by T. H. Lain
"Till sunset?" asked Calmet.
"Between now and sunset, these slaves will be melting more of the gold ore. My artisan, Fluhrn, will reshape the statue's head to its original condition. At sunset, the light will shine through the center eye, the power of Gruumsh will flow through us, and we shall invoke his avatar. If you hold them off till sunset, we'll let Gruumsh himself destroy the infidels. The revolution will begin."
Calmet tuned out as Laud blathered on megalomaniacally. He was beginning to think that no amount of power could ever be enough for the archprelate. Worse, all of Laud's concern about the defaced idol reminded Calmet of a parable preached by the clerics of Pelor. The Pelorans told a story of a man who carefully selected a tree and carved it into the image of his god. The man shaped it and worshiped it, praying for its protection. Eventually, a foreign army besieged the city where the man lived. Many people had to flee for their lives, hearing of atrocities committed by the army when it conquered elsewhere. The man packed his gold and fled the city in the dark of night. Calmet chuckled as he remembered the final line of the sermon: "Do you really want to seek protection from a god that needs you to protect him?"
Well, interrupted the calm, soft, inner voice he had heard before Laud appeared, do you?
21
While Laud celebrated his triumph in the shrine once dedicated to Gruumsh, the Peloran intruders imbibed healing potions and entered the gloom of the mine. They advanced only a few steps before Jozan gently whispered, "Lux!" and his sun symbol started to glow. "No sense walking in the dark. They've known we're coming for days. The traps will be prepared."
At first, the five companions were concerned that they heard no sounds. Then they realized that all of the work must be going on deeper in the mine. Eventually, they knew they would run into a work gang of slaves and would need to kill the guards before the slaves could be harmed, but the knowledge that it was likely to be later rather than sooner allowed them to breathe easier for the moment.
The tunnel floor sloped steeply and they soon entered into a rhythm as they traveled deeper into the mine.
The group came to a point where a side tunnel branched off the main passageway. Yddith pointed to a gray statue attached to the cavern wall and squeaked out a question, "What's that?"
"It looks like a statue of a gargoyle," answered Alhandra. "It's probably here to mark this side tunnel as being significant."
As the group huddled together and discussed their next move, no one spotted the gargoyle turning its head to observe them and eavesdrop on the conversation.
"If we explore the side tunnels," observed Jozan, "we'll probably find dead ends where they've already mined out the ore. If we stay in the main tunnel, we should be able to hear where they're working and find everyone right away."
"I'm not sure about that," countered Alhandra. "What if Calmet and Laud are doing something down here besides mining?"
"Like what?" asked the young priest.
"Maybe they perform rituals with human sacrifice," suggested Krusk. "They might have some alcoves far enough away from the other slaves that the slaves don't hear the screams."
Alhandra chimed in with another option. "What if they're hiding powerful scrolls and artifacts down here? They would be easy to protect. I don't see why this mine wouldn't be as full of monsters as any dungeon or cave complex we've ever explored."
"Well," interrupted Yddith once again, "I don't know about you, but I'd rather be walking than talking. At some point, any guards left outside are going to figure out where we've gone, and we could be caught between two enemies."
They all conceded Yddith's point and agreed to take a side tunnel to test Krusk's and Alhandra's theories. Krusk led the way with Jozan following immediately behind him. Yddith followed Jozan, while Alhandra and Qorrg covered the rear. Everyone felt confident as they walked carefully through the auxiliary tunnel. Then, Krusk felt something give way beneath his feet. A cracking sound accompanied the movement of the flooring, followed by the sound of loose earth. A patchwork of bamboo that had been overlaid with dirt gave way. Krusk reached vainly for something to grab hold of and failed to find it. He slid to the bottom of a rough pit about ten feet deep. He landed on his feet, but realized that his fall must have broken a conduit made of pottery. Water was rushing over him and rapidly filling the narrow pit.
As Krusk considered his situation, he realized how diabolical was the trap. Water, probably from the stream, was diverted into the conduit. When someone fell through the bamboo covering and broke the pottery seal, a portion of the stream ran directly into the pit. The pit narrowed at the bottom so that Krusk's legs were tightly wedged between the walls. With so little room to spare, the well was filling rapidly. Worse, Krusk couldn't move his legs and could barely shift his arms.
It was with great relief that he observed a rope dangling in front of him. Remembering that Yddith had picked up the rope after Hassq's death, Krusk grabbed it and pulled. It was a slow and difficult climb because he could use only his arms and shoulders to pull himself up. The pit was too slick and too narrow for his legs and feet to be much use. He looked up at the tunnel above and saw Jozan, Qorrg, and Yddith anchoring themselves to help him climb. They weren't strong enough to pull him up, but if they could hang on long enough, he could do it himself.
Alhandra couldn't help with Krusk's problem. She had her own difficulty. The gargoyle was not a statue. It waited until Krusk fell into the pit to launch its attack, then it swooped down on Alhandra. She looked ahead to see what was happening and, satisfied that the others could help Krusk out of his situation, she turned back to watch the rear. She turned just in time to see the gargoyle hit her with its head down. She staggered back as neither claw managed to penetrate her plate armor. Still the gargoyle pressed in relentlessly. Alhandra slashed with the sword and forced the gargoyle back to the edge of her reach with the perfectly fashioned long sword.
The monster clawed and bit at the paladin, but wasn't able to get past her active guard. The long sword danced in front of her and nicked chips of stonelike skin from the gargoyle's arms. It bared its fangs menacingly and snapped uselessly at the woman. One claw scraped her metal armor but failed to do any damage. The other, however, shot past the blade and grasped Alhandra's left forearm. The stony grip squeezed till the armor began to crush. In retaliation, Alhandra sliced down with the sword and neatly severed one of the gargoyle's horns. The startled monster released its grip and leaped away.
Alhandra moved slowly backward to force the gargoyle to keep coming after her. Most savage attackers she'd fought were likely to leave themselves exposed when on the offense, so she bided her time and watched for an opening. When she sensed her compatriots immediately behind her, Alhandra realized that she'd run out of room to maneuver. With retreat no longer an option, she lashed out with the sword and caught her foe with a deep cut across its stony face. The gargoyle recoiled, entangled her sword with one claw, and flew against her. It bit her gauntleted right hand, puncturing the armor with granite teeth, drawing blood, but an immediate numbness covered the pain.
Alhandra pulled free and cut at the gargoyle again, using both hands on the sword hilt. The paladin wasted no effort on carefully aimed blows but simply hacked at the monster as quickly as possible. She sliced its left wing badly and saw with satisfaction that the beast pulled back from that blow. It tried another flurry of attacks with its claws, but its damaged, drooping wing hindered its movement. It was trying to turn and flap away when the paladin's' final stroke found the gargoyle's neck and shattered her opponent into stonelike shards.
At about the same time Krusk climbed out of the pit. Jozan rushed to Alhandra's side. Noticing the bloody wound on her forearm, he instantly beseeched Pelor to heal her. The golden glow affirmed Pelor's healing and the adventurers huddled together once again.
"We must be on the right track," suggested Alhandra. She pointed at the remains of the gargoyle. "You don't guard something that isn't valuable."
When the o
thers agreed, the barbarian led the way in circumnavigating the pit trap and they wandered down the man-made tunnel until they came to a natural cavern opening. The half-orc ducked into the opening and was immediately greeted by a high-pitched scream. Instinctively, he drew his dagger and threw it at the source of the sound. He was rewarded by the scream intensifying, as well as a satisfying, squishing sound that assured him the dagger was embedded in the target.
The barbarian charged the shrieker with axe in hand. A kitchen knife bounced off the back of the cavern wall. Krusk was pleased that Yddith wasn't afraid to join in the fight, even though her magic was more effective than her knife-throwing. He heard a powerful squish beside him. Jozan was smashing a violet fungi that crawled across the cavern on its roots. Since the cleric seemed to be simultaneously smashing the mushroom with his mace and dodging the poisonous tentacles that flailed about from under the cap of the fungus, Krusk focused on the shrieker. He harvested the mushroom with one slice of his greataxe and turned back to assist his friends.
By the time he turned back, Alhandra had also attacked the mobile mushroom. Where Jozan's mace smashed the plant into a foul-smelling pulp, she sliced it into small tidbits.
Alhandra then turned to Qorrg and said, "There's no question that they know we're here, now. We need to be more alert from here on. I want you to stand guard behind us, every time we enter a room. Don't worry about what's in front. Leave that to us. Just make sure no one sneaks up behind us."
Turning away from Qorrg, Alhandra saw Jozan walk into the adjoining cavern. The light glowing from his sun symbol illuminated the room. It was filled with tables covered with books, alchemical materials, and scroll cases, obviously someone's inner sanctum. The paladin hoped these materials were dear to Calmet, but she didn't have a great deal of time to think about that. Something was attacking Krusk.
Calmet's homunculus flew in front of the half-orc and tried to bite the barbarian's face. The one-eyed homunculus flitted from one side to the other, trying to poison Krusk with its bite, but the half-orc kept shoving the tiny creature away. Seeing the situation, Alhandra deftly stepped through the cavern opening and speared the little monster with the very tip of her sword.
The homunculus screamed, then tried one more time to sink its vicious little fangs into Krusk, so Alhandra speared it again. This time, as it fluttered off the bloodied sword point, Jozan stepped up and smashed the creature to the floor with his mace. When Alhandra saw that the nasty creature was still breathing, she followed with a calculated coup de grace.
They looked around the cavern with a sense of awe. Shelves of spell and alchemical components, piles of scroll cases, worn and mangled tomes, and a host of manuscripts were scattered into every available space. A few sleeping furs were piled in one corner.
Alhandra was cheerful as she announced their triumph, "We've found his inner sanctum!"
Searching the cavern revealed a host of scroll cases with symbols of necromancy on them. Once more, Jozan regretted his inability with language, for many of the manuscripts and scrolls seemed to bear the characters common to both celestial and infernal alphabets. The adventurers had located an immense repository of arcane armament and were unable to use any of it because of Jozan's aborted education.
One item that they found, however, was most interesting. It was a map unrolled on the writing table that showed the local region. The village of Scaun was circled. Jozan thought that the map might indicate the next target of the Black Carnival. Then he noticed the half-scroll beside the map. He unrolled it and realized that it fit underneath the regional map.
"I think," ventured the cleric, "that this smaller map shows the configuration of the mine tunnels. If so, we're closer to the heart of this matter than I'd realized."
"What is it?" asked Alhandra.
"It's the abandoned shrine of Scaun, the so-called Eye of Gruumsh. They couldn't open it from the top without attracting unwanted attention, so I think they're opening it from below."
"What's so important about the shrine?" asked Yddith.
"It was the center of Gruumsh worship, the old religion," responded Alhandra. "In the old days, even humans gave their due to Gruumsh-a human sacrifice here, a food offering there, or a gladiatorial combat at the base of the hill. It was just the way it was before the southerners came."
"It was where the avatar appeared," stated Krusk. "He appeared on the solstice and led the assembled armies into their next battles."
"That's right!" responded Alhandra. "If you wanted to start a military campaign or lead a revolution, this was the place to start it. I had forgotten about the solstice part."
Jozan looked as pale as Qorrg had in the grip of the otyugh.
"What's wrong?" asked Alhandra as solicitously as she knew how.
"Today…" gulped the cleric, "today is the solstice!"
22
Krusk was disappointed as he watched Jozan rummage through the scroll cases. The cleric found two scrolls for curing wounds, but nothing else that could be helpful. Jozan explained that he only recognized the characters for curing wounds. He was sure there were useful scrolls in the pile, but he had no idea of their uses. Krusk debated grabbing some of the unidentified scrolls as back-up resources, but decided against playing with power he didn't understand.
The four retraced their steps past Qorrg's sentry post at the cavern mouth and into the shrieker's cavern. There, both Krusk and Yddith retrieved their knives. Krusk looked at the kitchen knife that Yddith had brought and shook his head. He had fought with mercenaries all over the known world, but he'd met few with the courage of this little tavern maid. He smiled with approval and gave his own dagger to her.
"If you're going to use a blade," the barbarian lectured, "you need the right kind. This one will fly truer than a tavern knife."
Both barbarian and barmaid laughed nervously as though sharing a private joke, and the group resumed its line of march.
Krusk took the point and Jozan backed him up. Yddith and Alhandra walked behind them, and Qorrg watched the rear. They edged by the pit trap once again and passed the shards of the gargoyle that had ambushed them. They were on their way to confront Calmet; they were confident; they fully expected to win.
As they reached the main tunnel, Jozan's sun symbol dimmed and darkened. Krusk quickly started to light a torch when he heard Yddith speaking. The cavern was bathed in a pale, green glow. The emerald faux eye was glowing and Yddith was smiling.
"Don't worry," she said, "I can't see out of that eye, anyway."
As amusing as Yddith's comment was, Krusk saw Jozan and Alhandra glance at each other with worried looks. Krusk was beginning to think the emerald necklace hadn't been such a fine gift, after all.
As Jozan studied the map of the tunnel system etched on the half-scroll, Krusk led the party toward the unholy shrine of Gruumsh. The map told them when to turn left instead of right and which side of the forked intersections they should take. Since it did not indicate any traps like the pit trap that had almost claimed Krusk, the half-orc kept prodding ahead of his step with the end of his bow.
As he turned the next corner, Krusk also discovered that the map didn't prepare them for the horrific creatures that awaited them.
Krusk faced one monstrosity with tentacles flailing from its head and another with claws like a gigantic crab. The monsters were waiting at the junction as though they expected the adventurers. Krusk didn't even pause, but nocked an arrow and released it at the tentacled monster before the others even rounded the corner. The arrow flew as true as Krusk had ever shot. He was certain that it would pierce one of the creature's eyes, but the arrow clattered against the wall on the far side of the creature as if the monstrosity had never been there.
As the barbarian fired the next arrow, Jozan stepped up beside him. The cleric's crossbow bolt and Krusk's arrow raced for the creature with the tentacles, and both missiles missed in exactly the same way. They were aimed precisely for the heart of the target one moment, then passed throug
h it harmlessly the next.
"It has some sort of magical protection," suggested Jozan. "We'll have to move in."
No sooner had Jozan finished speaking than Alhandra rushed between them and closed on the smaller monster. Krusk followed her and reached the creature just as Alhandra parried its hammer blow and nicked it with a thrust of her sword. Not realizing that Alhandra's success had been a lucky shot, Krusk moved on to face the clawed monster. He didn't know that when the paladin hit the displacer construct, the sword didn't land where she aimed it.
Even when Jozan joined Krusk, the clawed monster showed no fear. The claws grabbed Jozan by the neck and squeezed until Jozan was bleeding and struggling to breathe. Seeing the danger, Krusk smashed his axe across the chitinous arms and cracked the thick, insectoid armor with the blow.
Krusk's blow weakened the creature, but it was Yddith's flare that saved Jozan. As Jozan pounded on the creature's torso and Krusk hacked off pieces of its armor, Yddith reached within herself and focused a flare of verdant light through her faux eye. The flash distracted the crablike creature, causing it to snarl and open its pincers reflexively in response. As Jozan sagged to the ground, Krusk splintered more chitin off the creature's arms.
Even blinded momentarily by the flare, the monster managed to grab Krusk and pinch the barbarian's left shoulder until blood rolled down the half-orc's arm. Desperately, Krusk sliced the blade of his greataxe into the thing's shoulder with enough force to rip the crablike appendage from the monster's torso. A moment later Jozan regained his feet and started hammering on the remaining arm, cracking open the exoskeleton and exposing the soft white flesh on the inside. The creature's fate was sealed when Krusk split open the chest of the monstrosity with a final, massive blow. The crablike creature wobbled and toppled under the barrage of blows before falling to the floor of the tunnel as a splintered, dismembered ruin.
