The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
rathlighthands
First Post
Dar
Zombies........... Holy weapon .......... clerics .......... Dar & he is gonna be pissed. I am betting on the bastards in this one.
Zombies........... Holy weapon .......... clerics .......... Dar & he is gonna be pissed. I am betting on the bastards in this one.
Lazybones
Adventurer
Chaper 137
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Surrounded by zombies, nearly shorn of spells, Licinius Varo found himself in a rather precarious situation. The zombies closed around him, a tightening ring almost without break.
Varo lifted his hands to his divine focus, but said nothing as he waited there, silent.
The zombies surged forward, eager to rend him apart. But as several lunged laboriously to seize him, their groping hands passed through the cleric, and they collided into each other.
Varo, shrouded by his mislead spell, moved cautiously away as the zombies dealt with his illusory double. He started circumnavigating the mound of the gatherer’s remains, searching for signs.
He didn’t have to go far. He heard Dar before he saw him, laying about him with a dagger in each hand, knocking back the zombies that were trying to bring him down. As Varo watched, he drove his punching dagger up through the jaw of one, impaling it through its skull. As the zombie flailed at him he roared and hurled the creature behind him, knocking it into a second that had come on him from behind, sending both collapsing back into the dirt. Several other zombies were approaching fast, but he looked to be all right, at least for the immediate moment. With his heavy armor, they would have a tough time hurting him with bare hands, and he wasn’t going to bet money on their being able to drag him down, either.
Varo saw the other thing he’d been looking for, a flash of white light, and headed past Dar toward the center of the mound. He left deep prints in the piled dirt, but fortunately for him, zombies were not very observant.
He saw the sword jutting from the mound, but Allera had beaten him to it. The healer, ignoring the zombies that were already starting to grab at her, was digging frantically through the dirt, trying to find something.
Varo considered his wand; nearly out of charges, but very effective against lesser undead such as these. The only problem was the sheer number of foes.
His gaze shifted to his left. He took a few steps, and lifted Beatus Incendia from where it had fallen in the dirt. He could feel the surging hatred in the blade as soon as he touched it, but he’d expected that, and he ignored it as he swept the blade into a zombie that had grabbed onto Allera, and started to drag her up from her digging.
Allera let out a tiny shriek, but tore free as Varo clumsily hacked into the zombie with the holy sword. He wasn’t a trained fighter, but the power infused in the weapon more than compensated, and the zombie collapsed. A second zombie reached for Allera before she could turn, but it was distracted by a flutter of wings, and shallow gashes appeared across its forehead as Snaggletooth appeared in front of it. The zombie reached for the faerie dragon, but the nimble creature easily avoided its grasp.
“Who’s there?” Allera asked. Varo, protected still by his mislead spell, remained invisible even after his attack. A zombie, perhaps slightly brighter than its kin, seemed to realize that something had to be holding that flaming sword in mid-air, and it lurched at him.
“It’s Varo,” he said, as he dodged its attack, and took of one of its arms with Beatus Incendia. “Have you found Talen?”
“He’s here, I can feel it...” she said, but trailed off as she continued probing through the dirt. Varo left her to her work, and focused on keeping the zombies off her. The dragon helped, although it wasn’t really able to hurt them, insteading focusing on keeping the enemy distracted.
Looking around, he saw that some of the riders had returned, and were fighting their way to Dar. The zombies attacking his false image had finally realized their mistake, and were moving either toward the fighter, or toward him and Allera. There was no sign of Shaylara.
“I’ve found him!” Allera yelled, digging even more furiously in the dirt.
“Is he alive?” Varo asked, grunting as a zombie raked dirt-encrusted claws across his jaw. Stepping back, the cleric raised the holy sword in both hands and drove it through the zombie’s neck, nearly taking its head off its body. The zombie crumpled, but was replaced by three more that were clambering up the mound.
For several long seconds, Allera didn’t respond. Then, finally... “Yes! He’s breathing again... I’ve stabilized him, but I don’t have any more healing...”
“Here,” Varo said, sparing a moment to toss his wand of cure moderate wounds into her lap. “It only has a handful of charges left, but it should be enough to bring him around. Do it quickly; I am getting tired of swinging this slab of iron about.”
“We’ve got to find Shay, as well, she’ll suffocate...”
“First things first, healer.”
Dar’s men had fought their way to him, but the mercenary-turned-colonel had already started up the hill, slaying zombies as he came. As soon as he’d gotten close enough to take the pressure off of Allera, Varo stepped a few paces away, and cast a detect magic spell. He started scanning the mound, searching for the familiar signatures of Shaylara’s magic items. If she was further than a few feet below the surface, then he would have no chance of finding her, but if he was fortunate...
There; he didn’t bother to refine the scan, but instead negated his lingering invisibility with a thought, and pointed toward the spot that his spell had revealed. “Shaylara... she’s there,” he said, indicating a heap of dirt on the far side of the mound.
“Dig her out!” Dar yelled to his men, even as he grabbed onto a zombie from behind and hacked its head from its shoulders with his dagger. “Move it!”
Serah had come down the hill, and she ran to help the soldiers, half of whom started tearing at the small heap, while the other half took care of the few remaining zombies on that side of the mound.
Grunting with effort, Allera helped pull Talen free from the mound of dirt. The knight looked terrible, caked in dirt and blood, and with one eye swollen shut from an ugly bruise that covered the entire right side of his face. A few of his teeth were missing as well; clearly his face had encountered something hard during his time inside the gatherer’s body. But he was alive, and conscious.
“Thay?” he managed to spit, as Allera pulled him free. He lay there, coughing dirt from his lungs, unable to do more.
“They’re getting her,” Allera said. Looking up at Dar, who was enaged in hacking up the last two zombies atop the mound, she gave Talen a final burst of healing from Varo’s wand, before standing and running down the mound to where the other soldiers were digging out Shay.
They found the scout’s body a few seconds later; they couldn’t get it out at first, and finally found a buried zombie clutching her ankle. After they’d hacked her free, they were able to pull her from the embrace of the loosely packed dirt. Her leg had been broken, and her boot had been torn off, revealing a swollen purple mess that was her left foot.
Allera all but fell onto her, checked her pulse quickly, then used the wand on her. The power of the device faltered after just one more charge, and still Shay lay there, pale, covered in dirt.
“No, damn it, don’t you give up...”
Ignoring the sounds of combat that still continued a few feet away, Allera bent and pulled open the scout’s mouth. Clearing the airway, she forced a breath of air into her body, then pressed onto her chest with both hands, hard. She repeated the action, and on the second breath, Shay gasped. The scout sucked in a breath, and then started coughing uncontrollably. Allera helped her, holding her to the side so she could force some of the dirt and dust from her body.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” the healer said.
“Ta... Ta...” She couldn’t finish, as her body shook with spasms of coughing.
“He’ll be fine,” Allera said. “Don’t try to move.” Looking up to the top of the mound, she saw that Dar was already helping Talen to his feet, proving her right. But the others, she knew, would not be. Not Galen, the young knight who had been the first to strike, and the first to be drawn into the creature. Not Sextus, who had been smashed under its foot like a bug. Several of Dar’s men had been killed, too; some of them might still need her help, although she would have to rely on mundane treatments for now.
Releasing Shay, she staggered to her feet. Turning, she caught sight of Varo, standing off to the side, alone. The cleric met her eyes, and for an instant, she thought she could feel him reading her thoughts, weighing them. They had won, had defeated this monstrosity of undeath, but in his eyes, she saw no triumph, only a long and dark road stretching ahead as far as anyone could see.
Suddenly, she felt very, very cold. She shuddered, and turned away to help those still among the living.
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Surrounded by zombies, nearly shorn of spells, Licinius Varo found himself in a rather precarious situation. The zombies closed around him, a tightening ring almost without break.
Varo lifted his hands to his divine focus, but said nothing as he waited there, silent.
The zombies surged forward, eager to rend him apart. But as several lunged laboriously to seize him, their groping hands passed through the cleric, and they collided into each other.
Varo, shrouded by his mislead spell, moved cautiously away as the zombies dealt with his illusory double. He started circumnavigating the mound of the gatherer’s remains, searching for signs.
He didn’t have to go far. He heard Dar before he saw him, laying about him with a dagger in each hand, knocking back the zombies that were trying to bring him down. As Varo watched, he drove his punching dagger up through the jaw of one, impaling it through its skull. As the zombie flailed at him he roared and hurled the creature behind him, knocking it into a second that had come on him from behind, sending both collapsing back into the dirt. Several other zombies were approaching fast, but he looked to be all right, at least for the immediate moment. With his heavy armor, they would have a tough time hurting him with bare hands, and he wasn’t going to bet money on their being able to drag him down, either.
Varo saw the other thing he’d been looking for, a flash of white light, and headed past Dar toward the center of the mound. He left deep prints in the piled dirt, but fortunately for him, zombies were not very observant.
He saw the sword jutting from the mound, but Allera had beaten him to it. The healer, ignoring the zombies that were already starting to grab at her, was digging frantically through the dirt, trying to find something.
Varo considered his wand; nearly out of charges, but very effective against lesser undead such as these. The only problem was the sheer number of foes.
His gaze shifted to his left. He took a few steps, and lifted Beatus Incendia from where it had fallen in the dirt. He could feel the surging hatred in the blade as soon as he touched it, but he’d expected that, and he ignored it as he swept the blade into a zombie that had grabbed onto Allera, and started to drag her up from her digging.
Allera let out a tiny shriek, but tore free as Varo clumsily hacked into the zombie with the holy sword. He wasn’t a trained fighter, but the power infused in the weapon more than compensated, and the zombie collapsed. A second zombie reached for Allera before she could turn, but it was distracted by a flutter of wings, and shallow gashes appeared across its forehead as Snaggletooth appeared in front of it. The zombie reached for the faerie dragon, but the nimble creature easily avoided its grasp.
“Who’s there?” Allera asked. Varo, protected still by his mislead spell, remained invisible even after his attack. A zombie, perhaps slightly brighter than its kin, seemed to realize that something had to be holding that flaming sword in mid-air, and it lurched at him.
“It’s Varo,” he said, as he dodged its attack, and took of one of its arms with Beatus Incendia. “Have you found Talen?”
“He’s here, I can feel it...” she said, but trailed off as she continued probing through the dirt. Varo left her to her work, and focused on keeping the zombies off her. The dragon helped, although it wasn’t really able to hurt them, insteading focusing on keeping the enemy distracted.
Looking around, he saw that some of the riders had returned, and were fighting their way to Dar. The zombies attacking his false image had finally realized their mistake, and were moving either toward the fighter, or toward him and Allera. There was no sign of Shaylara.
“I’ve found him!” Allera yelled, digging even more furiously in the dirt.
“Is he alive?” Varo asked, grunting as a zombie raked dirt-encrusted claws across his jaw. Stepping back, the cleric raised the holy sword in both hands and drove it through the zombie’s neck, nearly taking its head off its body. The zombie crumpled, but was replaced by three more that were clambering up the mound.
For several long seconds, Allera didn’t respond. Then, finally... “Yes! He’s breathing again... I’ve stabilized him, but I don’t have any more healing...”
“Here,” Varo said, sparing a moment to toss his wand of cure moderate wounds into her lap. “It only has a handful of charges left, but it should be enough to bring him around. Do it quickly; I am getting tired of swinging this slab of iron about.”
“We’ve got to find Shay, as well, she’ll suffocate...”
“First things first, healer.”
Dar’s men had fought their way to him, but the mercenary-turned-colonel had already started up the hill, slaying zombies as he came. As soon as he’d gotten close enough to take the pressure off of Allera, Varo stepped a few paces away, and cast a detect magic spell. He started scanning the mound, searching for the familiar signatures of Shaylara’s magic items. If she was further than a few feet below the surface, then he would have no chance of finding her, but if he was fortunate...
There; he didn’t bother to refine the scan, but instead negated his lingering invisibility with a thought, and pointed toward the spot that his spell had revealed. “Shaylara... she’s there,” he said, indicating a heap of dirt on the far side of the mound.
“Dig her out!” Dar yelled to his men, even as he grabbed onto a zombie from behind and hacked its head from its shoulders with his dagger. “Move it!”
Serah had come down the hill, and she ran to help the soldiers, half of whom started tearing at the small heap, while the other half took care of the few remaining zombies on that side of the mound.
Grunting with effort, Allera helped pull Talen free from the mound of dirt. The knight looked terrible, caked in dirt and blood, and with one eye swollen shut from an ugly bruise that covered the entire right side of his face. A few of his teeth were missing as well; clearly his face had encountered something hard during his time inside the gatherer’s body. But he was alive, and conscious.
“Thay?” he managed to spit, as Allera pulled him free. He lay there, coughing dirt from his lungs, unable to do more.
“They’re getting her,” Allera said. Looking up at Dar, who was enaged in hacking up the last two zombies atop the mound, she gave Talen a final burst of healing from Varo’s wand, before standing and running down the mound to where the other soldiers were digging out Shay.
They found the scout’s body a few seconds later; they couldn’t get it out at first, and finally found a buried zombie clutching her ankle. After they’d hacked her free, they were able to pull her from the embrace of the loosely packed dirt. Her leg had been broken, and her boot had been torn off, revealing a swollen purple mess that was her left foot.
Allera all but fell onto her, checked her pulse quickly, then used the wand on her. The power of the device faltered after just one more charge, and still Shay lay there, pale, covered in dirt.
“No, damn it, don’t you give up...”
Ignoring the sounds of combat that still continued a few feet away, Allera bent and pulled open the scout’s mouth. Clearing the airway, she forced a breath of air into her body, then pressed onto her chest with both hands, hard. She repeated the action, and on the second breath, Shay gasped. The scout sucked in a breath, and then started coughing uncontrollably. Allera helped her, holding her to the side so she could force some of the dirt and dust from her body.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” the healer said.
“Ta... Ta...” She couldn’t finish, as her body shook with spasms of coughing.
“He’ll be fine,” Allera said. “Don’t try to move.” Looking up to the top of the mound, she saw that Dar was already helping Talen to his feet, proving her right. But the others, she knew, would not be. Not Galen, the young knight who had been the first to strike, and the first to be drawn into the creature. Not Sextus, who had been smashed under its foot like a bug. Several of Dar’s men had been killed, too; some of them might still need her help, although she would have to rely on mundane treatments for now.
Releasing Shay, she staggered to her feet. Turning, she caught sight of Varo, standing off to the side, alone. The cleric met her eyes, and for an instant, she thought she could feel him reading her thoughts, weighing them. They had won, had defeated this monstrosity of undeath, but in his eyes, she saw no triumph, only a long and dark road stretching ahead as far as anyone could see.
Suddenly, she felt very, very cold. She shuddered, and turned away to help those still among the living.
Last edited:
CrusadeDave
First Post
Lazybones said:
Excellent. And among those living, how about some new stat blocks? Party should be Level 11ish all around by now?
Nordic Birch
First Post
Lazybones said:
Wonderful as always but one gets the nagging suspicion that the "earlier" is supposed to be "either"?
Lazybones
Adventurer
Fixed that.Nordic Birch said:
Jensun raised in the Rogues' Gallery thread the issue of Varo's intelligence (it's 10 on his stat sheet, but he figured it to be higher based on how he's portrayed in the story).
I see Varo as an example of what happens when you combine a godly Wisdom score with an average intelligence. He has awesome insight, and in fact I'm letting him swap out a bunch of spells each day when he memorizes based on what he thinks they might face that day. In essence, I give him a bit of meta knowledge that another character wouldn't have (as long as he doesn't break the 4th wall on me
). Some of his unique qualities, like the enhanced memory I reference in today's post, are just flavor traits that I have added as part of the character's background. Remember also that Varo has a lot of inside information, which makes him sometimes appear smarter than the others in the group. But the problem is that insight only goes so far, and when it comes to bridging the gaps between what's explicitly stated in the Codex and what's implied, he runs into trouble. Thus he missed the initial significance of the material in the Codex dealing with Alderford, for example, and had not explicitly prepared in advance for dealing with the corpse gatherer.
This is part of the problem for the Doomed Bastards, and especially Varo; at the moment they don't have anyone with an intelligence score that is much higher than average (I think their best is 12). Varo has access to these mystical prophecies and other information (where I'm writing in the story right now, he's relying a lot on communes and divinations), but weaker on the analysis part. As we'll see later, as a result he ends up being both right and wrong when it comes to a great many things.SRD said:
But we'll get to that in good time.
As always, I'm happy to hear your take on any of the characters in the story. They often go in different directions than I first expect them to, that's part of the fun of writing these tales.
* * * * *
Chapter 138
PLANS OF RETRIBUTION
Bastion was a castle in the old style, an edifice of huge stone blocks formed into a large square, with cold, cramped passages inside. Its owners over the years had tried to moderate its stark interior with plush rugs and thick wool tapestries to cover the bare walls, but there was no mistaking what Bastion was: a fortress.
Situated on the edge of the angular outcropping of granite that gave Highbluff its name, Bastion had once marked the farthest extent of Camar’s authority to the south. In those days, Highbluff had been on the frontier, and the fortress had been constantly manned by alert men in the orange and gold of the Duchy. Now, the frontier had moved on to the west and south, and the lands around Highbluff were fairly tame, but the place still lived on a symbol of Camar’s power.
Another storm had moved in, and most of the five thousand-odd residents of Highbluff remained in their homes this night as a fierce rain fell on the town in a deluge. But despite the inclement weather, there was a flurry of activity continuing through the night going on both inside the town, and in the two large camps that had been set up on the edge of the bluff. Even this late, columns of men continued to arrive at the camps, making their way up the steep road that led up to the top of the bluff. Hooded lanterns persisted against the rain, driving back the night, while armored men walked patrols in groups of ten, peering cautiously into the rain for any hint of a threat. Each patrol carried both a large horn and a beacon lantern, and the men who carried those were especially alert.
Bastion’s crowded inner bailey was also busy. Grooms cared for horses that filled its stables well beyond their intended capacity, and more patrols walked battlements that had scarcely seen a guardsman over the past year. The narrow windows of the castle itself were almost all bright despite the late hour, and a constant low din rose from the castle’s tiny smithy, where men would work metal all throughout the night.
High in one corner of the castle was the private study of the Baron of Highbluff, Lord Tiberius Zenocrates. The baron was not present this night, but the room was crowded with almost a dozen individuals, seated or standing around the small conference table. Young wood cracked in the small hearth, banishing the chill of the night, but the sounds of the storm were still clearly audible, as the sound of rain and wind blowing hard against the thick lead-pane windows sounded clearly even through the closed shutters.
“We need to decide how to proceed,” Talen said, laying his hands flat on the table in front of him.
“What’s to decide?” Dar asked. “We know where they are. We just need to go in there, and clean the bastards out, once and for all.”
“It is rarely that simple,” Shay said. The scout huddled in her chair, and looked bone-tired. Even with magical healing, she still had an obvious limp; her foot had been seriously mangled. But Talen hadn’t even tried to get her to rest instead of coming to this meeting.
“General Pravos, what further aid can we expect from Camar?”
The commander of the Ducal Guard straightened. He had only just arrived with the lead column of his men less than an hour ago, and while he’d changed clothes, his armor still bore a lot of the dirt and muck of the mired road. “The rest of my three hundred will be here by dawn,” he told them. “Darius’s centuries will still be a week yet, if not more; the storm has fouled many of the roads, and there has been some flooding in the lowlands.”
“Apparently the rain didn’t stop you,” Dar said.
The old soldier’s instinct for avoiding public criticism of a fellow officer kept his tongue, and Pravos did not respond.
Talen waved a hand dismissively. “You’ve all done amazingly well. Colonel Dar, getting the Border Legion all the way from the Galerr Mountains in half the time we expected was an accomplishment. And if your advance column hadn’t come when it had...”
Dar nodded at the simple truth of the statement. “In all honesty, they’re going to need a few days before they’re ready to fight. It was quite a march.”
“I think we’re all going to need a few days. Allera?”
“I’ve spoken to the healers and clerics who arrived with General Pravos from Camar. I think we can keep any outbreaks of sickness or disease in check, but we’ll need better quarters for the soldiers as soon as they can be prepared, and regular supply lines.”
“I have good men on the logistical side,” Pravos said. “It would be better if this damned storm passed, but we’ll handle it either way.”
“I talked to the baron, briefly,” Talen said. “He’s working with the merchants and householders to see how much space we can free up for a garrison. The barracks here at the castle wasn’t built to accommodate more than a few dozen, even for short stretches.”
“Why are we talking about staying here?” Dar said. “I thought this meeting was to plan our attack on those bastards in Rappan Athuk.”
That name, put to words by Dar, created a moment of quiet. “We haven’t forgotten, colonel,” Talen said. “But if we don’t attend to these things, we’re not going to have much of an army to use, when it comes to it.”
“We cannot take an army into that dungeon,” Shay said. “The place is a deathtrap. In such cramped quarters, the traps, secret tunnels, we’d only be shoving meat into the grinder.”
“If you’re afraid of going back...” Dar began.
“Don’t be a jerk,” Shay shot back. “A small, elite team, that is the best chance of success, now as it was before. These soldiers we have... they’re good, and a lot of them have combat experience, especially among the Border Legion. But they haven’t fought in dungeons before. They haven’t faced powerful undead... at least most of them,” she amended, as Dar opened his mouth to comment. “How many have confronted a demon? How many know the difference between yellow mold and harmless growths?”
“Shay’s right,” Talen said. “We need to select our best for this.”
Dar scowled. “Do you disagree with what’s been said, colonel?” Talen asked.
“No, dammit, it’s the right call,” Dar said. “But this is going to get bloody no matter how you call it.”
“Serah?” Talen asked. The cleric, seated at the end of the table, jumped slightly at being called upon; she’d been looking away, slightly distracted. The young woman flushed. “Yes, commander?”
“Are there any more clerics in the contingent that came from Camar with General Pravos... with sufficient power for what we intend?”
“Several have considerable skill, but I am afraid that I am the most powerful cleric in the cohort currently at Highbluff,” she said. “The most powerful cleric of the Father,” she added, with a furtive glance at Varo. “There are some individuals that can command more of the blessings of the Father in Camar; I am sure the Patriarch will send more help as soon as he can, but I cannot estimate when such help might arrive.” She smiled weakly. “It looks like you’re stuck with me.”
“Serah, you’ve already given a great deal, you don’t have to...”
“Commander, I think that we all will have to give more than just a great deal,” the young cleric said. “I... I cannot stay while you go to confront this evil. You will need the power of the Father at your side in Rappan Athuk. My own meager talents are at your disposal.”
“We think we are going to need all the divine intervention we can get,” Shay said, quietly. Talen looked at her, then shifted his gaze to the far side of the room, at the shadowy form that had remained there throughout the discussion, silent.
“Varo,” Talen said. “We need to know what we’re up against.”
The cleric of Dagos came forward. He had taken a large leather folio from his backpack, and now laid it upon the center of the table. Pieces of parchment protruded from the edges of the folder, which was fastened by a pair of leather ties on one side.
“Is this the book, the Codex?” Talen asked.
Varo made a small, slightly derisive smile. “No.”
“What is it then, your geometry homework?” Dar asked.
“This folio contains some of the information that I have gathered about Rappan Athuk,” the cleric said. He waved a hand carelessly at the folder. “Go ahead, open it up. The commander there,” he said, with a nod at Talen, “convinced me that I need to be more forthcoming, for the greater good of our mission.”
Dar glanced at Talen with a raised eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. No one made a grab for the folio, so Dar finally stood up and reached across the table, yanking the leather ties apart before spreading open the folder.
The folio was bound with a number of sheets of very fine parchment, most of which was covered in tiny print in a precise hand. But also included was a set of larger free sheets, which included not only writing, but diagrams, illustrations, and maps.
Shay leaned over, interested, and pulled aside one of the maps. It contained a representation of a dungeon level, or at least the portion of one that they had traversed. Those who had been there could recognize the caverns where they had confronted the ogres and Max the otyugh, and then the temple complex where they had battled the clerics of Orcus. Symbols on the edge of the map presumably indicated where the level connected to others in the dungeon. “This... this is exceptional. I do not remember seeing you drawing these while we were in the dungeon.”
“I drew them later, from memory,” Varo said.
“That is a considerable gift,” Allera said.
“No, healer, it is not,” he replied, fixing her with a cold stare. “If you saw what I have seen, and could not forget it, you would call it a curse.”
“Regardless, you know more of the cult of Orcus and its goals than any others here,” Talen said. “What must we do to put an end to their plans?”
Varo flipped open the folio to a specific page. It was covered in thaumaturgic symbols and drawings that were alien to them, but they could clearly mark out three interconnected symbols, linked by a number of curving lines. Within the triangle demarcated by the three symbols was a depiction that they were all familiar with; the horned skull of the cult of Orcus. The skull had been drawn in exceptional detail, with flames flaring out behind it, and dark eye sockets that almost seemed to look back at them from the page.
Varo pointed to the bottommost of the three symbols. “Your objective is here, the third of the three temples of Orcus in Rappan Athuk. It is there you will find the Sphere of Souls, and from there that the cult of the demon prince prepares the ritual that will bring about the end of this world.”
Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 139
OPTIONS
Varo’s announcement was met with a long moment of silence. Even for him, it was a dramatic statement.
“So?” Dar finally said. “We already knew that. What the frick are we going to do about it?”
“Varo, do you know how to get to this third temple?”
“Not specifically,” the cleric said. “In that I do not have a map of its location. However, through petitioning Dagos for information, I have determined that there are two points of access through the dungeon. The first is through the wight catacombs, where we encountered Banth.”
“Then that’s easy,” Shay said. “The bee tunnel will drop us right there.”
Varo shook his head. “That route is no longer open. I would guess that the earthquake we experienced on our last visit closed it, but it is possible that the shaft was deliberately closed after our escape from Banth’s lair.”
Dar pointed at him. “Do we know that?”
Varo blinked. “I know it. We can verify that it is so, if you prefer.”
Talen broke in. “You mentioned another way in.”
“Yes. I know almost nothing about it other than that it exists, and that it passes through an underground goblin city, not far from the main dungeons of Rappan Athuk.”
“Gobbos? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“That may be where the goblins we encountered in Rappan Athuk were from,” Allera said.
“What is this city called?” Talen asked. Varo started to shake his head.
“Grezneck,” Shay replied. Their faces all turned to the scout, who had leaned back in her chair again. “The goblin city is called Grezneck.”
“Sounds like you know about it first hand,” Dar said.
“Not first hand,” Shay said.
The scout went on to remind them of her experiences in what the goblins called “the Great Cavern”, after her narrow escape from the river trolls on their first visit to Rappan Athuk. She’d already told them most of the story, how she’d fled the river to encounter a group of sentient but not unfriendly humanoid fungus-creatures. They had helped her rest and recover from her close call with the trolls, and then had given her food and directions to a possible exit from the cavern. It had taken her days to cross the cavern, avoiding the many hostile wandering denizens of the place. On the far side, while heading for the river exit that the fungus-men had told her of, she encountered several active mines in the cavern walls being worked by parties of goblins. The goblins had detected her, but they were not immediately hostile, and Shay spoke their language well enough to start up a dialogue with them. They had given her additional information about a possible way out, and the use of a small kayak that she eventually used to escape.
“I helped them deal with a problem they’d been having with a small group of umber hulks that had been interfering with their mining operations,” she told them. “In exchange, they helped me get out. I learned a fair amount about their tribe in the process.”
“The goblins we encountered did not seem too fond of the priests of Orcus,” Allera said. “At least, when we said that we were enemies of the cult, they did not turn on us.”
Shay nodded. “From what I understood, there are goblin priests of Orcus as well, and one of them—a fellow named Tribitz—is a big-shot in their city. I think that over time, the influence of the cult supplanted the worship of their own racial gods. But most of the miners I spoke wouldn’t give a clipped copper for the demon-worshippers. At best, I think that the two sides have an uneasy truce.”
“How many goblins in this city, Shay?” Talen asked.
“I have no idea. None of the goblins I spoke to got very specific, for obvious reasons.”
“So we can get there through this underground cavern?”
“There has to be some way, though I didn’t find it. I wasn’t really looking for anything but the way out, of course.”
“Is the river exit you took navigable?” Doran Pravos asked.
“With great difficulty,” Shay said. “We’d need either the ability to breathe water, and maybe flight as well. The current of the river was very swift, and the river exits on a cliff in a river canyon a few days’ travel from Rappan Athuk.”
“Is there another way to the goblin city, Varo?” Talen asked.
“Possibly. If we assume that the party we encountered in the troll caves came from Grezneck, then there may be an entrance in that area. I believe that there may also be a connection between the goblin city and the second temple of Orcus. Remember that we found two captive goblins there, along with Allera.”
“Those are an awful lot of ifs,” Dar said.
“Once we get close, I can call upon the power of Dagos to show me the shortest route to the temple,” Varo said. “If we come upon a dead end, we can try an alternative route.”
“So we just have to decide which way we’re going to try,” Shay said.
Talen was watching Varo. “Anything else?” the knight asked.
“There is another option,” Varo said. “We can return to the Oracle, and seek additional information.”
There was an immediate sense of disapproval, at least among those who knew what Varo was talking about. “Not a good idea,” Dar said, while Shay added, “The floating skull? That’s asking for trouble.”
“With the connector between the second and third levels destroyed, we’d have to go back down the Well to get there,” Talen said. “I do not think that this is our best option.”
Varo nodded in acceptance. “I have also found reference to another above-ground entrance to the dungeons.” He looked briefly through his notes. “Ah, yes, this is it... the ‘Temple of the Final Sacrament.’ I believe that it is located not far from Rappan Athuk, but it enters the dungeon only by a very circuitous route, if my sources are accurate.”
“Guarded?” Talen asked.
“By fell things, according to the clues provided in the Codex. It passes through something called the ‘Bloodways’ before linking up to another part of the dungeon complex.”
“That doesn’t sound very appealing,” Shay said.
“What about magical transportation?” Talen asked. “Honoratius, and maybe others among the Guild mages, can teleport. Could he send a party directly into Rappan Athuk, or this temple?”
Varo shook his head. “The temples are all protected against scrying magic and transportation of this sort. It might be possible to enter other parts of the dungeon, but I would not recommend it as a first choice. There are powerful, dangerous energies that permeate the entire complex. Teleportation is not an especially safe means of transport even aboveground.”
“And we would have to go all the way back to Camar, and ask Archmage Honoratius to help us,” Allera said.
“There is that,” Varo acknowledged.
“It would appear that we have many options, and none of them are especially pleasant,” Talen said.
“I say we go through the goblin city,” Dar said. “Should serve as a nice warm up before we get to the priests.”
“If we do go that way, we’re not going to be looking for a fight,” Talen said. “From what Shay said, some of them might even help us.”
“If you’re dumb enough to trust a gobbo with your back, then don’t be surprised when you find a knife in it,” Dar said.
Talen rubbed his face. “It is late, and most of us have been up for a full day or more. See to your men, and get some rest; we’ll talk again in the morning, over breakfast.”
“The decision’s not going to be any easier then, general,” Dar said, pulling himself up. The others got up as well, while Varo reclaimed his papers and sealed them back in the folio. The group broke up, and a heavy mood hung in the air as the group gathered up their possessions and headed for the door.
“Damned if I don’t need a drink,” Dar said. "Say, any of you know if this town has a brothel?”
“You look like you can barely stand, let alone handle a woman,” Shay said, her voice thick with scorn.
“Hey, for that, you don’t need to stand. You can let the woman do most of the work...”
Shay ignored him and headed out into the hall that led to the stairs. The guest quarters were all on the ground floor of the castle, accessed by a narrow staircase that connected the citadel’s four main levels, as well as several sub-basements that burrowed down into the foundations of the bluff. Talen was speaking to General Pravos as they walked to the stairs, but Varo was waiting for Shay, and pulled her aside as she left the room.
“Tell me more about this cavern, and the river you used to depart it,” he asked. The two of them continued after the others, engaged in quiet conversation.
Dar and Allera were among the last to leave. For a moment, they stood there in the doorway, an uncomfortable silence hanging between them.
“I’m glad that you decided to accept Tiros’s commission,” she finally told him. “Camar needs you, now more than ever.”
“Just Camar?” he said.
She put a hand on his chest, just for a moment. “Go to bed, Dar,” she told him, turning and walking past him down the hall. After a moment, he followed, catching up to her at the top of the stairs.
“So, was that an offer?”
“Somehow, it’s reassuring, in times of chaos and change like these, with our lives and the very future of Camar in doubt, that there is at least one thing in the universe that will never change: Corath Dar.”
“You know, sometimes I’m not completely sure whether or not you’re insulting me.”
She shot a dry look over her shoulder. “When in doubt...”
She trailed off, as they rounded a bend in the stairs and saw a small commotion below coming from the ground floor. A gust of cold air rushed up the steps, and they could see that the outer doors of the castle were open, and a number of drenched newcomers had crowded into the foyer. There were four of them, clad in heavy winter cloaks, attended by a number of tired-looking servants in the baron’s livery.
Talen and Shay were speaking to two of them, a pair that Allera recognized even before she heard Talen use their names.
“Pella, Baraka, it’s good to see you. What word from the marshal?”
Allera hurried down to join them, but as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a familiar voice speak her name.
“Allera.”
She turned to her left to see a slender figure draped in a heavy gray cloak, standing in an adjacent archway just off to the side of the main doors. He wore a cowl that covered his features entirely, but as he came forward, he reached up to pull it back, revealing a face Allera had not expected to see again anytime soon, let alone here.
“Ikarus!”
“It’s good to see you, Allera.” The young man embraced her, then pulled back quickly as his soaked cloak dampened her clothes. “Ah, sorry about that. Rough road, tonight. Gods, it’s good to see you,” he repeated.
“You’ve changed,” she said.
“It’s been five years. I guess you could say I’ve grown up.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I had heard that there was a war on,” he said, dryly.
“But your work at the hospital at Greenrise...”
“Come on, Allera, you were the one who taught me about the ‘greater good’, remember? Undead armies marching across the land, a dark evil stirring underground... this is where we’re needed.”
“Who’s this?”
Allera coughed and turned to see Dar, still standing on the steps, looming over them. “Ah, Ikarus Davaron, this is Corath Dar. Ikarus is one of the best healers in Camar, and was once... one of my students.”
“Allera flatters me, and is herself too modest. What limited skills I possess today are solely attributable to her expert instruction.” The young man put a hand on the older healer’s arm in a way that caused Dar’s expression to darken slightly. But Allera quickly turned, breaking the incidental contact as Talen came forward to address those gathered in the foyer.
“We’re going to have a long road ahead of us soon,” the knight commander said. “There’s not much of a night left to us, but get what rest you can. We’ll talk in the morning.”
As the group began to break up, Ikarus touched Allera’s shoulder. “I guess I’d better find my bunk, then. We’ll talk again tomorrow, I’m sure. Nice to meet you, Corath.”
As the younger man left, Allera turned to Dar. “Ikarus was one of my first pupils,” she said. “His gift is considerable... he was... is... one of the better healers I’ve ever worked with.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Allera,” Dar said, walking past her to the corridor that led to his assigned quarters in the castle.
Allera remained a moment, until she was the last one in the foyer. She felt a familiar weight settle on her shoulder, although there was nothing visible there. A soft voice warbled in her ear.
“Complicated? Yes, you could say that,” she said quietly, then headed to her own room.
OPTIONS
Varo’s announcement was met with a long moment of silence. Even for him, it was a dramatic statement.
“So?” Dar finally said. “We already knew that. What the frick are we going to do about it?”
“Varo, do you know how to get to this third temple?”
“Not specifically,” the cleric said. “In that I do not have a map of its location. However, through petitioning Dagos for information, I have determined that there are two points of access through the dungeon. The first is through the wight catacombs, where we encountered Banth.”
“Then that’s easy,” Shay said. “The bee tunnel will drop us right there.”
Varo shook his head. “That route is no longer open. I would guess that the earthquake we experienced on our last visit closed it, but it is possible that the shaft was deliberately closed after our escape from Banth’s lair.”
Dar pointed at him. “Do we know that?”
Varo blinked. “I know it. We can verify that it is so, if you prefer.”
Talen broke in. “You mentioned another way in.”
“Yes. I know almost nothing about it other than that it exists, and that it passes through an underground goblin city, not far from the main dungeons of Rappan Athuk.”
“Gobbos? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“That may be where the goblins we encountered in Rappan Athuk were from,” Allera said.
“What is this city called?” Talen asked. Varo started to shake his head.
“Grezneck,” Shay replied. Their faces all turned to the scout, who had leaned back in her chair again. “The goblin city is called Grezneck.”
“Sounds like you know about it first hand,” Dar said.
“Not first hand,” Shay said.
The scout went on to remind them of her experiences in what the goblins called “the Great Cavern”, after her narrow escape from the river trolls on their first visit to Rappan Athuk. She’d already told them most of the story, how she’d fled the river to encounter a group of sentient but not unfriendly humanoid fungus-creatures. They had helped her rest and recover from her close call with the trolls, and then had given her food and directions to a possible exit from the cavern. It had taken her days to cross the cavern, avoiding the many hostile wandering denizens of the place. On the far side, while heading for the river exit that the fungus-men had told her of, she encountered several active mines in the cavern walls being worked by parties of goblins. The goblins had detected her, but they were not immediately hostile, and Shay spoke their language well enough to start up a dialogue with them. They had given her additional information about a possible way out, and the use of a small kayak that she eventually used to escape.
“I helped them deal with a problem they’d been having with a small group of umber hulks that had been interfering with their mining operations,” she told them. “In exchange, they helped me get out. I learned a fair amount about their tribe in the process.”
“The goblins we encountered did not seem too fond of the priests of Orcus,” Allera said. “At least, when we said that we were enemies of the cult, they did not turn on us.”
Shay nodded. “From what I understood, there are goblin priests of Orcus as well, and one of them—a fellow named Tribitz—is a big-shot in their city. I think that over time, the influence of the cult supplanted the worship of their own racial gods. But most of the miners I spoke wouldn’t give a clipped copper for the demon-worshippers. At best, I think that the two sides have an uneasy truce.”
“How many goblins in this city, Shay?” Talen asked.
“I have no idea. None of the goblins I spoke to got very specific, for obvious reasons.”
“So we can get there through this underground cavern?”
“There has to be some way, though I didn’t find it. I wasn’t really looking for anything but the way out, of course.”
“Is the river exit you took navigable?” Doran Pravos asked.
“With great difficulty,” Shay said. “We’d need either the ability to breathe water, and maybe flight as well. The current of the river was very swift, and the river exits on a cliff in a river canyon a few days’ travel from Rappan Athuk.”
“Is there another way to the goblin city, Varo?” Talen asked.
“Possibly. If we assume that the party we encountered in the troll caves came from Grezneck, then there may be an entrance in that area. I believe that there may also be a connection between the goblin city and the second temple of Orcus. Remember that we found two captive goblins there, along with Allera.”
“Those are an awful lot of ifs,” Dar said.
“Once we get close, I can call upon the power of Dagos to show me the shortest route to the temple,” Varo said. “If we come upon a dead end, we can try an alternative route.”
“So we just have to decide which way we’re going to try,” Shay said.
Talen was watching Varo. “Anything else?” the knight asked.
“There is another option,” Varo said. “We can return to the Oracle, and seek additional information.”
There was an immediate sense of disapproval, at least among those who knew what Varo was talking about. “Not a good idea,” Dar said, while Shay added, “The floating skull? That’s asking for trouble.”
“With the connector between the second and third levels destroyed, we’d have to go back down the Well to get there,” Talen said. “I do not think that this is our best option.”
Varo nodded in acceptance. “I have also found reference to another above-ground entrance to the dungeons.” He looked briefly through his notes. “Ah, yes, this is it... the ‘Temple of the Final Sacrament.’ I believe that it is located not far from Rappan Athuk, but it enters the dungeon only by a very circuitous route, if my sources are accurate.”
“Guarded?” Talen asked.
“By fell things, according to the clues provided in the Codex. It passes through something called the ‘Bloodways’ before linking up to another part of the dungeon complex.”
“That doesn’t sound very appealing,” Shay said.
“What about magical transportation?” Talen asked. “Honoratius, and maybe others among the Guild mages, can teleport. Could he send a party directly into Rappan Athuk, or this temple?”
Varo shook his head. “The temples are all protected against scrying magic and transportation of this sort. It might be possible to enter other parts of the dungeon, but I would not recommend it as a first choice. There are powerful, dangerous energies that permeate the entire complex. Teleportation is not an especially safe means of transport even aboveground.”
“And we would have to go all the way back to Camar, and ask Archmage Honoratius to help us,” Allera said.
“There is that,” Varo acknowledged.
“It would appear that we have many options, and none of them are especially pleasant,” Talen said.
“I say we go through the goblin city,” Dar said. “Should serve as a nice warm up before we get to the priests.”
“If we do go that way, we’re not going to be looking for a fight,” Talen said. “From what Shay said, some of them might even help us.”
“If you’re dumb enough to trust a gobbo with your back, then don’t be surprised when you find a knife in it,” Dar said.
Talen rubbed his face. “It is late, and most of us have been up for a full day or more. See to your men, and get some rest; we’ll talk again in the morning, over breakfast.”
“The decision’s not going to be any easier then, general,” Dar said, pulling himself up. The others got up as well, while Varo reclaimed his papers and sealed them back in the folio. The group broke up, and a heavy mood hung in the air as the group gathered up their possessions and headed for the door.
“Damned if I don’t need a drink,” Dar said. "Say, any of you know if this town has a brothel?”
“You look like you can barely stand, let alone handle a woman,” Shay said, her voice thick with scorn.
“Hey, for that, you don’t need to stand. You can let the woman do most of the work...”
Shay ignored him and headed out into the hall that led to the stairs. The guest quarters were all on the ground floor of the castle, accessed by a narrow staircase that connected the citadel’s four main levels, as well as several sub-basements that burrowed down into the foundations of the bluff. Talen was speaking to General Pravos as they walked to the stairs, but Varo was waiting for Shay, and pulled her aside as she left the room.
“Tell me more about this cavern, and the river you used to depart it,” he asked. The two of them continued after the others, engaged in quiet conversation.
Dar and Allera were among the last to leave. For a moment, they stood there in the doorway, an uncomfortable silence hanging between them.
“I’m glad that you decided to accept Tiros’s commission,” she finally told him. “Camar needs you, now more than ever.”
“Just Camar?” he said.
She put a hand on his chest, just for a moment. “Go to bed, Dar,” she told him, turning and walking past him down the hall. After a moment, he followed, catching up to her at the top of the stairs.
“So, was that an offer?”
“Somehow, it’s reassuring, in times of chaos and change like these, with our lives and the very future of Camar in doubt, that there is at least one thing in the universe that will never change: Corath Dar.”
“You know, sometimes I’m not completely sure whether or not you’re insulting me.”
She shot a dry look over her shoulder. “When in doubt...”
She trailed off, as they rounded a bend in the stairs and saw a small commotion below coming from the ground floor. A gust of cold air rushed up the steps, and they could see that the outer doors of the castle were open, and a number of drenched newcomers had crowded into the foyer. There were four of them, clad in heavy winter cloaks, attended by a number of tired-looking servants in the baron’s livery.
Talen and Shay were speaking to two of them, a pair that Allera recognized even before she heard Talen use their names.
“Pella, Baraka, it’s good to see you. What word from the marshal?”
Allera hurried down to join them, but as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a familiar voice speak her name.
“Allera.”
She turned to her left to see a slender figure draped in a heavy gray cloak, standing in an adjacent archway just off to the side of the main doors. He wore a cowl that covered his features entirely, but as he came forward, he reached up to pull it back, revealing a face Allera had not expected to see again anytime soon, let alone here.
“Ikarus!”
“It’s good to see you, Allera.” The young man embraced her, then pulled back quickly as his soaked cloak dampened her clothes. “Ah, sorry about that. Rough road, tonight. Gods, it’s good to see you,” he repeated.
“You’ve changed,” she said.
“It’s been five years. I guess you could say I’ve grown up.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I had heard that there was a war on,” he said, dryly.
“But your work at the hospital at Greenrise...”
“Come on, Allera, you were the one who taught me about the ‘greater good’, remember? Undead armies marching across the land, a dark evil stirring underground... this is where we’re needed.”
“Who’s this?”
Allera coughed and turned to see Dar, still standing on the steps, looming over them. “Ah, Ikarus Davaron, this is Corath Dar. Ikarus is one of the best healers in Camar, and was once... one of my students.”
“Allera flatters me, and is herself too modest. What limited skills I possess today are solely attributable to her expert instruction.” The young man put a hand on the older healer’s arm in a way that caused Dar’s expression to darken slightly. But Allera quickly turned, breaking the incidental contact as Talen came forward to address those gathered in the foyer.
“We’re going to have a long road ahead of us soon,” the knight commander said. “There’s not much of a night left to us, but get what rest you can. We’ll talk in the morning.”
As the group began to break up, Ikarus touched Allera’s shoulder. “I guess I’d better find my bunk, then. We’ll talk again tomorrow, I’m sure. Nice to meet you, Corath.”
As the younger man left, Allera turned to Dar. “Ikarus was one of my first pupils,” she said. “His gift is considerable... he was... is... one of the better healers I’ve ever worked with.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Allera,” Dar said, walking past her to the corridor that led to his assigned quarters in the castle.
Allera remained a moment, until she was the last one in the foyer. She felt a familiar weight settle on her shoulder, although there was nothing visible there. A soft voice warbled in her ear.
“Complicated? Yes, you could say that,” she said quietly, then headed to her own room.
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