Friday, July 13, 2007

A screwed up situation

We lost the trail. We lost the damn trail.

We've been searching for weeks, trying to find out what happened. For a while, the trail was fairly clear. It looked like Dame or one of the other guests had been dropping things, leaving a trail for us. And then it was gone. They changed course across a field of boulders and we haven't seen any sign since.

We sat around our fire that night. We had it set low in a pit to conceal it, not to mention keep it away from the wind. It was summer, but nights were damn cold up in the higher elevations.

"They must have figured out what their slaves were doing," Anna said.

"Damn," Saul muttered at one point. "Gods, we could be out here for months."

"We don't have months," Audry said. "Dame Gold and her guests do not have months."

"Maybe some of the locals can help us," I said.

"The locals?" Marc shook his head. "Most of the 'locals,' as you put it, are humanoids. Likely they would side with slavers than us."

"Money talks," I said. "The right amount of gold might swing their disposition, if you know what I mean."

Saul shrugged. "It might. The problem is can we talk to them before they try and kill us."

"Perhaps there are those here who are not humanoids," Audry said. "Marc, you mentioned something of this once."

"That's true," Marc said. "But it is only myth. Any men who lived here surrounded by humanoids have no doubt been killed off."

"Think again," a voice said.

We all stood, weapons in hand. Whoever it was, they didn't get close enough to set off the magic mouth Marc cast in our area. That meant a lot of things. It meant he knew about the magic mouth and didn't want to set it off. It also meant he didn't want to alarm us, which he did anyway. It also meant he had been listening for a while and had a good set of ears because we kept our voices low.

"I mean you know harm," the man said. I could not see him in the darkness. No doubt Saul and Anna could not see him either with the heat from the campfire messing up their heat sight.

"We'll be the judge of that," Saul said.

"Please step forward," Audry said. "Keep your hands in sight, if you would."

"I do not wish to set off your magical alarm," the man said.

"I knew it," I said. "Marc?"

Marc mumbled something and then nodded at me, indicating his spell was down. I was about to say something to our stranger but he proceeded forward.

"Thank you," he said. "You have chosen a strange place to go exploring."

"Well, we're not exactly Marco Polo," I said. Realizing no one would get the reference--and that I'd have a lot of explaining to do later--I changed the subject. "How long have you been following us."

"A while," the man said. The man looked completely out of place. He wore nothing but a long, flowing robe embroidered with runes. It was achingly cold, but the man did not flinch even as the wind kicked up. His face had lines and looked hard. His skin was deeply tanned. He looked human, but with his hood up it was difficult to tell.

The man stopped about ten feet away, close enough for us to see him and far enough way to make us feel safe. "Who is it you are tracking."

"That's our business, friend," Anna said.

Audry put a hand on Anna's shoulder to silence her. Anna lowered her bow. I hadn't realized that she had nocked an arrow and was actually aiming at the man. Her hands shook has she released the draw on her arrow. The man remained remarkably calm.

"We are seeking slavers," Marc said. "They have captured some friends."

The man grimaced. "You have my condolences. It makes my mission both easier and harder."

"Mission?" Saul asked.

"We need your help." He took another step forward. "I thought you might be able to help us, but I was unsure how. Now, though, it seems I have information you will need."

"You know where the slavers are," I said. He nodded. "And you'll tell us if we help you." He nodded again.

"Lucky break," Saul said. Depending on what we had to do, it might not be.

As for the Slaver's Temple....

--------------------

The chittering got louder until we couldn't tell where it came from anymore. Whatever it sounded like, I knew that it was probably some animal making that noise, something big and probably not very friendly.

"What do we do?" Anna asked.

"No choice," Saul said. He drew his sword. "Emril mentioned the slaves were west."

"He didn't seem very sure," Audry said, "but I imagine one direction is good as the other."

We all drew our weapons and proceeded west. Marc seemed to ready a spell component, though for what kind of spell I didn't know. I knew him well enough that I should stay out of the way when he gives the word.

The cavern turned south almost immediately. Every now and then dirt fell from the ceiling. Water pooled up in places on the floor. The ground seemed to be covered with tracks of some kind. Saul bent down to look and them and frowned. I raised my eyebrows, a silent question as to what he found. He only shrugged.

The pooled water stunk of mildew. There was something else in the air as well. A sweet sort of smell, but somehow sour as well. The first thing that came to mine was weedkiller.

Saul pointed at a pile of dirt on the floor. "Spoor," he whispered. I barely heard him over the chattering.

"Spoor?" Anna asked.

"Animal dung," Marc said. "The question is what animal?"

Saul shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it."

That wasn't what I wanted to hear. Kantos Kahn, my sword, hummed in my hand. There is something ahead.

"What?" I asked. Everyone looked at me.

I do not know. Something potentially dangerous

"Kantos?" Audry asked.

I nodded. "He says there is something potentially dangerous ahead."

"Not very helpful," Anna said. She patted the hilt of my sword. "No offense buddy."

"Hrmph," Kantos said out loud. "If I knew more I would certainly share it."

"I know that," I said. "Let's keep going."

The cavern corridor twisted and turned. It seemed like we were still going south, but it was hard to tell. We could get lost here easily.

The tunnel opened up. The stench grew stronger. It was like being drowned in cheap lilac perfume. Marc held up one of his continual light pebbles. The tunnel opened up along the edge of the cavern, only about ten feet away from another tunnel that led...well, by this point I'd lost my sense of direction.

"Hear that?" Anna asked.

I shook my head. "What?"

"Oh hells," Audry said. When she swore, you knew things were serious. At first I didn't know what she meant, and then it occurred to me. The chittering we had heard earlier had quieted. It was getting quieter and quieter, and after half a minute or so it stopped altogether.

"Perhaps we should leave," Marc said.

Saul and I led the way, or at least we started to. We didn't get very far. Directly in front of the second tunnel the ground rose. A small mound, almost like a grave, swelled. It elongated, growing until it was about waist high.

We backed away from it, for all the good it did. All around us, all around the cavern within range of the light from Marc's pebble, there were similar mounds of dirt rising from the cavern floor. The dirt fell away from each pile of earth, and from the center of each pile rose something really ugly.

It had the head of a mosquito and the body of an ant. It's black body shined in the magical light. Tiny little hairs protruded from different parts of its body. Tiny antennae quivered on its misshapen head as it regarded us.

All of this was bad enough, but it got worse.

In one hand it held a sword. I could see spots of rust along the blade, but it still looked plenty sharp. In the other hand it held a shield made of wood, bound with iron. The fact this thing was smart enough to use weapons was bad. What was worse was that there were dozens more behind it.

All of them lined up in formation. Their precision would have made Veluna troops blush. They stood in some sort of reverse wedge formation. Their intent seemed to be to keep us from going any further into the cave. What they didn't do was block the one exit out of the cave. The sweet, lemony smell was stronger than ever.

Anna had her bow in hand but didn't have an arrow ready. "Uh, are we in trouble?"

"I don't think we are," Marc said. "Look."

Two of the creatures stepped forward. Their mis-jointed legs marched in a unison that would have made every drill sergeant on Oerth jealous. They stopped some five paces in front of the column and pointed their weapons at the exit.

"Maybe we should do what they say," I said.

We piled out of the room. We poured out of the room quickly. Our sudden actions didn't disturb the locals. They just regarded us with a mixture of calmness and readiness. It seemed as if they would willingly gut us if need be, but they wouldn't feel anything about it.

The sickly odor of lemon and weed killer filtered part way down the cavern corridor, and soon it dissipated somewhat. The cavern turned out of sight of the larger cavern. Once out of sight, the chittering started up once more.

"Why'd they let us go?" Anna asked.

"It seems they believed we were with the slavers," Audry said. "Perhaps the slavers have made arrangements with them, whatever they are."

"Aspis, as I recall," Kantos said. "A sort of ant-man, I suppose you could call them. One of my previous owners encountered them once. On occasion, they can be reasonable."

"So if they're smart maybe we should talk to them about the slavers," Anna said. "Maybe they'd help us out if they knew what the slavers really were."

"It is unlikely they would care," Kantos said. "They seem to care little for the ways of men or what men do to each other."

"Well, whatever the are, we've got bigger problems," Saul said. "Like where are we?"

That was a very good question. That's the problem with finding your way underground. There's no sun to guide the way. I tried to think of which we were heading, but it didn't really matter in the end. It was either continue ahead or head back.

We continued on through the cave tunnel, stepping over pools of stagnant water. Some of it smelled awful, like sewer water left in the open. We kept going, following the twisting tunnel. In places, it was barely wide enough to pass. After half an hour or so, I wondered if we had made a wrong turn. We encountered a stairway going up, but the escaped slaves under the city explained that the slavers lived under the temple. Finally, the tunnel ended at a stone wall.

"Oh no," I said. "Please tell me we don't have to go back."

"We don't have to go back," Anna said. She stepped forward, running her fingers along the stone wall. It looked artificial, not dug out like the rest of the walls.

"Look." She dug her fingers on one side of the wall and pulled. The wall didn't budge.

"Ah, I see," Saul said. He stepped forward and reached for the edge of the wall. It appeared to be set forward a little from the rest of the stone. "You just need to put your back into it."

Anna glared at a smiling Saul as he pulled on the edge of the wall. It swung inward, making very little noise.

"It appears to be the back side of a hidden door," Marc said. Audry whirled around and held her finger to her mouth. She gestured inside the room on the other side.

I only saw stacks of barrels and crates. I saw nothing else.

I started to say something but Anna held up her hand. She gestured at her pointed ears. I might have only seen barrels and crates, but I could hear plenty.

"We go on break?" The voice sounded like the man had been gargling silverware. That meant it was an orc.

"No, fool," another voice said, definitely human or demi-human. "Wait until your relief arrives. Not for another...another hour. Now, back to your damn post!"

The orc grumbled something. I heard his footsteps fade away as he, presumably, went back to his damn post.

Anna stepped into the room. I followed, and the others followed me. The room was lit by torches and lanterns, with most of the light coming from the other end of the room. I wanted to ask Anna to look over the boxes, but a strange noise stopped me.

It sounded like coffee beans in a grinder. The rhythmic grinding would start, fade, and then start again with a loud crunch. Anna looked over the crates. She dropped down, her face ashen.

"We might have a problem," she said in a very low voice. I glanced around the crates. I only saw one, but it was enough to know that we did indeed have a big problem.

----------------------

We're just now arriving in some small encampment. Humans are watching us very carefully as we approach. Someone who looks important is approaching us, which means I have to stop for now.

I hope whatever they want us to do is quick.