of flame as I can, or grip a foe in an icy hand?” asked Litiraan. “My wand and the amulet at my neck are enchanted as is my blade. Were you as well armed and as skilled when you came here? And more than that, I seek the captives not out of duty but because they are friends and kin. I will not let them die!”

“Well spoken elf lord,” answered Mendara. “Our kin are too often humble and reserved but you show the true power of the Fair Folk that raised up Myth Drannor and crafted a kingdom in fair Evermeet that I shall never see.”

She looked sad then and the others found their gazes torn between the sad and proud elf maid and the elf lord who seemed to have found the determination and strength that had first set him at the head of his war band.
“My brother speaks truly,” said Telkya after a pause. “And I for my part have vowed to stand beside him as we search for our kin.” Despite Mendara watching her with her cold, piercing eyes, Telkya could not help but sneak a sideways glance at Lavren. For a moment, she thought that Mendara had looked into her heart and seen the omission in what she had said. She stayed for Lavren too, she admitted to herself for the first time. She felt a faint nervous excitement in her stomach as she allowed herself the thought despite the danger of her surroundings and the chill that still held all of them. She looked up at Mendara and to her surprise, the elf’s face softened.

“This place is called the Proving Grounds,” said the robed elf. “And it was a testing place for worshippers of the demon lord Baphomet when minotaurs yet ruled under the mountain. Still, some cultists come here to prove their mettle but none have passed through it since we have been here.”
“You must find four items,” said the dwarf. “A knife, a mask, a bell and a book. You must place each of these items on one of the four circles of runes found within this place.”

“Alas if it were only that easy,” said the black-bearded man and the companions noticed as he straightened that as well as the other cuts and gouges, his mail coat was torn in half across his waist. “The items must be placed on the runes at the exact same time.” Mendara nodded sternly.
“Three of the items are held within chambers built to test Baphomet’s worshippers,” said the elf maid. “You can find these chambers to the north, west and south of where we now stand, through the eastern double doors and then through another set of doors that lead to the west. The fourth item, the book, is on an altar in a small shrine to the east.”

“We wish you well,” said the dwarf, his form, along with the others, beginning to fade. “We truly do. May you prevail where we did not.”
“Wait,” pleaded Dulvarna. “Is there not more you can tell us.”
“We have told you all we can,” said Mendara, her voice now sounding distant and her form barely visible. “I hope it will be enough.”

An instant later the spirits were gone and the chill that had heralded their appearance was lifted. The six companions shared nervous glances and then turned towards the eastern doors.

Next.....Lost in the Dark

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 1)

They passed through the doors with their blades drawn and spells and prayers ready. Taking care to avoid treading on the blood trails they emerged into a long chamber that extended to the south. More blood stained the floor further into the room, one wide stain seemingly the source of the trail that led through the doors. A circle of runes was carved in the floor and dyed with orange powder while beyond the circle was a plain altar block of stone. Atop the altar rested a tarnished jug, and beside it were some half-burned scraps of parchment. The doors that they had been told of led westward and slowly, almost unwillingly, Dulvarna turned towards them. Beyond the portals, a passage led north and south, its floor seemingly worn smooth as though by the passage of many feet or of some war engine.

Dulvarna turned north and then followed the passage in a sharp turn to the west. A dark opening yawned on her left and she peered into it warily before passing it by. The passage turned left again just beyond the opening and led them southward to another set of double doors that led west. Dulvarna looked at the doors and then made to move past them but Erlmoor halted her with his deep voice.

“Why do we pass these by,” the paladin rumbled. “These must surely lead to one of the items that the spirits bade us seek.”
“And if they do,” Lavren spoke up. “What good will they do us. We have learned little that will take us to the kindred of Litiraan and Telkya and I know not why we seek these items if we know not what they do.”
“Then what would you have us do?” asked Dulvarna. “We are all but lost in the dark, deep beneath this mountain and as you have said, we have learned little of the fate of the remaining captives. All we know if that they are here.”

“We go back and search this place room by room,” said Lavren. “We passed two branches before we came to this place and explored neither. We have seen no gnolls and yet we are venturing deeper and deeper into this dark place of cultists and minotaurs. We go back and we try to find the elves.”
“Alright then, we go back” said Dulvarna. She paused for a moment. “But you can explain it to the ghosts when they ask.”

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 2)

The ghosts did not ask, nor even appear as the companions made their way back through the darkness to the well chamber through which they had entered the Well of Demons. They paused before the eastern passage and readied their weapons, spells and prayers. Dulvarna surveyed the bodies of the enemies they had laid low in the chamber for a moment and then started forward. Double doors blocked the corridor a short way in but Dulvarna grasped the handles and pushed them open. Beyond, the stench of rotting food and worse – struck the companions like a wave as they passed through the portals. Several torches illuminated thee hallway, and as soon they stepped forward, laughter-like barks echoed from just beyond the light.

Dulvarna started forward with her blade held vertically in front her. A side passage opened up on the left and she turned down it. A short passage led to a mess hall with two long tables surrounded by chairs. At the far table sat two dog-headed humanoids with great black manes of fur down their necks and upper backs. Dulvarna knew them to be gnolls at once and as they saw her they both began to growl softly. Both tossed aside the hunks of meat they had been gnawing at and reached for the spears and shields that lay on the table close to them. As they rose, Dulvarna saw that a slightly curved, black canine facing downwards had been crudely painted on each shield. They had found the Blackfangs.

Erlmoor watched Dulvarna turn to the left and then started forward himself, his sword held up before him as hers had been. Another passage yawned on the right, beyond the one on the left that the warrior woman had taken and he gestured to it, intending that someone else should watch or explore the opening. Beyond, he made his way almost to the end of the corridor and peered ahead into a wide chamber with a fenced off pen area filling the far side. Behind the fences, hyenas whooped and cackled and as the paladin watched, a tall gnoll emerged from a side chamber to the right and crossed to the pen. The gnoll cast a sidelong glance towards the dragonborn and seemed to smile, showing huge wolf-like teeth. As he reached the pen, he reached down to a gate in the fence, undid the catch and swung it open. With apparent whoops of joy, the hyenas rushed to taste their new-found freedom and to defend their masters from the invaders that had come.

The gnolls rushed at Dulvarna almost at the same time, coming around the tables from opposite sides. From the left a spear drove at her leg and she twisted around to bring her sword down to parry. From the other side came another spear thrust, this one aimed high and her throat and she ducked, the point of the weapon missing the top of her head by mere inches. She stepped back towards the passageway entrance then to give herself more room and settled back to studying the gnolls’ attacks. So far they seemed clumsy and brash but she knew that it was never wise to underestimate an enemy. Not even this one.

A hyena leapt through the gate and covered the width of the chamber in a few short bounds. It leapt as it reached Erlmoor, its jaws open and questing for the dragonborn’s throat. He twisted aside and slammed his shoulder into the beast’s flank as it passed him, sending it yelping to the floor next to him. The beast twisted quickly and growled while sixing up the dragonborn and the challenge that this new prey presented. Erlmoor growled in response and the hyena back away a step, seemingly biding its time until the rest of its pack came to its aid.

Litiraan rushed after Dulvarna and Erlmoor, his sword in one hand and his wand in the other. He heard sounds of battle from the left hand passage almost at once and turned aside. There, at the far end, her saw Dulvarna battling two gnolls and he raised his wand. Uttering an incantation, he loosed a silver bolt towards the gnoll on the right. The arcane energy seared into the gnoll’s shoulder and with an unmistakably canine yelp, the creature shrank back, before turning to regard this new threat. Litiraan met its gaze without wavering. These beasts were slavers and they had his kin. They would pay with their lives.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 3)

Telkya rushed forward after her brother and spared the left passage only a brief glance. Dulvarna seemed to be holding off two gnolls and with Litiraan’s help, Telkya decided that she would prevail. Remembering Erlmoor’s signal, she paused as the right hand passage opened up beside her. She turned down it and made her way cautiously into the shadowy darkness. The torchlight lit up a set of double doors on the right and showed the passage continuing beyond her vision ahead. Telkya stopped and listened for a moment but heard only the sounds of battle behind her. Deciding that nothing had been alerted in whatever chambers lay further down the passage, she turned back to join the battle. Suddenly, as she turned a figure was in front of her and she raised her sword but then she recognised the form before her.
“Thought you’d got lost in the dark,” said the elf with a faintly embarrassed smile.
“It seems I could not even had I wanted to with you to protect me,” Telkya answered, more harshly than she had intended.

Lavren’s face hardened as he turned away and headed back up the hallway without another word. Knowing that she had upset him and angry at herself for doing it, Telkya followed.

Enlishia nocked an arrow to her bow and rushed forward, passing both passage entrances without pausing. Dulvarna could always hold her own, she knew, and what Lavren and Telkya busied themselves in the shadows of the right hand passage was for them alone. As she passed the second, right hand opening, she raised her bow as she could see the hyena beside Erlmoor clearly now. She took a bead on its flank and loosed the arrow but at the last it twisted and darted away from her. The arrow tore through the fur of the beast’s shoulders and drew blood but did little else. The ranger raised her bow again and fired quickly but this time her shaft flew wide of the mark and clattered into the floor of the chamber beyond. She followed the arrow’s path with her gaze only to find it obscured from view by a flurry of movement. The rest of the hyenas were coming to join their companion.

The hyenas rushed at Erlmoor but only one could reach him in the confines of the corridor. This beast darted forward and snapped at his leg but the dragonborn leapt back beyond its reach. The last two rushed out with a clarion call of yips and barks but when they realised they could not reach the paladin, they looped around the chamber outside the pen, all the while seeking an opening where they could reach their prey. Erlmoor roared his own challenge and the two creatures he faced shrank back from him. He roared again and unleashed his acid breath with his blade singing out behind.

Dulvarna stepped back into the passage entrance and drew the gnolls on. The first that came forward was met by her blade lashing out to swat aside its spear and then thrusting forward into its shoulder. The gnoll yelped and leapt back, wounded now as its companion had been and then with a howl of defiance, the gnolls came on again.

The hyena closest to Erlmoor ducked under his spray of acid but the others were seared by the burning liquid. A chorus of yelps and whines followed while the tall gnoll who had freed them unshouldered a longbow and nocked an arrow to the string. He leveled the bow towards Erlmoor but as the two hyenas leapt and darted the gnoll could not find a clear shot that would not risk the animals he had raised and cared for. With the bow still held ready, the gnoll huntmaster stalked forward seeking a place where he could strike at his enemies. Erlmoor lashed out with his blade and cut across the chest of the first hyena that had come at him. For a moment, he looked up to watch the new threat that the huntmaster presented and as he did so, the hyena he had just wounded leapt at him and sank its teeth into his leg. With a roar, he shook it off and then raised his blade, ignoring the huntmaster and the bow that he held so menacingly.

The gnolls darted forward at Dulvarna almost at the same time again and again she reacted quickly. Her blade came down to the left and slammed the spear of one gnoll into the stone floor before slashed across and knocking aside a thrust towards her stomach from the other gnoll. The gnoll ducked back as a flash of silver came from its left and Litiraan’s second silver bolt flew past the creature to strike the far wall of the room. Dulvarna decided then to retreat further towards her companions and draw the gnolls onwards. Perhaps then, Litiraan’s aim would improve, she mused.

Telkya rushed past Lavren to reach the main passage ahead of him. Looking right, she saw Erlmoor battling hyenas while a gnoll and more hyenas stalked behind his enemies. To the left she heard the sounds of battle and once again decided that her brother and Dulvarna would prevail against the gnolls. She rushed to Enlishia’s side with her sword in her right hand and a prayer on her lips. She looked back as Lavren emerged from the southern passage and without a glance in her direction, moved to aid Litiraan and Dulvarna against the gnolls.

Beside Telkya, Enlishia glanced once at the elf, raised an eyebrow and then nocked an arrow to her bow. When she let loose the shaft it drove into the flank of one of the hyenas that Erlmoor faced and with amazing fluidity, the ranger reached for, nocked, and then loosed, another arrow a moment later. This drove into the same hyena and with a yelp, the creature staggered and all but fell. Half-heartedly, it snapped at Erlmoor but the dragonborn dodged backwards and then brought down his blade, putting the creature out of its misery. Then an arrow drove into Enlishia’s shoulder and Erlmoor, Telkya and the ranger herself realised that the huntsman had found his aim.