by Allan Joyal
“Fine,” Gee’if said. “I just wanted to present it as an option.”
“Hey!” Jyxton called out. “There is another group on the path.”
The quartet paused. They all turned to look down the slope and found a ragged group of seven men following them. The leader sneered at them as they approached. “Out of the way pups, we’ll show you how true men handle a dungeon.”
“You’ve been in one?” Gee’if asked.
“Who needs experience in a place like this? I heard you talking to Golstalk a couple of days ago. What did you say you ran into? Little dogmen who were shorter than any dwarf and spiders the size of a person’s head? The dogmen I might believe, but no spider that size exists,” the leader of the ragged band said condescendingly.
“This is a dungeon,” Gee’if said. “They are capable of changing the creatures living inside.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that this dungeon can grow spiders that big? Fine, how about you four show us how it’s done? We’ll follow you,” the leader said.
Gee’if shook his head. “Look, I don’t know you…”
“The name is Berbarar,” the man said. “Not that you’ll know it.”
“He’s a former bandit chief,” Hal’vik whispered to Gee’if. “Probably gave it up after the caravan masters banded together. The caravans in the Sand Wastes are larger and better defended than they used to be.”
The bandit chief appeared to hear what was said, but other than a momentary look of irritation did not react. He watched Gee’if as the man stood there.
“I’m not sure if the dungeon has a preference,” Gee’if said carefully. “But I expect it won’t be happy if you follow us closely. Rooms take time to reset. You’d be walking through empty rooms.”
“Like it will care,” Berbarar said. “It’s not alive. It is simply a series of caves containing monsters. If we follow, we can continue deeper after you give up.”
“You’ll stay out of our way?” Gee’if asked.
“Of course,” Berbarar said insincerely. “Why would we want to get in your way?”
“I can think of more than a few reasons,” Hal’vik said as Betrixy pulled the hood of her robe down to cover more of her face. “But if you don’t disturb us, we can’t exactly stop you.”
“Go ahead then,” Berbarar said. “We’ll just follow you for now.”
Berbarar turned to the rest of his disreputable looking band. Several of them laughed as Gee’if and Hal’vik waved for Jyxton and Betrixy to resume walking.
“I don’t like this,” Hal’vik said. “They could try to jump us.”
“I know,” Gee’if said. “I was going to say we should try to see if we can get through eight or nine rooms. We know that the kobolds don’t stand and fight and we’ve figured out how to watch for the spiders. I expect we can get through quite a few rooms if we are careful. Now, I don’t really want to go very deep. If we’re tired, they could jump us.”
“I agree,” Jyxton said. “Those men look a bit desperate.”
“I doubt they are traditional adventurers,” Gee’if said. “We haven’t seen any of the regular bands showing up, but I expect one or more will show up soon.”
“Regular bands?” Jyxton asked.
“The Crimson Sashes, the Holed Jugs, the Bundled Arrows, or any of the other groups,” Betrixy said.
“Who?” Jyxton asked. “And why have I never heard of them.”
“I know those three because they recruit at the magical school I went to. Basically some adventurers decided that it would be wise to have others watching out for them,” Betrixy said.
“How?” Jyxton asked.
“At Yellowrock the Holed Jugs built their own inn. Any adventurer who is willing to pay a bit extra can stay there. They track when you are entering the dungeon and can send rescue parties if you are late returning. I participated in one rescue. A group of new adventurers had turned the wrong way and gone two rooms deeper than they planned. Of the six members, we rescued two alive and brought out three bodies. The Jugs were able to have the local temple bring one of the dead back to life,” Gee’if said.
“How much did that cost him?” Hal’vik asked.
“The man was a young priest of the temple,” Gee’if said. “But I believe he was effectively indentured to the temple for the next five years.”
“Expensive,” Jyxton said.
“But adventurers are often willing to pay,” Hal’vik said. “I’ve heard about that. I’d expect that the town down there will have several temples in the near future.”
“We need more adventurers first,” Gee’if said.
“We have this new group,” Betrixy said sarcastically.
“They might hear!” Jyxton called out worriedly.
The other band started laughing. They were probably ninety feet or more behind the quartet. “I think they don’t trust us,” one called out.
“Now why would they not trust us?” a second asked loudly. “Could it be that they have something to hide?”
Jyxton started to slow down. His shoulder’s twisted as if he was going to turn to his left. Hal’vik reached out and held him so that he had to face forward. “Don’t turn,” the older man said. “Just keep walking and pretend you didn’t hear them.”
The former bandits continued to shout out insults. Jyxton’s shoulders kept twitching as the group finished the climb to the landing where the dungeon entrance was. When they arrived Gee’if removed his pack and pulled out three unlit torches.
“I think we need more than five,” Hal’vik said worriedly.
“We can’t replace them easily just yet. And this way we won’t go too deep. When the first set burns out we know it’s time to leave, if we haven’t already turned back,” Gee’if said.
Betrixy held her hand out. She mumbled something and a tongue of flame whipped out from her hand to touch the torches. They lit up as Gee’if put the pack back on his back.
“Why?” Jyxton said.
“To show those bandits that we have magic,” Betrixy said. “It might convince them to wait for us to finish.”
“I doubt that,” Gee’if said. “But let’s get our weapons out and head on down.”
Jyxton, Hal’vik and Gee’if drew their swords. Betrixy had a knife in her hands and stood to the side as Hal’vik raised his torch and walked through the archway to enter the dungeon.
The quartet moved confidently through the first floor. They ignored the side passages to the safe rooms. When they reached the top of the stairs, Hal’vik lowered the torch in his hands and started downward with the torch head out in front of him.
They were at the bottom of the stairs when they heard an angry voice shouting. “There was nothing in those rooms. I say we attack that group and take what they have!”
“They don’t have much,” another man said. “It’s not worth the fight.”
Hal’vik shook his head. He paused on the stairway. “I see a small thread of spider silk. It’s just high enough that I’d step through it to put my foot on the next step.”
“Can you step over it?” Gee’if asked.
Hal’vik jumped over three steps. He took a couple extra steps after landing, but was able to arrest his fall. “Like that?” he asked.
“Betrixy, Jyxton, let’s all avoid that step. It’s probably an alert for the kobolds,” Gee’if said.
“I see movement,” Hal’vik called out. “It’s in the back corner, away from the end of the stairway.
“Move,” Gee’if hissed.
Betrixy stepped down two steps and then turned to jump off the stairway. She landed on the floor in a crouch and then raised her empty left hand.
The others could not understand the words she hissed, but two balls of light started orbiting her hand. They accelerated until it looked like a ring of light was wrapped around her still closed fist. Then as she lowered her hand the balls separated and shot at two kobolds who stood motionless just in front of one of their escape tunnels.
&n
bsp; The balls hit the two kobolds. One folded in half, crumbling to the ground. The other fell back with a bark of pain. It rolled over to the entrance to the tunnel and then limped into the darkness before any of the adventurers could react.
“Nice trick,” Jyxton said as he copied Betrixy’s jump. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“I’ve been studying that spell since we arrived. It was our best choice,” Betrixy said.
Gee’if rushed down the stairs, taking care to jump over the steps that Hal’vik had avoided. “Check for treasure and then lets move,” he hissed.
Jyxton and Betrixy rushed over to the fallen kobold. The creature had a single pouch made of a single rat skin attached to a thong that was wrapped over one shoulder. They took that and then scanned the ground. It took just a moment and then both turned to look at Gee’if.
“Let’s go,” Gee’if said. “The other group is on the stairs.”
Hal’vik led them into the passage leading to the next room. He was just about to enter it when a loud crash echoed in the tunnels.
“Shit!” someone shouted behind them. “What was that?”
“I stepped on something,” Berbarar said. “And a bunch of rocks came rolling down the stairs. Is anyone hurt?”
“Watch your step,” Hal’vik whispered happily as he carefully entered the next chamber.
Hal’vik had taken only two steps into the room when a rock flew by his head and hit the wall behind him. It had crossed from his right to left so he immediately looked that way and found three small kobolds whirling slings.
“Kobolds,” he called out as he ran towards the attacking dog-men. The trio all yipped in fright and scattered. Two managed to reach tunnels, but the third ran around a stalagmite and then stopped. It started to whirl its sling again as Jyxton entered the room.
Jyxton saw the creature and charged. It made adesperate attack trying to hit the charging young man, but the shot grazed the side of the man before he brought his sword down on the hapless monster.
“I killed one,” Jyxton said with awe in his voice.
“Great job,” Hal’vik said. “Get the pouch if there is one.”
Betrixy was walking along the left wall of the chamber. She paused and then looked back at Gee’if. As soon as she caught his eye, she stepped to the side and reached out for something growing on the wall. She used her knife to cut it free and then walked back to the group.
“It’s a lifecap,” she said
“What?” Hal’vik said.
“They are used as a primary ingredient in a lot of different healing potions,” she said.
“This one doesn’t have a pouch,” Jyxton said.
“Let’s keep moving,” Gee’if said. “We can’t avoid our friends, but perhaps we’ll find a place that will excite them enough that they leave us alone.”
The group continued through four more chambers. This was the deepest they had traveled. Their one concern was the lack of spiders. So far each room had been occupied by two to four kobolds. The creatures would attempt a single attack and then scatter for their tunnels. Three times they escaped before the adventurers could touch them. In the last room Hal’vik had kicked one into the wall. It lay unconscious as the group searched for treasure. Jyxton found a new mushroom that Betrixy identified as a Mush Stone. She said it could be brewed into a potion that hardened a person’s skin. By the time she had picked it and carefully stored it in her pouch, the kobold’s body had vanished.
“I’m glad we didn’t kill the creature,” Jyxton admitted as they walked through another passage. “I don’t mind fighting them, but the goal isn’t to kill them.”
“True, but they’ll kill us if they get the chance,” Betrixy observed.
“We’ll see,” Gee’if said.
The group followed the path through a gentle turn to the left. When they emerged from the passage they were in a small circular room. A stairway fixed along the far wall descended deeper into the dungeon.
“We finished?” Betrixy asked.
“This floor,” Gee’if said. “Although the lack of spiders makes me wonder.”
“Where’s the other group?” Jyxton asked. “They’ve been quiet.”
A man came up behind Jyxton and pushed him out of the way. The rest of the seven former bandit adventurers tromped into the stairway chamber. Several walked over by the stairway before turning to look back at Gee’if’s group.
“We’ve heard your swords striking things, and saw a couple of dead bodies, so we know you’ve fought,” Berbarar said scornfully. “But we’ve had enough of you stealing the treasure. We’ll lead from here.”
“We were going to head back,” Gee’if said. “I’d recommend that you not go further just yet.”
“Why? So you can get the glory and the treasure?” one of the bandits asked.
“Edrick!” Berbarar shouted. “We all know that adventurers have reputations for being a bit selfish. But I don’t really think we want to take them on right now.”
“We have more than they do,” Edrick said.
“They have a bit more experience,” Berbarar said. “And they have a wizard. There is no need anyways. We saw what this dungeon offers. Those little dogmen will die.”
Faestari reached out to the area between the third and fourth floors of the dungeon. She had created several tubes so her rats could move from floor to floor. One led to the first room of the third floor. She expanded that one until it could accommodate the web spinning spiders that lived deeper in the dungeon and summoned two spiders. They headed up the expanded passage.
“You haven’t cleared this floor,” Gee’if said. “You just followed us while we did it. The dungeon might not accept that you have a right to descend.”
“What does that matter?” Berbarar said. “You talk like the dungeon cares.”
Gee’if shook his head. “You don’t understand what a dungeon is. We’ll leave you then. Maybe it will be merciful.”
Gee’if signaled Jyxton and Betrixy. They turned and left the stairway chamber heading back towards the dungeon entrance. Hal’vik and Gee’if backed up slowly before turning and heading into the passage.
“Those cowards!” Berbarar shouted loud enough for them to hear. “Let’s head deeper. There’s got to be some good treasure in this place.
The group kept moving through the passage. They could hear men descending the stairway in the room behind them.
“Damn! There are webs everywhere!” someone called out.
“Irvcar, don’t slow down. You have six men behind you,” Berbarar shouted.
“This web doesn’t burn,” Edrick said. “I’ve never heard of a spiderweb that didn’t burn.”
“I see an opening,” Irvcar said. “But it will be hard to get to. The webs really are everywhere.”
Gee’if saw Jyxton freeze. He stood stiffly. “Jyxton?” he asked as Betrixy also froze.
There was a strange scuttling sound. Before Gee’if could say more, a dozen of the spiders they had wondered about walked along the ceiling and walls of the passage. The terrifying creatures ignored the four adventurers as they headed toward the room where the stairway was.
“And that is why you don’t insult a dungeon,” Gee’if said.
“Clidmas!” someone shouted. “Tear out of the web.”
“I can’t it’s got me,” a panicked voice shouted.
“Cut the web!” Berbarar said.
A high-pitched scream of pain and terror rang out. It cut off abruptly a moment later.
“What is?” Edrick asked.
“It’s huge!” Clidmas moaned. “Save me.”
“That’s bigger than the adventurers claimed!” Irvcar said. “I’m goin….”
The man’s comments were cut off by another scream of pain.
“Retreat” Barbarar shouted only to stop and scream in pain.
“What?” Jyxton asked as he resumed walking.
“It sounds like the dungeon has more and larger spiders that you encounter as yo
u go deeper. For now, let’s just walk out calmly. It appears that we are not being punished for the other group,” Gee’if said.
“I think I need a drink,” Jyxton said nervously.
“We all do,” Betrixy said. “Right now we all do.”
Chapter 15: More Factions Arrive.
Faestari allowed Gee’if’s party to quietly exit the dungeon. Berbarar and his companions fed the spiders. The three men who survived to rush up the steps ran right into an ambush of smaller spiders and died in the passageway. The kobolds quickly stripped the bodies.
Faestari was a bit worried that other adventurers would be concerned over her actions. She sent the two spiders who had helped back to their usual hunting grounds on the fourth floor and then closed the transfer tube back down to rat size. The other spiders also resumed their normal hunting patterns as soon as the last of the seven bandits died.
Meanwhile, Gee’if and his friends were walking down the mountain. Jyxton had hung back as they started so he could walk next to the older adventurer.
“What happened?” Jyxton asked.
Gee’if sighed. “I’m not sure, but I do know that Berbarar was violating dungeon etiquette.”
“What?” Jyxton asked.
Betrixy shook her head and swept the hood back to reveal her hair. “I’ve heard about this one. The unofficial rule is that one group at a time is to enter a dungeon. However, I thought that was to avoid a group finding that the rooms they entered were all cleared before they arrived.”
“Definitely,” Gee’if said. “But it appears that it might also be to avoid angering the dungeon. It’s pretty clear that this one summoned quite a few spiders.”
“What if that happens every time?” Jyxton asked.
“We’ll find out when we go down the stairway,” Hal’vik said. “But remember that the spiders did not attack when they entered that passage. I don’t think the dungeon is out to kill us.”
“But,” Jyxton said sullenly.
“We have… well, I see more wagons are pulling into the camp. And those look to be a new design. Do you think Lord Dared has a competitor?” Gee’if asked.
