Lost in the Abyss – Episode 1.10
For the next few hours the small band huddle in the refuse chamber, resting as best they can. Occasionally the rusted iron covering over the hole above them is opened to deposit more rubbish, but other than that they are undisturbed. The place stinks but at least it is relatively safe.
In whispers they discuss how to proceed. Mardike suggests Wind Walking into the Citadel but Tass says that this will not work. There are wards against magical travel and so they will have to proceed on foot.
She also informs them that the greatest danger still lies ahead. If her sources are accurate, their means of escape is concealed somewhere deep beneath the Citadel. Thus far they have merely penetrated the massive structure’s outer defences. And before they may go on, they must infiltrate the throne room of the Lord of the Citadel and neutralise certain magical protections that would otherwise bar their path. This will be a notable challenge because the Lord of the Citadel is the master of Carynach, a Demon far more terrible than her previous master, the Balor. If the Fiend learns of their endeavour its wrath will be swift and severe.
Mardike swallows. “And how exactly are you planning to get us past such a Demon?” he enquires.
“Do I have to think of everything?” Tass replies indignantly.
Mardike looks sceptical.
“If it was that easy to get out, people would be doing it all the time!” Tass snaps at him.
Once they are rested, they decide to send the stealthiest amongst them up through the hole to check that the room above is clear. Tass is a little disgruntled to learn that the stealthiest amongst them is her.
As quietly as possible they slide the iron covering to one side and then she eases herself out. After waiting for a moment to look around, she creeps across the flagstones towards the only visible door. It is then that there is a low growl from the shadows. Tass freezes but it is too late, a huge, two-headed, fire breathing, dog suddenly bounds out of the darkness towards her. Ooops! Fortunately the Medusa is quite agile and, by diving spectacularly behind some barrels, she manages to avoid the majority of the flames that are exhaled from the hound’s fiery maw. As a result, Tass is slightly singed but not badly burned.
The rest of the group scramble out of the refuse pit and rush to aid her. Gendwar, Blanca and Marcus at the fore. Though the beast is quickly dealt with, they fear its barking and yelping may well have raised the alarm.
“Damn!” Tass complains. “That wasn’t a good start! They’ll be on us in no time now!”
However it can’t be helped. They cannot turn back.
They press on quickly. Tass resolutely leads them through the single doorway and out into a narrow corridor beyond. After looking around for a few moments, she finds a spiral staircase leading upward and takes them through a large chamber where a multitude of half-eaten torsos are suspended from hooks on the ceiling and walls. Then she navigates her way via more passages and stairways until eventually they arrive at a tower high up on the battlements.
The Medusa takes a quick look outside and then exhales. Her relief is evident.
“It seems that, for the moment at least, our luck still holds,” she says. “Perhaps your god is watching over us Dwarf, for as yet there is no sign that the alarm has been raised and the sentries up on the battlements are fewer than I expected. In fact, those that might oppose us are occupied with a Vroc attack. For a short time we will be exposed to anyone in the courtyard below, but it is a perfect opportunity for us to cross with little or no resistance. We cannot afford to pass it up. In the next tower we will find a secret door and a shaft that leads down into tunnels beneath the Citadel. Hurry. Follow me. Don’t look back.”
At Tass’s urging they emerge onto the battlements. Beneath them, in the courtyard is a great throng of people but no one notices them at first.
Ahead of them a Vroc is trying to drag the limp form of one of the Exploding Demons from the wall. A second Exploding Demon stands before it, swinging its scimitar back and forth trying to drive it off.
Seizing the opportunity, Gendwar charges out of the tower, barrels along the battlements and barges the Exploding Demon from the wall. Unimpeded the Vroc then takes to the air with its prize, and flies off.
Cries of alarm are immediately raised from down below and bolts of lightning arc up at the group from the large number of guards that are assembled there. However, with the way ahead clear, the small band sprint across the battlements to the opposite tower and escape unharmed. Though the sentries are now definitely aware of their presence.
Within the tower, Tass finds the secret entrance that she spoke of and they descend a narrow shaft, down into the depths. At the bottom is a trapdoor and beneath it a tunnel that leads into the very heart of the Citadel itself.
“Quickly” Tass hisses, dropping through to the ground below. “This way”
Suddenly, a lightning bolt crackles along the passage from the right and she yelps in pain. Then she disappears out of sight. The others follow.
More lightning crackles around them but the Exploding Demon guards that hurl electricity at them, from beyond a portcullis off to the right, seem more than a little preoccupied with something else.
It isn’t clear what is going on exactly but the small band takes advantage of the lack of pursuit and flees along the tunnel in the other direction. After they have gone a short distance, Mardike once again uses his magic to draw the stone walls across the tunnel behind them and seal it off.
“Not that I’m complaining” Tass remarks, “but the lack of guards is starting to trouble me. I would have expected to encounter far more resistance by now. Something is definitely going on.”
They press on down the tunnel, eventually coming to a heavy iron bound door. It is locked but it doesn’t take Tass very long to get it open.
Heading round to the right, they climb another staircase and rapidly despatch a pair of skeletal Bone Guardians standing watch in a hallway.
Another few twists and turns and they arrive outside the throne room.
“This is it” Tass says, as though she is expecting the others to deal with what is coming next.
“Hmmmm” says Mardike.
“So do we have a plan yet?” Blanca asks hopefully.
No one has any suggestions.
“You take the left and I’ll take the right,” Gendwar proposes. It is a little difficult to gauge whether the Dwarf is serious.
“I’m sure there would have been more opposition if the Lord of the Citadel was actually in there” Tass offers optimistically.
“Well there’s only one way to find out” says Gendwar. “If somebody opens it, I’ll go take a look.”
Tass shrugs her acceptance and then carefully opens the door a crack. Inside, the throne room appears to be empty, though there is a sense that something is very wrong.
“I’ve got an awfully bad feeling about this” Tass remarks.
Then two figures emerge from the shadows. They are twisted hag-like beings, covered in black tendrils. An aura of intense evil hangs in the air about them.
Mardike immediately calls upon the divine might of Moradin and Holy Fire envelops the two creatures. However neither goes down. In response, the temperature in the room suddenly plummets and a deathly chill takes a grip upon the five companions.
Plunging into the freezing cold room, Gendwar and Blanca move to intercept the two creatures. Gendwar charges the one that looks the most injured, while Blanca attempts to keep the other one occupied and buy her comrades some time.
As they approach the foul creatures, staggeringly evil forces assail them and the icy temperature numbs their bones but they do not relent. Gendwar launches an all-out assault against the weaker one, while Blanca fights somewhat more conservatively against the other.
The ferocity of Gendwar’s attack is something to behold and with each mighty stroke he carves deeply into the hag creature, but as they struggle his own injuries grow increasingly severe. In fact, were it not for Mardike’s use of magic to transfer much of the trauma upon himself, Gendwar would surely have fallen.
Meanwhile, Tass braves the dangers inherent in entering the room and scrambles over to the throne. Once she is there she begins trying to decipher the strange glowing runes that are engraved around its base. It is these symbols that control the magical protections that they must bypass.
While continuing to resist the sickly, corrupting miasma of evil that surrounds him, the increasingly injured Gendwar repeatedly hacks at the wounded hag-creature. Time and again he tears himself free from the hungry tendrils as they are threatening to consume him.
It is only when Marcus joins the fray, arcane fire dancing along his blade, that the hag-creature is finally slain.
To their dismay however, they discover that during the fighting, patches of the tendrils have appeared on their weapons and armour. It seems that portions of both Gendwar’s armour and shield and Marcus’s sword are infested with a network of dark blemishes. It is some small consolation that once contact with the creature is broken they seem dormant and have ceased to spread.
There is little time to consider this however, as Blanca is still fighting for survival.
Despite the relentless sapping of her strength, as she is both assailed by debilitating evil aura and the searing intensity of the cold, she has somehow managed to hold the hag-creature at bay. Not once has it breached her defences thus far.
The others now come to her aid.
Despite his injuries, Gendwar once again hurls himself into the fray with reckless abandon, and though the hag-creature staggers from the ferocity of his attack, it immediately turns on him and nearly overpowers him. Once again, it is only thanks to Mardike’s magic that he survives and tears himself free.
Then Marcus, pitches in again, his sword still glowing with magical fire, and together with Blanca and Gendwar, surrounds the creature, striking at it again and again until it screams and falls to the floor, dead.
At this point all of the company are still alive but the two Dwarves are in a bad way. Gendwar has been severely mauled, and Mardike is weak from the amount of trauma he has taken on Gendwar’s behalf. They need time to recover, but unfortunately time is not something that they have.
As they struggle to regain their breath, Blanca exclaims, “Where in all the Hells did they come from?”
Before anyone can proffer an answer, there is a slight clunk from over by the throne and the glowing runes dim and go out. Tass stands up; looking rather pleased with herself and then noticeably pales.
Out through the window she can see the bridge across the lava filled chasm that leads to the Citadel. It is already half consumed by the tentacular mass and there are five of the tall, dark, tendril-covered abominations moving across it, inserting tentacles into Petitioners and Demons alike. The victims do not stand a chance.
Tass swallows. “I think I know why we had so little trouble getting in,” she says weakly. “Right now they’ve got much bigger things than us to worry about. The tentacular mass is already here.”
Notes:
Before the dark tendrils consumed them, the hag-like beings were the same as the creature Tanemous encountered in his dream in Episode 4: The Miner’s Enclave. However there is no one in the present group who would recognise them in their true form.
