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Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1865607" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 267</p><p></p><p>The cavern was cold and dark, filled almost to the brim with water, the only noise an occasional drip that sounded overly loud in the confined space. </p><p></p><p>A flicker of light disturbed the stillness of this place, far from the benevolent light of the sun. The light came from under the surface of the water, and it slowly drew nearer, twisting and shifting position, as if struggling to escape from its liquid prison. </p><p></p><p>The light had only just grown bright enough to cast faint glimmering reflections on the slick walls above the water when something emerged from the pool. A long, twisting tentacle snaked out of the water, grasping onto a nearby rock. Several other followed, slender lengths of pale, translucent flesh with pink suckers running along their undersides. Once enough had attached, they drew the mass of their owner out of the water, a bulbous figure with great, unblinking eyes. </p><p></p><p>The octopus sat there on the edge of the pool for a long moment, then its form began to shift and distend, growing taller, the tentacles sinking back into its body. The transformation lasted only a few seconds, and when it was done Shensen Tesseril stood there, shaking off a few stray droplets of water that clung to her long hair. </p><p></p><p>She reached down into the icy water, helping a sodden Dannel up onto the ledge. The elf bore the light, that had appeared earlier, a magical <em>continual flame</em> set onto a small piece of wood that he’d strapped to his armor across his chest. Mole sprang up out of the water a moment later, a wide grin on her face. Zenna arrived a minute after that. The dwarves were the last to arrive. Their heavy armor had made passage through the flooded tunnels difficult, but it had also served as a useful anchor in several places, when sudden rushes of rapid current had threatened to fling some of them into alternate passages against their will. </p><p></p><p>Hodge burst the plane of water and spat out a big gout of water, splashing all of them as they helped haul him up onto the ledge. “Bragh!” he roared. “Blasted water! It ain’t natural!”</p><p></p><p>“Okay, now that we’ve alerted every living thing within five miles that we’re here,” Dannel said, drawing his new magical quiver out of a sealed oilcloth bag, one of several that they’d purchased to protect their equipment from water damage. The quiver served him in much the same way as Mole’s magical bag, storing not only his arrows within its extradimensional space, but his bow and <em>Alakast</em> as well. The others had had to take more precautions to secure their gear, but at least their magical weapons and armor weren’t susceptible to rust. </p><p></p><p>“Hey, look at it this way, you get to do it all again on the way back up!” Mole said with a coy smile. </p><p></p><p>Hodge’s sudden look of realization was priceless. </p><p></p><p>“We should start a fire, and dry ourselves off,” Arun suggested. “We don’t want to freeze when those cold-protection spells wear off.” His breath made a plume in front of his face, confirming the low temperature in the cavern.</p><p></p><p>“They’ll last a full twenty-four hours,” Shensen reassured him. </p><p></p><p>“I can already feel Jenya’s direction spell fading,” Zenna said. “I hope that wherever ‘here’ is, it’s where we’re supposed to be.”</p><p></p><p>“Where does the spell point now?” Dannel asked. </p><p></p><p>Zenna pointed toward the only choice that was apparent to them, a dark tunnel that extended away from the water’s edge. </p><p></p><p>“Let’s be about this, then,” Beorna said, drawing her holy blade out of its scabbard. “Plenty of time to rest when we’re dead.”</p><p></p><p>“Cheerful prospect,” Dannel said, following the dwarves as they started down the passage. </p><p></p><p>They didn’t get very far before the passage ended in a huge, sheer wall of frozen ice. A narrow tunnel had been hacked in the wall, revealing another corridor beyond. </p><p></p><p>“This was done with tools,” Arun said, examining the gap. </p><p></p><p>“The air is colder beyond,” Dannel added. </p><p></p><p>“I’ll go check it out,” Mole offered, hopping into the opening.</p><p></p><p>“Mole, wait!” Zenna said, but she was already gone. </p><p></p><p>“Gnomes,” Hodge said, clutching his axe tightly. He’d left his spear behind for this one, unwilling to deal with the large, cumbersome weapon in the flooded tunnels. </p><p></p><p>After a long, tense minute, Mole reappeared. “There’s another passage further down,” she said. “It’s lit, and cold, and...” </p><p></p><p>“What?” Dannel asked. </p><p></p><p>“You guys need to see it for yourselves,” the gnome replied. “It’s... weird.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 1865607, member: 143"] Chapter 267 The cavern was cold and dark, filled almost to the brim with water, the only noise an occasional drip that sounded overly loud in the confined space. A flicker of light disturbed the stillness of this place, far from the benevolent light of the sun. The light came from under the surface of the water, and it slowly drew nearer, twisting and shifting position, as if struggling to escape from its liquid prison. The light had only just grown bright enough to cast faint glimmering reflections on the slick walls above the water when something emerged from the pool. A long, twisting tentacle snaked out of the water, grasping onto a nearby rock. Several other followed, slender lengths of pale, translucent flesh with pink suckers running along their undersides. Once enough had attached, they drew the mass of their owner out of the water, a bulbous figure with great, unblinking eyes. The octopus sat there on the edge of the pool for a long moment, then its form began to shift and distend, growing taller, the tentacles sinking back into its body. The transformation lasted only a few seconds, and when it was done Shensen Tesseril stood there, shaking off a few stray droplets of water that clung to her long hair. She reached down into the icy water, helping a sodden Dannel up onto the ledge. The elf bore the light, that had appeared earlier, a magical [I]continual flame[/I] set onto a small piece of wood that he’d strapped to his armor across his chest. Mole sprang up out of the water a moment later, a wide grin on her face. Zenna arrived a minute after that. The dwarves were the last to arrive. Their heavy armor had made passage through the flooded tunnels difficult, but it had also served as a useful anchor in several places, when sudden rushes of rapid current had threatened to fling some of them into alternate passages against their will. Hodge burst the plane of water and spat out a big gout of water, splashing all of them as they helped haul him up onto the ledge. “Bragh!” he roared. “Blasted water! It ain’t natural!” “Okay, now that we’ve alerted every living thing within five miles that we’re here,” Dannel said, drawing his new magical quiver out of a sealed oilcloth bag, one of several that they’d purchased to protect their equipment from water damage. The quiver served him in much the same way as Mole’s magical bag, storing not only his arrows within its extradimensional space, but his bow and [I]Alakast[/I] as well. The others had had to take more precautions to secure their gear, but at least their magical weapons and armor weren’t susceptible to rust. “Hey, look at it this way, you get to do it all again on the way back up!” Mole said with a coy smile. Hodge’s sudden look of realization was priceless. “We should start a fire, and dry ourselves off,” Arun suggested. “We don’t want to freeze when those cold-protection spells wear off.” His breath made a plume in front of his face, confirming the low temperature in the cavern. “They’ll last a full twenty-four hours,” Shensen reassured him. “I can already feel Jenya’s direction spell fading,” Zenna said. “I hope that wherever ‘here’ is, it’s where we’re supposed to be.” “Where does the spell point now?” Dannel asked. Zenna pointed toward the only choice that was apparent to them, a dark tunnel that extended away from the water’s edge. “Let’s be about this, then,” Beorna said, drawing her holy blade out of its scabbard. “Plenty of time to rest when we’re dead.” “Cheerful prospect,” Dannel said, following the dwarves as they started down the passage. They didn’t get very far before the passage ended in a huge, sheer wall of frozen ice. A narrow tunnel had been hacked in the wall, revealing another corridor beyond. “This was done with tools,” Arun said, examining the gap. “The air is colder beyond,” Dannel added. “I’ll go check it out,” Mole offered, hopping into the opening. “Mole, wait!” Zenna said, but she was already gone. “Gnomes,” Hodge said, clutching his axe tightly. He’d left his spear behind for this one, unwilling to deal with the large, cumbersome weapon in the flooded tunnels. After a long, tense minute, Mole reappeared. “There’s another passage further down,” she said. “It’s lit, and cold, and...” “What?” Dannel asked. “You guys need to see it for yourselves,” the gnome replied. “It’s... weird.” [/QUOTE]
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Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
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