Land of the Undying

by Dave Willmarth

  Approaching the dead animal, she bent to loot it. She received one of her quest hides, along with wolf’s teeth, and two pieces of wolf’s bone. She was tempted not to take the teeth and bones, but she put them in her bag anyway. They might have some value to someone. She was going to need gold to travel with.

  Snuffles sniffed briefly at the corpse, then backed away. “Yeah, smart move piglet. He had rabies. Don’t let him, or any of the wolves, touch you.” The little pig just snorted at her like she was stupid, and of course he wasn’t going to let a wolf get near him.

  They continued on in a generally westward direction. Every few minutes they would encounter a wolf. Snuffles always warned her early enough that she could ready her bow. Thus the fights were mostly uneventful, though she still got a surge of adrenaline every time a slavering wolf leapt at her.

  An hour later they had collected the ten hides that she needed to turn in her bounty quest. In addition, one of the wolves had dropped a Lucky Rabbit’s Foot, which was one of the spell component items on her list. She was relieved she wasn’t going to have to spend time killing fuzzy bunnies waiting for this item to drop.

  Consulting her map again, she adjusted her course slightly and moved into the zone where the ghosts had been spotted. There was very little information showing in the quest description. Basically, locate the ghosts and deal with them.

  So she poked around, gathering some unusual herbs as she went. Eventually she stumbled across what looked like a tomb. There was a stone ramp leading down to an open door cut into the earth with a stone archway around it.

  Shari looked at the piglet. “Well, if ever there were a place to find ghosts, I’m guessing an underground crypt would be it!” Snuffles grunted in agreement, and head-butted the back of her knee as if to say “you go first.”

  She chuckled. “My big brave boar tank!” She was about to step onto the ramp when a realization hit her. She turned back to the piglet. “Snuffles! You’re taller!” she said. Sure enough, he now stood knee high next to her, when previously he’d been about half that. “You’ve been leveling, haven’t you? Who’s a good piggy! Getting stronger for mama!” she reached down and scratched his ears.

  Focusing on her bow she cast one of the very first spells she’d learned as a druid. “Nature’s Light” caused an object of nature, like a stick from a tree shaped into a bow, to glow with a green light, somewhat like a real world glowstick. It was not bright, but it would be enough to light her way in the crypt. She nocked an arrow and held the bow in front of her, arrow pointed toward the floor.

  Stepping down the ramp, she entered the arched doorway. The daylight extended a good ways down the tunnel she found inside. It ran straight back, sloping downward slightly. She moved slowly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the diminished light. She listened carefully as she moved down the tunnel. Light elves had little ability to see in the dark, but they could hear a mouse fart at a hundred yards.

  Moving down the tunnel another thirty yards or so, she encountered an intersection. The tunnel she was in came to an end, and she had a choice of going left or right. Shari stood there listening, and heard nothing from either direction. Looking down at Snuffles, she saw him sniffing the air toward the left tunnel. He didn’t seem alarmed, so she chose left.

  That tunnel quickly turned and opened up into a large chamber. The walls were honeycombed with crypts, most sitting unsealed with a casket inside. A few stood empty. She played the light around the room, looking for ghosts. She saw nothing unusual, but her ears registered a faint shuffling sound. She spun toward the back of the room and focused on one of the unsealed crypts. This one was on the ground level, and Shari could see dozens of chalky white footprints on the floor in front of it.

  Ghosts don’t leave footprints.

  Stepping closer, she saw that there was some handprints, as well. Small, like a child’s. It looked as if something had crawled out of the crypt. The shuffling sound came to her again. Definitely from inside the crypt. She held her bow in front of the opening and bent down to look inside. The back of the crypt space had been broken, and there was a tunnel beyond. The sound was coming from there, and definitely getting louder.

  Quickly picking up Snuffles, she retreated back into the tunnel. If she didn’t move whatever was coming would soon see the light from her bow. She moved down the tunnel until it turned, and set the piglet down. She canceled the spell on her bow, and cast it on an arrow instead. She tossed the arrow to the ground in the center of the room where she could see it from her vantage point. Nocking another arrow, she peered around her corner and watched the crypt opening.

  Within moments, a small white creature crawled out. Followed by a second. They were three feet tall with oversized feet and big floppy ears. Their eyes were twice the size of a human or elf, and reflected the green light from her arrow. They wore nothing but loincloths and small belt knives. One of them held a sharpened stick like a spear.

  The first one coughed, then brushed itself off. Some of the white was removed, and Shari saw mottled green skin beneath. Goblins.

  These must be my ghosts. Goblins covered in… chalk? Maybe limestone dust? Probably from the tunnel.

  She listened as the two goblins warily approached the glowing arrow. They made some guttural noises that she took to be the goblin tongue, pointing toward the exit where Shari hid, then back toward the tunnel. One of them shook its head emphatically. Clearly, the other wanted to go back and report what they’d found. Or get reinforcements.

  Shari couldn’t let that happen. Two goblins she could handle. But a patrol, or a larger group, and she would be in trouble. Retreating back a step, she cast a simple fire spell on the arrow she had nocked. She quickly stepped around the corner and fired at the goblin who’d wanted to go for help. The arrow streaked through the room and penetrated the goblin’s chest, knocking it down. The light had blinded both monsters. Shari took the opportunity to fire another arrow at the upright goblin. This one was better aimed, and took the creature through the throat. It croaked, grabbing its neck and tugging at the arrow, which only hastened its death.

  The first creature she’d shot was no longer moving, despite the burning arrow in its chest. Shari approached and kicked it to make sure it was dead. Then she retrieved her two unburned arrows, and looted the corpses. She received two rusty knives, fifteen copper coins, and some bat guano. Which, as it turned out, was one of the spell components she needed. When she realized that must be the white dust all over the goblins, she took a step back. “Yuck!” she said to Snuffles, who sniffed tentatively at the bodies, then snorted in agreement.

  “Well, here’s a dilemma.” She said to the pig while pointing at the opening. “Clearly, the goblins are in there. And my quest is not complete. Which means we probably need to go in there. But… bat shit.”

  As a doctor she knew that bat guano contained all kinds of bacteria and potentially deadly disease like histoplasmosis, especially if inhaled as a dust.

  “This is a game. They don’t have bacteria. A little bat shit isn’t gonna kill us.” She muttered, trying to psych herself up. Snuffles grunted and move away from her and the opening. He was clearly opting out. “Smart piggy.” She grumbled. “But I suppose there’s nothing else to be done.”

  With that, she dropped to her knees and crawled into the crypt. The opening at the back was small, and she had to lay on her stomach and combat-crawl through. When she was clear of it, she held up her light arrow and looked around.

  She found herself in another, larger mausoleum. This one was too big for the light from her arrow to reach the other side. Its ceiling was a good thirty feet above her, and once again the walls were lined with a honeycomb of crypts. Hundreds of them. Each of them was sealed, and had emblems etched into the stone. She stepped closer to the nearest seal for a better look. The emblem resembled a coat of arms. A shield with two sigils and a helm drawn on it. Looking to either side, she noted several with the same emblem.

  “So. A family crypt? See
ms too large. Maybe a mass burial after a battle? Making these the graves of soldiers?” She asked Snuffles, who had nothing helpful to add.

  Shari examined the floor, which was covered in bat guano, and followed the trail of footprints to a tunnel. This one was clearly carved from the rock and was high enough for her to walk upright. She proceeded down the tunnel, bow held in front of her for light. In just a couple of minutes she emerged onto a ledge that overlooked a medium sized cavern. To her right, a ramp sloped down toward the cavern floor maybe twenty feet below. She quickly stowed her light arrow in her bag and crouched down on one knee. Snuffles sat next to her, and they both peered down at the sight below.

  There was a settlement of some sort. Several stone huts and what looked like it might be a barracks building. Clearly not goblin construction. From the shape of them, Shari guessed it was probably dwarves. But goblins occupied it now. Several torches burned along the main street. Shari could see half a dozen goblins moving about. There were ten wooden cages lined up in the center of the settlement. Shari could see they were occupied, but couldn’t make out by whom. The bars cast too many shadows in the torchlight. A flatbed wagon was hitched to a large lizard creature. Atop the wagon bed was another, larger cage. Three of the goblins were forcing a young elf toward the wagon at spearpoint.

  “Slavers” Shari whispered to Snuffles. “Only six that I can see. I think I can take them from up here.”

  Shari nocked an arrow and selected the goblin who was farthest from her. He was standing alone, holding a harness on the lizard’s head. Taking careful aim, Shari took a deep breath, then let it out. She loosed the arrow, and it flew unseen through the darkness to strike the goblin in the chest. It fell back against the lizard’s head, then to the ground. Smelling blood, the lizard wasted no time in chomping down on the goblin’s head and ripping it off.

  None of the other goblins even noticed. Shari pulled six more arrows from her quiver and stabbed them down into the ground in front of her. Still on one knee, they were within easy reach on the floor. This time she chose a goblin standing guard near the cages. Another arrow loosed, and this time the goblin was struck in the gut. It screamed as it fell back, dropping a spear that it had been holding. A hand instantly reached out of the cage, grabbing the spear and stabbing the goblin repeatedly.

  The remaining four goblins, not having seen the arrow, assumed a prisoner had just killed their comrade. Three of them ran toward the downed goblin while the fourth held a spear at the gut of the elf prisoner. Shari targeted that goblin, placing an arrow in its chest and knocking it down. The prisoner immediately ran away from the wagon into the darkness.

  “Three down, and the others don’t even know I’m here yet.” She grinned at Snuffles.

  Drawing her bow again, she targeted a goblin with its back to her. Her aim was a bit high, and the arrow penetrated it’s neck. The other goblins, alerted now to her presence, both pointed her direction and screamed. Shari decided to create a diversion. She cast the fire spell on her next arrow, and shot the wagon. The flames quickly spread, as the wagon, and then the cage, began to burn. The now blinded lizard let out a terrified roar and began to try to run from the fire. The goblins hesitated, covering their eyes to protect them from the light.

  Shari shot another one in the gut, making it scream in pain. The last goblin dashed into one of the buildings, out of sight.

  Smiling to herself, she said “Oh, no you don’t.” and set down her bow. Keeping an eye on the stone hut, she reached into her bag and took out a small vial of oil. She kept a few to help her start fires if the only available wood was damp. Pulling a leather strip from her bag, she tied the vial to an arrow. Then she picked up her bow and nocked the arrow. Casting fire on it, she let it fly. It passed through the hut’s open doorway and the vial shattered against the floor. Burning oil splashed around the inside, causing a flash of light. There was a scream, and the goblin rushed out the door, patting at several spots of burning oil on its arm and leg.

  Shari took aim with one more arrow and loosed it. The goblin was struck in the hip as it danced around. The impact flung the small creature backward to lay on the cavern floor. Still alive, it resumed trying to put out the fires on its skin. Focused on its own pain, it didn’t see the frantic lizard running toward it, still pulling the now brightly burning wagon. First the lizard, then the wagon, crushed the goblin as they passed. The lizard continued running until it struck one of the buildings and fell stunned to the floor. Shari put a couple of arrows into its throat, just to make sure it wouldn’t be a threat.

  Running down the ramp with Snuffles behind her, she made her way to the cages. Eight of the ten were occupied. Reaching the first one, she found an elderly human woman and a girl maybe ten years old.

  Shari asked “I killed six. Plus two more upstairs. Are there any more?” The woman shook her head.

  “No. No more. The keys!” The woman said frantically, pointing to one of the dead goblins. “Get the keys and free us!”

  Shari did as she was told and searched the goblin. She yanked a key ring from its rope belt and returned to the cage. There were only three keys. She tried the medium sized key, figuring the largest to be for the wagon cage. The key worked, and the cage opened. Shari quickly moved down the line, unlocking each of the cages. The occupant of the last cage didn’t move when the door opened. Shari called out “Let’s go! You’re free!”

  The old woman put a hand on her shoulder. “He died this morning. They haven’t fed us in several days. He was the first captured. Been here a week. He was injured, and just couldn’t hold on.” She explained sadly.

  The others had all gathered around her. She cast the light spell on her bow to get a better look at them. Several had suffered minor wounds, cuts and scratches here and there. Nearly all were bruised and dirty, and looked malnourished. She immediately withdrew some bread and jerky rations and began to pass them out. She also handed each of them a common health potion to drink. All told there were eleven prisoners. Not counting the one who’d run.

  Shari looked at the old woman “There was a young elf. She ran when I killed her guard. Do you know here name?”

  They all shook their heads. So Shari asked “Did any of you see where she went?” When again she got all negative responses, she called out to the dark “Young elfling! Are you out there? It’s safe now. The goblins are dead. I’m here to take you home! Just come to the light.”

  They waited in silence for a few moments, but there was no response. The old woman said “There are things in these caverns worse than goblins. If she ran far, likely one of them has taken her. Let us leave this place.”

  Shari was torn. She needed a minute to think. “Quickly, take whatever weapons you can from the goblins.” She bent down to loot the one she’d taken the keys from. Not even looking at what the loot was, she pulled a short sword from his belt and handed it to an elven male. Then she took a few moments to retrieve her arrows from the various goblins and loot them as well. Looking around, she asked “Did any of you have any gear that they might have stored somewhere?”

  The young girl nodded and pointed to the nearest hut. Luckily, it was not the one Shari had just set afire. Several of the prisoners went inside, including the old woman. When she returned, she held a staff and had a bag over her shoulder. Two others, both elves, returned with bows. Another human woman was fastening a belt with a short sword.

  “Good. Let’s go. I’ll show you the way out.” Shari told them. She quickly cast the light spell on both of the archer’s bows, and the old woman’s staff. Telling the archers to lead the way, she pointed toward the ramp. Shari placed the old woman and little girl in the middle of the group, and she brought up the rear.

  The group moved up the ramp as quickly as they could. When they reached the tunnel intersection, Shari called out for them to turn right. They reached the large crypt room without incident. One of the elves said “The Steelhelm Dwarves.”

  Shari looked at him. He was tall for an elf,
with wide shoulders and long black hair. “What did you say?”

  He looked at her. “This is a burial chamber for the Steelhelm Clan. They fought a great battle here against a goblin horde nearly a thousand years ago. They were outnumbered more than ten to one. Though they won the battle, most of their clan were killed. The battle is still mentioned in the songs of the bards. The settlement we just left must have been where the survivors camped while they built this chamber.”

  Achievement Earned: Lore of the Land

  You have learned about a historic battle that happened in this location. You have unlocked the “Lore” skill. Knowing the history of a place can often help you in completing quests and earning reputation.

  “Thank you for sharing that.” Shari answered quietly. Then she pointed at the footprints on the floor. Following them to the opening in the wall, she said “Through here. I’m afraid you’d have to crawl. It leads to a smaller tomb. Follow the ramp up to the forest. I’ll meet you there.”

  One of the archers asked “You’re going back for the girl?”

  Shari nodded her head. “I can’t just leave her in the dark. I have to at least look for her.”

  The archer nodded his head. “I’ll go with you.” The elf with the sword stepped forward. “I as well.”

  The second archer, the one who’d told her about the dwarves, stepped forward as well, but Shari held up a hand. “I need at least one of you to lead these people out. Keep them safe in the forest until we join you. There are wolves and wild boars roaming about.”

  The archer nodded his head, and stepped back toward the opening. When all of the prisoners had passed through into the other tomb, Shari lead the two elves and Snuffles back down the tunnel to the settlement. The wagon was mostly burned down to a pile of glowing coals now. It had roasted the back half of the lizard as it burned, and the smell of cooked meat was almost appetizing.