Dhroo 36th, 4288: 61 Days in the mortal realm
It's hard to believe we lost over two weeks worth of time! Our stay with the caravan was nice, but we were beginning to think our stay was becoming over extended after the rd night with them. The morning of the 4th day with them, we noticed the folk of the caravan seemed to be getting restless themselves. We asked what was wrong and they said that they're Adventurers had been gone unusually long. They were told 2 days at most to wait, but it had been 6 days since their entry into the ruins. Of course we volunteered to help.
In hind sight, I wish we hadn’t gone after those Adventurers. It was an unfortunate situation all around for them and for us.
I stayed in back so Raæin could keep with me. He and I had enjoyed each other's company over the past few days. He still doesn't like Brier. Something I noticed too was Brier was incapable of getting near him. A few times Cortanna had gone off hunting and upon returning would trying to ride up to me. Some invisible force prevented her from coming closer. It wasn't until she was off Brier that she was able to approach me.
Anyways, the ruins were an obvious relic. Some kingdom was once there. Jessica kept reading off the various Dwarven script etched into the walls. Isaac kept finding hidden rooms that had some treasures, but nothing too grand. We would split up for a moment or two, but always came back together after a few minutes. Luckily we were together each time we came upon the monsters in the ruins. The first of the monsters were Dire Bats... Yay. Rekka’s sight had improved more for she was the one who warned us of the bats.
After taking care of the bats, we discovered the dead body of the Barbarian, Janice Chopplin. She was killed by a pendulum that swung across a bridge that lead to a horde. At first it seemed abandoned, but once Cortanna took a few pieces of gold a dragon greeted itself to us. Isaac acted quickly, using a force on it to which the dragon fell from the forge it climbed up through. We quickly left in case the dragon came back. Considering it was red in color, I was certain that flowed below the forge wouldn't harm it.
We came across a kitchen like area as we searched for the other Adventurers. In the kitchen we found water skins and six rings. The water skins were a continuous supply of dwarven ale and the rings were that of sustenance, specifically crafted toward the Dwarven ideals of sustenance. Though the rings took a week to attune, they left a constant taste of red meat and mead in one’s mouth. Because of that, I opted to not wear my ring... I would need to make sure I had food for myself to avoid starving since it appeared everyone else was content with their ring.
Later we come across a library. It is torn apart with bits of creatures, like an owl bear, and a hand of someone sticking out of rubble from a collapsed wall. We dug out what looked to be Florence (the Cleric). Isaac pulled off an amulet and gave it to Cortanna. Apparently the amulet would heal in time of an emergency if one was about to die. For everyone else that would be very convenient since my ring prevented me from healing... at least that's what I thought at the time.
After another 5 minutes of searching we come upon a giant gelatinous cube. Part of me wondered if that was the cube that Isaac had teleported from Sardik, but then the next question would be why would Rekka have been teleported here?
Isaac noted that a body was in the cube. We went about attacking it, Isaac summoning a skeleton, Jessica using that fire rod and I sending a few fire bolts in myself. Once the cube was destroyed, we collect the remains of the wizard. Isaac kept what I could only assume to be Charlie’s staff and Cortanna took his gloves. Isaac gave a tap with the staff to which a stream of yellow liquid sprayed out. It was acid. How fortunate he didn't accidentally spray us.
We continue on, Rekka leading us in a direction she assumed the other three must be. We came to a room in which Isaac sensed another door that was hidden. Once it was located, he and Rekka attempted to open it. When they couldn't open it, they had Billy do it, to which he unlocked the door in a matter of seconds. The hallway behind the door was dark and according to Isaac full of cobwebs. No one wanted to venture down to see what laid at the other end. But because none of us wanted to do it, nor pass it by, was when things went terribly wrong.
Cortanna ordered Brier to go check it out. Brier was very unhappy about her orders. She almost obediently went down the hall only to suddenly chicken out and go to Jessica. After nuzzling her for a minute we saw her walk back with the fire rod in her mouth! I was waiting for Jessica, Cortanna or anyone to have some sense to take the rod from Brier before she accidentally blew us all up! It finally got the point where Brier looked to have the rod all aimed down the hall that I finally intervened and took the rod.
I don’t know how close we were to being hurt, but I wiped the slobber from the rob, thinking to myself that Brier had a good idea.
“I guess I’ll do it then,” I said, pausing a moment as I looked down the eerie hallway. I then let the magic of the rod release. A flame whipped down the hallway, illuminating the 20 foot space before exploding in a room, setting it on fire. However what was most disturbing was the giant silhouettes of spiders dancing in pain. Their scream was chilling and I knew I better get ready to send another fireball in their direction.
In all it was a brilliant idea; keep spamming fireballs at the monstrous spiders. That was until one of them made it all the way to the tiny door (compared to the spider). Without thinking (partly due to the panic of more giant spiders behind the one at the door) I shot a third fireball.... down the blocked hallway...
It was a painful mistake I made, a bitter memory I'll always have now. On top of the spiders screaming, I got to listen to the added shrieks from my fellow comrades. Mortified was what I felt.
And the cursing I received soon after...
I did my best to ask who needed healing, because I was perfectly fine. That was when I realized my ring protected me from most of the fire. I could also feel the few burns I sustained healing. I asked once more who needed healing but no one answered.
A thick webbing was sprayed at us. We were stuck, especially Cortanna who tripped and rolled in the sticky stuff. I noticed she was still in bad shape. I quickly healed her whether she wanted it or not. I then ordered everyone to get out of the webbing as fast as they could. Part of me felt suicidal, part of me want to punish myself for such a thoughtless act. I could hear the spiders withdraw back to their dark room, but I wanted to burn all this webbing. Knowing I was better off at resisting the fire, I figured I’d just take another bath in the flames. Isaac hearing what I planned to do suggested Brier should light it up, which she did once everyone was out.
With the webbing gone, Jessica promptly marched up to me and yanked the rod from my hand.
“Don’t you EVER use something you know nothing about again!” She snapped at me as though I were a child.
“Yeah, trying to get us all killed now Araja!?” Rekka jumped in. Their accusations of my intentions hurt. Didn't I have a right to be angry that they were just going to let Brier use the item?
“I’m sorry,” I said, unsure what else I could say. I would have thought my whole demeanor suggested my remorse.
“Sorry ain’t gonna cut it Araja! We all could have died!” Jessica continued to tear into me.
“You think I take pleasure in that!? I said am sorry! I did not do that maliciously. It was a terrible mistake! Besides, what about when you almost killed me with the same rod!?” I shot back at Jessica.
“That was different! I tried to heal you and your dumb ring prevented it from happening!"
"I offered to heal people too but no one spoke up!"
"Just don’t ever use this rod again!” Jessica responded unphased by my reasoning.
It was probably my darkest moment in my head. I was seriously teetering close to the edge of suicide. I caused a massacre, I killed a Cleric, and now I nearly killed this party I was traveling with. It wasn't like they needed me... it seemed so clear how hated I was. Heironious thankfully didn't send me to Hell when he casted me out, but it sure felt like it...
Isaac and Cortanna moved down the dark hallway as I swam in my darkness. I stood awkwardly in the room with Jessica, Rekka, Brier and Raæin. A few minutes later Cortanna and Isaac returned with another dead Adventurer... it looked like a fighter, so we assumed it was Hachav. However, Billy was gone. Isaac simply said we was dead, that he had killed him because he was too strong and rapidly he was losing control of him. He even confessed to never fully having control of him, but he said he’d explain it better once we were out of the ruins.
Part of me felt shock amidst my self loathing. It was great and all we don’t have a strong, marked, and unpredictable person in our midst, but he was able to tell where other marked beings were... Were we walking blind? Would we be at greater risk without that detection?
We resurfaced to give the caravan the bodies we had found. We also needed fresh air. When we surfaced the followers were all are amazed to see us. Appartenly 3 days had passed, though we were sure we had only been gone 2 hours. Considering we only found 4 of the 6 Adventurers, we explain that there’s a good chance that we’ll be another few days in the ruins. They assured us they are well equipped for another month and thanked us for helping them find their fallen comrades.
There was a moment that we considered resting the day due to the excursion we made, but Isaac and Cortanna were of the mind that it would be best if we quickly finished what we had started. There was just the 2 left and since no one spoke up in disagreement we descended once more to the depths of the ruins.
It was grueling getting the last two. The Ranger, Robin, was dead. We had to finish killing the gargoyle that was behind Robin’s demise. Cortanna took the gear from the ranger (a bow and a pair of goggles). I was beginning to feel concerned that we'd get into trouble for taking these Adventurer's gear, but I relished in the thought of my comrades getting caught. I hadn't taken anything from them, though I know I'd be equally guilty for not having done anything about it.
From the room we found Robin, there was a side room. It was a grand room in which beautiful pictures were depicted. They told the story of how Dwarves and Elves ruled the land while humans were a little more tamed than Orcs. Something about a great battle with the 9 Hells and Heavens and heroes of all kinds doing heroic acts. How the Elves and the Dwarves sailed to different lands and the Dwarves making some kind of sacrifice...
But one that was most intriguing was this painting of 9 beings.There was something about it that was distinctly familiar. Would it be wrong of me to think that possibly the painting was in representation of my party? There was two with wings, one with horns, one with half its body depicted as an elf and the other half as a human, one with a wolf's head, one with the same wavy glowy design as the source of the ancient conflict (though the eyes are obscured, could be lack of craftsmanship, could be intentional), and two of equestrian design (one dark and other light). The final figure stood apart from the rest, it's shape was unrefined, more like a reference to head, arms, torso, and legs of a person instead of an actual carving of one. No discernible features was present on its face. The stone surrounding this final carving was cracked and chipped as though struck by a heavy blow. Perhaps there was once a proper carving there and it was removed. Perhaps the chips and cracks were deliberate, as many of them seem to feed directly into the shape and form of the carving, though that could be coincidence. But if it was of us... who carved this so accurately when this place was centuries old?
We tried to ask the equines in the room, but Brier was nothing but a fit full of tears and unwilling to say anything. Raæin went into a trance for a moment but had no recollection of what he said nor was he able to get anything useful out before snapping out of it.
Before getting caught up in a huge dable on the artwork we continued to follow a blood trail to find the Rogue. The Rogue, Soap, was beyond gone. He didn’t trust us. As we advanced toward him we find ourselves in a cloud of smoke. The place we were in with him had a drop off into the lava flow below.
I fanned the smoke away with my wings only to reveal the Rogue was a stone statue. We hadn’t a clue what had happened, but finally Jessica whipped out a flower and began to put it under Soap’s nose. Isaac stopped her for a moment and placed a collar on the statue of Soap. Once he turned back to his former self, Isaac commanded Soap to calm down, which he did immediately. He then commanded him to tell us what had happened. Soap goes into excellent details about their misfortune in the ruins. We then decided we’d best all get out since who knew how much time had passed since our return to get Robin and Soap.
As we got Soap to his feet to leave, that dragon we thought we had dealt with appeared. He climbed up and over the edge of the cliff, looking in bad shape. We tried to run, but the door was locked. I was certain our doom was nigh. As it moved toward us, a mist formed in front of the dragon. He cried in agony. I then attempted to trip the dragon with a spell that had failed me one too many times before. I figured it was the best option I had other than landing a lucky blow with my halberd against it’s scaly hide. As luck would have it, my trip worked! The dragon went down! I couldn’t believe what had happened. A glimmer of pride resonated in my heart. Even more amazing was Isaac’s skeleton he had summoned and Cortanna killed the dragon together in a charge attack. The dragon being pieced in the heart collapsed right there on the edge.
WIth the dragon dead, we decided not to press our luck and left immediately. Yet on the way out, I and Rekka both had the same idea to visit the horde, considering the dragon was truly dead, why not take a few extra pounds of some of the finest treasures a dragon could find? But something weird happened there. I had barely collected 2 dozen gems when suddenly the whole horde disappeared. Not a copper was left. It was just gone!
“I guess the horde doesn’t like Rogues...” Rekka said nervously. I thought it odd of her to say that since earlier she had played with some of the jewelry after our first encounter with the dragon. Maybe there was a magic unlocked after the dragon died? I don't know. I doubt Rekka could have had anything to do with it. She’s just a Rogue.
We quickly resurfaced after visiting the horde. Are detour added 6 hours to the time we lost. Another 10 days had elapsed. It was as thought he deeper we went, the faster reality slipped by.
Soap and the followers were overly grateful for our help in retrieving their fellow comrades and so insisted on having us go to this city, Hommlet, to which they’d treat us to a few nights stay. I wasn’t about to say no, we had to replenish our supplies and I would love to see if there were a few items I could pick up in the process. But, despite the good news of that, I was still plagued with the guilt of nearly killing my whole party. I knew they weren’t about to let that drop or forgive me from how they avoided me. So here I am, away from the company as I prepare to rest for the night. At least here I can avoid their condescending glares.
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