Every member of the group was bathed in a golden light as they leveled up. Griff got a single level, while the others received several. He looted the mini boss as their gazes focused on their character sheets. They each received 30 gold, an epic quality shield that was a big improvement for Griff, a rare quality sword that did more than double the damage of the swords Lisa was using, a rare quality wand for Jo that fired ice bolts, several disgusting sounding body parts that were listed as rare alchemy ingredients for Leroy, and an epic quality short spear made for throwing for Meg.
Meg was first to rejoin him. “Got me three levels from that!” She grinned. Her eyes widened when Griff handed her the spear.
“That’s not all ye got. There’s a loot drop for each of us. This is yours.” As each of them finished managing their character sheets he handed over their loot. Leroy was particularly pleased with the alchemy items.
“With these, and all the plants from the butterfly room, I can level me alchemy skill! I’ll be able to start makin’ Journeyman level potions.”
When they’d all rested and healed, Griff had them search the room for chests or secret doors. He wanted to vacate the place before more pill bugs appeared. He was guessing that since the aardvark had eaten seven of them and they appeared roughly every two minutes, they had roughly four minutes left after the battle and their recovery time before the next bug emerged.
Meg found a chest behind the bug mound. It was a small wooden thing without a lock. Griff had the others stand back as he opened it.
When he reached for the handle on the lid, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, put his free hand in front of his face, and turned his head. Then he lifted the lid. He’d expected an explosion – either fire or poison gas. What he got instead was a poison needle that shot out of a contraption on the inside of the lid. The needle tip embedded itself in his breastplate, but didn’t penetrate.
The others gathered around to look inside the chest. It was filled with small bags of gold and silver coins, as well as some gems. Under the bags was a helm.
Helm of the Steadfast
Quality: Epic
Stats: Armor +25, +5 Stamina, +5 Strength
This helm increases the Stamina and Health Regeneration of its wearer, increasing each by five points per second.
Meg whistled. “Sweet. I’ll wrassle ye for it!”
Jo smacked her on the head. “That be for a tank. Ye want to pick up a shield ‘n take Griff’s place?”
The enthusiastic dwarfess lowered her eyes. “I were just teasin’.”
Griff smiled at her. “I know. And I’m thinkin’ there’ll be plenty o’ good loot down here. This helm was meant to help me hold off the beasties while ye poke ‘em with yer sharp pointy stick.”
That settled, they proceeded toward the exit tunnel. They managed to leave the chamber before any other pill bugs appeared. Griff wondered if the aardvark would respawn after they left the dungeon. If not, the place would soon be overrun with bugs.
The exit tunnel ended quickly with a curved stairway leading down. The second level at the bottom of the stairs looked much like the first. Rough stone walls and floor in a short corridor. The difference was, this time there was a door. A stone door, in fact, with carvings on the stone that Meg studied with interest.
“This be ancient dwarvish. Me da tried ta teach me, said it would come in handy. I paid no attention. Guess I should ha’ listened more.”
She traced the runes with her fingers. “This one here says ‘danger’ and this one be the symbol for ‘fire’.
With that information in hand, Griff was less enthusiastic about opening the door. Still, they needed to clear the dungeon.
“Okay, stand back folks. In fact, stand way back, in case there’s an explosion when I open this.” He looked at the door. There was a locking mechanism that was easy enough to figure out. One simply turned a wheel and it retracted a bolt or bolts from the frame. He considered standing behind the door as he opened it, hoping the stone would provide some cover from any explosion. Then he had visions of being flattened by the stone Wile E. Coyote style when the force of the explosion slammed the door open. He figured it was better to just hunker behind his shield and take the blast.
When the others were far enough back, he turned the lock. When nothing happened, he lifted his shield, then reached out with his right hand and pulled on the door. It didn’t move with his first tug, and now he was sweating from anticipation. He gave the door a harder tug this time, and it swung open. It was eerily silent. No squeak of hinges or scrape of stone. He immediately crouched down and planted his shield in anticipation of the blast.
There was no blast. After several seconds of him crouching with gritted teeth, Lisa called out. “Uhmmm… I think it’s safe.”
Griff peeked over the top of his shield, and saw… nothing. No monsters, no fireball of death, just a room with more of the green torches. Getting to his feet he waved the others forward. He stepped into the room and looked around.
The first thing he noticed was the smell. It made his eyes water. A combination of ass sweat, sewage, wet fur and rotten meat. It was almost a physical thing. He watched as each of the others encountered the stench behind him and reeled back while waving a hand or holding a nose. Jo grimaced. “Smells like one of Leroy’s experiments gone wrong.”
The dwarf boy looked hurt, but didn’t disagree. Griff began to breathe through his mouth in order to lessen the impact of the stench. He led them down the hallway maybe twenty meters before they reached a T intersection. The hall went left and right, and there was a door in each direction. These were wooden doors, though thick and wide. Griff, following the rule known by all good adventurers, chose the left door.
“Meg, keep an eye on that door behind us,” he instructed, pulling on the door handle. On the other side of the door was a small room, refuse scattered across the floor and piled up in one corner. The stench in here hit them like a wave, causing Leroy to gag and nearly lose his breakfast. The sound triggered a rustling in the corner trash pile. A tall gangly creature covered in matted hair sprang up from the pile and roared at them. It had beady black eyes and two rows of very sharp teeth. Its long arms extended down well past its hips, and its fingers ended in sharp yellowed claws. Griff inspected it.
Cave Troll
Level 25
Health 2000/2000
The thing’s legs bent for a moment before it leapt toward Griff. He raised his shield and activated his Shield Bash ability just as it came into range. He shot forward three feet and slammed into the airborne troll, knocking it backward. The thing hit the ground and rolled, but was instantly back on its feet and charging.
Griff took the charge on his shield and swung his hand axe at it. The axe bit into the thing’s arm, cutting to the bone. But a second later the wound began to heal rapidly. In ten seconds there was no evidence of any damage.
“Dammit! The troll can regenerate!” he called out to the others.
Lisa was already behind the monster, hacking and slashing with her swords. While her older sword cut well enough, the new sword actually severed one of the troll’s arms just below the shoulder. It roared in pain and turned on her. Its remaining arm lashed out and raked claws across her face, tearing flesh from her cheek and part of her nose. She collapsed in pain, and the thing advanced on her, intending to finish her off.
Griff shouted at the troll and ran forward. He used his shield and his momentum to push the thing so that it tripped over Lisa and fell. Meg was right there, using her halberd to pin the troll face-down on the floor. Leroy cast two big heals on Lisa, wincing as he watched her face knit back together.
Jo shouted, “Infier!” sending a fireball past Meg’s legs to impact the troll’s head. It screamed in agony as the its entire body burst into flame. The nasty, matted fur quickly burned away and its skin began to bubble and burst. The thing tried to crawl away, but Meg’s spike kept it pinned. As it thrashed and burned, Griff took a step forward and cleaved its skull
with his axe. When the mob didn’t stop thrashing, he changed his angle and severed its head completely.
Griff knew it was dead at that point, because he received xp for the kill. But the body continued to thrash as it burned away. Then it began to emit a high-pitched whine. Griff instinctively knew that sound as a Briton who’d spent a lifetime around teapots. “Get back!” he shouted, grabbing Meg and pushing her toward the far side of the room. The others retreated as well, huddling near the door. Griff got in front of them and raised his shield sideways in hopes of protecting as many of them as possible.
A moment later, the whine ended in an explosion. The troll literally burst, and flaming pieces of flesh peppered the walls and ceiling. They stuck there, the melted fat and muscle acting as a sort of glue. Pieces rained down on the group, causing minor burns. They quickly peeled the burning bits off each other and Leroy healed them. Then he began to examine one of the slimy bits carefully. “It says this be used in several recipes. One fer Strength, one fer Regeneration. Whoa. The regeneration properties be amazing!” He began to stomp on the flaming bits on the floor to extinguish them, scooping them into his bag.
Meg made a face at him. “I’m never holdin’ yer hand again. That’s just foul.”
Leroy ignored her, pulling bits from a nearby wall now. Griff had to stop him.
“I’m sure you’ve got plenty. Remember, there’s likely to be more loot before we’re done.”
He looted the troll’s head, which was the only intact piece. It gave fifteen gold and some troll bones.
Leroy resisted the temptation and they moved on. As they walked, Griff spoke quietly. “Jo, this is where ye shine. These things obviously have a weakness fer fire, so you hit ‘em right away, then everybody back up. I’ll keep ‘em away from ya and hope me shield keeps most o’ the goop off ya when they explode.”
The next troll they met dropped onto them from the ceiling. They were moving along watching ahead of themselves rather than looking up. It crawled along the ceiling and dropped into the middle of the group, landing on Leroy. The dwarf screamed like a child as the troll bit off two fingers and a chunk of his hand.
The others rushed forward and Griff grabbed hold of the monster. He tried to pull it off, but the thing was all muscle. It took hold of Leroy and wouldn’t let go. The whole time it was biting at the healer’s arm, which he was using to protect his face.
Finally, Meg got behind the beast. She used her halberd to hook around the front of its neck. As she pulled back, the axe blade cut into the troll’s throat. It had a choice of either letting go or losing its head. The thing let Leroy drop as it rolled backward toward Meg.
Meg retreated and Jo hit the thing with a fireball. Just like the last time, it went up in flames. But this one wasn’t pinned. It ran toward Meg now, arms reaching for her. She held her weapon’s staff up in front of her, ready to block the attack. Her eyes were wide in terror as the burning pile of goo ran at her.
Griff’s body slammed into it from the side, knocking it down to roll around as it burned. He motioned for the others to retreat as he stomped and kicked the prone monster. A moment later the tell-tale whine began. He slammed his shield into the ground right next to the troll’s burning body and crouched behind it.
When the explosion came, most of the burning bits either bounced off his shield, stuck to it, or passed by on either side, leaving a cone of clear space behind him where his friends huddled. A couple of pieces reached them but Lisa was able to bat them aside with her swords.
Griff scraped off his shield on the stone wall and looted the troll’s head. Once again, some gold and some bones. Leroy grabbed a few more troll bits when he thought nobody was looking, and they moved on.
Three rooms later they reached a dead end. They’d fought four more trolls, and everybody but Griff had leveled up again, at least once. Griff’s UI showed him that would take maybe two or three more trolls before he ding’d too.
They searched the room for any hidden doors as they retraced their steps. Finding nothing, they eventually reached the other wooden door in the right-hand fork of the first tunnel. Griff opened it and was instantly mobbed by two trolls. Jo panicked and sent in a fireball, striking one as Griff bashed the other with his shield. The two trolls collided and the second caught fire as well. Griff managed to pushed them backward through the doorway as they beat at him with burning claws and tried to pull his shield away. Meg pushed one away from him with her weapon, pinning it to a wall. It pushed back, but she braced her back against the opposite wall and held it there.
Griff shouted “The rest of ye keep back! When they start to whistle, Meg, you get yer arse through that door!”
She nodded and continued to struggle to hold the thrashing troll. The beasts were mindless in their pain. Their only thought was to kill. Which to be fair, was probably their only thought regardless of whether they were on fire or not.
When the whine began, Meg simply dropped her weapon and dashed through the door. Griff activated his Shield Bash ability and knocked his troll back into the other. He quickly retreated through the door as Meg slammed it shut. The two of them put their backs to it as the trolls on the other side tried to break through. The dual explosion that came a moment later pushed the door partway open before the weight of the dwarves closed it again.
Leroy healed Griff, who was badly burned from being so close to his troll for so long. His armor had begun to heat up and had scorched the skin of his hands and arms. And his face had been exposed to the heat.
When they opened the door, the back side was smoldering from the many burning bits of troll stuck to it. As was Meg’s halberd. She ran to pick it up, pulling off the burning bits to check the weapon’s integrity. Reassured that it was still whole, if at a lower durability level, she smiled.
Once again, Griff looted the skulls. More gold, more bones, and this time a troll’s heart that made Leroy swoon. Griff half expected the dwarf alchemist to kiss the thing, the way he was looking at it. Meg must have been thinking the same. “Kiss that thing n yer lips’ll never touch me own again.” Leroy blinked a few times, then grinned and stuffed the heart in his bag looking slightly embarrassed.
Lisa said, “That fight went way better! It were nice havin’ that door between us n the oogy troll splatter.”
Griff nodded in agreement. Then an idea struck him. He turned and shared it with the others.
Five minutes later they were once again moving down the corridor. There were a couple of twists and turns before they reached a hall with four doors, two on either side. Griff grinned. “If there are trolls in there, same deal. I’ll open the door. Jo you burn them. We’ll close the door and wait.”
Griff opened the first door, and sure enough, two trolls inhabited what looked like it had been a bedchamber. The furniture was now all broken and piled up into a sort of nest in the corner. The female troll, bigger and fatter than her mate, held an infant to one hairy breast.
Jo leaned her head in and cast a fireball before the trolls could react. It splashed against the nest, lighting it and all three trolls afire. She backpedaled as Griff and the others slammed the door and braced it with their bodies. The door shook as the screaming trolls pounded on it. A short time later it began to smoke as the heat from the trolls caught it on fire. Just as the whining sound began, the other doors opened one by one. Griff shouted “Grab the shield and run!”
The others did as he ordered, lifting the heavy door that they’d carried with them and retreating down the hall to the last turn. Griff quickly leapt away from the door and backed away as the other trolls charged him. The three burning trolls burst from the room, colliding with the others, who’d just exited the door across from theirs. Griff ducked behind his shield as the three exploding trolls showered the others in the hallway with sticky burning troll bits.
They all caught fire as well, and began to race about. Griff looked back to confirm that his friends had retreated out of sight. The mobs would all focus on him. He knew he was
going to die, but as long as the mobs didn’t aggro on the others before they exploded, they’d be fine.
He used his Shield Bash ability on the closest troll, pushing it back to trip up some of the others moving toward him. He was already contemplating the long corpse run through the first level when he heard Meg shout, “Get in the room, ye idjut! Get in there ‘n close the door!”
He looked at the open doors on either side of him. The door to the first room was on fire, and didn’t look particularly sturdy. So he slammed his shield into another of the trolls and dashed into the opposite room. He pulled the door closed behind him and held on for dear life. He placed one foot against the wall left of the door to help brace himself as he pulled against the handle.
He needn’t have worried, as the trolls were not thinking clearly enough to pull on a handle. They beat futilely against the door, screaming in pain as they burned. Griff didn’t get a good count, but he thought there were at least six more trolls out there, and he doubted the door would withstand that kind of explosion.
As he heard the pre-explosion whistle through the door, he took a chance. He thought the sound lasted for about ten seconds before the explosion. So he counted to five, then let go of the door and moved down the wall to a corner, where he hunched down behind his shield.
The explosions happened one after the other, all of them in the span of about three seconds. The door splintered after the third, and by the end of it all, half the room Griff occupied was splattered in burning troll shrapnel. But he was untouched in his little corner. His notifications told him he’d leveled up again, and he could hear a celebration from the others down the hall as they did too. He got to his feet and picked his way through the burning monster bits to join the others, looting any skulls he spotted along the way. Among the items was another troll heart for Leroy and a disturbing-looking staff for Jo.
When he handed it to her, she looked conflicted. It was made of black bone, with a yellow-taloned claw at the top. The claw held a small beating heart. He inspected it for stats.
Survivors Page 34
