Chapter #1147
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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 +
+ 1991-2024 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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+ Adolphus 10th level half-ogre warrior +
+ Damien small, renegade imp +
+ Peyton 11th level gnome thief +
+ Rogar 10th level human priest of Olidammara +
+ Sylus 8th/10th level dark elf warrior/thief +
+ Wembly 10th level human wizard +
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+ Date: 6/17/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: late morning +
+ Place: the northwest reaches of the Abbor-Alz hills +
+ Climate: warm and dry, with cloudy skies +
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+ "A solid plan, violently executed, is better than a perfect plan +
+ too late." +
+ - from _Apocalypse 101_ episode _Expect the Unexpected_ +
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MCXLVII. Decimating the First Wave
Against their better judgment (and due to fear of reprisal from those
who rule the mines) the two unfortunate duergar sentries at the entrance
furthest from the fireball now find themselves in a bad spot...
duergar guard #1: (readies his pick, which all of a sudden seems a bit
small and lightweight for a fight) Uh...
duergar guard #2: Don't even think about it. You know what'll happen if
we desert our post.
duergar guard #1: (frowns as Adolphus lumbers along, rapidly closing the
distance) I'm more worried about what will happen if we don't.
duergar guard #2: We've got our duty. (he sets his feet and hefts his
hammer)
In the end, they never knew what hit them, other than it being massive
and ugly. Adolphus slew the first of the gray dwarves with his axe, the
broad, sharp head snapping the smaller foe's pick before burying itself
in the duergar's torso. The guard was nearly cut in half, and the sheer
force of Adolphus' swing sent its mangled body hurtling through the air
behind the rampaging half-ogre.
Peyton: (deftly dodges the tumbling, gory body as he follows in Adolphus'
path) Whoa.
Wembly: (watches the corpse hit the nearby ground with an unpleasant
splattering sound)
Rogar: (huffing and puffing along with the other two, he marvels at the
damage done to the duergar by the single blow) Poor little fellow.
By now, Adolphus had made quick work of the other sentry, and was well
into the tunnel beyond the entrance. Fortunately for him, the passages
of the mine were large - perhaps ten feet high and wide, and crudely cut.
Adolphus: (stops a moment, looking back to make sure the others are with
him)
Peyton: (nods to the humanoid, and the four of them advance quickly but
carefully)
Although some of them had infravision, other didn't, and so the group
used a previously-prepared trick to light their way. Rogar had prepared
a number of small, rough stones with illumination spells, and then Peyton
had encased them in soft, wet clay. Once dried, these simple devices only
had to be thrown hard to break the shell and cause them to shed bright
light in all directions. As the stones themselves were not overly round
or smooth, they would not roll once activated (although Peyton had a few
that were perfectly round, for any cases where a rolling stone would be a
better option.) At any rate, these light-stones were utilized at regular
intervals as the group moved into the mine complex, with one always being
hurled into the space ahead of the advancing adventurers.
Their progress was quickly challenged as a hidden door within the rock
of the passage opened, ahead and to the right, disgorging a half-dozen
more duergar armed with various mining tools. The small but malevolent-
looking troops immediately turned to face the invaders...and then they
vanished from sight!
Adolphus: Huh?
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the complex, Sylus - having successfully outrun
the fireball's blast radius - had regained his feet and begun sprinting
in the direction from which he knew his companions would be attacking.
However, his plan was thwarted by the opening of another hidden door from
which more duergar guards began to move into the passageway. Muttering
to himself as he realized that he hadn't found every ant in this nest,
the dark elf raised his sword and charged in the direction of the small
force of skinny, pallid demihumans. They hadn't detected him at first,
and he was unnaturally fast, so he had some advantage here. One guard
quickly fell with a cleft skull only a moment after turning and seeing
the oncoming foe. After that, the others were ready, and Sylus found
himself trading blows with three of them at once. This effort wasn't
sustainable forever, but the dark elf was faster and more skilled, had
significantly longer reach, and knew that no more than two or three of
the duergar could face him at a time as long as he didn't let any of them
get behind him. Besides, he only needed to hold these foes off until his
companions arrived, which likely wouldn't take too long. Of course, he
didn't know about that other hidden barracks which he'd failed to find
while scouting, or its occupants' efforts to stop Adolphus and the others
from getting any further into the mines.
And yet elsewhere in the complex, Damien had used his magical ring to
become invisible and was flying through another passage, looking for
trouble. The fact that this particular tunnel was still filled with
the blazing remnants of Wembly's fireball didn't bother the demonoid in
the least; he found the fires rather pleasant, and knew that no duergar
here would ever expect a foe to attack from this direction. So it was
that he emerged from the fires and found himself facing the rear flank
of the small but determined force that was arrayed against Sylus, about
thirty feet away.
Damien: (grins invisibly to himself)
Back at the other entry passage and barracks, Peyton's group of four
had that situation well in hand. Duergar were highly resistant to magic
(particularly of the illusionary sort) but that hadn't helped them when
Wembly dropped a mass of thick, sticky webbing over them all, entrapping
them in the narrow passage and cramped barracks. And they were difficult
to surprise, but that hadn't helped them either in the fact of Adolphus'
direct and brutal attack. The most challenging part had actually been
holding the half-ogre back just long enough for Wembly to conjure up the
web. However, the passage ahead was now filled with a mix of blood, body
parts, and webbing - the latter mostly covered with the former.
Wembly: Ugh.
Adolphus: (wades through the mess, casually snapping strands of webbing
as he clears the passage of the grisly obstacles)
Rogar: (to Peyton) Nice of him to take them all out for us.
Peyton: (hefts his crossbow, which he just reloaded) I got one. But
it's not like we're keeping score.
Rogar: (grins) We'd need a much larger battle for that.
Peyton: Well, the day's young. (spotting a surviving duergar stuck
within the barracks, feet webbed to the floor, he casually shoots the
foe through the neck)
Adolphus: (hears the sound of steel on steel, from the section of passage
just ahead, and turns to Peyton for guidance) More fighting?
Peyton: (nods) Let's move.
Shortly, they came upon the strange scene outside the other surviving
duergar barracks. A cluster of the gray dwarves was caught between Sylus
on the near side and Damien on the far side. Despite being outnumbered,
the adventurers had dispatched a surprising number of the opposition.
To reach Sylus, his nearest foes had to climb over the bodies of their
fallen comrades, which wasn't working out well for them as the pile of
dead gradually grew. On the other side of the barracks, Damien hovered
near the top of the passage, out of easy reach of their picks and hammers,
darting down whenever he had a chance to stab someone with his tiny but
sharp pitchfork. Three duergar now sported nasty, bleeding wounds from
the winged demonoid who they couldn't hit.
Adolphus: (lumbers forth) Don't worry, Sylus! Adolphus am here!
Sylus: (deftly steps aside)
duergar guard #13: (with no way to back up due to the tight formation of
of his fellows behind, he looks up, raising his weapon in a reflexive
attempt to defend himself) Erp.
As the hulking half-ogre barreled into the line of foes, Sylus quickly
followed, focusing on engaging those not cut down by the initial, brutal
attack. Peyton's crossbow and Wembly's magic assisted in these efforts,
complimenting Adolphus' charge rather efficiently (if ruthlessly.)
Damien: (finds those duergar nearest him fleeing toward and under him,
with little concern for his miniature pitchfork compared to the carnage
being dealt by Adolphus) Well. (he swoops down and stabs the lead foe
in the ankle, bring the gray dwarf down and causing several others to
stumble and fall)
duergar #18: (somehow avoids the heap and runs away, heading for the
safety of a passage to the north and west)
duergar #23: (sidesteps the fallen, frantically following the other in
an attempt to get away from the attackers)
Wembly: (hits both demihumans with multiple magical bolts, knocking them
to the ground before they can escape)
It wasn't that anyone thought other duergar, deeper in the mine complex,
didn't know now that something was happening. The idea was simply to keep
actual knowledge of exactly _what_ was happening from making it to the as-
yet-unseen defenders ahead.
Plus, Peyton prized efficiency and lack of loose ends above all else.
Peyton: (surveying the passage, which is now full of slain duergar with
no survivors) Enough of this. We need to move fast. (to Sylus) Which
way?
Sylus: (points at the passage to which the two now-dead foes were headed)
That leads to a larger chamber split by a deep chasm, a bridge...and at
least a dozen more guards with crossbows.
Peyton: (thinking quickly, even as he moves in that direction) Right.
Let's go!
next: last stand at the chasm
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/bright_desert.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 4/26/2024
notes: As I finish up this one, it's the middle of March and it's
been maybe a month since I last wrote anything. Once I get five more
written and ready, I'll be stocked through 1152 which will cover me
through the end of May, when retirement happens. I recently manned up
and turned in my notice and am now committed to retire from the place
I've worked in some capacity since 1988. (From the perspective of you
readers, it's been 11 episodes and just over two months since I shared
that long rant in the "notes" section of 1136 saying I'd probably do
this.) It's a little scary but also more than a little exciting. More
to come after the new phase begins and I see what it's like.
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