The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
Richard Rawen
First Post
Dungannon said:
*shudder*
Lazybones
Adventurer
This is their second time through the mausoleum. The skeletons are a new addition (I think there was one in there before, IIRC).Nightbreeze said:
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Chapter 88
A RATHER ABRUPT RETURN
The mausoleum was filled now with a terrible grinding noise, which echoed off the walls. The floor shook, and the huge slabs of stone began to inexorably rise, driven by some incredible mechanism concealed below.
Zosimos turned back to the doors, ready to blast his way out. The wizard seemed nonplussed by the dire situation, but then again he was the only member of the group who could dimension door outside of the deadly chamber at any time.
“Hold them off,” Varo said to Dar and Valus, as he calmly walked over to the location of the stone plug. It too was rising, along with the rest of the floor.
Valus held up his holy symbol, calling upon the power of the Shining Father. A brilliant white radiance erupted from the sigil of the burning torch. Two of the skeletons fell back before that sacred light, but the other two charged toward the priest in a violent frenzy. Dar was quick to meet them, delivering a two-handed strike from his club that knocked one of the skeletons violently back. The undead monsters did not hesitate, hollow shrieks sounding from the depths of their skulls as they counterattacked. Both Dar and Valus took gashes from the faintly glowing swords wielded by the skeletons, but both resisted the fell power of those blades that tried to steal the strength from their bodies.
Talen and Shay rushed forwad to join the melee, sweeping into the skeletons from the flanks. Their cutting and thrusting weapons had little effect upon the monsters, but they did distract them, giving Valus and Dar the opportunity to press their attacks to better effect. The priest turned the skeletons a second time. This time he only affected the one facing him, but it became a moot point a moment later as Dar smashed the other again, causing it to explode in a shower of bone splinters.
The fighter started after the three turned skeletons, which had retreated to the far corner of the mausoleum, but Varo’s voice drew him about. “This way, now!” the cleric said. Varo had used a stone shape spell on the slab covering the shaft, and was already slipping down to the ladder below. The stone floor of the mausoleum had already risen a foot, and was continuing to ascent at a slow but steady pace.
“Do not linger... remember the bars that come out to block the shaft,” Varo said, starting down the ladder. The elf was only a pace behind him, dropping into the shaft, nimbly catching the top run that was now three feet below the lip of the opening. The other companions hastened over to the opening. Dar and Talen helped Shay and Valus down to the top of the ladder, and they started down after Varo. Zosimos, seeing that his arts were not needed against the door or the skeletons, came over to them, but as the warriors started to help him into the shaft, they could see the fat steel bars begin to emerge from the surrounding stone; within seconds the way out would be blocked.
“There’s no time!” Talen yelled.
The Guild mage looked up at them. “Jump,” he ordered them.
Dar and Talen shared a look, and obeyed.
The three fell into the shaft. Valus looked up and let out a surprised yell to see over six hundred pounds of rapidly-descending mass plummeting down toward him. But a split second before a bone-crushing impact, the mage uttered a word of magic, and their violent descent slowed rapidly as a feather fall took effect.
There was still no place for Valus to go to avoid being struck, and as the four collided, the cleric lost his grip on the ladder. Talen lunged and seized Valus by the edge of hs cloak, while Dar latched on to the nearest rung of the ladder, arresting his fall. Valus, clinging to Talen with his free hand, thrashed his legs through the shaft, unsuccessfully trying to find the rungs again. The heavily armored cleric dragged Talen down rapidly despite the mitigating effects of the wizard’s spell, and the two landed hard at the base of the shaft in a tangled jumble of limbs. Shay, who had shot down the ladder at the first hint of trouble, stepped aside just in time to avoid being crushed.
Zosimos, drifting gently down behind Talen and Valus, reached out and snagged a low-hanging rung, and used it to smoothly avoid the fallen pair, jumping to the side to land lightly beside Varo.
“Dar?” Varo asked.
“He’s on his way down,” the wizard replied. “I believe he is a bit... suspicious... of the magic.”
Shay helped Talen and Valus to his feet. The cleric limped slightly, but both that and the wound he’d taken from the skeletons faded as he channeled a cure wounds spell into himself. “Quite the plan,” he said.
Talen drew his glowing sword and moved into the passage that led into the dungeon. Behind him, Dar reached the end of the ladder, and hopped down to join them.
“Not much of an ambush,” he said.
“Still, a very impressive trap,” Zosimos said. “I could see how it would discourage casual visitors to this place.”
“Yeah, a bunch of the Duke’s soldiers found that out the hard way, last time we were here,” Dar said.
“I wonder how the mechanisms are arranged?” the wizard continued, peering up the shaft. “Just the counterbalances alone would have to be huge...”
“We’re here for a mission, not to sightsee,” Shay said.
“Understanding how this trap works may help us to avoid others,” Zosimos said, speaking in a tone as if addressing a small child.
“We are inside, and again the way is blocked behind us,” Varo pointed out. “Let us focus on the objective. We are committed; we cannot relax our guard for an instant.”
They started down the passage after Talen. Light was not a problem for them this time; in addition to Talen’s sword, both Valus and Zosimos carried items that had been enchanted with a continual flame.
“By the Father’s light, this place is foul,” Valus said, as the stench of the passage rolled over them.
“It’s going to get a lot worse,” Dar said. The fighter glanced back at Varo, who nodded in understanding.
Talen led them without incident to the end of the passage, and the pit at its end. Dar and Varo had briefed them on what to expect, so they secured ropes and lowered themselves down to the secret door below. The portal was jammed, but Talen was able to force it with a bit of effort.
They made their way into the dungeon level. The stink was overpowering, stronger even than the original group had remembered. Zosimos lifted a cloth to his face, and Valus’s face twisted with revulsion with every step he took.
“Nice, huh?” Dar said to Valus. “Just remember, you sent us down here, last time. Payback’s a real bitch, isn’t it?” Before the cleric could reply, the fighter turned away and walked ahead.
Shay moved to the lead, replacing Talen at point. They continued steadily but cautiously ahead, the scout scanning every inch of the floor, walls, and ceiling as they crept forward. They veered right at the first fork, and made their way into the first room. “Don’t touch anything,” Varo said. “Last time we were here, there was some green slime... and other things that weren’t as they seemed. Dar and I will point out anything that wasn’t exactly as it was on our last visit.”
“Let’s just get to the river, and get out of here,” Talen said.
They crossed the room to the far exit. The way forward was open, with all of the doors they’d encountered before shattered from their hinges. The place had been scoured clean, and none of them had any question as to the reason.
The next room was likewise barren; the smashed coffin that had been here last time was gone, and there were only a few scattered bits of debris around the edges of the room. On the far side of the room, their light indicated the stairs down that had caused Dar considerable grief on their last visit.
“Watch for the traps we remember, but note that they priests may have set new ones as well,” Varo said.
“We are all of us veterans,” Valus said. “These constant reminders are not necessary.”
“They cannot hurt,” Talen said. “Varo and Dar have been here before... and Malerase, of course,” he added, with a nod to the elf. Thus far, the elf had seemed to fade into the background, blending into the shadows without any apparent effort.
Valus opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as Shay hissed a warning from over by the stairs. “Hsst! Something’s coming!”
They drew back into a wary semicircle around the top of the stairs. “What is it?” Talen asked.
“Listen.”
They stood there in silence for several loud seconds. They passed in slow accompaniment to the pounding of seven hearts.
A sound reached them... a sickly slurping noise, instantly familiar to Dar and Varo.
“The dung monster,” Varo announced.
“I hate it when I’m right,” Dar said, grimacing.
Yeah, particularly since said priest of Orcus probably just got an club sized paladin feature implanted, ala OOTS. Assuming he's still alive, of course. (Hasn't committed suicide yet.)wolff96 said:...most likely involving a couple of lightning-based spells, a Permanency Spell, and a VERY UNCOMFORTABLE Priest of Orcus.
Knowing Dar.
My money's on Valus... He's the plant | spy | traitor...
I love it when Dar's got that gleam in his eye. He's like an unstopable automaton. I can just hear the diatribe running through his mind as he wanders these foul halls again, "If I'm coming back here I'm gonna take my recompense in blood..."
I'm excited about the Elf as well... I'm a BIG fan of rogues. I know I know...he's arcane in nature...but I swear he ACTS like a rogue.
I love it when Dar's got that gleam in his eye. He's like an unstopable automaton. I can just hear the diatribe running through his mind as he wanders these foul halls again, "If I'm coming back here I'm gonna take my recompense in blood..."
I'm excited about the Elf as well... I'm a BIG fan of rogues. I know I know...he's arcane in nature...but I swear he ACTS like a rogue.
Richard Rawen
First Post
jfaller said:
Personally, looking at the things they are facing, the only way an Arcanist is going to survive is if he is not just acting like a rogue, but has several rogue levels just to be sure. That STILL won't save him from LB's bias... but at least he'll be safer than a cleric!
Speaking of which... it would be just like LB to make the obvious traitor the real traitor... heh heh
Lazybones
Adventurer
Ow, now that's a vivid image!wolff96 said:
I have no idea what you're talking about... *whistles innocently*Richard Rawen said:
* * * * *
Chapter 89
A MESSY REUNION
“There is not enough space in here,” Zosimos said.
“There is a larger room not far from here,” Varo said. “We lured the creature there once before, and got around it there.”
“Can we not just rush around it here?” Talen asked.
“It’s slow, but it’s big... and sticky, too,” Dar said. “If it gets a touch on you, you’re probably dead meat.”
“Whatever we’re doing, better do it now,” Shay said, falling back from the stairs, her hands wrapped tightly around the shaft of her spear.
The company from Camar fell back, retracing their steps through the dungeon. When they reached the initial fork that led back to the mausoleum, they turned right, Varo directing them forward, holding his staff up to light the way.
They passed a few narrow clefts in the rock and ended up in the large chamber where they had battled the dung monster, not so long ago. The only exit, save for a few cracks around the perimeter of the room that were obviously too narrow for egress, was the collapsed corridor on the far side of the room to the right.
“This plan had best work, or we shall be trapped in here,” Valus said. The cleric, burdened with heavier armor than the rest of them, seemed a bit winded. But despite his age, the priest was hale, and he carried his mace with the experienced ease of one who had seen many combats.
“Is it coming?” Talen asked Shay, who had brought up the rear during their retreat. Urging them to silence, the scout listened in the chamber entry, and after a few seconds, nodded.
“Take up positions,” Varo said. “Everyone save Zosimos, over there by the rubble pile.” The companions hurried across the room, except for the wizard, who took up position near the far wall to the left, opposite the collapsed passage.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t remember last time,” Dar said.
“It must possess a rudimentary intellect,” Varo said, “thus its ability to duplicate objects like the one that snared Ukas. But I suspect that the creature’s actions are determined by more primal instincts. In any case, we must trust to the evoker’s instincts. I discussed what we learned of the monster with him at some length, and he understands what it can do.”
“What we know it can do,” Dar muttered under his breath.
“Well, we have our contingency plan,” the priest replied. He glanced at Talen, who stood with Shay, holding a large sack between them. The captain met his gaze and nodded.
“If it comes to that, we are well and truly screwed,” Dar said.
Any further conversation was cut off by a sudden noise of ooze squelching upon the stone floor, out in the corridor just outside the room. The stench assailed them as it came rolling into the chamber, moments before the actual creature became visible at the edges of their light.
Dar and Varo had seen the dung monster before, but even so, its appearance was shocking. Vile, amorphous, it almost filled the entry, spreading out across the floor as it exited the passage and poured into the room. It moved slowly but inexorably, drawn to the spoor of fresh food. Fear hung in the room like the sour odor from the creature, but the companions held their ground, their faces tight with grim anticipation.
Two long pseudopods began to form out of its central mass, extending toward the larger concentration of prey. But its attention was drawn to its left as Zosimos fired a series of scorching rays into its mass. The flames poured over its body, but they left no apparent effect upon it.
“Fascinating,” the evoker said, retreating along the wall.
After a moment’s hesitation, the monster moved after him, away from the others in the far corner. Zosimos let it follow him into the opposite corner, the thing leaving a slick trail of foul goop behind it.
“He’s cutting it awful close,” Talen said.
Finally, while the creature was still a good ten feet away, the evoker lifted his hands, and called upon his magic. A glowing field of transparent energy, a wall of force, sprang into being, separating the corner holding both the wizard and the monster from the rest of the chamber. The curving plane was flawless, extending even into the cracks and crevices in the walls and floor, forming an impenetrable barrier.
Zosimos at once leapt to the side, intending to give himself a bit more distance from the creature. But he’d underestimated its reach, as one of the long tendrils slashed out, and slapped hard against his back. Its strength exceeded his by an order of magnitude, and it yanked him roughly off his feet, toward the bulk of its mass.
“Zosimos!” Talen yelled, although it was not clear what, if anything, they could do to help him from the far side of the wall. All they could do was watch as the wizard was dragged back toward the creature’s body, unable to break free of its adhesive grasp.
