Chapter #1175
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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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+ +
+ THE BRIGHT ALLIANCE +
+ +
+ Alindyar 18th level dark elven wizard +
+ Lyra 14th level female drow wizard +
+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
+ 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 +
+ Cespedes 19th level human wizard, elementalist +
+ 50 stone warriors +
+ iron dwarf insane, armored berserker +
+ Dexitheseus 17th level human wizard, jack of all trades +
+ earth elemental +
+ Kronos ancient lich wizard +
+ skeletal infantry (99 skeletal warriors w/armor and weapons) +
+ Pallin 18th level grey elven wizard, teleporter +
+ Socrates large albino hound +
+ Parekh 18th level female human wizard, innovator +
+ Drak 15th level human barbarian +
+ Wu 18th level human wizard, transmuter +
+ 6 elite ogre magi +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ CURRENT ALLIES +
+ +
+ Adolphus 8th level half-ogre warrior +
+ Damien small, renegade imp +
+ Peyton 9th level gnome thief +
+ Rogar 8th level human priest of Olidammara +
+ Sylus 7th/7th level dark elf warrior/thief +
+ Wembly 7th level human wizard +
+ +
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+ Date: 7/20/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: midmorning +
+ Place: outside the ruins of Utaa, within the Bright Desert +
+ Climate: hot and dry +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ "There is something down here." +
+ - from _The Meg_ +
+ +
+ "Did you use unnecessary deadly force?" +
+ "I used everything I had." +
+ - from _Cobra_ (1986) +
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MCLXXV. Shadows of a Fallen Empire
After venturing to the ruins of the Sulmish capital of Utaa, the bulk
of the attacking force waits on the desert surface above while a smaller
group has entered the top of one tower and now descends into the heart
of the buried royal palace...
Belphanior: (leading the way, side-by-side with Ys, he constantly scans
the steps below as the team advances)
The tower's topmost chamber had contained little of interest except for
some ruined furniture and copious amounts of sand, but an antechamber had
actually been the top of a spiral staircase winding down into the dusty
darkness. The steps were nearly ten feet wide, allowing for two explorers
to walk abreast; after magical illumination had been employed, the group
begun its descent. Otto and Skektek made up the second rank, which would
allow some crossbow and magical support if needed. The next line provided
even more powerful magic from Kronos and Pallin, while the rearmost rank
consisted of Irina and the floating wizard eye from Parekh (whose purpose
here was not to scout but rather to allow the sorceress to know, and then
inform the others above, what the scouting team was seeing).
Ys: (easily holding his gigantic greatsword in one hand as they descend,
he remains alert and ready to take on anything that comes up out of the
dark stairway to oppose them)
Belphanior: (smiles thinly, pleased with his decision to put the big
reptilian up front)
Otto: (addresses the elf, quietly) What did your map show?
Belphanior: We'll descend about a hundred feet, until this staircase
ends. That will be a fairly small room, but an exit passage leads to
a hallway, one end of which opens into a much larger hall.
The elf was, of course, not keeping the Seeking Scroll in hand and then
consulting it constantly as he walked; he had simply memorized the route
it had revealed just before the advance team had entered this tower. He
would check it again periodically, as necessary...but for now, his focus
was on the dark, dry depths into which this staircase was leading them.
Interestingly, unlike dungeons elsewhere in the world, this one did not
contain any spiderwebs.
Irina: Perhaps scorpions and spiders cannot both exist in such a place.
Skektek: (frowns) That's one way of saying that the scorpions probably
killed all the spiders.
Irina: (shrugs) I suppose.
Pallin: (to Kronos) Thoughts?
Kronos: Stranger things have happened. Given the nature and power of
the crown, it is entirely possible - and probable - that scorpions and
their kin long ago became the dominant form of life in this place. All
others - spiders, rats, similar vermin - would then be absent.
Irina: (grips her mace's handle tightly, ready for anything whether it
turns out to be scorpions, undead, or something else)
The only scorpions they found in the stairway were neither unusual nor
alive, but instead just a couple of inert, withered husks. In due course
they reached the bottom of the tower, and found exactly what the powerful
scroll had outlined: a small room with a connecting passage that led to
a much larger hall.
__
| = 10' | | <-- unexplored passage
| |
.: = sand | | ____
| | / \
| |___/ | <-- stairway/tower bottom
| __ |
| | \______/
| |
__________| |______________________
| . .. ..:::::.. ..::| <-- large hall
| :.. ::::: .:. |
| ..::. .:::... ..: |________
| ..::..
| :::..:. ..:. .. wide exit passage
| .::...:::: ... ..
|.. :: . ... ________
| :. ..:. ..|
| .: ..::. ..::. .:|
|____________________________________|
Belphanior: (standing at the junction of the north-south passage and the
larger hall into which it opens) Hmm.
The chamber was immense - roughly two hundred feet long and a hundred
wide - and many portions of it contained huge piles of sand, as if the
ceiling had cracked at some point and allowed the contents of the desert
above to spill into these buried regions.
Belphanior: Even the finest construction will eventually begin to fall
apart.
Kronos: (nods) After all, it _has_ been more than two thousand years
since Sulm fell and the desert was born.
Belphanior: That's exactly what I was thinking. (he notes the sizable
passage leading away from the eastern side of the huge hall, which is
more than twenty feet wide and high and contains no sand) Hmm. (to
Pallin) Is this hall a good place to open a portal and bring everyone
else down?
Pallin: (eyeing the huge room ahead) It would be, if not for all the
sand. (he turns back to address the wizard eye and those watching them
through the eye) I am going to open a portal to you. Send the earth
elemental first, so it can clear the sand and make space for the ground
troops. It needs to work quickly - keeping such portals open is not an
easy task, even for one of my expertise.
Things were squared away very quickly after that. Pallin created the
portal; first the elemental and then Dexitheseus came through, and all of
the excess sand was soon shifted to the outer edges of the immense hall;
then the others began to descend through the magical gateway. First to
arrive were the smaller groups - the adventurers and archmagi - and these
were followed by the more numerous stone and skeletal warriors.
Alindyar: (staring at the passageway leading to the tower's bottom and
the stairway, which continues past that toward an unexplored area to
the north)
Lyra: (also regarding this glaring vulnerability)
Alindyar: (frowns) Nay.
The dark elf made some arcane hand gestures while working potent magic,
and a moment later a smooth wall of stone appeared just past the entryway
from the tower, plugging the passage and blocking access from the unknown
section of the palace.
Belphanior: (nods to Alindyar) Thanks. I was just thinking about that.
Alindyar: Aye.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) Smart move.
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra) If the master of this place is aware of our
presence here - which is now reasonably likely - he might well have been
in the process of orchestrating an attack from dual fronts...the second
of which is now sealed in a way that will not easily be unsealed.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) Excellent. Although from the information
given to Kronos by the sorceress Shemeya, Shattados is a king no more,
but rather a nearly-mindless being trapped in these sunken ruins and
driven by little more than rage and a mandate to protect the Scorpion
Crown.
To be sure, the knowledge and advice of the Tower of Sleep's occupant
had proven not just useful but invaluable. Aside from a general idea of
the current nature of Shattados and his minions and a general idea about
the type of powers they possessed, Shemeya had also provided the basic
layout and structure of the buried palace...which allowed the wizards of
the Bright Alliance to develop a viable plan that allowed the effective
use of their ground troops. Coupled with Belphanior's use of the Seeking
Scroll to guide the attacking force right to the crown - which had allowed
them to bypass the vicious monsters roaming that region of the desert's
surface, and head straight down into the buried palace - they had avoided
the countless hours (or even days) that a conventional exploration would
have required. This also meant that they had avoided numerous encounters
that would have whittled down their strength; in effect, they were on the
most direct course toward the Scorpion Crown, and would only need to fight
those guardians waiting along that path.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) Information...scrying...transport. With our
substantial advantages in these areas, we got right to the heart of this
quest. Hopefully we've yet retained some element of surprise, at least
enough to allow our full force to assemble down here before meeting any
resistance.
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra) Speaking of which, the others have arrived.
The hall was quite crowded now, but the various forces were organizing
into the pre-planned ranks. To the east, standing just inside the wide
exit passage leading out of this chamber (and facing the general direction
in which the Scorpion Crown was located, according to Belphanior's scroll)
were the fifty stone warriors fashioned by Cespedes. These stood in ten
neatly-aligned ranks, each one with five abreast, and faced the unknown
area. Behind them were most of Kronos' skeletal warriors (he had directed
a score of them to stay within the tower/stairway room and the passage
outside as rear guards). Behind them stood the bulk of the adventurers
and all of the mercenaries, and behind all of _them_ were the nine wizards
of the Bright Alliance.
__ |##|
| = 10' |##| ____ <-- Alindyar's blockade
| | / \
.: = sand | |___/ | <-- stairway/tower bottom
|@@ __ @@@@@ |
|@@| \______/
|@@|
__________| |______________________
|:::::. .::::::| <-- large hall
|::. &&& @@@@@ .::|
|::::. *** @@@@@@ .|_______________
|:::.. $$$ *** @@@@@@ >>>>>>>>
|::.. $$$ *** ! @@@@@@ >>>>>>>>> wide exit passage
|::. $$$ *** @@@@@@ >>>>>>>>
|:: *** @@@@@@ _______________
|:... &&& @@@@@ .:|
|::........ E ..::|
|____________________________________| > stone warriors
@ skeletal warriors
* adventurers
& ogre magi
E earth elemental
! iron dwarf
$ archmagi
As soon as the bulk of the troops were ready to march onward - which
was quick indeed due to the fact that they followed orders perfectly,
without concerns about their own comfort or safety - the assault force
began its advance. It soon became apparent that the huge passage leading
eastward was actually the entry hall into an entire section of the ancient
buried palace; the decayed remains of once-mighty wooden gates lay strewn
to either side of the passage's entry point from the larger room (which
actually might have once been a courtyard). The passage/hall contained
some sand, though not enough to prevent the advance; its walls still bore
evidence of what must have once been stunningly-beautiful bas reliefs.
A number of openings to the left and right - which surely once held stout
doors, but now just afforded entrance into adjacent areas - could be seen
ahead. There were three such gaps on the left and one on the right; at
the far end of the long hallway, more than two hundred feet distant and
only barely visible, was a wide ascending stairway. Its topmost portion
was completely filled with massive chunks of rubble that blocked access to
wherever it had once led.
Otto: (muttering to himself) Good thing we have such strong illumination
thanks to the wizards.
__________ __
.::::::| | = 10'
.::|
.|__________ ___________ ______ ______ .: = sand
|| %|
* |||%%|
||||%|
________ ____________________________||__%|
.:|
..::| ^____ collapsed
__________| ^______ front of assault force stairway
Part of the advance planning had been determining the instructions for
the stone warriors, and then Cespedes delivering them; this preparation
now saved quite a bit of time. Rather than the entire force creeping
along at a snail's pace and dealing with each challenge (or in this case
each side area) one at a time, small pieces of the main force split off
and entered each new chamber with instructions to fight if attacked. This
allowed the side rooms to be (relatively) secured while the bulk of the
troops continued to advance. Any significant challenges in a given area
could then be reassessed and dealt with as needed.
This meant that the trio of four-foot-long scorpions in the first room
on the right were unable to escape the chamber, much less actually reach
any of the flesh-and-blood adventurers beyond. The deadly creatures burst
forth and attacked viciously, but were quickly cut down by the five stone
warriors that had entered their lair (a room which had once apparently
been covered in huge slabs of green malachite, only a few of which still
remained in place). The ceiling of the chamber had partially collapsed,
leaving much of one corner strewn with rubble.
The first of the areas on the left held a different and unexpected sort
of occupant: two wild hyenas pacing amidst a pile of chewed bones and
other debris in one corner. The animals took one look at the quintet of
stone warriors that had just intruded into their domain...and abruptly
turned and fled, scrambling up one of many piles of rubble and vanishing
into a narrow crevice in the ceiling. That unusual exit was likely not
significant, as it had obviously resulted from a collapse in the chamber's
ceiling, much like the room with the scorpions...and the explorers needed
to advance downward, not upward. Anyhow, this side chamber had once been
decorated in red marble and sandstone, but the years and the dust meant
that the stone walls were now indistinguishable from any other area here.
Each cleared room was then examined by one of the adventurers or wizards
capable of detecting magic or other notable features; if there was nothing
of interest, the five stone warriors who had entered the room would return
to the main force. With this general tactic, multiple side areas could be
checked and cleared simultaneously. Even now, the second open doorway on
the left had been broached; while the dull yellowish-orange chamber beyond
actually didn't contain any collapsed sections of ceiling, it did contain
something else: a swarm of thousands of normal scorpions, working in an
unnatural unison unlike any behavior such creatures would have exhibited
in the world outside of this weird buried ruin. Due to their small size,
there was no way they could be fully stopped or held back by five stone
warriors (or even fifty) due to their ability to scuttle around the rocky
foes...but this was where the second rank now had the opportunity to prove
itself. Skektek had taken the initiative and consulted Cespedes before
the expedition began, and had learned that the stone warriors could not be
damaged by any fire or lightning that Skektek might conjure. Accordingly,
the thin wizard now blasted the yellow room with a sheet of searing flames
which he aimed at the floor and which flowed around the stone feet of the
ground troops without damaging them at all. The same could not be said
for the masses of scorpions, which were fried to a crisp by the magical
fire (to be fair, it actually took two of the spells to get them all, a
fact which caused Skektek to curse and caused Hope to smirk quietly). By
the time the smoke had cleared and the chamber was being checked for any
treasure or other foes (which it lacked) the next side chamber had been
breached. Its walls had once been a deep, bright blue but that was barely
evident now...and certainly didn't matter to the dozen troglodytes who
immediately (if foolishly) attacked the stony warriors who had just barged
into the chamber. By the time they had been hacked to bits by the more
powerful intruders, all of the other rooms were cleared...save for that
very first one which had held the three huge scorpions. Its eastern end
contained another empty doorway that led to a new chamber:
_____________________________________________ __
| | | | | = 10'
| | | |
| red | yellow | blue | .: = sand
__________| chamber | chamber | chamber |
.::::::| | | | %% = rubble
.::| | | |
.|__________ ______|____ ____|__ ______|
|| %|
|||%%| <-- collapsed
||||%| stairway
________ ____________________________||__%|
.:|%% | | | |
..::|%%%. | | | |
__________|%% green white |
|%%% chamber chamber . |
|%%%%. | |%%%%..%%| |
|%%%%%%%. | |%%%%%%%%| |
|________________|______|________|____________|
This area had once been covered in fine white marble, very little of
which now remained (and these intact pieces were badly faded and abraded
by time and climate). It was empty except for the same thick coating of
sand present in every part of this complex. Another worn and doorless
opening led into a slightly larger room whose entire right half was filled
with collapsed rubble. Its once-grayish walls of fine stone had long ago
faded to a dull and unpleasant grayish-brown hue. Irina and Rogar quickly
noticed that this chamber emanated vague but unmistakable traces of evil.
Irina: And that's not all. (she steps forth to confront the ghostly form
that ignores the stone warriors and skeletons as it drifts over them and
heads for the living)
ghost: (appears to be screaming, although no sound comes from its mouth)
Belphanior: What is it-
Irina: I've got this. (she raises her mace, which is now glowing with
light channeled into it through Irina) Begone!
ghost: (vanishes)
Rogar: Whoa. (he nods, impressed) I'm not sure I could've done that.
Paige: I'm not sure any of us could have.
Otto: (nods to Irina, who has lowered her weapon, which has ceased its
glowing) Good work.
Irina: It needed to be banished before it could drain life from anyone.
(she leans one hand against a wall) Whew.
Otto: Are you okay?
Irina: (composes herself) Yes. It is most likely the evil inherent in
this place...the undead foes we encounter may be of a stronger sort than
we're used to. (nods to where the ghost had just floated) Like that
one.
Otto: (nods) Noted. And good work.
Irina: Thanks. (she glances over at the ranks of stone warriors and
skeletons, which are now thinner due to smaller groups of them being
repositioned to guard other chambers) As we just observed, such undead
foes will bypass the unliving troops and make for the living - namely,
us - instead. We need to remain vigilant.
Paige: Count on it.
For now, the stone warriors who had breached each chamber - five each
for the red, yellow, blue, and green rooms - stood guard in the doorways
to each area. It made sense to spread these forces out, as the archmagi
had to assume that attacks could still come from any direction, including
cracks in collapsed sections of ceiling which could easily admit sizable
numbers of smaller scorpions. There was also the possibility of someone
opening a magical portal (much like those used by Pallin) to more easily
bring defenders into battle with the invading force.
Pallin: What does your scroll indicate?
Belphanior: It won't be far now. We need to proceed ahead, then down.
There's another level beneath us, which contains among other things a
vast domed chamber - the final resting place of King Shattados, I would
assume.
Kronos: (matter-of-factly) I doubt he is at rest.
Belphanior: He will be when we're done here. (he sets his jaw) We've
spent enough time researching the past of this desert and its oddities,
and dealing with the various individuals and groups who would control
the region. Rary, Robilar...Father Eye...the blue dragon Volte...the
bandits who roam the wasteland...those who controlled Griffon's Nest
and other such places...(he nods, cracking his knuckles) Enough is
enough. This region has suffered long enough, and it has a destiny
beyond its current sad, fragmented state. The curse of Shattados ends
here, today.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) A good speech.
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra) His words ring true, though. And this group
has the power to make it happen.
Cespedes: (directs the remaining stone warriors into the next chamber)
The walls of this area showed evidence of once being completely covered
in immense slabs of black marble; the few that remained were badly worn
down and only bore faint traces of the weird runes and sigils that had
once been prominent.
Irina: (fighting back a wave of nausea) This place is...
Kronos: (nods) Evil.
Rogar: (takes a quick sip from his flagon)
Parekh: (alarmed, she wonders where the foes are)
Kronos: There is no single source of the evil...rather, it is all about
this chamber, everywhere.
Irina: This place may have once been the site of foul and potent dark
magic. (she looks around at the barely-intact original walls) These
symbols are countless centuries old...they're too worn for us to know
what wicked gods or devils they once represented.
Dexitheseus: What now? That wide staircase in the main hall was sealed
by rubble...I could have the elemental dig it out-
Belphanior: (shakes his head) The path doesn't lie there. (he points
to the far end of this chamber, whose wall is completely blocked by a
large pile of shattered stone mixed with sand) It lies _there_.
Dexitheseus: Ah. (he speaks briefly to the earth elemental)
The extraplanar creature heeded the wizard's commands, heading for the
collapsed mass of rubble and sand and then working to move it all aside.
The obstruction was quickly cleared away, revealing a massive iron door
whose surface had been badly scoured by the grit of the centuries....but
it was still in place, a thick iron ring mounted in its center. It was
fairly astounding that this millennia-old portal was not only intact but
still fully sealed, with a thick layer of dust around all of its edges.
_____________________________________________ __
| | | | | = 10'
| | | |
| red | yellow | blue | .: = rubble
__________| chamber | chamber | chamber |
.::::::| | | |
.::| | | |
.|__________ ______|____ ____|__ ______|
|| %|
|||%%| <-- collapsed
||||%| stairway
________ ____________________________||__%|
.:|%% | | | |
..::|%%%. | | gray | black |
__________|%% green white chamber chamber |
|%%% chamber chamber , .# <-- concealed
|%%%%. | |%%%%..%%| | door
|%%%%%%%. | |%%%%%%%%| |
|________________|______|________|____________|
Parekh: (whispers) It's been here all this time...unopened.
Kronos: Because no one had found this place, aside from those who just
wandered into the upper areas and were quickly killed by its guardians
without ever knowing what lay below.
Belphanior: Hmm.
The elf's magical eye and his other methods of detection could discern
no traps or magic around the door, and he moved back to allow the stone
warriors to enter the stairway.
Belphanior: (frowns)
Parekh: What is it?
Belphanior: Just think...this door has likely not been opened for two
thousand years...since the fall of Sulm in the distant past.
Kronos: (silently considers that it wasn't so distant for one of his
lifespan)
Belphanior: And now here we are, walking through it.
Parekh: You're right. Let me put a wizard eye in front of the first of
the stone soldiers. (she begins the process of conjuring that) I'd
like us to know what's down there before they encounter it.
Cespedes: We should also have illumination. (he works a quick spell,
causes the first half-dozen of the stony warriors' chests to glow with
bright light)
Wu: Is this wise?
Cespedes: There is nothing to lose. Anything that waits below already
knows we are here, I guarantee it. Adding light will not change that.
Belphanior: (nods) Whatever element of surprise we might have had is
gone now. It's going to be a contest of claw against steel, and our
magic against that of ancient Sulm and the Scorpion Crown. (he grasps
his sword more tightly) It's time to change the course of the world.
Let's get to it.
With that, the very first member of the rank of stone warriors grasped
the iron ring and pulled...and the door opened with a loud protest from
its old, dusty hinges. The air beyond assaulted the senses of those who
had noses - it had a dry, stale smell that was nearly overpowering (and
caused more than one person to temporarily cover their mouth with a rag
or piece of cloth). This prompted Parekh to cast another of her unique
spells, this one summoning a small magical bird which hovered above the
front rank of the assault force. If any dangerously foul air (or harmful
gas) was encountered, the bird would then alert its creator to the danger
ahead.
The magical light cast upon the frontmost of the stone soldiers revealed
a wide staircase, more than ten feet across, that led down and counter-
clockwise. Without delay, the force entered the stairway and began its
descent. At this point, there were two dozen of the stone warriors left
(as the others were spread out in other areas of the palace, five to a
room) followed by forty of Kronos' skeletal warriors, then the ranks of
adventurers and archmagi, followed by the last forty skeletons. Twenty
more of those remained in the bottom of the tower stairway as a rearguard.
While it was potentially reckless of the nine powerful wizards to all
be here together, crammed in such a small space far beneath the desert's
surface...they all had powerful protective enchantments and other magical
protections in place on their persons. It was safe to say that very few
(if any) spells or similar effects would harm them, at least not until
they had a chance to counter those. The same went for any arrows, bolts,
hurled rocks, and the like; a volley of a thousand arrows launched at the
Bright Alliance right now would result in a thousand arrows not finding
their marks. No, the primary threat to the archmagi would be from other
physical attacks - scorpions, undead, enemy soldiers, and so on. Those
would need to be dealt with by the first rank of shock troops (the stony
and skeletal warriors) and the second rank of adventurers, companions,
and mercenaries.
Pallin: (eyeing the surrounding stone as they descend, feeling a growing
unease about the possibility of teleportation being blocked)
Parekh: Take heart, old friend. We will be fine. There had never been
a group as powerful as this one assembled for a single purpose. Even
old Rary, who surely intended to take on this challenge himself one day,
couldn't have matched the experience and might assembled here today.
Dexitheseus: (thinking about how much better he'd feel if some of his
old allies, like Lord Marcus or Yod Ironbeard or Relmar, were here as
part of this expedition)
Wu: (clutching his staff tightly as he thinks about the legends of his
people, particularly those pertaining to ancient evils and curses)
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra) I remain confident. Even though scorpions
and their ilk are not as susceptible to illusions as most...my magic
alters the very fabric of reality itself. We shall prevail.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) I hope you're right, but this is still one
of the most dangerous things we've ever done.
Belphanior: (to Parekh) Does your wizard eye see anything down below?
Parekh: Nothing yet. The stone warriors in the front still descend,
but haven't reached the bottom yet.
Belphanior: (checks the Seeking Scroll) It shouldn't be much further,
maybe fifty feet until the spiral stairs end and open into a larger
chamber. (he now moves with a vague nervous energy, eager to meet the
challenge ahead - and conquer it) Soon...soon.
Kronos: This is it...the greatest folly of long-dead Sulm...and now its
greatest power, and danger. Here, two thousand years ago, the corrupt
and depraved nobles of that kingdom - led by their power-hungry king -
paid their respects to evil gods, bartering for favors beyond their
comprehension. (he frowns) And here it was that wicked Shattados was
changed into something twisted, unnatural, and horrible...and then his
entire kingdom met a similar fate, becoming the barren, lifeless desert
that we have grown so familiar with of late.
Parekh: And he's down here, somewhere close...him and that cursed crown.
In due course, the lead rank of stone soldiers reached the bottom of
the winding stairway, advancing into a large, open chamber some forty
feet deep and about fifty wide. It would have been wider except for the
fact that one entire side had collapsed and was buried in a mix of large
rocks, smaller rubble, and sand. Where still intact, this area's walls
and ceiling were smoothly-cut stone of a faded grayish color. A wide
passage exited the room's northeastern corner.
______________ __
| | | = 10'
| |______
|
| ______
| |
______| |
|||| | |||| = stairs to level above
______ %% |
| %% %%%%%% |
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%| %%%% = rubble
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
It was immediately obvious that the time of avoiding guardians was no
more, as nearly a dozen large scorpions - each about two feet long, much
bigger than normal creatures of this sort, but far from gigantic - moved
across the floor toward the stone warriors that had entered the chamber.
Behind these were two monsters that had to be the horrific spawn of the
Scorpion Crown's evil power. Part human and part scorpion, the things
were huge; their humanoid torsos were mated with the long, hard-plated,
six-legged bodies of gigantic scorpions which included ten-foot tails
tipped with wicked barbed stingers. Their bottom halves were the color
of dark sand while their human top halves were reddish-brown and lacked
any hair. In some places, their bones almost protruded from their skin,
and their hands were each tipped with two thick fingers and long, curved
thumbs. Their heads and faces were vaguely human but had glowing red
eyes that lacked pupils. These two creatures were armed with long pole-
axes tipped with heavy, sharp blades.
Kronos: The fabled manscorpions, spawned from the people of Sulm by the
Scorpion Crown's power.
As the large scorpions met the front line of stone warriors, about ten
of the latter had entered the room; they easily withstood the claws and
stingers of the oversized scorpions while cutting or smashing them with
weapon-strikes - and driving them back. The two manscorpions had slightly
better luck with their halberds, meeting the warriors head-on and holding
the line...but there were only two of them against two dozen of the stony
warriors. The smaller scorpions were quickly being dispatched as the
attackers forced their way into the room, and gradually pushed the pair
of manscorpions back.
manscorpion #1: (roars in bestial rage as a sword chips away a piece of
its bony, armored skin and drives it back another foot) RAAARGH!
manscorpion #2: (lands a mighty slashing blow on one of the rocky foes,
doing little or no apparent damage) Need...help!
Parekh: (far back in the rear ranks) They talk.
Kronos: Not very intelligently.
From behind the line of stone warriors (all of which were now inside
the chamber) advanced the twoscore skeletons - and just in time, as from
the passage in the northeast corner emerged a cluster of eight larger
scorpions (these measuring in at about four feet long) as well as four
more of the hideous manscorpions and hundreds of smaller scorpions of
normal size. The battle was now well and truly joined, though not yet
by the members of Belphanior's and Peyton's groups. The manscorpions
were larger and had greater reach than the stone warriors, but were still
outnumbered. The smaller scorpions (especially the swarming normal-sized
ones) moved between the legs of Cespedes' legion of stone soldiers and
met the skeletons...and some of them even got through those and scuttled
toward the bottom of the stairway. Unfortunately for them, they were met
and stopped there thanks to the offensive magic of Skektek and Hope.
Meanwhile, on the level above, one anticipated possibility became fact
as a number of small and medium scorpions began to issue forth from some
of the fissures in the ceilings of some of the previously-cleared rooms -
and also from the desert's surface, entering the breached tower-top and
then swarming down the first spiral stairway. Due to these attacks from
new fronts, the assaulting force's rearguard - knots of stone warriors as
well as some skeletal soldiers - had their unliving hands full as they
engaged the maddened creatures of the sunken capital city and the potent
evil that still fueled parts of it.
The good news was that the ranks of stone warriors were not only immune
to the stings of any and all scorpions and scorpion-kin, but were also
powerful and highly resistant to damage. And in the lower level of the
buried palace, this meant that the stony combatants continued to drive the
dungeon's denizens back; most of the smaller scorpions had been demolished
or forced into the northeastern passage, along with the manscorpions, the
majority of whom were wounded though not defeated. A dozen of the stone
warriors had entered that passage and were keeping the foes at bay, while
the other dozen moved to follow their fellows as space became available.
The contingent of skeletons here - its numbers down to about thirty-five
after the recent but brief combat - waited in the chamber's north end,
ready to follow the ranks of stony warriors that continued to drive the
arachnids back. Peyton's team of mercenaries had just entered the room
and were spreading out to help as able.
Peyton: Looks like the stone troops did most of the work. (he eyes the
passage to the northeast) And continue to do it.
Adolphus: Me not smash bug-things?
Peyton: Not yet. But I'm sure there will be more at some point.
Adolphus: Good. (he looks around) Hrm. (he reaches down, picks up the
lifeless carcass of a foot-long scorpion, and begins to eat it)
Damien: Ugh.
Rogar: You don't like scorpion?
Damien: What, you think just because I'm a demon that I'll eat bugs? No
fuckin' way, pal. I prefer meat...red, bloody meat.
Rogar: I doubt we'll find any of that here.
Damien: Nope, but when all this is over, I'll go get some. (he grins to
himself) And some beer too! (he flies away to one corner of the room,
gleefully stabbing a wounded scorpion with his tiny pitchfork)
Rogar: (quietly takes a sip from his flask)
Peyton: (spots a cluster of tiny, normal-sized scorpions still in play,
on the southern end of the chamber) Uh, Wembly?
Wembly: (pointing his enchanted wand, he quickly roasts the things with
a narrow, focused sheet of flames) My pleasure.
Peyton: (nods)
Otto and the rest of Belphanior's crew were now advancing into this
area, and the dwarf instantly took stock of things.
Otto: They fled down that passage yonder?
Sylus: (nods) Not so much "fled" as "were driven back."
Peyton: Yeah, your friend's friend's stone legions are something else.
As my dear old uncle used to say, the best fighter isn't just good at
winning battles, but winning them with ease.
Otto: (ponders this) Yeah, whatever. Our job is to wait here until
Belphanior confirms the route to our quarry. (he casts a glance at the
passage to the northeast) Which I assume is that way, and will be made
less hazardous by the battle in progress.
Belphanior: (enters the chamber, leading the way for the nine archmagi,
once more consulting the powerful Seeking Scroll) Actually, that is
_not_ where we want to go. (he turns toward the southeastern corner of
this chamber, at the edge of the massive collapsed section) It's that
way.
Adolphus: It is? (he eyes the rubble, a scorpion leg hanging from one
side of his mouth as he chews) Me gotta move rocks?
Belphanior: Not quite. There's a hidden doorway there...I don't discern
any traps, but it's solid stone and about a foot thick. Dexitheseus?
Alindyar: I shall address this challenge. (he begins working his strange
but highly powerful magic)
A few moments later, that section of wall began to tremble...and then,
with a loud scraping sound, a massive ten-by-ten-foot stone slab slowly
opened outward into the room. Behind it was revealed a passage that led
thirty feet in before turning sharply to the right.
Alindyar: The way is clear.
Belphanior: Thanks. We're getting close now...the crown is only a few
hundred feet away. (he puts the Seeking Scroll away and readies his
sword, eyeing the new passage to the southeast)
Cespedes: (looking around, he begins new planning for the stone warriors
that remain unoccupied)
Dexitheseus: (bids the earth elemental to move over to the opened door
to guard it while the troops are regrouped)
It was decided to take the remaining stone warriors - about a dozen at
this point - and use them as the first rank, along with just over a dozen
of the skeletal warriors. The other score of the latter would remain in
this chamber as another rearguard. The approximately one dozen stone
warriors who had driven the foes into the northeastern passage would be
left to continue that work.
This meant that the force about to continue consisted of a front rank
of a dozen each of Cespedes' stony warriors and Kronos' skeletal soldiers,
followed by the earth elemental and the as-yet-quiet iron dwarf. After
these would come Belphanior's and Peyton's teams, and finally the archmagi
of the Bright Alliance.
Lyra: Do we need to worry about whatever's in that other passage, into
which our forces drove the defenders?
Belphanior: I can't say for sure what's in there, except that it's most
definitely not Shattados or the crown. I think we're right to instead
focus on those, and let that other element do its job. We just don't
have time to clear every single area, one by one.
Kronos: Agreed. And that job is simply to keep foes at bay while we do
what we need to - the important work.
Lyra: (nods) Someone had to ask.
After the minor rearranging of troops, they wasted no time, moving into
the new passage, which as noted made a sharp turn to the right, and then
another to the left, and then yet another to the right. Here, it opened
into some sort of cell block...except that the cells no longer had doors
(and likely hadn't for a very long time) which meant that the occupants
of the cells now roamed freely.
______________ __
| | | = 10'
| |__________
| | ### = opened stone door
| ###______ |
| | | | |||| = stairs to level above
______| | | |
|||| | | |_______ %%%% = rubble
______ %% | | |
| %% %%%%%% | |_______ |
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%| | |
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ___| |
| |
|___ |___
| |
___| ___| ___
| | | |
|___ |______| |____________________
| |
|___ ___ ___ |
| | | | | |
|___| |___| |_______________|
Those occupants had at some point become undead, and their numbers were
substantial: more than two dozen skeletons, about a dozen zombies, and
eight or nine ghouls. As the party rounded the last corner, every single
one of the undead ceased their aimless milling about, turned to the north,
and immediately headed toward the intruders. The stone warriors, utterly
unintimidated by the type or numbers of the undead, raised their weapons
and marched forward, three abreast and four such ranks deep. As their
fellows had done against the various scorpions, the stone constructs did
not break ranks or give way; their sturdy construction, great strength,
and resistance to damage made it difficult for the undead to damage them,
much less push them back...and intimidating them was of course impossible.
By the time the stone warriors had engaged the undead, Irina and Rogar
had moved up - now standing right behind the frontmost row of artificial
warriors - and employed the powers of their respective deities against the
walking dead. Their dual attack (primarily led by Irina's somewhat more
powerful channeling of Istus) was more than effective, it was downright
lethal. Every single one of the undead that had haunted this cell block
for long centuries was instantly obliterated.
Peyton: (cursing quietly) I can't see. I'm too short. What's going on?
Otto: (in the same basic predicament) The moaning and groaning stopped.
Ys: (one of the very few who could actually witness what just happened,
due to his greater height) Our priests and priestesses have rid this
area of the unliving.
Damien: That's putting it mildly. They smoked 'em! (he cackles as he
hovers in place, his tiny wings keeping him aloft and above the others
in the passageway)
Adolphus: Yeah. Bones and smelly guys all gone now. (he scratches his
head) But me not eat those even if me could. (he makes a face) Ugh.
Peyton: (to Otto) It sucks being shorter than everyone else. When are
we going to get in on some action?
Otto: Soon, I'm sure. Be careful what you ask for. (to Irina) How're
you holding up?
Irina: (wearily) As long as the undead continue to fall or flee, I'd
say all is well. (she glances at the burly, bearded Rogar, who seems
none the worse for wear after his own undead-turning efforts alongside
her just now) He seems to be holding up just fine.
Paige: (quietly) That's because he's half-drunk.
Otto: From what I've gathered, he's actually more powerful that way.
Peyton: (nods) It's true.
Paige: As long as he doesn't fuck up. (she eyes the priest warily)
The attacking force was able to spread out a bit, since there were now
several empty cells to explore. After a distance, the area angled off to
the left and then opened into a larger chamber with no exits. And just
then, two things happened at roughly the same time.
Firstly, a ghostly figure floated toward the party at a rapid rate of
speed, its transparent arms held out as if to beseech the adventures for
something, a low moan escaping its lips. Behind it pursued a quartet of
spectral forms with human appearances and angry expressions.
And secondly, from somewhere to the north - the way from which they had
come here - began a series of loud, piercing sounds.
Peyton: Sounds like someone just set off some shriekers, somewhere back
there.
Skektek: Glad it's not in here. Those fuckers are loud.
Otto: They're also not our problem. That was the direction where some of
the stone warriors drove back foes...so now we know they've driven them
back even further. Let's stay on point here and now.
Hope: (trying to make sense of the spectres chasing the ghost around, as
they get dangerously close) What's the deal with all these things?
Skektek: I don't know, but I can't blast them in this confined space-
Rogar: (readies himself to challenge these undead) The-
Irina: (steps in front of Rogar, brandishing her mace again, its glowing
light filling the chamber) O dead ones...by Istus' might, I command you
to cease your actions!
Paige: Whatever they might be.
The spectres immediately turned and fled the other way, gathering in
one corner at the distant end of the long rectangular chamber. As for
the ghost, it looked confused for a moment, but then backed away to the
other corner, as far as it could get from both Irina and the spectres.
Rogar: They sure are behaving strangely.
Irina: I'm not sure what's going on between these undead, but we won't
have to deal with them for a while.
Belphanior: At which time we'll have moved on to confront much greater
foes. (he consults the Seeking Scroll once more)
Kronos: (having observed Irina repel the powerful undead, he regards her
with his crimson eyes) Impressive. Most impressive.
Irina: (unsure how to answer the comment) Uh...thanks.
Belphanior: (checking the scroll and then looking around) This area goes
no further - we need to backtrack to the section of passage just before
we entered the cell block.
They did so, and another secret door of thick stone was found at the
bend of the passage Belphanior had identified.
______________
| |
| |__________ ________________
| | / \
| ###______ | / \
| | | | / \
______| | | | / \
|||| | | |_______ _____/ \
______ %% | | # \
| %% %%%%%% | |_______ #_____ /
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%| | | \ /
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ___| | \ /
__ | | \ /
| = 10' |___ |___ \ /
| | \________________/
### = opened stone door ___| ___| ___
| | | |
# |___ |______| |____________________
# = closed stone door | |
|___ ___ ___ |
|||| = stairs to level above | | | | | |
%%%% = rubble |___| |___| |_______________|
Like the previous door of this sort, this one was massively thick and
heavy, and without magic (or a giant) they would not have been able to
move it....and when it was pulled open, they immediately confirmed what
Belphanior's scroll had already suggested. At long last, here was the
lair of the unique, evil king who ruled this forsaken place. No further
winding passages or smaller antechambers stood in the way; a fairly short
passage quickly opened into a massive vaulted chamber, its walls braced
by four pairs of high arches which converged in the center of the ceiling
hundreds of feet above. A number of thick octagonal columns of blackest
stone supported the series of colossal arches. The chamber's floor was
fashioned of polished jet-black stone which was covered in deep scratches,
ragged chipped areas, sand, and assorted debris. At the center of the
massive space was an octagonal inlaid area of floor, within which was a
low altar of black stone through which ran thin veins of dark crimson.
Surrounding this altar was a massive pile of coins, gemstones, and other
treasure.
As expected, this gigantic underground chamber was far from unoccupied.
In addition to the fifty or so scorpions of unusual size - ranging from
huge ones about four feet long, to giant specimens in the six-foot range,
to more of the fierce manscorpions - there were creatures here that no one
had ever seen before. Fully ten of the largest scorpions were monsters
the size of a small hut, with bodies more than ten feet long and pincers
that could cut a man in two. And one dwarfed them all: a singular titan
of a scorpion whose gigantic body was over twenty feet in length, with a
tail that reached almost twice that high above the dark stone floor. This
immense monstrosity was undoubtedly what now remained of the former King
Shattados - or perhaps more accurately, what he had become two thousand
years ago due to the evil power of the cursed Scorpion Crown. Even from
this distance, those with keen eyesight (or magical means of detection)
could see the sinister crown of black metal atop the monster's head; the
iron legs and claws that formed the crown's band appeared to have actually
sunken into the scorpion's flesh - or perhaps it was the other way around,
that ancient flesh growing _around_ the metal of the crown? None could
know what strange and terrible things had taken place over all the long
centuries down here in this evil place.
The next moment or two seemed to last an eternity, as the two mighty
forces - bold, ambitious invaders and ancient, evil denizens - faced each
other across the gigantic arched chamber. And then, everything suddenly
seemed to happen at once. The scorpions and scorpion-kin scuttled forth,
fanning out in a semi-circular pattern to quickly and completely block
any advance on the part of the new arrivals. Cespedes' stone warriors
and Kronos' skeletal soldiers - at least those who were not deployed in
other areas on this floor and the one above, fighting other defenders
that had emerged from sections of the ruined palace - surged forward to
meet the lead ranks of the monsters in melee combat. Behind them stood
the force's mighty adventurer-warriors: primarily Ys, Adolphus, and Drak
but also including Otto, Sylus, Paige, Razor Charlie, and Peyton. Damien
took to the air, his wings flapping and tiny pitchfork held at the ready.
Behind (and protected by) the warriors were the spellcasters - Skektek,
Hope, Wembly, Irina, and Rogar. Poulos stuck close to Hope, his primary
focus being to protect her (though he would certainly help keep foes from
getting too close to any of the others too).
It was absolutely crucial for all those in the assault to move into the
room as quickly and aggressively as possible, to allow all nine archmagi
of the Bright Alliance (rather than just the first couple so far) to enter
the room and deploy their potent magic. Accordingly, Dexitheseus had the
earth elemental move directly into the fray; using its connection to the
very stone of this world, it vanished into the floor...and reappeared
outside the front rank of stone warriors.
earth elemental: (emerges from the floor amidst the enemy horde, lashing
out in all directions with its massive, heavy limbs)
huge scorpion: (crushed into paste beneath one huge stony foot)
giant scorpion: (scuttles back, two of its legs shattered)
monarch scorpion: (one of the ten that are the size of a small hut, it
scurries forth to engage the elemental and keep it from advancing any
further)
Cespedes completed the one-two punch, using magic to catapult the iron
dwarf over the ranks of friend and foe alike, where it landed violently
amidst a group of various-sized scorpions!
iron dwarf: (rises to his feet, brandishing the powerful magical battle-
axe that has been fused to his right hand for many long years) RAAARGH!
This weapon, despite a dozen minor notches, was still made of a tough
enchanted alloy far stronger than any conventional steel...or scorpion-
hide, for that matter.
iron dwarf: AARGH! (he chops at the nearest giant scorpion, cutting it
in half and putting a notch in the stone floor) GRAAAARRR! (he turns
and smacks a huge scorpion with one gauntleted fist, the force of the
blow crushing its head and sending it sailing away) RAAAARGH!
manscorpion #1: You...die...(it stabs at the smaller foe with its long
halberd, the fierce metal-on-metal contact drawing an angry outburst of
sparks but otherwise serving only to provoke the already-enraged dwarf)
iron dwarf: AAAAAAARGH! (he swats the halberd's head aside and leaps
up at the half-man, half-scorpion foe)
The manscorpions, as a rule, were dim-witted and full of rage...perhaps
at all other forms of life, as the latter did not suffer from the vile
curse that gave the manscorpions their horrific forms while taking away
their humanity and higher reasoning abilities. This one had, on some
subconscious level, thought it knew what rage was...but as the armored
dwarf collided with it, roaring in never-ending anger the entire time,
the manscorpion quickly learned what true, unbridled, primal fury looked
(and felt) like.
iron dwarf: (grabbing the monstrous opponent in a headlock with his
axe-less arm) GRAAAARGH! (he tightens his arm while still chopping
away at the foe with his axe) AAAAARGH!
Belphanior: (the third of the archmagi to make it into the room, he
stares at this scene in fascination, thinking about how things could
get even more chaotic if he summoned the wild three-headed dog) ...nah.
(working a spell, he vanishes from that spot, teleporting to the very
far end of the hall an instant later, unseen by anyone due to magical
protections)
On the front ranks, stone warriors contended with scorpions of varying
sizes and types. The mighty combatants had been able to advance a good
distance into the huge chamber, as their raw power and their rocky skins
meant that they could inflict more damage than they took from pincers and
tail-stings. Of course, that advancement meant new gaps in the line...
gaps which had been filled immediately by Kronos' skeletal warriors. The
bony attackers were faster and more skillful with their weapons than their
stone allies, but also nowhere near as durable.
skeletal warrior #79: (smashed to bits by the poleaxe of a manscorpion)
skeletal warrior #51: (loses an arm to the pincer of a giant scorpion,
but uses its other arm to swing its sword, nearly severing the thing's
other pincer, which now dangles at an odd angle)
stone warrior #39: (strikes a huge scorpion with its mace, wounding it
and driving it back)
other huge scorpion: (scuttles forward and lashes out with the stinger
on its long tail)
stone warrior #39: (suffers a sizable chip in its stony body, but is
unaffected by the stinger's otherwise-potent venom)
stone warrior #41: (chops at the scorpion with its axe, severing a leg)
manscorpion #8: (lunges forth, leading with its spear, and manages to
actually push another of the stone warriors back a few feet) Will...
stop...you...
stone warrior #43: (bashes at the spear's shaft with its own heavy
warhammer, snapping it and leaving the manscorpion with, basically, a
long, broken stick)
manscorpion #8: (howls in rage) Aargh!
Naturally, there were almost immediate gaps in the ranks of the stone
and skeletal warriors...gaps which the various scorpion-foes immediately
attempted to exploit.
Ys: (steps up to meet a manscorpion that just forced its way between a
stone warrior and a skeletal one) Have at thee! (he swings his huge
greatsword, meeting the other's halberd with predictable results)
manscorpion #13: (recoils as its weapon breaks in three places) Huh?
Ys: (powers forward, hitting the foe's torso with a powerful sideways
attack)
manscorpion #13: (nearly cut in half, it begins writhing spastically,
its long and deadly tail-stinger whipping about) AAArrrgh!
Adolphus: (having waded into the fray) Me can help. (he fearlessly
reaches out and grabs the flagellating tail...and then hefts the entire
manscorpion, swinging it like a club)
Ys: Whoa.
manscorpion #13: (finally breaks in half due to the inertia of the swing,
dark blood and guts spraying all over the place)
giant scorpion #4: (sneakily advancing nearby, it is abruptly struck by
the monster's severed top half, and backs up a bit before stinging the
half-carcass several times)
Adolphus: (stands there, holding the long tail which is connected to the
bottom half of the beast) This no good. (he hurls the half-body into
the enemy ranks ahead, then unlimbers the huge battle-axe secured across
his back) This better. (without another thought, he then heads for the
nearest foe, a giant scorpion that just rolled over one of the skeletal
warriors)
Paige: (sparring with another giant scorpion, her sword gradually taking
pieces out of its pincers)
giant scorpion #5: (raises its tail-stinger)
Otto: (fires a poisoned bolt into the tail, right behind its venomous
tip)
Paige: I don't know if that will stop-
Hope: (hits the raised tail, and the manscorpion behind the giant one,
which was her true target, with a sheet of burning flames)
giant scorpion #5: (finds itself without a tail-tip)
Paige: -but that will.
manscorpion #4: (its head and shoulders seared and charred) Aargh!
Razor Charlie: (throws first one magical knife, then another at the foe)
manscorpion #4: (hit in the throat and shoulder by the blades) Aaaargh!
Sylus: (darts forth to do battle with one of the huge scorpions, slicing
its body with a quick slash and then dodging a pincer)
Damien: (helps from above, swooping down and stabbing the monster in its
head)
huge scorpion #16: (scuttles back, trying to get away)
Drak: (steps forth while growing to giant-size, then brings his gigantic
mallet down on the thing)
huge scorpion #16: (squashed like a bug, albeit a very large one)
Damien: Hey, that was cool!
Sylus: (nods) It was indeed.
Drak: My pleasure- (he finds himself now being charged by one of the
immense monarch scorpions, which probably targeted him due to his size)
Alright, then. (he raises his mallet and charges the thing)
Skektek: (airborne and exhibiting unusual patience, he finally sees an
opening and lets loose a chain of lighting from his ring) Time to cut
loose!
The potent sequence of electrical blasts took out its primary target -
a manscorpion in the enemy's rear ranks - reducing the thing to a large
pile of blackened cinders. The lightning then jumped to almost a dozen
other nearby foes, one at a time. In this manner, one giant scorpion and
three huge ones were destroyed, while another three of each type were
wounded, along with another manscorpion.
Skektek: (almost leering now, with an excitement stemming from a lack of
recent opportunities to really cut loose) That's the way you do it!
The six ogre magi who served Wu were carrying the battle to the foes in
their own way, using tactics developed in their years working together.
They were all flying, and had spread out in a line across the vast hall,
thirty feet in the air. They had only one attack that would be of real
use against creatures like this...and three of them launched those attacks
while the other three held back, watching and waiting. Thus it was that
triple cones of cold blasted the rear ranks of the foes - primarily the
enormous monarch scorpions and the even larger monstrosity formerly known
as King Shattados, who ruled over all of the monsters here. The triple
cold attacks were efficient and effective, hitting the same knot of foes
from three angles to maximize the damage dealt. Four of the hut-sized
monarch scorpions were frozen to death by the spells, and another two of
the things were severely wounded. As for Shattados, he suffered no wounds
due to some unseen protection, presumably thanks to the mighty crown that
was melded to his head.
And at this point, he had seen enough. While the titanic scorpion was
a mere shell of the king and wizard that he had once been, with little in
the way of rational intelligence, he was still quite cunning...and he had
the immense power of the Scorpion Crown at his disposal. These were all
psionic in nature, utilizing strange but potent mental energies that few
could understand, fewer could tap into, and fewer still could master.
The crown conferred upon Shattados a number of powers and abilities, none
of which his now-bestial brain could fully comprehend but all of which he
could still use to deadly effect when necessary - and now was such a time.
After a very long time down here, kept alive and sustained (although also
driven completely insane and eventually reduced to an animalistic level of
intelligence) by the evil magic of the crown, the scorpion-king hadn't had
a need to fully use the powers of the artifact until now. Subconsciously
sensing the approach of others intending to do him harm and perhaps wrest
the precious crown from him after almost two millennia, he also knew on
some deep, primal level that the coming foes were both numerous and of
surpassing power. Accordingly (and instinctively) he had raised a simple
but potent barrier against physical and magic attack - one that was not
insurmountable but would protect him long enough to gather and focus the
crown's power before emitting an all-powerful, omnidirectional assault on
the minds of all intelligent beings in this chamber. Thus, although he
had appeared to be doing nothing while the invaders whittled down his
forces...he had actually been mustering and building power for the most
powerful offensive power the Scorpion Crown possessed.
And so - just as the last of the archmagi entered the chamber, ready to
employ their various powerful magicks - the creature that was once King
Shattados finally unleashed his psionic ultrablast...a violent outburst
of crude, coarse thought waves that mercilessly assaulted every rational
mind in its vicinity. This was nothing like the more refined, graceful
psionic powers that had been displayed by the Crimson Blades' psionicist
Clavius during the great battle at the Center of Time. If those animated
blades of psychic energy had been art, then Shattados' mental ultrablast
was raw, unfettered, unfocused brute force.
Although Shemeya had previously tipped off Kronos (and through him, the
rest of the archmagi) about the likelihood of of Shattados having psionic
powers, she had not known the full extent of those powers. While all of
the group had an idea what psionics were (particularly the two dark elves
due to them spending most of their lives in the Underdark, and Kronos due
to him being around for a couple thousand years) and had prepared their
defenses accordingly...they simply were not ready for the sheer power of
a near-godlike psionic attack like this one.
Oddly enough, although the unilateral assault blasted everybody, those
minds with more advanced structures and keener intellects were actually
much more susceptible to this attack. The majority of the attackers were
momentarily stunned and suffered a powerful headache, but they got off
easy compared to those who were magi. Every wizard in the chamber, with
the exception of Belphanior and Cespedes, fell to the floor unconscious -
as did the six ogre magi, Peyton, and Sylus. Pallin's strange pale hound
collapsed as well, most likely due to some link to the fallen mage rather
than its own mental acuity. With their master incapacitated, all of the
remaining skeletal warriors stopped moving altogether. Parekh's strange
mithril golem stood over her fallen form protectively, presumably acting
on some default command, and seemed unlikely to do anything else in the
battle. The elemental summoned by Dexitheseus had gone inert and fallen,
although there was a bit of good news there, as it lay atop the monarch
scorpion it had been fighting; the latter was now half-dead and pinned to
the floor by the elemental's massive weight.
This meant that a much smaller group - Otto, Razor Charlie, Ys, Irina,
Paige, and Poulos as well as Adolphus, Rogar, Damien, Drak, and the iron
dwarf, not to mention Cespedes - now faced five monarch scorpions (two of
which were wounded thanks to the cones of cold, and a third that was still
locked in combat with the iron dwarf), a dozen of the manscorpions (one
of which had been wounded by Skektek's chain lightning), eight giant
scorpions (four of which had been wounded by various foes), fifteen huge
scorpions (three of which had been wounded by Skektek's chain lightning)
and of course the master scorpion Shattados.
Otto: (shaking his head to clear it from the attack, which felt like a
sudden, massive headache concentrated into a single moment of time)
Urgh.
Paige: (doing the same, as are all of those adventurers who remain in
the fight) Ow...(she looks around wincing) What the hell happened?
Otto: Judging from those who fell, I'd say that...whatever it was had
much greater effect on spellcasters. (he glances at the unconscious
Sylus and Peyton) And certain others.
Rogar: (blinking as he recovers) But not all others.
Razor Charlie: (like everyone else who remains, he instinctively forms
a circle so that they all stand back-to-back against the assorted foes,
who have already completely encircled them) This isn't good.
Drak: (hefts his mallet) We damn well won't go down without a fight.
Ys: That is certain. (he braces himself for the imminent attack of the
assorted scorpions and scorpion-kin)
Damien: (flying above the others, he considers whether or not he can
escape as he mutters to himself) I'll tell you what, we sure could use
a big blast of fire to fill this whole place right about now.
Cespedes: Stand fast, all of you. (he magically marshals all remaining
stone warriors to form up and protect the adventurers)
Although no one knew it - all of the wizards who comprised the Bright
Alliance, with the exception of the two dark elves, generally kept their
magical items and capabilities to themselves - Cespedes' metallic skull-
cap and some past experience with psionics afforded him some measure of
resistance to psionic probing and attacks. He was still somewhat stunned
and having trouble focusing, but was doing his best to assist the others
who were still conscious. Whether he did this out of altruism, or rather
simply to buy himself more time to regain his faculties, would never be
known. Shattados had taken note of the fact that this wizard controlled
the stone beings that could not be overcome by the assorted scorpions, as
well as the fact that he was still standing after the previous mass attack
that had felled the other wizards. The primitive logic that the scorpion-
king's mind employed meant that this one was the most dangerous of those
remaining, and the threat that had to be dealt with next...and so he did.
The psionic attack was of a completely different sort than the recent
ultrablast. It was just as powerful but focused on only one target, with
deadly effect.
Cespedes: (suddenly surrounded by a glowing red aura, a look of surprise
crosses his face for a single moment)
And then, the archmage simply ceased to exist as the millions of tiny
particles that made up his body were pulled apart and destroyed.
Paige: Well, damn.
Otto: Fuck.
Razor Charlie: There went our last wizard.
Drak: (notes that the stony warriors have stopped moving) And all of
his troops. We're truly on our own now.
Ys: (tightens his grip on his giant sword as the foes that surround them
draw near)
One active member of the assault force was actually not with the main
group, but rather finishing the fight he'd been in before the psychic
blast (which to tell the truth had barely registered in his simple and
crazed mind, because the rage that filled and fueled him meant that he
_always_ had a headache).
iron dwarf: (still tightening his grip on the manscorpion's neck)
manscorpion #1: Ghaa- <CRACK>
iron dwarf: RRRGH. (he releases the now-limp foe, drops to the floor,
and looks around...and up)
Shattados: (stares down at the small armored form, which is now actually
fairly close to him since the dwarf's struggle with the manscorpion
ranged all about)
iron dwarf: RRAAARGH! (oblivious to what he faces, he charges at the
master scorpion, leaping at the other axe-first)
The fury of the attack actually caused Shattados' psionic shields to
buckle briefly, but they held - and the dwarf bounced off of the unseen
barrier, landing on the floor hard.
iron dwarf: RrrrRRAAAAAAARGH! (he gets back up and charges again, his
axe swinging wildly, with enough strength to crack a stone wall)
Shattados: (glares at the armored warrior, then launches a burst of
kinetic force that slams into the iron dwarf and knocks him back a
hundred feet)
iron dwarf: (smashes into a wall with incredible force, cracking the
black stone, and falls to the floor) RRRRR...(he slowly gets to his
feet)
Shattados: (turns his attention to the small knot of adventurers as the
various scorpions and scorpion-kin close in all around them)
Otto: Here we go.
Irina: (suddenly realizes something) Where's Belphanior?
That question was actually about to be answered, for a bit earlier the
elf had transported himself across the chamber and then turned invisible.
None had noticed him - the scorpions and such didn't have the ability to
detect such spell use or the sudden reappearance of someone elsewhere in
the area. Shattados did in fact possess such means of detection, but
Belphanior had escaped his attention for the same reason he hadn't been
incapacitated by the master scorpion's powerful psionic blast: the simple
but powerful earring the elf wore, which conferred protection against all
attacks that sensed or affected the mind - charming, suggestions, ESP,
mind control, and so on. He had once been told that its wards extended
to psionically-sourced mental attacks as well, and had gambled that this
was true - and had been proven right today. Thus it was that - as had
been the case at key moments in the past - Belphanior now found himself
in a position of great opportunity.
Belphanior: (having already considered several options available to him,
he goes with the one he deems to have the best chance of turning the
tide in his favor, speaking quietly but very, very clearly) I wish for
the Scorpion Crown to be torn free from Shattados' head and to land at
my feet.
While magic and psionics were two different things, this was not any
sort of direct conflict between the two disciplines...but rather a spell
of the greatest power and reach, invoked from a position of surprise and
directed to a single, simple effect.
Shattados: (roars in fury as the black metal crown rips free from the
flesh of his skull, flies fifty feet away, and lands on the stone floor
next to Belphanior) AAARGH! (he blinks as dark blood streams into his
eyes and down his face) AAAAAAAARGH! (he thrashes about, gargantuan
pincers snapping and stinger-tipped tail flailing)
Belphanior: (taking full advantage of the foe's shock, he brandishes the
hourglass of Kronos, using its mighty powers to stop time in a bubble
surrounding the scorpion king)
Shattados: (ceases movement, as do a number of his forces who are close
enough to him despite being focused on the other adventurers)
Otto: (to the others) Attack! Attack now, with everything you're got!
Give them hell!
The others - a mix of his own group, Peyton's group, and Drak - roared
in enthusiastic fury and tore into the encircling monsters with renewed
vigor and motivation. They knew this would be their best (and likely
last) chance to win the day here, and so they now plied their trade with
every single bit of the skill, might, and daring that they possessed.
Swords, axes, knives, bolts, a mace, and a giant hammer assaulted the
surrounding monsters...with violent and gory results. Even the insane
iron dwarf got in on the action; while he didn't necessarily understand
what was happening, and he damn well didn't obey any of the adventurers,
he seemed to sense that the fighting wasn't over - and immediately charged
at one of the gigantic monarch scorpions, leaping up and swinging his
battleaxe in a deadly arc. That enchanted weapon's keen edge sheared away
a large chunk of the monster's head. The immense beast reeled, thrashing
about as dark blood oozed from the wound; the iron dwarf took this as
reason to press his attack, and barreled toward the monster, roaring in
fury.
Meanwhile, much nearer to the temporarily-immobilized master scorpion,
Belphanior had cast another quick spell to cover the Scorpion Crown in
thick webbing - as a short-term safety measure against anyone grabbing
it - and now employed a combination of magical hasting and his own speed
to close with Shattados and put his dark blade to exactly the sort of
deadly work for which it had been forged.
Belphanior: (leaps onto Shattados' back, dashes up the behemoth's thick
armored hide, then swings Blackrazor at the master scorpion's completely
unprotected neck)
The keen steel cut deeply into the monster's flesh, but the elf didn't
stop there. A second blow, and then a third, had landed by the time the
potent magic of the hourglass began to fade. Shattados began to tremble,
as a fourth blow from Belphanior saw the head of the immense foe nearly
completely severed. Just as the sands of the hourglass ran out, the elf's
fifth blow finally finished the gory job once and for all.
Belphanior: (stands there astride the severed head of the scorpion king,
covered with black blood and gore, absorbing the slain foe's life force
through the black sword in his hand) Ahhhh...
Shattados was a scorpion - albeit an insanely large, strange, unnatural
one - and all such creatures exhibited a reflexive stinging action upon
their demise. Unfortunately for Belphanior, his position at the beast's
front, with his back to its tail, made him an easy target for that giant
stinger as it whipped about wildly.
Belphanior: Ghak. (struck in the middle of his back and nearly impaled
by the huge barb, he staggers for a couple moments before falling)
Shattados: (drained of life force, his tail finally stops flailing and
drops to the floor, its job done)
Belphanior: (lies there, unmoving)
Otto: (sees this from within the ring of attackers) Belphanior!
The good news was that the instant Shattados had been frozen in time,
all of the scorpions and scorpion-kin had momentarily lost all focus -
something the adventurers had quickly taken advantage of. Between Drak,
Ys, and Adolphus, they had pretty quickly been able to slay or severely
injure a number of the larger, tougher monsters. The remaining foes had
then regained their senses and pressed their attack, but when Shattados
had actually been slain shortly thereafter, they literally lost their
minds and stopped fighting, instead wandering this way and that like they
were completely confused. Some of the monstrous foes - namely the immense
monarch scorpions and the manscorpions - weren't even moving or attacking
now, their drive and purpose having perished with their ruler. Otto had
been about to tell his companions what they likely already knew when he
saw Belphanior take that gigantic poisoned stinger in the back.
Otto: Shit! (wasting no time, he begins giving orders) Irina - get to
Belphanior and do what you can! Everyone else, kill the rest of these
fucking things, and fast! Take out the biggest ones first - they're
the most dangerous if they regain their senses! (he fires his crossbow
and hits a manscorpion in the eye, the poisoned bolt making the grisly
wound even more impactful)
manscorpion: (simply rocks in place, incoherent and unfeeling and now
bleeding from its ruined eye even as the potent poison courses through
its body)
Irina: (hefts her mace, preparing to try and get through the foes and
reach Belphanior)
Paige: I can help. (she grabs the other around the waist and then uses
her enchanted boots to make a tremendous leap, over some smaller foes
and between two large ones, landing close to the fallen elf)
Irina: (immediately goes to Belphanior's side, feeding him a potion to
help against the poison) Paige! Keep them off my back while I work!
Paige: (slashes one of the smaller scorpions as it scuttles forth, her
sword aflame and inflicting burning damage on the thing in addition to
the huge gash it just sliced) Count on it!
Damien: (flies over, easily able to bypass the foes) Hey there. I'll
lend a hand here - or a pitchfork. (he grins)
Paige: I don't need your little fork-
Damien: (swoops down and stabs another four-foot-long scorpion in the
head, causing it to back away as dark gore oozes from the triple holes
atop its head)
Paige: Okay, you can stay. (she sidesteps another attack from the foe
she just hit, and buries her sword in its back, deftly dodging the
tail as it whips about during the scorpion's death-throes)
Damien: (musing to himself) Hmm, maybe I should just fly around and
disable all their stingers.
Thankfully, the remaining adventurers were able to dispatch the last
few monsters relatively quickly and efficiently - possible in no small
part due to the potent poison on Otto's bolts, as after all scorpions
were not immune to such (their own venom or other poisons). Some of the
group who had survived the sweeping psionic blast had fallen to wounds
or scorpion venom; this included Drak and, amazingly, the fleet-footed
Razor Charlie, who had simply been overwhelmed by multiple foes. Both
had been administered the special potions that not only healed physical
wounds but also countered poisons, and both would be fine (though weak)
when they woke up.
Otto: (hurries over to the fallen Belphanior, who is being tended to by
Irina while Paige and Damien dispatch the last wounded monsters nearby)
Damien: (stabs one big scorpion several times, until it stops moving)
Yeah. (he then flies over to the mass of webs that pins the Scorpion
Crown to the floor) Eh?
Paige: Don't even think about it.
Damien: Aw, man. (he grins suddenly) Well, it wouldn't have fit anyway.
(he spots another scorpion staggering around without a tail, and swoops
over to finish it off)
Otto: (standing over the pale form of Belphanior, he shakes his head and
turns to Irina) Is he...?
Irina: (wipes sweat from her brow) He'll live. (she frowns) But he'll
be weak for awhile, and he'll have a nasty new scar in his back. (she
sighs in exhaustion) He must have some damn strong protection against
poisoning...it's not every day that you get stung by a monster of near-
godly power and live to tell about it.
Otto: He does have a gemstone that helps, but I'd think the real reason
he made it is the life-force he took from the slain Shattados.
Irina: (nods) Makes sense.
Otto: Let's get everyone regrouped and tend to the wounded.
Rogar: (looking around warily)
Paige: What's the problem, friend? You look worried about something.
Rogar: You mean aside from everything that's happened over the last few
hours...the journey to a long-dead buried city, the ridiculous numbers
and sizes of scorpions guarding it, the undead dwelling within, and the
insanely powerful god-king at its end, who we were incredibly lucky to
defeat?
Paige: (regards the priest, wondering what he's going on about)
Rogar: (nods to the prone, pale form of Kronos) Right now, I'm worried
about what those of the lich's animated skeletons that survive will do
now, with him out of commission.
Paige: Looks to me like they're just standing around.
Rogar: Aye. (he looks around) But this place is both ancient and evil
in origin...and that evil may not just vanish with the separation of
the crown from its ruler's head- (he regards Shattados' corpse) -or
even that ruler's head from his body.
Paige: Oh.
Irina: Good point. (she eyes the skeletal warriors, who continue to
stand in place now that the battle is over) I do not believe they will
attack us now, at least as long as we don't do anything overtly hostile
toward them. I'd presume the same for those left in various areas on
the floors above this chamber.
Rogar: I hope you're right.
Irina: I'd venture to say that I am. They likely realize we are their
allies, or at least not their enemies. Kronos would have thought of
this when animating them and giving them orders.
Otto: Would he?
Irina: The evidence right now says yes. (to Rogar) But your point is
well-made. And that reminds me, there are a few undead who we turned
away but did not destroy - we'll have to keep an eye out for them.
Otto: Damn right.
There was also a moment of concern about whether or not Parekh's mithril
golem would allow her allies to tend to her, but the construct must have
somehow understood what was happening and who was who; it stood over its
mistress while she was checked for wounds. Several of the wizards who had
been struck down where they stood had hit the floor hard, sustaining minor
injuries. Meanwhile, the warriors also dealt with their own wounds from
the battle...
Ys: (checking a rent in his oversized leather mail, he realizes that
the fine armor likely saved him from a giant scorpion's sting)
Poulos: (binding a nasty cut in one leg, courtesy of a scorpion's huge
pincer, he winces as he tightens the strip of cloth) Ungh.
iron dwarf: (sitting atop a slain monarch scorpion nearby, he remains
uncharacteristically quiet, perhaps because the battle has ended but
Cespedes is not there to give him new orders) Rrr.
Otto: (looks around, realizing that of all those who ventured here and
made it to Shattados' buried chambers...only he, Ys, Poulos, Adolphus,
Irina, and Paige are currently conscious) Hmm. (he regards all the
scattered, unconscious wizards of the Bright Alliance, wondering what
Belphanior would do in this situation...and what _he_ could also do)
Hmmmm.
next: aftermath
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/bright_desert_1156.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 11/8/2024
notes: After the massive batch of writing early in the summer of
2024 (an outburst which produced more than a dozen episodes in a short
span and put me months ahead of the publishing schedule) I took a month
off to enjoy some other things in my early days of retirement. Then I
got working on this one in mid/late July and chipped away at it, writing
a chunk each day for a week...and then I took another month to fine-tune
it. And now, here it is. As I often joked to my wife over this time,
"this story isn't going to write itself"...and so one day I finally sat
down and did it.
About the conclusion of this story arc - despite what some readers
might possibly see as a relatively easy invasion/exploration of the old
buried palace, writing this battle was _not_ easy. The guidebook used
(Rary the Traitor) is pretty good, but when it came to Shattados' lair
and come to think of it his powers and background...that material was
fairly shallow. Some parts of the dungeon didn't really make sense,
not to mention that the final challenge consisted of a bunch of tough
creatures who apparently never left the room. I handled this by using
something mentioned just vaguely in a couple of other places in the
accessory, namely that Shattados and his minions had been reduced (by
the curse and two millennia of suffering its effects) to marginally-
intelligent, basically insane creatures driven only by an underlying
compulsion to guard the Scorpion Crown. There was no organization to
the buried palace, no fluid happenings or motivations, no ecosystem.
So I went with that. Also...as written, Shattados didn't even wear the
crown anymore...and that didn't make sense. The item also didn't seem
to have any real useful powers. So I altered all of that and not only
put the crown back on his head, but decided that it had become stuck
there, fused/imbedded after all these years - and I also made it the
source of his vast psionic abilities. I also took away the psionics
of the monarch scorpions (the biggest ones that weren't Shattados, aka
the ones the size of small huts) because to me, those creatures having
psionic abilities didn't make sense.
About psionics - that was another bit of completely unknown territory
for me. For all these years, I've more or less ignored it (save for
that one member of the Crimson Blades, who was really just there to be
an archetype of that sort of character) and there was no way I was going
to read an entire rulebook to catch up. So I skimmed the 2nd edition
psionics handbook and got a general idea of how those powers work...and
in doing so, I used two challenges to solve each other. Challenge one
was how to make a battle tough when one side had nine archmagi and their
minions...challenge two was how to employ psionics. So what I did was
make the psionics super rare/weird/powerful, something that the wizards
really didn't have much experience against. I checked the list of which
exact psionic powers Shattados had, then researched and made notes about
which ones would be useful in battle.
About that battle - yes, like some other big battles in recent story
arcs, this one (despite the potent psionic powers in play by the other
side) was nevertheless tilted in the favor of the protagonists. That's
what happens when you have nine archmagi. It's like Russia or China or
the U.S. deciding to invade some much smaller country that doesn't have
the same resources or capabilities. Throughout the _Rary the Traitor_
accessory, there was an undercurrent idea that one day, Rary (or maybe
adventurers in his employ) would be able to take on and even defeat
Shattados and recover the crown. I believe in the same idea, except
that the odds of success are increased considerably if you gather huge
amounts of magic and powerful troops. And on that note, I just had the
random thought that if I was a resident of the Bright Desert, or one of
the neighboring areas, then right about now I'd be thinking to myself
"hey, these guys seem to have it together...maybe this would be a good
place for me and my family to live."
About Cespedes - I'll be blunt. First, he never really fit in. He
may have been trying, and I kept his final act ambiguous, but he always
seemed an odd fit for the Bright Alliance. Maybe not the Cabal, but
for sure the alliance and its aim to build a kingdom. And second, for
a battle of this scope, I felt like one of the good guys needed to die.
Otherwise it seemed too easy. So once I put those two things together,
Cespedes' days were numbered. (Before anyone starts trying to solve the
problem of his demise, know that I plan to show that any clones he had
cooking in some hidden place were either destroyed or won't work. This
isn't the comic books - when I decide someone is dead, they will almost
always stay dead.)
So what's next? Well, they have to destroy the Scorpion Crown, and
then there are all those different moving pieces involving the desert
and various inhabitants, all of which are advancing in parallel. It's
my hope and plan to one day - once things are far enough along - write
another accessory around the Bright Lands. Hopefully I can give it a
bit more attention and effort and depth than the other ones I've made
(Fortress of the Nine, Helgate, Greyspire) and produce something nice
and fun.
I also want and need to make a ton of updates to peldor.com - there
are dozens of NPC entries that are out of date, plus spells, monsters,
magic items...the timeline...the FAQ...and more. It'll be a massive
and complex undertaking and it hard to corral while I'm writing new
stories at the same time. Maybe I can build up a huge lead of stories
and then turn my attention to the website updates. I suppose the main
thing I can leave you with right now is that I'm definitely planning to
keep on writing these stories for the foreseeable future.
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