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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3249676" data-attributes="member: 143">Haven't forgotten about that; she won't be getting a celestial unicorn (could you see that fitting into the story?  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f615.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":confused:" title="Confused    :confused:"  data-smilie="5"data-shortname=":confused:" /> ), but something that does fit better may come along a bit later. We're approaching the end of Book I of this story. Don't worry about running out of content; we still have about 20 dungeon levels to go (although they won't be visiting all of them by a longshot), and a lot of dead bodies yet to handle. I am way ahead at the moment (in Book III, actually), and some... interesting things are coming down the pipeline. * * * * * Chapter 70BZZZZ...“I hope that what you did doesn’t come back to haunt us later,” Dar said, as the companions prepared to set out once more.  After Allera had released the dire tiger, they’d retreated back to Banth’s chamber, and were packing up their gear, old and new.  The fighter had replaced another set of ruined clothes with replacements from Banth’s wardrobe.  The only problem was, the fighter was about a foot and a half taller than the wizard had been.  The robe he had put on under his armor terminated right around his knees, giving him a somewhat comic appearance. Dar was beyond caring about such mundane concerns.  But as he took up his pack, Varo came over to him.  “I need you to take the brazier as well.”“What?  You’ve got to be kidding.  That thing has to weigh two hundred pounds!”“It is extremely valuable.  You are the only one of us strong enough to carry it.”“No way, cleric.  Forget it.  Were you even listening to that bitch apprentice earlier?  We’re going to be climbing up another of those damned shafts.  You want it, carry it yourself.”Varo took the fighter aside, and spoke to him quietly for a few minutes.  Dar’s expression did not change, but when they packed up the last of their gear, the fighter lifted the heavy bronze bowl, and lashed it to the back of his pack using ropes they’d found in the transmuter’s laboratory.  Talen came back in, carrying his own heavy pack.  He raised an eyebrow when he saw Dar’s added burden, but didn’t say anything.  “Ready?” he asked them.  “Just one more thing, on our way out,” Varo said.  In the laboratory, they found that the cleric had gone through all of the wizard’s books, heaping all those that didn’t warrant keeping into a large heap in one corner.  The wizard took a large clay jug he’d left on the edge of a nearby table, and started pouring the contents onto the pile. “What are you doing?” Talen asked. “There is material in these books that should have never been written,” the cleric said.  “I am going to burn them.”“But there are no vents for the smoke,” Allera said.  “You may choke us out.”“I have considered that,” Varo said.  “Do you know any beekeepers?”“What?” Dar asked, but Talen nodded.  “Clever, priest.  The smoke may make the bees more pliable.”Varo nodded.  “Still, I would suggest that you be already on your way when I ignite the stack.”  His companions left, leaving Varo alone as he finished dousing the books with oil.  The cleric adjusted his pack—heavy with the added weight of several volumes of Banth’s library ensconced inside—and recovered one of the lamps from the other room.  The books went up in an eager pyre, and Varo turned and left without looking back.Following Kupra’s directions, they made their way to the corridor leading out to the wight catacombs.  She showed them how to open the secret door that accessed a deep vault.  The buzzing noise was much stronger here, and they remained alert as they investigated the place.  There was a huge opening in the floor that led to a dark shaft.  “Where does that lead?” Talen asked. Kupra shook her head.  “I do not know.”“Let us consider that a question best left unanswered,” Varo said.  They moved cautiously around the edge of the shaft, and made their way to the far side of the room. “Shine the light over here, please,” Setarcos said.  He indicated a stretch of wall that looked different, even to casual observation.  As their light hit it, it seemed to shine through the wall.  The buzzing was much stronger here as well. Talen probed the wall with his dagger; the blade cut through it with only slight resistance. “Looks like this is the way,” he said.Allera coughed; the air was starting to get a bit hazy.  “I suggest we cut away as much of the top part as we can reach, and let the smoke through,” Varo said.  Dar and Talen worked together to put the cleric’s suggestion into action.  They could all smell a sweetness in the air that contrasted notably with the usual smells of Rappan Athuk.  They could also hear a loud buzzing, which continued to grow louder until it filled their heads and made even brief conversation difficult.  The air continued to thicken, until their eyes were watering.  “If we wait much longer, the bees aren’t going to be the only ones suffering,” Dar said, after a few minutes. “All right, let’s press on, but stay together,” Talen said. They cut a larger opening in the fibrous wall, revealing a passage beyond.  The corridor was narrow enough to force them go single file, so Dar took the lead, followed by Talen.  Setarcos and Kupra remained close to Allera, while Varo brought up the rear. They didn’t go very far, maybe twenty feet or so, before the passage opened onto a large cavern.  “Damn,” Dar said, impressed despite himself.The cavern was dominated by a massive honeycomb that stretched across the walls and ceiling of much of the place.  Bees, each easily five feet in length, were crawling sluggishly across the hive; there were over a dozen that they could see.  The place smelled sweet, overlaid with a waxy smell like a chandler’s shop.  The bees didn’t seem to notice the adventurers, or didn’t consider them a threat.  None of them were willing to bet that this would remain unchanged, however. “There’s an opening,” Talen said, pointing to a low spot beneath the hive.  As they watched, a bee crawled through it, disappearing from view. “The shaft out is on the far side?” Kupra said. “Will the bees attack us if we try to leave?” Setarcos asked. “I don’t know,” Kupra said.  “Those stingers will hurt if they do,” Dar said.  “I suggest we shoot them full of arrows; if they swarm, we can fall back to the other room and stab them as they come through the passage.”“That may not be necessary,” Allera said.  “I can calm them, long enough for us to get past.”“What if there’s more in the shaft?” Dar asked. “They’ll still be there if we kill the ones in here,” Talen said.  “And they’ll be pissed to boot.  Let’s try Allera’s plan.”The healer cast her spell, speaking in a soft singsong as they moved into the room.  The noise of the bees, already muted from the effects of the smoke, softened still further.  The creatures still moved about, but their actions were lethargic, slowed.  Careful not to prod any of them, the six adventurers made their way to the gap in the hive, and passed through.  Allera maintained her chant, soothing the bees as they passed.“In his journals, Banth noted that the honey produced by these bees has a curative effect,” Varo said. “Good for them,” Talen said.  “Don’t mess with it; we don’t want to press our luck.”But Varo, curious, lingered momentarily as they passed through the hive.  Taking up his mace, he poked a small hole in the walls of one of the cells of the comb.  A rich slick of honey oozed out of the opening.  Careful not to get any of the substance on his skin or clothes, the cleric scraped a portion of the material into a fold of oilcloth. Turning around, he found himself face to face with a giant bee.</blockquote>

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