Chapter #1207
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2026 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Kronos 22nd level lich wizard +
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+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
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+ Hope 16th level female human wizard +
+ Poulos 8th level human warrior +
+ Irina 14th/7th level female human priestess/warrior +
+ Otto 12th/14th level dwarven fighter/thief +
+ Paige 13th level human female warrior +
+ Razor Charlie 12th level human fighter +
+ Skektek 14th level human wizard +
+ Ys 14th level reptilian fighter +
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+ Date: 4/3/587 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: midday +
+ Place: the Pits of Azak-Kil, within the Abbor-Alz hills +
+ Climate: hot and dry, as a fiery conflagration rages furiously +
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+ "It’s a mistake to go to war with us." +
+ "You got it backwards...you’re going to war with me." +
+ - from _The Equalizer 2_ +
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MCCVII. Tables Turned
Belphanior and his allies have just dealt with the Pits of Azak-Kil in
a manner typical of the wily elf: overwhelming amounts of destructive
power. In this case, a few dozen barrels of oil were followed by not one
but four powerful fireballs...and the many-tiered mining pit below was now
a blazing inferno. All who had stood there, including those within the
various mine-shafts, had been incinerated by the flames.
Belphanior: (like the other three airborne wizards, he is now visible,
and they regroup in midair to discuss the situation and next move) I
wonder if we got them all?
Skektek: We definitely got a lot of them...
Hope: We'll have to wait for the fires to die down. I'd imagine some of
them are still in the mines, having not yet emerged when we attacked.
Kronos: (utilizing the detection powers of the Book of the Dead) That
high priest's staff is nowhere to be found. (he frowns) Which is most
surprising, as an item of that power is unlikely to be destroyed by
something as simple as a fireball.
Skektek: What about four fireballs?
Kronos: You are thinking in terms of quantity when you should be thinking
in terms of quality. (he frowns) The staff is not in the raging fires
below, nor anywhere in these hills. (to Belphanior) It would seem the
high priest retreated.
Belphanior: Agreed...which can mean only one thing. (to Hope) Return
to the skyship, ready the others, and bring them down to the surface.
The rest of us will meet you there.
Hope: (nods, flying up and away in the direction of the vessel above)
Skektek: Where are we going now?
Belphanior: (eyeing the gigantic mining pit below, where the flames are
finally starting to due down) We're not done here.
Kronos: You intend to press on, into the mine itself?
Belphanior: Now's the time. We wiped out...well, all of them we could
see, anyway. And probably a whole bunch that we couldn't see. Their
leader is gone. There will never be a better time to get in there and
finish the job while we have the advantage. (he sets his jaw) With
any luck, we can fully lay claim to this mine by day's end.
Kronos: (simply nods, already considering options for undead minions he
can summon to provide additional security for himself and bolster the
party's ranks)
Elsewhere - beyond the adventurers' ability to detect with the methods
currently available to them - the one called Gunguti peered into the dark
depths of a mystical seeing-pool, observing the flames and the smoke that
permeated his mine.
Gunguti: (clutching his staff of gnarled black wood tightly in one bony,
nearly fleshless hand) Hmm.
The undead dwarven high priest had certainly been surprised by the post-
parley attack - both the fact that it happened at all as well as the sheer
power of it. It had never occurred to him that anyone would strike at the
mining-pits in such a manner, and that the vast hole in the ground was a
natural funnel for burning oil. However, one power of the unearthly stone
atop his black wooden staff was the ability to whisk its bearer away to a
predetermined safe place...and that was what had saved Gunguti when fire
consumed the pits of Azak-Kil. He had not, of course, been able to bring
all of the undead miners with him. The many hundreds who had been above-
ground at the time had been reduced to ashes, as had all others who had
been anywhere close to a mineshaft entrance during the fiery strike from
above. A number of them certainly survived in the passages beneath the
pit's surface, and in the right circumstance those were an effective force
to combat the visitors...but Gunguti and his servants were not capable of
taking that fight to the air. No, he thought as he magically watched the
foes from the safety of the extraplanar bolthole he'd long ago prepared in
case of an eventuality such as this...a conventional counterattack was out
of the question. This situation now called for a different response, one
that would turn the tables and shift the advantage back to the undead folk
of Azak-Kil. He would have to return to the pit, but that didn't bother
him - for when he returned, he would be ready.
He looked on as a small group of individuals - presumably from whatever
skyborne platform the aerial fire-attacks had been launched from - joined
the wizards on the smoking ground at the mine's top edge. With the flames
gone and the heat and smoke fading, the foes wasted no time advancing down
into the immense, charred pit. They were certainly using magical means to
guide them toward the treasure within, which was fine as far as Gunguti
was concerned. There was indeed wealth down there...gold, silver, iron,
even mithril and adamant in sizable quantities. Let them scry for that,
and make their way toward it...for in the undead high priest's mind, the
treasure was now bait, the brightest and shiniest bait imaginable. They
would never survive to take or spend it, but would instead be slain, only
to subsequently come back as undead...powerful undead possessing powerful
abilities that would bolster Azak-Kil's might to new heights. The unusual
lich with whom he'd briefly conferred might pose more of a problem, but
would be dealt with one way or another. After that, Gunguti would simply
replenish the vast quantity of miners he'd lost today with living victims
from the nearby hills - that was the power of the dark ellipsoid he had
mounted atop his staff decades ago. Any who perished within two leagues
of that eldritch alien stone would rise as undead under its command...his
command. Thus, if or when he chose to march his forces out of Azak-Kil,
their numbers would only grow with every foe (or innocent person) they
found and slew. Better, his undead had no need to eat, drink, or rest -
all of which were immense advantages over living opponents.
Until now - largely because of the scorpion-folk of the desert and the
one who had ruled them - Gunguti had been content simply to control the
vast mine complex of Azak-Kil and ignore the Bright Desert...but now he
had greater visions of conquest and expansion. Perhaps the rumors of an
undead city beneath the desert sands to the south were true, in which case
the entire region might one day be entirely populated by undead.
But first, he had to deal with the attackers from the south, who had so
boldly come here, attacked and destroyed many of his people, and were even
now intruding into the mine-shafts beneath the pit's surface. The further
march to war, the acquisition of new forces, the long-term planning...all
those things could wait. Gunguti's focus right now was on the adventurers
who had made the mistake of challenging him this day.
next: the Bright Alliance force goes in; Gunguti strikes back
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/Bright-Desert_1203.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 5/1/2026
notes: So there were several ways this story mini-arc could have
gone. My original intention was to just have them bomb the mine and be
done with it, but then I realized that was too easy. Very quickly it
became apparent that an army of the dead - with purpose and the ability
to absorb slain foes into its ranks, _Game of Thrones_ style - would be
a very real and very dangerous possibility here. I thought about both
extremes foe a couple weeks and decided to compromise somewhere in the
middle. So here we are: Belphanior and Kronos poked the anthill and
got more than they bargained for, and now they either have to clean up
their mess or else the entire region will suffer. I suspect the former
outcome, but it will be a fight.
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