Argent Needs
Okay, I'm going to try and work on posting shorter updates. I think that I've allowed the posts to get longer than they need to be, and that makes them too unwieldy for some readers. Besides, with long posts, I'll end up catching up with the current game that much faster, and I'd like to preserve my 'cushion' as long as I can (I used to have 7+ months, now it's about two, and will probably catch up rapidly since we alternate with my M&M game).
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There was a long, uncomfortable silence around the table as Emperor Haxtha regarded each of them in turn.
“I am well aware that you do not care much for me,” Haxtha said at last. “But I have greater concerns than whether or not one group of adventurers, even ones as notable as yourselves, finds me agreeable. If I seem particularly heavy-handed now, it is because my empire is the one being invaded, and I must use every resource available in the most efficient manner possible. So you will forgive me if I choose not to coddle you as Herion has done.”
“Prince Herion has never coddled us,” Arrie said, straining to remain calm.
“No? I am well aware of how much assistance he has given you over the past three years. Some of that is understandable – I would expect him to be supportive of his wife and protect her from harm. But I have seen the reports myself from the treasury – gold sent to shipwrights, to artificers, to weaponsmiths, as well as items of power removed from our vaults. I have spoken with the head of the Church of Erito as well as the sub-commanders of the Imperial Huntsmen.”
“If His Imperial Majesty feels that we are unworthy of the gifts which your brother has granted us,” Tolly said, “I am sure we will be happy to return what we can, and compensate you for the rest.”
Cold panic shot into Kyle’s stomach. His staff – the Scion’s Staff – had come from the Tlaxan vaults, an overlooked curiosity at the time which had been gladly given as a reward since it appeared to have only a minor enchantment. At the time, no one knew its origins, or its true potential – potential Kyle knew wasn’t even fully realized yet. The staff had become too valuable to him to just give it up.
Haxtha’s response was an almost dismissive wave. “Again, I see you assume the worst of me.” He turned to look at Autumn. “Tell me, Duchess, do you think that if I truly believed you unworthy of my brother’s support, that I would have granted you dominion over one of the largest domains in my empire? One far larger and more vital than the one you would have inherited had you chosen to become Autumn Coviere instead of Autumn Verahannen.”
Autumn looked at the Emperor without expression.
“And Princess, do you think that if I did not have faith in your personal ability on the field of battle, as well as that of your companions, that I would have allowed you to wander about the face of Affon all this time without a permanent escort of Imperial Guardsmen and Initiates of the Order? Do you think I would have allowed a bard from the wilds of the Steppes to assume such a critical role in the formation of the alliance as well as the coordination of my empire’s counterintelligence if I did not think her eminently qualified for the task? Do you think I would have allowed a Targethi wizard to walk out of my vaults with an artifact of enormous power if I did not believe that he was the one destined to wield it?”
Haxtha leveled a gaze at each of them. “I have been hard, because I know that you are capable of meeting any challenge you are presented with. I have shifted much of the burden of this war onto your shoulders, perhaps more than you realize, because lesser beings would break under the pressure. I have been cold and harsh because I know I can be cold and harsh with you, that you could carry on despite a bruised ego, something so many in this palace are incapable of doing. I need not waste my time wooing you with honeyed words and empty promises – I know that when I say ‘do this thing’, it will be done. And do not think that I am not grateful for what you have done for my empire, and for what you have done for me personally when my son…” Haxtha swallowed and closed his eyes briefly, then continued as if nothing had happened. “My brother rewards you with gold and magic. So be it. My reward to you is my faith and trust in you.”
There was another long, uncomfortable silence, though the feeling in the room was very different from just a minute or two earlier. It was the Emperor who once again broke the stillness.
“I have called you together for an important mission,” Haxtha said, as he pulled a roll of parchment out of his cloak and laid it out on the table, revealing a map of Tlaxan and some of the surrounding lands. He pointed at a spot on the map. “In the southern mountains between my empire and the lands of the Dwarven Confederates, here, there is a large silver mine. As it lies on the border, our two nations reached an agreement where both would profit; the Confederates mined the ore and refined the silver, and then our Empire would export the metal and sell it. The dwarves who worked the mine were driven off several years ago by a group of stone giants, who now live in the mine. At the time, the expense of mounting an expedition to liberate the mine was considered too prohibitive, and so the giants were not rooted out. But now, we are faced with an enemy that makes heavy use of lycanthropic shock troops. We need the silver to construct weapons capable of counteracting this threat, and as a source of revenue with which to pay mercenaries. Apparently, the threat of death or slavery is not enough to entice some groups to act.”
“What do we know about the giants in the mine?” Arrie asked.
“Annoying little. No one has been there for years, and the scout we sent to gather some intelligence did not return. We couldn’t spare another scout, so no more attempts were made.”
“Stone giants in general are at least as intelligent as humans, and also like humans don’t tend toward any particular moral or ethical outlook,” Kyle said. “They are especially skilled at rock throwing, and prefer that to melee fighting when they can. They are usually about 12 feet tall fully grown, and their gray skin makes them hard to see in rocky or mountainous terrain. They’re fairly long-lived, averaging about 700 years or so. Some of their elders develop abilities to manipulate earth and stone magically, and a rare few develop into true sorcerers. It’s likely they’ve set up some sort of defenses in the mine, and if they captured or killed the scout, they could be more wary now.”
“Wow, Kyle,” Lanara said, “next thing we know, you’ll be spouting off the official Draconic classification from
The Big Book of Humanoids.”
“Oh, you mean
aliomagnus silicis? And it’s
Librus Alicus, volume four of E
ncyclopaedia Animus Vitae.”
Lanara turned to Autumn and said sarcastically, “Boy, I bet it gets you all hot and bothered when he starts up with the obscure intellectual stuff, doesn’t it?” Autumn only smiled in response.
“If there are no other questions,” Haxtha said sharply, “then you are to depart with all haste and attempt to liberate the silver mine. You are free to retain possession of any valuables you may find, to do with as you please, save for the silver ore, any mining equipment remaining, or any refined silver within the mine. It is possible that the giants have been smelting ore since taking possession of the mine; they have the intellect to achieve it, if they have been able to build the proper equipment or adapt what the dwarves left behind to their size.”
“We will need a day, perhaps two to prepare, your Majesty, before we can depart,” Autumn said. “Most of us are currently provisioned for war, not adventuring.”
“This is understandable. You will be given rooms in the Imperial Palace, and servants will be put at your disposal to gather what resources you need.” Haxtha stepped back from the table. “I will leave you to your plans. I must meet with the Admiral of the Targeth Imperial Air Fleet and discuss the deployment of their sky galleons.” With a swirl of his royal purple cloak, the Emperor turned and left the room, getting swallowed up immediately outside the doors by a cloud of advisors and aides.
The Legacy looked at each other for a long time. Finally, Arrie said, “So, leaving tomorrow morning, then?”
“Make it the morning after,” Kyle said. “I haven’t seen my wife in over three months. The silver mine can wait one more day.”
* * *
The landscape rolled by under their feet, many yards below, as the party rushed south toward the mountains, borne by Tolly’s
wind walk spell. They’d considered using shadow walk, since Kyle could bring the seven of them along with one spell, rather than the two castings that Tolly required, but Kyle had warned them that with the war so close, the Shadow Plane near Tlaxan was teeming with the spirits of the dead, and that the trip might be problematic. The party decided that they would stop in the mountains a short distance from the mine, and then camp for the night to rest and regain their strength before going in.
Stop.
They each heard the telepathic command, given in a voice that was firm but not hostile. Autumn recognized the voice immediately.
As they halted in mid-air, there was an emerald-hued shimmer in the air in front of them, and suddenly the planetar Phanuel appeared, arms and wings outspread. Arrie took a half-step back.
“Greetings, daughter, and greetings to her companions as well,” Phanuel said.
“Hello, father,” Autumn replied, wanting to embrace him but feeling uncertain how he would respond. “How are you?”
“I am well, and pleased to find you here together unharmed. These are dark times in the mortal world, child. You face great peril from these invaders from across the sea, as well as the abominations that have brought them to your lands.”
To their credit, no one reacted to the use of the word ‘abomination’.
“I would see my only daughter, child of my beloved Lysanne, as safe from harm as is within my domain to grant. Though my service to Krûsh does not permit me to walk by your side, I have been granted leave to provide each of you some aid, as you are with my daughter far more than I can be.”
Autumn bowed her head. “We’re grateful for any help you choose to give us, father, but I and my friends are capable warriors.”
Phanuel smiled. “I know this, but can a father not dote upon his daughter?”
“I suppose he can,” Autumn said with a matching smile.
“As none of you are patrons of Krûsh, or his servitors Emoh or Ladta, save for the hin, the gifts I can grant are somewhat limited, though perhaps it could be claimed that all adventurers worship the Mistress of Fate in their own way.” He turned first to Tolly, and handed him a scroll. “A sanctified invocation, servant of Ardara,” Phanuel explained. “May it aid you in your fight against evil.”
“Thank you, I shall do my best.” Tolly replied.
Next he turned to Lanara. “For you, daughter of Chaos, a wand containing a spell normally only given to those who follow the path of the Troubadour of Stars. May it inspire your companions to great works.”
“Thanks, Phanuel, I appreciate it.”
Phanuel turned to regard Arrie. “You are a soul-sister to Autumn, and I would see you remain with her as long as your mortal life permits.” He reached out and touched Arrie’s armor, even though she reflexively flinched away from the celestial’s touch. Her armor glistened and took on an iridescent sheen. “You armor will give you some measure of protection against those magics that attack your life-force directly,” he said.
Arrie, still a little nervous, mumbled a brief thanks and withdrew.
Then Phanuel regarded Kyle. “You love my daughter as I loved her mother, and would die before seeing her harmed. This pleases me. Your book of spells, please.” The planetar extended a hand, and Kyle gave him his spellbook. Phanuel closed his eyes for a moment, then handed the book back. When he opened it, Kyle saw a new spell scribed in small, delicate letters on the page, compressed into what seemed an impossibly small amount of space.
“The number of arcanists outside of Krûsh’s direct service who know that spell likely do not outnumber your group,” he said. “Guard it well. Use it well.” Then Phanuel reached into his robe, and withdrew a small greenish pearl. “There is this, as well,” he said, and then looked into Kyle’s eyes. There was a brief glimmer in the wizard’s eyes that said he was receiving a personal telepathic message. When the glimmer faded, Kyle nodded and put the bead and his spellbook away.
Next Phanuel looked at Osborn. “You have been a true friend to Autumn, and I see that you have a true friend of your own. Thus I can think of no better gift than this.” Phanuel reached out and touched Rupert on the forehead. Instantly, the mastiff’s eyes turned silver, and his fur shone like gold. He seemed to stand slightly taller, and the spark of greater intellect suffused him.
“Wow!” Osborn said excitedly, as he knelt to greet his newly-empowered companion. “Thanks!”
Finally, Phanuel regarded his daughter. “Your axe, please, Autumn,” he said. Autumn handed the greataxe to him, and he placed it down at his feet, where it stayed when he let go despite being hundreds of feet in midair. Phanuel moved his hands over the blade, and a golden liquid seemed to flow from his palms and absorb into the metal. The axe retained a slight golden color when he returned it. “Your weapon will now be a devastating force against evil,” he said. “I know you will put it to good use.”
“Of course, father,” Autumn said. “And again, thank you.”
“I must depart,” Phanuel said, “as must you, I sense. Fortune smile upon you in your journey, and may we see each other again in better times.”
Phanuel turned, and his great wings flapped, carrying him away from the party and flying east toward the sea. He was out of sight a moment later.
“So,” said Osborn, after a while, “when we were all in the Tower, chasing simulated kobolds out of a fake copper mine, did any of you think that one day we’d be accepting gifts from powerful angels who just happened to drop by on us as we were flying over the Tlaxan Empire on our way to root giants out of a mine in order to support an intercontinental war effort?”
“I can’t say I did,” admitted Lanara. “Mostly I was just trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life after graduation.”
“Heck,” said Kyle, “I didn’t even think I was going to graduate.”
* * *
The main shaft of the mine led downward into the mountain at a noticeable angle, two hundred feet or so straight through the rock. The grooves in the floor for the mine carts were still there, though they looked as though they hadn’t been used in years. There had been no sign of sentries, or any traps or other defenses. The party was immediately wary. They were now proceeding down the shaft, communicating silently thanks to the
telepathic bond spell that Kyle had acquired from a War Wizard of Targeth. Arrie, as the only person in the group that lacked enhanced vision (either through birth, some form of magic, or, as she chided Tolly, “from turning into some sort of weird rock creature”*), chose to act as rearguard, holding her magical lantern. Osborn and Crystal were well ahead, scouting the passage. Initially Crystal had expressed concerns when Tolly had ordered her to assist Osborn.
“I don’t wish to interfere with your standard procedures, Inquisitor Primus,” she had said. Kyle’s spell could only encompass six of them, so Crystal wasn’t able to utilize the
telepathic bond.
“If you get in the way, I’m sure that they’ll tell you,” Tolly had said to her. “There’s no lack of communication in this party with dissatisfaction.”
“In other words, Tolly thinks we’re bitchy,” Arrie quipped.
“Ariadne, I’ve never said such a thing.”
“No, but you think it.”
“Remember, she’s the one with psychic powers,” Kyle said.
Arrie grinned. “Maybe I’m reading your mind right now, Tolly.”
“Can’t be,” Tolly said. “You’re not blushing.”
“It takes a lot to make me blush.”
Crystal took in the exchange, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Tolly had informed Crystal of Arrie’s psionic abilities, knowing that if she couldn’t accept this then she could not serve as his apprentice. Crystal was not pleased by the news, but made it clear that she was instructed to obey Tolly, and that if he commanded that she accept that Arrie was a wilder, she would deal with it.
Osborn’s voice came to the party over the bond**.
“There’s something on the ceiling up here, where it looks like there used to be an intersection. Some sort of greenish slime, but not the usual sort you see underground. It’s moving on it’s own a little, and there are little flickers of energy running through it.”
“Any idea what it is?” Kyle asked.
“No clue. Want to take a look?”
“I’ll go,” Tolly said.
“Wait here.”
Tolly came forward, and upon reaching Crystal (Osborn was nowhere to be seen, though this hardly surprised Tolly), saw the slime for himself.
“It’s an arcane ooze,” Tolly said to the others,
“Kyle and Lanara, stay back.”
“What does it do?” Autumn asked.
“It feeds on arcane energies. They’re immune to all magic, and would absorb Kyle and Lanara’s power. I think I can seal it up without having to fight it.”
“Go for it,” Autumn agreed.
Tolly cast a
stone shape spell, and warped the ceiling around the ooze, sealing it inside a shallow dome of rock.
“Thanks, Tolly,” said Kyle and Lanara in unison.
Meanwhile, Osborn had crept ahead while Tolly dealt with the ooze. As the sounds of Tolly’s invocation echoed down the shaft, Osborn heard a sudden shuffling from further down, just around a corner, as well as the clatter of metal. Osborn, who was navigating with the blindsense he had from his armor, continued forward, having already turned invisible to both normal sight and darkvision and moving as silently as a ghost. As he came to an intersection, he heard the noises again from his left, and could sense the passageway widened just beyond.
“Something’s moving up here, to the left about sixty feet from where the ooze is,” the hin reported.
“Do you want me to come up?” Tolly asked.
“No, stay there.”
Osborn moved around the corner to get a better view. As the magical emanation from his armor began to make out details, he sensed three humanoids standing in the middle of a wide chamber, either made of metal or wearing large amounts of it, holding large weapons. All three were poised and ready to strike, no doubt having heard Tolly’s chanting. What surprised Osborn was when the figure in the middle raised his weapon and charged straight at him.
Fortunately, Osborn had trained himself long ago to respond to surprise with action rather than uncertainty. Daggers flew from his hands and struck the charging creature, hitting several major organs. Despite the sudden flow of blood from the many wounds, the creature kept charging, breaking into a maniacal roar as its weapon, a large pick of some sort, swung around and buried itself deep into Osborn’s stomach.
As Osborn staggered back, still throwing daggers, he saw his companions rounding the corner to assist him. Tolly locked weapons with the creature that had charged him, and Crystal tumbled past him to assist. Kyle and Lanara appeared at the back of the corridor, and Autumn also moved forward, ready to strike. When Arrie ran into the room with her lantern, they all got a good look at their foes.
“Grimlocks!” Kyle shouted, seeing the ugly gray-skinned people with smooth flesh were their eyes should be.
There was a rumbling from the back of the room in a language none of them understood, and then suddenly a hulking form came forward out of the gloom. It stood over ten feet tall, and was encased in plate armor like the grimlocks. The giant held a boulder in both hands, and hurled it at Tolly, striking him in the chest with it. The giant then pulled out a smooth stone club and bellowed a challenge.
Autumn immediately ran forward, axe raised, but one of the three grimlocks was ready, and rushed into her, swinging his weapon and forcing the sentinel to break off her assault on the giant. But the giant, with its long arms, was able to swing over the grimlock’s head and land a solid blow on Autumn that sent her flying into the wall with a crash.
Kyle attempted to
hold the giant, but the spell failed. Tolly dispatched one of the grimlocks with a
harm spell, and Osborn and Arrie finished off another. The party moved in to menace the other two enemies as Autumn rose slowly to her feet. They heard the giant begin to grunt and snarl, the tell-tale signs of a creature about to enter a barbaric rage.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Kyle said, and cast a
reverse gravity spell. As the giant flew up and slammed into the ceiling, Kyle glowered. “You can stay up there until you’ve calmed down.”
The party quickly dispatched the last grimlock, but the giant did not give up without a fight. He managed to get to his feet (on the ceiling), and jumped off, reaching out and striking Crystal with his club. After that, however, the party kept their distance, bringing the giant down with spells and long-range weapons.
After Kyle brought the giant’s body down from the ceiling, the bodies were stripped and their gear stowed in the
portable hole. The giant’s armor turned out to be mithral.
“Which way now?” Kyle asked.
“There’s two choices,” Arrie said,
“let’s go right.”
“Don’t bother,” Osborn interjected, coming up to the party from the very passageway Arrie had mentioned.
“It just leads to a storage area. Broken down equipment, nothing of any real interest.” He was jabbing himself with a healing wand, closing up the injuries he’d received in the battle.
“All right, then,” said Tolly,
“we go that way.”
The party moved toward the other opening in the chamber. Osborn attempted to move ahead to scout, but Autumn remained close behind him, wanting to keep watch over the hin. He’d been severely injured in the attack, and the party had been too far away to come to his aid. Seeing the sentinel looming over him, Osborn sighed, slipped into a nearby outcropping to escape her watchful gaze, and then crept silently forward, sneaking along the wall into the chamber beyond.
He’d only gone a few feet into the room, enough to tell it was a large chamber with a tall ceiling, when he heard an ominous click sound from behind him. Turning back, he came upon Autumn, looking slightly alarmed. She was standing still, her foot planted on the slight depression caused by the pressure plate underneath it.
“Osborn?” she thought, as the hin came into view.
“Help.”
“Hold still,” he said, speaking out loud so that Crystal was alerted as well. Osborn bent down to examine the device. Whatever it had activated had not gone off yet, so it was obviously some sort of delayed trigger. He’d missed the pressure plate on the way in because he’d hugged the wall, whereas Autumn had stepped into the middle of the entrance. A thorough search revealed a second plate high up on the wall, which would deactivate the floor plate. A giant would easily be able to reach up and press the upper plate on their way through. Osborn looked up at Autumn. Kyle and Arrie were standing next to her, and the rest of the party lingered behind in the previous chamber.
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t do anything here,” he said.
“It’ll trigger something in the next chamber, but I don’t know what. Not much I can do about it now, I’m afraid. But you can step off the plate.”
Gingerly, Autumn removed her foot. There was an ominous click as the pressure plate popped up again, but nothing happened.
“Let’s keep going,” Arrie said.
“No sense hanging out here.”
“I agree,” said Tolly.
“Being coy and shy about things has never served us.”
“We’ll go slowly,” Kyle said.
“Whatever was triggered is probably timed on the assumption that the person wouldn’t know it, and would be walking along normally.”
The party crept slowly forward. Osborn, hidden again, moved to the right, followed by Crystal. Autumn and Kyle moved to the left, and Tolly stepped out into the midst of the cavernous room. Lanara and Arrie hung back in the previous chamber; Arrie didn’t want to bring her light in yet and alert anything to their presence, while Lanara simply didn’t want to be in the middle of whatever trap awaited them.
Fortunately for the bard’s nerves, it was a short wait. A large, heavy net dropped from the ceiling of the large room, falling on Tolly’s head. The Ardaran priest tried to move out, but was caught by the heavy strands. Autumn immediately moved forward, axe in hand to try and cut him free, when they all heard the flap of huge leathery wings. Then they heard an ear-splitting screech, two forms flapped by in the darkness high above them. The creatures were barely at the limits of darkvision.
“Ythrak!” shouted Tolly from under the net. “Watch for their sonic beams!”
“They can’t see if they can’t hear!” Kyle added quickly, as he saw Lanara and Arrie step out into the chamber. Lanara cast a spell and hit one of the creatures with a
resonating bolt, having decided that turnabout was indeed fair play.
The two ythrak swooped around, far out of reach, and craned their heads toward the party. One of them screeched, and a lance of sonic energy flicked out and slammed into Lanara, rattling her teeth. Kyle quickly threw up a spell to protect everyone from sonic energy.
“You couldn’t have done that two seconds ago?” Lanara complained, as the ythrak circled overhead. Another sonic lance struck the ground in front of Kyle, showering the wizard and Autumn in shards of razor-sharp rock. Scowling, Autumn summoned up a bright celestial light, clearly illuminating their foes.
The ythrak seemed content to circle overhead in the large chamber and fire upon the party from a safe distance, so the party switched to ranged weapons. Arrows and
fireballs flew, and more sonic lances rained down. Crystal, who had no ranged weapons, was relegated to keeping an eye on the chamber beyond in case their battle attracted attention.
Tolly struggled to free himself from the net he was trapped in. Autumn swung her greataxe around in an attempt to sever some of the strands, but her attention was diverted by a nearby explosion of rock, and she misjudged, her axe biting deeply into Tolly’s midsection. Tolly howled in pain and surprise. Autumn stood stunned for a moment as a bleeding Tolly finally shrugged off the net, but was shocked back to reality when she felt a pair of arms attempting to grab at her. She shook off the hold violently and whirled to face a grim-faced Crystal, who was stepping up to attempt to grasp her again.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party was getting the upper hand on the ythrak. One of them had finally come in low, attempting to bite at Osborn, and was rewarded by getting several of the hin’s daggers in its wings and chest. The other one was blasted by
magic missiles and more arrows until it finally fell. The battle ended just in time for everyone to see Autumn slam Crystal on the side of her head with the broad, flat head of her axe.
Arrie quickly ran over. “For the love of… focus!” she hissed at both of them.
“She tried to grab me!” Autumn protested.
“Autumn,” Tolly said calmly, “you hit me with your axe.”
Crystal looked honestly perplexed, though she still glared at Autumn. “I assumed you were under some sort of magical compulsion. I was only trying to restrain you until the compulsion could be removed.”
There was a long silence in the cavern, though telepathic messages were flying about.
“All right,” Kyle said, rolling his eyes, “Autumn, apologize to Tolly for hitting him.”
“I already did,” she protested.
“So Crystal can hear you,” Kyle explained.
“Tolly,” Autumn said in a loud whisper, “I didn’t mean to strike you. I was trying to sever the ropes on the net. I apologize.” Then Autumn turned to look at Crystal. “Try to grab me in battle again,” the sentinel snarled, “and next time I won’t use the flat.”
“Why don’t we argue about this later,” Osborn snapped. “We have a mine to clear, remember?”
As the party moved down toward the far end of the room, Crystal stepped up to Tolly. “Did I err, brother?” she asked quietly in Terran.
“No, sister, you did not,” Tolly replied in low tones. “You acted properly under the circumstances. Autumn is… temperamental. Should the situation arise in the future, act as you will, and I will deal with her.”
A short distance away, Lanara was complaining to Kyle as she healed herself with one of the party’s wands. “Why in the name of Feesha’s left teat would the giants keep ythrak in here?”
“For mining,” he replied. He gestured with his staff to a spot on the wall where one of the ythrak’s sonic lances had shattered the stone. “More efficient than traditional picks and shovels.”
The party stopped at the mouth of a long passageway that extended as far as any of them could see. By the echoes they heard of their own footsteps, they could tell it was very long. The shaft descended at a gentle slope.
“Any way to tell how far it goes?” Arrie asked.
“I have an idea,” Kyle said. He produced one of his light globes, and willed it to a faint glow. He then brought his familiar Violet out of his magical belt.
“Violet,” he said, “take this light and fly down the passageway until you reach the end, then return. If you see anything living, return immediately. If there are side passages, try and see if there’s anything obvious of interest, but don’t leave the main passage.”
There was a brief exchange between Kyle and Violet in a chittering language none of them could understand, and then Violet cawed, picked up the globe in her talons, and flew off.
“I thought that Violet could speak Common,” Arrie asked.
“Oh, she can,” Kyle said, “she just thinks it’s beneath her.”
After a long wait, Kyle suddenly looked perplexed. “She’s coming back,” he said, “I could feel she was getting close to the limit of our bond, but I didn’t get the sense that she’s reached the bottom.”
“What is your range?” Arrie asked.
“A mile.”
Lanara sighed. “I guess we can’t accuse the dwarves of being lazy.”
Eventually, Violet returned and perched on Kyle’s shoulder after dropping the globe in his hand. She chattered at him for a while, then flapped back down and slipped into her extradimensional home.
“She says that the main shaft keeps going, well past a mile,” Kyle reported. “There are some side chambers, places where the miners followed a vein of ore. She didn’t see any signs of anything living.”
“Well, standing here isn’t going to get us to the bottom any faster,” Arrie said, opening up the doors on her lantern.
It took about two hours to get to where Violet had turned back. Though the main shaft descended into the earth as straight as an arrow, there were several side corridors and tunnels that had to be checked to make sure there was nothing there that could come out behind them and trap them. When they were almost a mile down, Kyle sent Violet out again, who returned much sooner.
“She says it’s about another half-mile to the end,” Kyle reported. The
telepathic bond had ended about thirty minutes ago, and so he was forced to speak aloud. “The tunnel opens into a large cavern, and she could hear what sounded like running water. She didn’t see anything moving, but didn’t go into the cave.”
“All right, then, let’s get there,” Autumn said.
After another twenty minutes or so, the party came to the chamber Violet had described. The large, irregular cavern was pock-marked with several large craters, obviously spots where the ythrak had concentrated their sonic lances to dig up ore. Water gushed from a hole on the nearby wall, and flowed into a shallow pool before flowing across the chamber and disappearing down another rift in the floor. A pair of buckets lay at the edge of the pool.
“Must’ve tapped an underground spring,” Osborn commented as he examined the pool. He was scouting several feet ahead of the rest of the group. He waded through the small stream, and began to explore a side passage while the others crossed. As he turned the corner, he noted that the rough, irregular walls of the mine gave way to smooth, square worked stone. A corridor angled off to the right, and then split into two branches. From the left branch, he could hear a slow, rhythmic noise that sounded like two rocks scraping together.
Osborn waited for the others to catch up. “Sounds like we have rocks grinding ahead,” he said. “Wait here a minute.”
He came back a moment later. “It’s another one of those stone giants,” he reported. “Sleeping and snoring. He’s wearing the same mithral plate armor that the last one had.”
“So, who wants the honor?” Lanara asked. “Not me.”
“Well,” Tolly said, “it’s not exactly fair, but…”
“Would you like me to join you, Tolly?” Autumn asked.
Tolly looked around, and saw Osborn give him a look. “Let Osborn do it,” he said. “We’ll wake the giant up before we get close.”
Osborn pulled out a dagger. “Okay, sounds good. Wait here until you hear the snoring stop.”
The hin crept forward to the corner where he’d spied the giant. Satisfied that it was still asleep, Osborn stepped out into the intersection to make his way down the hall. As soon as he did, glowing red runes flared up all around the floor and walls, and a large fire elemental appeared in a blast of heat and light. As Osborn backed up, he noticed that the snoring had stopped.
Kyle was the first one to run up. He uttered a few arcane words, and shouted a code-phrase to Osborn that told him to get out of the way. The hin rolled past the elemental to the far side of the intersection, putting the summoned creature between himself and Kyle’s spell. A blast of frigid air and ice filled the intersection, and when it ended, the elemental was gone.
“I knew we kept you around for a reason,” Tolly said, as he ran up to join Tolly. He’d cast a
divine vigor spell on himself, and now his granite-textured skin glistened with Ardara’s power.
It was a brief, bloody battle. The giant managed to get in a few good shots on the party, but there were far too many enemies opening up far too many wounds. As the weapon blows rained down in time to Lanara’s battle song, the giant staggered and fell to his knees before Autumn neatly decapitated him.
“Well, that’s sure to bring everyone else in the place on top of us,” Arrie said grimly.
“Then we’d better get ready,” Tolly said. “There may be more summoning wards further one as well.”
“Or other traps,” Osborn added.
“Kyle?” Autumn said, who noticed the wizard was staring off into space. “What is it?”
“There’s a Node here,” he said.
“A Node?” Tolly said, nodding. “Interesting.”
“A Node,” Autumn echoed, not nearly as enthusiastic. Her own experiences with Nodes were not pleasant. The Ravager band that had caused her own death were led by an Acolyte of the Skin warlock who was attuned to a Node.
“What kind is it?” Osborn asked.
“It’s a Fire Node,” Kyle said, squinting as his magically enhanced vision picked up the telltale flow of elemental energy in the air around them. “Fairly potent, I’d say a third tier Node. But there’s something else… something that’s mixed with the Fire Node… I can’t quite tell, but the elemental fire energy isn’t pure. There’s some other faint influence. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Should we be looking to destroy it, Kyle?” Autumn asked.
Tolly shook his head. “Nodes are very difficult to destroy.”
“He’s right, and besides, if we can liberate the mine then the Node can be used by the alliance as well as the silver.”
“Seems like it would make smelting really easy,” Arrie commented.
“Very true,” replied Kyle. “If one of the giants has opened themselves to the Node, they could be using it to make weapons or armor.”
“Well, let’s get moving, then,” said Arrie. “Osborn, will you take point again?”
“Sure thing,” said the hin, but no sooner had the words left his mouth that a bright white light filled the cavern, and standing before them was Phanuel.
“My apologies,” said the planetar. “I did not expect to see you again so soon. But we have need of Osborn’s resources. Immediately.” With that, Phanuel reached out, touched Osborn on the head, and in a flash of light both beings vanished. Rupert flashed out of existence a split second later.
“People come and go so quickly here,” Arrie said after the initial shock had worn off.
Kyle looked at the spot where Osborn had been, and then looked at Autumn. “Now I know where you get it from,” he said.
“Where I get what from? What are you talking about?”
“Please, Autumn, there are giants near,” Kyle said. “Let’s focus.” He turned in time to hide his smirk from his wife.
Autumn fumed behind him. “I’m going to beat him when we get home,” she murmured.
“If you do,” Tolly interjected, “just be sure to use the flat of your axe this time.”
---------------------------------------------
* Tolly has levels in the Elemental Savant prestige class (earth focus, obviously), and has been slowly transforming into an elemental. But stay tuned...
** It seems silly now, but you wouldn't believe how long it took me to decide how I was going to depict conversation over the
telepathic bond. I didn't want to go with straight italics, because that's what I use for internal thinking and
sendings. I also didn't want to just leave it plain, because I wanted to make it clear when things are said out loud and when they're thought. But up until now I've only used color text to depict speech from deities or other very powerful beings. And then there was the debate over using quote marks vs not using them, and of course I have to use something that shows up clearly not only on a plain white background (ie, paper) but also on ENWorld's black background.
Just a little glimpse into the crafting of a Story Hour. I'm sure you're all weeping over my ordeal.
