Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus

by Blaise Corvin

  New Religion

  The whole time he trudged back to the entrance of the dungeon, Henry wondered what they'd do about the captured orks. He'd seen Tony's expression, especially after they'd passed the dungeon's kitchen again on the way out. The kid had murder in his eyes.

  Henry wasn't sure what would happen.

  While they were loading up in the treasure room, he'd had a chance to tell Jason that all the dead humanoids in the kitchen had slashed throats; they'd been prepared just like the animals were. It was obvious to Henry that the people were being treated as meat by the monsters. They weren't torturing them. Plus, he knew Jason was shaken by seeing the ork leader's office. Before this point, they'd considered all monsters to be murderous animals, no better than large vermin.

  However, the orks used tools, they had language, and they obviously took notes. What was more, the kitchen had been disgusting and horrible, but there was no evidence that the orks had been visiting pain and evil upon others like the bandits had.

  Sure, the orks had killed some people and they were eating them, but there had been hundreds of orks. It wasn't likely that all of them were complicit. Henry knew Jason and figured his friend was going to give the handful of surviving orks the benefit of the doubt.

  Henry actually wanted to let Tony kill the orks or even just do it himself. He had no problem handing them weapons to give them a fighting chance either. They apparently wanted to die via duel anyway. However, before they'd left Mirana, he and Jason had had a private talk about roles and responsibilities. They'd agreed that decisions regarding issues like prisoners would be Jason's call, so Henry was willing to back off. In fact, Jason had even confirmed it outside the dungeon before they entered.

  On their way out of the dungeon, Jason caught Henry's eye and gave him a slight shake of the head. Henry understood the message: they weren't going to kill the ork prisoners. So be it.

  Henry left Yanbei Cavern with a literal armful of loot and a bulging pack. As the strongest person in their little group, he had to carry the most. Luckily, with magic strength from the earth, he was able to move easily even while completely loaded down.

  Once they got close to the others, Tony, who was staring at the orks, went to grab a grenade. Jason grabbed the boy's arm with his free hand and said, "No, Tony. It's not your decision."

  Aodh wasn't happy, but he followed Jason's order. He didn't even look at the orks again, and his nostrils flared in anger. It was obvious the dungeon kitchen had deeply affected him.

  The next few hours went by in a blur. Henry led most of the Delvers down to the treasure room to haul the rest of the loot to the surface, following the safe paths through the trap rooms that Jason had marked with chalk.

  Jason stayed behind and tried communicating with the captured orks using pictures--via a pad of paper and pen they'd found in the treasure room--and hand gestures.

  The rest of the loot was carried out by Bezzi-ibbi, Rark-han, and Aodh. Henry and Mareen took a few trips to lug out the huge bronze doors that Jason had cut up into convenient pieces earlier. It amused Henry that they were even taking the dungeon's inner door.

  Bronze was valuable. It was too bad for the other adventuring teams that they hadn't thought of taking the door or hadn't had the means to do so.

  The big surprise came when they were getting ready to leave. Henry was curious what Jason was going to do with the orks, and his question was soon answered. Jason calmly addressed the whole group, saying, "We are letting these last few orks go. I've told their leader not to kill people unless it's in self-defense, and they said they will not attack anyone unprovoked. I believe them."

  There was a few seconds of silence before Uluula exclaimed, "What? What are you thinking? These things should be exterminated!" She started angrily walking forward.

  Then Jason did a curious thing. He faced Uluula, squared his shoulders, and firmly said, "Lula, this is my decision. It's not up for discussion. Stand down."

  Henry's eyebrows tried to climb into his hairline. His friend usually followed Uluula around like a lost puppy, but he'd just actually acted assertive. Jason had found his balls! Henry was shocked.

  Apparently Uluula was too. She stood stock-still for a moment before getting a very strange look in her eyes. Her face reddened, and Henry figured she must be angry. The petite woman turned on a heel, got into the back of the Battlewagon, and pointedly looked the other direction. Henry might have been imagining it, but he thought she was quivering.

  Damn! Glad I'm not him! He mentally chuckled. Just as Henry was congratulating himself for not being involved in his friend's relationship drama, Mareen slowed down behind him and whispered, "You'd better not get any ideas." Henry rolled his eyes. He'd never let a woman boss him around!

  He watched the freed orks slowly move away while he cradled his rifle. It wasn't sitting well with him that the orks were just going free, but he didn't want to undermine Jason's authority. He had no idea how long he'd been watching the orks until Mareen tapped him on the shoulder. She said, "Hey, quit staring and go get in your little turret. We're all waiting on you, and I want to get out of here."

  Henry absentmindedly patted her hand and turned around. "Oh, okay." He climbed into the Battlewagon turret, and Jason began easing the vehicle away. Luckily, their loot haul from Yanbei Cavern included quite a few magic stones. The Battlewagon consumed more power while running with a heavy load, but they had more than enough fuel.

  Henry glanced back at the heavy pieces of bronze doorway stacked in the back of the vehicle. Altogether, they were probably carrying at least several tons of loot back with them. He felt pride that the Battlewagon's energy consumption didn't go up too much and it didn't handle too sluggishly while weighed down. He'd built her well. Henry patted the side of the Battlewagon as the Delvers sped back towards Mirana.

  * * *

  Smartstrong Gulzug mar'Tartooth was extremely confused. He watched the strange soft-skins almost silently drive away on their death-spitting war machine and shook his head. His three remaining warriors stood aimlessly nearby as well.

  Smartstrong didn't know what to think. The Yay-soon's people, the Dalvars, had utterly annihilated all his men. Yay-soon had slain two of his mages with his own hand. Their smallest member had killed one of his best warriors in one-on-one combat, then the one with fur on his face, Han-ri, had effortlessly disarmed the last of the People.

  They'd been captured. Yay-soon had communicated with them via pantomime and pictures, and then they were just... released. Of course, Yay-soon had made his demands very clear. Smartstrong and the Plains People were forbidden to attack or eat any soft-skin races. If they did, Yay-soon said he would personally kill them. The threat made Smartstrong's neck and chest go numb in dread.

  Smartstrong didn't yet know how to react to the events of the day, but he didn't like being disarmed. He picked up one of the cruder weapons lying on the field of battle that the Dalvars hadn't bothered to take--a club with obsidian blades. His men did the same and followed him as he headed back into the Dark Cave Holy Site.

  Something wasn't right.

  The whole time the Dalvars had carried items out of the Dark Cave Holy Site, Smartstrong had been watching closely, ready for to try one last time to kill the defilers if he saw even one looted artifact or image of Tartooth. However, he hadn't seen any. In fact, most of the items the Dalvars had taken from the cave were entirely unfamiliar to him.

  Smartstrong entered his old home and did not look at all the bodies of his comrades. He kept a stoic face for the sake of his three remaining warriors, but if he looked down, he knew he could have started wailing in anguish. So many of his people had perished in such a short amount of time; they would have died in honor if they were doing their god's work, but he had a terrible, terrible suspicion.

  He had to see for himself.

  He trooped through the Dark Cave Holy Site and noticed the smoke curling from under the kitchen door. He could hear fire and felt the heat radiating from the r
oom behind the door. The Dalvars had obviously torched the place. Smartstrong would have too. In fact, when sects of the Plains People warred, those that consumed their enemies were often dealt with harshly. Smartstrong had no idea why some held to such old, barbaric traditions, especially hadashar, ritual alive-eating. Smartstrong knew the practice was not honorable under the gaze of Tartooth.

  Smartstrong briefly stopped in his old office. Luckily, his hidden bronze dagger was still where he'd left it. He buckled it on before heading out again.

  He'd never been past the trap rooms before. A few orks had tried, attempting to get to the inner sanctum to commune with Tartooth while in yilm-induced fervor, but they'd all died. However, the Dalvars had not only deactivated the rooms, they'd also left clear trails to mark safe passages.

  Smartstrong was impressed. The Dalvars were clever and efficient.

  They arrived at the inner sanctum and found the room cleared out. There were no artifacts of Tartooth. Unfortunately, Smartstrong also saw what he'd suspected, what he'd feared most--the rear wall of the room featured a giant carved likeness of Dolos. Under the image, lines of different written languages were engraved into the wall. Smartstrong was able to understand one line that read, "Great God Dolos".

  "We were tricked," he snarled. "We were fools. The Yay-soon and the Han-ri have freed us. We must repent for our gullibility. This is why the Ul-hala challenged us but only killed two before the Han-ri rendered us helpless. We are weak like children under the gaze of Tartooth."

  Rocksure moved his tusks in a negative pattern, saying, "No, the interlopers, the defilers have tricked you. You are not seeing clearly."

  Smartstrong became sad. He knew how the situation would end, but he had to try reasoning with Rocksure. "Lesser warrior, hear my words. Our stories are clear. All under the Gaze is with Tartooth or against him. The Dolos-god is obviously against Tartooth. We were tricked to guard this sanctum after being told this Dark Cave Holy Site held relics of Tartooth. Dolos is Tartooth's enemy. The Delvars robbed from Dolos. They therefore must be friends of Tartooth."

  "No, they were just mages. Their weapons weren't even that powerful. We just got transported here with none of our own weapons or gear."

  "You are being misled by the Dolos-god, Rocksure." Smartstrong moved his tusks sadly. "You cannot see the truth."

  Rocksure snarled, "No Smartstrong, your brain is mush, and you are--" His words ceased as the weapon impacted with this neck. The dying warrior sighed as Smartstrong pulled the bladed clum out his throat. One of the club's blades broke off and remained in Rocksure's flesh. Smartstrong would need to grab a new one from the battlefield.

  He said, "You speak falsely. You must not embrace heresy at this darkest of hours for the Plains People." He regarded Helpssturdy and Truthwatching, his last two remaining warriors. "Do you wish to spit heresy?"

  They both shook a fist, signaling no. Smartstrong patted his chest, the gesture for acceptance.

  He was enlightened. No wonder his mages had fallen to Yay-soon. The Delvars were obviously messengers of Tartooth. The Plains People had suffered dearly for their heresy, their gullibility, but Smartstrong knew the truth now. It was time to atone. It was time to spread the story of the Dolos-god's treachery.

  He understood. The battle with the Delvars would have been a crushing defeat, an unbearable dishonor, if his entire war band had been defeated by some soft-skin mages with primitive technology. However, being defeated by demigods was an honor.

  Smartstrong's spirit surged. His eyes burned with zealotry as he led his last two warriors out of the cursed Dark Cave Holy Site. With only three of the People, funeral rites for the dead would take a long time. However, he knew he'd found his true calling. His spirit burned for the mission Tartooth had given him. He must tell the whole world about the evil Dolos-god. He must let the whole land know of Tartooth's agents and teach how to properly venerate them:

  The Agent of Death, Yay-soon

  The Agent of War, Han-ri

  The Agent of Souls, Bass-abey

  The Agent of Carrion, Ror-kon

  The Agent of Honor and Duels, Ul-hala

  The Agent of Devotion, Mahr-in

  The Emissary, Kay-jah

  Smartstrong knew if he didn't spread the truth of how to honor theses agents of his god, they would return to cull Tartooth's children, all while Tartooth's Emissary looked on from the sky, giving her blessing. Smartstrong must not let it happen again!

  Deep in the bowels of Yanbei Cavern, a new religion was born.

  Writing on the Wall

  Henry was glad they were having a fairly peaceful return trip back to Mirana. The first night on the way back, they stopped by a river they passed before and set up camp. Since the Delvers could store their packs in the Battlewagon, camping was a breeze. When Henry thought about it, he'd never had to truly hike around Ludus with only what was on his back. He wanted to keep it that way.

  He was beginning to enjoy their nightly cookouts.

  After the group all ate and it was getting dark, he saw Uluula pulling Jason towards the river. Jason looked confused. Henry barely caught a snippet of their conversation. Uluula was saying, "Mareen told me you like 'cat girls.' Is this true?" Henry snickered as his friend's obvious discomfort.

  Those two really needed to just get laid.

  * * *

  Jason dumbly followed Uluula to the river. He'd given up trying to understand what was going on. First Uluula grilled him about cat girls for a while before seeming strangely satisfied. Then she suggested they find a quiet, remote spot near the water to talk.

  When they arrived at the river, the waning light was still enough to see by. The tall Ludus grass on the river bank danced in the slight breeze. The river was gentle. The water created a background babble that was soothing to the ears. Native birds sang from the trees on both sides of the river. Most trees in the area were pines, and the setting sun made the furthest of them look like pointy silhouettes.

  The river bank was hard baked. There hadn't been much rain lately, and the Ludus versions of dragonflies lazily buzzed around. Jason would have thought the scene was beautiful if it wasn't Ludus and he hadn't had to constantly worry about being eaten.

  He asked, "What about monsters? Aren't there a bunch of water monsters on Ludus?"

  "We're still within the orks' range from Yanbei Cavern. They'll have killed everything in this area. Orks are very territorial. Plus, you're Bonded. If there is any trouble, you can teleport back to camp and immediately get help or just kill anything that threatens."

  "Okay, so what are we--" Jason stopped speaking when Uluula began removing her armor and clothing at the edge of the water. "What are you doing?"

  "What does it look like I'm doing? I just fought in a battle. I stink, and I want to clean myself. This should not require explanation."

  "Ah, yeah. I guess that makes sense." Jason caught a flash of Uluula's pale back, and his brain stopped working very well. "I guess I'll walk away a ways and wait until you're done."

  "Actually, would you like to join me?" Jason's eyes had to have been playing tricks on him. It looked like Uluula was blushing. This has to be a trick of the light, right?

  While Jason was blinking and processing the question, Uluula finished stripping and placed her clothing in neat piles. When she bent over, Jason got an especially interesting view. Then without a backwards glance, she slowly but steadily entered a natural pool in the river until the water lapped against the bottoms of her breasts. She turned and arched an eyebrow.

  While Uluula was walking in, Jason had been mesmerized, and higher brain functions were not possible. With effort, he started thinking again. He quickly took off his armor and tried to get out of his clothing in a dignified manner like Uluula had, but he knew he failed miserably. The fact she was watching him the entire time didn't help.

  Finally, Jason entered the river too. The water was cool but not uncomfortable. He continued deeper past Uluula until the water came up to his chest.
The water level up to Uluula's chest only came to his waist. Uluula wasn't looking at him. She kept glancing off to the side, and Jason began feeling more and more awkward.

  Finally she asked, "You truly find me desirable?"

  During Jason's entire relationship with Uluula, he'd decided to embrace honesty. He knew he wasn't cool. He would never have "game." He was aware that he was an intelligent man, but he could not wrap his mind around how flirt. With Uluula, from the moment he'd found himself in the bath with her at the Jaguar Clan house, he'd spoken directly from the heart.

  He replied, "I think you're beautiful. In fact, this setting kind of reminds me of the first time we really talked. You made quite an impact on me then too."

  "Yes. There does seem to be a bit of a theme here, doesn't there?" Uluula's cheeks reddened. This time Jason clearly saw it. What the hell is going on?

  Uluula's blue alien eyes held his as she glided forward in the water. When her feet couldn't touch the bottom anymore, she swam the last few feet until she was right in front of Jason and placed her arms around his neck.

  She was close, so close he could feel her breath. So close he could see the day's fading light reflected in her eyes. Jason felt awkward and gently placed a hand on her back, his touch as gentle as possible. He desperately wanted to avoid scaring her away.

  "Jason Booth, more than a day ago I established my sexual bridge. I know I told you about Areva sexual bridges, that we can choose to turn off or reestablish sexual impulses after we hit puberty. Most choose to turn off their sexual bridge as soon as possible, not engaging it again until they want to have children or they've found a spouse or lover."

  It took a while for Jason's struggling brain to catch up. Then his eyes widened.

  "Yes, now you understand. I made this decision for several reasons, not least of which was there was a very good chance we would die at Yanbei Cavern. I decided if we survived, I would face my fears. I knew I could not even fully know myself until did. What is interesting is how different I feel about the matter now that my body has changed.