by Paul Bellow
The waitress, a female gnome with skimpy clothes, walked up.
“What can I get you three?” she asked.
“A pitcher of beer for me,” Axelrod said.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I said, smiling politely.
The waitress turned to Sheldon.
“And you?” she asked.
“Beer’s fine,” Sheldon said. “And some bread. Maybe some butter? Why not some pickles, too. That sounds good. And an apple if you have any.”
After she finished scribbling the order, she turned and left.
“What spells are we working with?” Axelrod asked.
He leaned forward and put his rough arms on the table.
“Mostly fire-based offensives and a few defensive and buff spells,” I answered.
“I don’t have much,” Sheldon added.
“We’ll get some rooms and stay here in Westwood for the night,” Axelrod said. “You two should go over your spells and come up with a battle plan.”
I nodded and said, “Good idea.”
“This is so great,” Sheldon said. “After being trapped as an NPC for so long, I feel free.”
“Don’t get too excited,” Axelrod said. “We’ve got a big battle tomorrow.”
The waitress returned with our order. Axelrod paid her for the beer, food, and four rooms. I wondered who I’d bunk with later that night. Maybe Sheldon?
Would Josh get jealous?
I pushed the questions out of my mind. After Sheldon finished eating, we went to one of the rooms to talk magic and spells.
13
Entering the Mines of Oriam
Sarah
The next afternoon, our new gnomish wagon reached the edge of the forest path. I saw an impressive range of mountains in the distance the same as the ones on level one-one.
“Whoa,” Bernard said from the front as he stopped the four small horses pulling us.
After the wagon completely stopped, all eight of us climbed down and gathered around.
“Still looks amazing,” Eric said, staring at the mountains.
“It’ll be even better when we’re underneath them,” Axelrod said. “Can someone tie the horses to a tree? We’ve got a way to walk yet.”
“Are they going to be okay here?” I asked.
“They should be fine,” Axelrod said. “If not, we can buy some more.”
His idea of disposable horses hit me the wrong way, but I kept quiet.
After Sheldon hitched the horses to a tree at the edge of the forest, Axelrod took off down a path leading to the hills surrounding the base of the mountain. The rocky path was only wide enough for us to walk two by two.
Josh and Axelrod—our strongest fighters—led the way with Eric and Evan behind him. Sheldon and I made up the third row with Bernard and Ewen bringing up the rear. I felt good about our growing group.
“I’ve been here before,” Axelrod said as we hiked up a hill.
“Recently?” Eric asked.
“Years ago, when I lost my companions…” Axelrod’s quit talking for a few seconds before continuing. “It was their fault. They should’ve listened to me. It’s dangerous inside the Mines of Oriam.”
“We’ll be fine,” Eric said. “With you as our leader.”
Everyone quieted down as we reached the summit of one hill, only to go back down the other side to climb another. The hills grew higher the closer we got to the mountains.
I saw giant boulders to the left and right of us.
“Stone giants scare me,” Charlotte said.
“Me too,” I replied.
“We could reason with it.”
“No,” I said. “We need to kill it.”
“You’re so violent sometimes, Sarah.”
“It’s a game, Charlotte. Only a game.”
“You’ve said that before, but I still don’t understand.”
“Neither do I half the time. Welcome to my world.”
She quieted down as I concentrated on not slipping off the path as we made our way closer to the mountain. After another hour, we started the real ascent.
A single stone giant shouldn’t be a problem for our big party. I hoped the game didn’t throw anything else at us. The Tower of Gates loved to torment us. Toward the end of our second hour walking, Axelrod stopped and held up his fist.
“Are we there yet?” Evan asked.
“Quiet,” Axelrod hissed as he stared ahead.
I glimpsed a cave up ahead but didn’t see the stone giant.
“We’ll sneak up on him,” Axelrod said in a hushed tone.
As we walked closer to the cave, a ten-foot high giant with grey skin walked out. He stretched then yawned loudly, not noticing us at first.
Everyone stopped. The fighters in our group pulled their weapons. I kept staring at the stone giant, ready to cast a spell if necessary.
“Oh, hello,” the stone giant said in common. “I wasn’t expecting visitors. The Mines of Oriam are closed until further notice.”
“Under whose orders?” Axelrod demanded.
“The owner of the mountains,” the stone giant replied. “My name is Herb, by the way, if you have any complaints you want to file.”
Herb the stone giant laughed, his thunderous voice echoing. I stepped forward to get a line of sight if things got ugly.
Could we talk our way out of a fight?
“The mountain belongs to the dwarves,” Axelrod said. “And I am one. Therefore, this mountain is mine, and you will let us pass.”
“Yeah…” Herb the stone giant sighed, hands on his hips. “That’s gonna be a problem. If you don’t have the proper forms, the TPS report, you’re not going into the mountain.”
“TPS report?” Eric asked.
“Yeah,” Herb said. “Traveling Post-Surrender report. Us giants won this mountain fair and square. Ain’t no pipsqueak dwarf going to tell me otherwise.”
“We don’t need no stinking report,” Axelrod said, hefting his battle axe.
“I wouldn’t recommend taking this to a physical level,” Herb said.
The stone giant picked up a tree-sized club leaning against the cave entrance. He then lumbered forward. The ground shook with each step he took toward us.
“Now!” Axelrod yelled.
He and Josh both drank an enlarge potion as we’d discussed on the road earlier. When they suddenly grew to the size of the stone giant, it stopped in its tracks, almost falling.
I held off on using my mana until I could maximize the damage.
The grey-skinned giant swung his tree-sized club. It slammed into Josh, sending him to the ground. Eric and the other fighters circled around.
Sheldon, still low-level, shot off as many golden bolts as he could muster.
All of them hit the giant.
It screamed in pain then swung its club again, knocking Ewen and Evan off the ground. They both sailed through the air, screaming as they went.
I unleashed hell and fury with lava discs with the maximum mana allowed.
Your Flaming Discs of Lava DECIMATE the stone giant for 32 damage.
The stone giant is on fire.
You have [168/198] mana remaining today.
“Nice,” Charlotte said from my shoulder.
“The fight’s not over yet,” I said, examining the battlefield from a mage’s perspective.
As the giant-sized Axelrod and Josh attacked the stone giant, its clothes burned off and fell to the ground. I tried to ignore the anatomically correct creature, but it wasn’t easy.
The stone giant went into a rage, swinging its club.
“You’re all about to die,” Herb shouted then smashed Josh.
I cast Divine Arrow of Energy on Josh then repeated the spell and hit Axelrod. They both continued battering the stone giant.
Eric circled around with Evan at his side. As the weary stone giant dropped its club to the ground and staggered back, it ran into their waiting blades.
Herb screamed as Axelrod and Josh finished it off.
Combat is Over!
You get 4800 xp divided by 8 party members.
You get +600 xp.
You have 42,147 xp You need 8,853 for level 7 Wizard --> Warlock.
“Everyone okay?” Axelrod asked as he looked around.
“I’m fine,” I said. “That didn’t go too bad.”
The others called out one after another. Ewen and Evan had gotten hurt badly, but Bernard healed them up quickly with his fully charged Wand of Healing.
“Great job,” Axelrod said. “But we still need to clear the cave. This isn’t over yet.”
As he spoke, he and Josh both shrunk to their normal sizes.
“Sweet battle,” Josh said, raising his bloody sword.
I smiled, remembering all the good times I’d had with him in the real world.
No time for love now, I told myself as I prepared to go into the stone giant’s cave with the others.
“Be careful in the mines,” Axelrod said at the entrance. “There’s a lot of traps. I lost two people that way. You need to stay close and listen to me.”
“We’re listening,” I said.
“Here’s the plan.” Axelrod motioned everyone in closer for a huddle. “We’ll clear the cave, take the loot, then head back to Westwood.”
“We’re not going deeper into the mines?” Eric asked.
Axelrod shook his head.
“Not today,” he said. “I’m hoping we get lucky, and the dragon comes out on its own.”
“And attack Westwood?” I shook my head. “That can’t be good.”
“We’ll see how we’re doing after we clear the the entrance to the mines,” Axelrod said.
Two black bears roared as they rushed out of the cave, each running on four legs.
“Battle positions!” Axelrod yelled. “There’s probably more.”
I cast Flaming Discs of Lava and sent three discs at the giant bear on the left.
Your Flaming Discs of Lava WOUND the dire bear for 19 damage.
The dire bear is on fire.
You have [103/198] mana remaining today.
The other dire bear rushed forward then swung a paw at Axelrod. The dwarf tumbled to the ground as Josh yelled and swung his new magical sword.
Eric, Bernard, and the others moved to the bear on fire as it dropped to the ground and rolled around to put the fire out. They attacked it hard.
“Do something, Sheldon,” I snapped then cast a spell of my own.
Another six Flaming Discs of Lava shot toward the bear already on fire while Sheldon sent a volley of golden bolts to the same one. Everything hit at once.
Your Flaming Discs of Lava DEVASTATE the dire bear for 42 damage.
The dire bear is on fire.
You have [73/198] mana remaining today.
Somehow, the bear lumbered forward and pounced on poor Ewen. The others rushed to help him, but he looked hurt.
“Brownie down!” I shouted then scanned the battlefield.
As Josh continued to battle the second dire bear, two more of them wandered out of the cave. They both dropped to all fours then galloped forward.
“We’ve got company!” I shouted.
I cast more Flaming Discs of Lava at one of the newcomers.
Your Flaming Discs of Lava DECIMATE the dire bear for 39 damage.
The dire bear is on fire.
You have [43/198] mana remaining today.
I was losing mana fast, but at least another bear was on fire and taking continuous damage. As Sheldon and I looked on, the other six battled the bears.
“There’s two more,” Sheldon shouted as another pair of bears came out of the cave.
Can we handle all six? Is this the Clan of the Cave Bears or something?
“You got this,” I said to Sheldon.
Josh and Axelrod formed a line with Bernard, Eric, and Ewen. I didn’t see Evan, but I hoped he wasn’t doing anything stupid.
“I’m almost out of mana,” Sheldon complained.
“Buckle up, Buttercup,” I said.
Axelrod yelled, “Healing. Pair up and take them all down.”
I cast Divine Arrow of Energy on Axelrod, causing him to redouble his efforts on the dire bear in front of him. Another bear hit Ewen, sending him to the ground.
“Go heal him with a potion,” I said to Sheldon, hoping he had it in him.
I didn’t have enough mana for a full volley of lava discs, so I grabbed my bow. As I notched an arrow, Sheldon ran toward Ewen while awkwardly holding a potion.
“Brownie down again!” I yelled then shot an arrow at the closest bear.
Your arrow MISSES the dire bear.
Ugh. At least I didn’t hit anyone else or break the string.
I notched another arrow as Eric rushed over to help Ewen.
After reloading, I shot again, hoping to hit.
Your arrow GRAZES the dire bear for 5 damage.
That’s not going to do it. I need to get good!
Josh delivered a fatal blow to one of the bears. Axelrod finished another off at the same time.
The battle was going our way; only two bears remained.
Evan appeared behind one and leaped up on its back. He clung on as the bear whipped around, slitting its throat from behind while still smiling.
The dire bear collapsed to the ground with Evan still clinging to its back. Bernard dashed toward the last one and killed it. As I glanced at the cave entrance—hoping no more would come out—a final battle notification popped up.
Combat is over!
You get 21,000 xp divided by eight party members.
You get 2,625 xp You have 44,772 xp You need 6,228 xp for level 7 Wizard --> Warlock.
“Great job,” Axelrod said, raising his battle axe in the air.
“We should keep going,” Eric said. “Maybe we’ll find your lost friends”
Axelrod’s smile faded.
“They’re trapped in the roguelike,” he said. “We shouldn’t mess with it.”
“Roguelike?” Eric asked, one eyebrow raising up.
“Yeah,” Axelrod said. “You a retro gamer, too?”
Eric grinned then said, “O.G—original gamer.”
He and Axelrod bumped their fists together.
“Those old games were tough,” Axelrod said.
I cleared my throat. “Before you two geek out, can you tell us more about the roguelike?”
“It’s a game within the Tower of Gates game,” Axelrod said.
“Why have a game inside the game?” I asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Nothing in this game makes sense,” Bernard said.
“I’m serious,” I continued. “Why did your friends enter it? They never came out? How can they be trapped in a game while trapped in another game?”
Axelrod took a deep breath and rested his head of his ax on the ground. He put both his hands on the end of the craftily carved wooden handle.
“It’s a long story,” he said. “We’ll take everything back to Westwood and come up with a plan for sneaking through the mountains and finding the dragon. Let’s pack it up and ship it out.”
“Wait,” I said. “We should talk about this before it festers.”
“There’s no time,” Axelrod insisted.
What’s his deal? And why doesn’t anyone ever want to talk about anything?
“I’ll tell you all about it when we come back and enter the mountain,” Axelrod said. “Before we go find the dragon deeper in the mountain, I want to leave another message in case my friends ever escape from the game-trap.”
“This whole place is a game-trap,” Josh said.
“Let’s get this treasure packed up and move out,” Axelrod said.
I wanted to keep talking about it, but I kept my mouth shut.
“You need to speak up more,” Charlotte said.
“I choose my battles wisely,” I replied.
We worked as a team to carry the loot all the way back to our wagon.
On the journey back
to Westwood that evening, I sat in the back of the wagon between two of the ancient wooden chests and thought about reality.
“I miss pizza,” I said.
“There’s pizza on level one-nine,” Axelrod said.
“Really?” I asked, my stomach rumbling at the thought.
“We’ll be out of the game before we get that far,” Eric said.
“Yeah,” Josh added.
We settled down, each with our own thoughts, as the wagon rolled toward Westwood. The road, as Tolkien wrote, went ever, ever on.
Later that evening, once we reached Westwood, I went through all the treasure we’d found earlier in the day. We made off like bandits.
Our large party will help us defeat larger monsters, including the dragon. Memories of the real world drifted deeper in my mind.
I stared at the long list of loot and smiled.
Helm of Underwater Action
Wand of Open Doors (11 of 50 charges)
Divine Scroll of Lances of Lightning – can be used once or added to your spell list with 1d20 days of study. Once learned, this spell costs 30mp per lance. Each lightning lance does 1d20 electrical damage. Creates up to one lance per level of caster.
Divine Scroll of The Blessed Calling of the Sacred Gnomes – can be used once or added to your spell list with 1d20 days of study. Once learned, this spell costs 50mp. It allows you to fix any mechanical item.
Divine Scroll of Villainous Cold Auras – can be used once or added to your spell list with 1d10 days of study. Once learned, spend 15mp to make someone seem like an enemy to everyone around them.
Ring of Protection (+15) – plus fifteen to armor class.
Ring of Climbing – increase climbing skills.
Wand of Suggestion (50 of 50 charges) – targets with intelligence below 12 will follow all suggestions you give them.
