Lost in the Abyss – Episode 1.3
A dry wind blows hot, red dust into the faces of the four companions. The surface is like a furnace. It is even hotter there than it was under the earth.
Tanemous and Shaaaarghraio stare in puzzlement at the dark clouds above them. Two more shapes detach themselves. This time they spiral down towards them. As the shapes come closer, the companions suddenly realise that they are winged demons, and that the huge clouds above them are in fact swarms. There are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of the creatures.
Quickly they retreat back into the catacombs.
When they reach the opening on the far side of the large cavern, Tanemous turns to see if they are being followed. Sure enough the two winged creatures come plummeting through the hole in the ceiling. As they briefly hover over the raised wooden platform, Tanemous weaves his magic and causes dark tentacles to sprout from the scaffolding. The creatures are rapidly ensnared and constricted.
Before they are crushed however, the demons vanish from sight and then reappear a short distance away. One remains in plain view, while the other hides amongst the scaffolding, keeping well away from the tentacles.
Still under the effect of Marcus’s flight spell, Shaaaarghraio roars a challenge and then soars across the cavern towards the one in the open. With a single swing of his mighty Great axe he cleaves it in two. The pieces spiral into the lava below. Tanemous freezes the other creature solid with a Cone of Cold.
The apparent ease of their victory is short-lived, however. By the time they get back to Blanca and Marcus, Shaaaarghraio is starting to sicken. It seems he has been infested with some kind of spore that he contracted while attacking the creature. The infestation spreads rapidly.
For the time being, Blanca’s healing powers have been exhausted. She has already brought Shaaaarghraio and Marcus back from the brink of death. The only hope for the Minotaur now is a potion that Marcus has in his possession. It is designed to neutralise the effects of poison. He offers it to Shaaaarghraio and the Minotaur quickly gulps it down. To their relief, a few moments later, Shaaaarghraio vomits and feels much better.
Tanemous observes that there are far too many of the creatures for them to consider going up onto the surface. For the time being they will have to try and find another way out of the catacombs.
They backtrack into the sweltering heat and, after a few hours of frustration, eventually find another tunnel that hasn’t caved in. They follow it for some distance before stopping to rest again.
For a while they talk. Tanemous maintains that they are trapped somewhere on the lower planes, probably in the Abyss. Although he still has his divine powers, there is something preventing him from communing with his goddess and he is also unable to use magic to transport them to another plane as he would do normally. All in all, their predicament is rather puzzling.
An hour or so later they set watches and settle down to sleep. Tanemous and Blanca take the first watch, while the others get some rest. After his experience the previous night however, Shaaaarghraio does not sleep.
While they are on watch, Blanca takes the opportunity to discuss her rediscovered healing powers with Tanemous. Since she has renounced her faith in Pholtus, she does not understand how she was able to heal Shaaaarghraio and Marcus.
“I have no answer to this”, Tanemous admits after a moment of consideration. “Save that, perhaps in relinquishing your previously held convictions you have found a deeper faith within yourself”
Their conversation is interrupted when Marcus cries out in his sleep and sits bolt upright. He looks pale and shaken.
Once he has had an opportunity to calm down, he tells them he was having a nightmare, in which a mysterious woman was attacking him. She was beautiful, but there was something deeply unsettling about her. As he talks about it, he begins to recall a similar dream. Shaaaarghraio then admits that he had the same dream the night before.
Tanemous observes that there are creatures that have the power to manifest within the dreams of others. It may be that this is what they are experiencing.
Since Shaaaarghraio maintains that he has had all the rest he needs, and Marcus is unable to relax after what happened, Tanemous and Blanca are faced with the prospect of taking their turn to sleep. Hesitantly they settle down.
Some time later, after eventually dozing off, Blanca wakes up and finds herself alone. Thanks to Marcus’s description of what happened to him, she knows it is the dream. Suddenly there is a flash of magic and she feels herself weaken; but when the mysterious, longhaired woman comes at her, hurling magic missiles and trying to rake her with her talons, she is ready. Deftly she deflects the woman’s attacks using techniques she has practiced with Ebon. As the combat goes on, her confidence grows and she starts to turn the tables. Eventually she drives the woman off. Gradually the dream fades and she drifts into a deeper sleep.
Some hours later, Blanca and Tanemous wake up. Unlike Marcus and Shaaaarghraio, they are reasonably refreshed from their sleep.
The group move on again, passing through an area where there are many cracks and fissures in the rock. After a few more hours, the tunnel they are following ends in a ledge. About twenty feet below them is another passage running perpendicular to the one they are in. Torches are lit along its length, suggesting that it is in regular use.
While they are hidden from anything passing below, they decide to wait and see what comes along. Tanemous thinks it will also be a good opportunity for Marcus to get some more rest. Since having the nightmare he has looked exhausted.
During the next few hours they hear a couple of work details go past. From the right there is a cranking noise, like the lowering of a drawbridge, followed by a rattling of chains, as some twenty to thirty damned souls are marched in manacles along the passage by three or four grey, leathery skinned Demons. From off to the left, Shaaaarghraio can hear the faint sounds of mining.
When they are ready to continue, Tanemous and Shaaaarghraio propose going to the right, towards what sounds like habitation. They want to find someone they can talk to about finding a way out of this place. Blanca is less sure about this. She is not keen on having any dealings with Demons. However, since Marcus seems happy to follow the majority, Blanca eventually relents.
Shortly afterward, they lower themselves into the passage and move up to within sight of a heavy wooden door. It is protected by an array of wicked looking spikes that must retract to allow entry.
For a while they debate the pros and cons of someone going up to the door and asking to be admitted, but no one is volunteering, so they decide to try the other direction.
Shaaaarghraio and Tanemous lead them off towards the sounds of mining.
Rounding a corner they come upon a dozen souls working on a rock face. Close by are an Imp and one of the leathery skinned Demons. The Imp appears to be reprimanding the Demon for some failure in its duties. The Demon seethes but takes it.
As the four companions approach, there is a murmuring amongst the damned and they gradually stop working. The Imp and the Demon turn to look at them.
“Oy!” bellows Shaaaarghraio, striding purposefully forward “Get back to bl**dy work!”
Sheepishly, the damned do as he says.
The Demon seems slightly taken aback by the audacity of this bullish intruder, but then regains its composure and comes to confront Shaaaarghraio. “Who the hell are you?” it snarls in the Demon language of Abyssal.
Blanca, who is familiar with the language, translates it for Shaaaarghraio’s benefit.
The Minotaur leans forward, looming over the Demon. His hot breathe is right in its face. “Get out of our way. We ain’t talking to no bl**dy monkey!” he snorts.
The Demon obviously understands the insult, but Blanca elects to translate it into Abyssal for good measure. “He said, get out of our way. We ain’t talking to no bl**dy monkey”, she repeats.
The Demon fumes, but it is a little intimidated by the new arrivals and isn’t quite sure what it should do about it. After a moment it swallows its anger and steps out of their way. Shaaaarghraio pushes past and the others follow him.
“Excuse me”, chirps the Imp, fluttering ineffectually in Shaaaarghraio’s way. “Who did you say you were again?”
“And who might you be little creature?” Shaaaarghraio scoffs.
The Imp puffs out its chest. “I am Uzlest, High Commander of these Petitioners”
“Then you are in charge of this pathetic work detail!!!!” Shaaaarghraio roars.
The Imp trembles incoherently for a moment “Well… er… um… I… um…”
“Out of my way” Shaaaarghraio snarls.
“Yes. Yes of course” the Imp says “Sorry”
By the time Shaaaarghraio is finished, the Imp is relieved just to see them on their way.
Around the next corner is a much larger cavern with lots of scaffolding. There are many damned souls, a half-dozen Imps and ten to twenty of the Demons there.
“So what now?” Marcus asks nervously.
“Follow me, and look like you know what you’re doing” Shaaaarghraio instructs, setting out across the cavern before anyone can stop him. Tanemous, Blanca and Marcus fall in alongside, trying their best to look assured. Shaaaarghraio heads towards a pair of tunnels that lead off from the other side of the cavern.
Somehow they pull it off. Among the assembled workforce there are some puzzled looks but no one tries to stop them.
However, they have only gone a short distance down the first of the tunnels, when they find it has been bricked up.
Shaaaarghraio, who is not one to let anything stand in his way, starts smashing his way through.
“That might not be wise” Blanca comments “We’ve got no idea what’s on the other side”
“Shhhhhh” Marcus interrupts. “I thought I heard something behind us”
He and Tanemous go back to take a look. Suddenly they are attacked by three of the grey, leathery skinned demons.
“GET BACK!” Tanemous shouts. As Marcus scrambles away, fire erupts across the tunnel. Tanemous stands untouched at the centre of the inferno. The three Demons are engulfed.
Meanwhile Shaaaarghraio smashes his way through the wall. There is a partially collapsed chamber beyond. From the darkness, there is the sound of something slithering and the Minotaur catches a glimpse of what appears to be a huge serpent.
“Bugger this!” Shaaaarghraio declares, turning and stomping back down the tunnel.
“Where’s he going now?” Blanca sighs exasperatedly.
She, Tanemous and Marcus set off after their hot-headed companion.
They catch up with him at the cavern with all the scaffolding. When they arrive, most of the workforce that was there has gone. Shaaaarghraio is snarling threateningly at the few remaining Demons. The creatures keep their distance, eyeing him warily. A small number of the wretched Petitioners also remain.
Shaaaarghraio stomps up to one of the damned. “What are you mining?” he growls.
“Please don’t hurt me” the wretched soul whines.
“Tell me” Shaaaarghraio insists, grabbing him and shaking him vigorously.
“We don’t know” the Petitioner wails. “They don’t tell us. It just goes on and on. The only time there is a purpose to it is when we block up the cave-ins so the Vroc can’t get in.”
“Careful. You are harming him” Blanca interjects.
“Do not give your sympathy to these creatures”, Tanemous declares. “They are dead and they are evil. They deserve their fate.”
“That may be so, but that doesn’t mean we have to add to their suffering” Blanca replies.
Tanemous nods. “I suppose you are right”, he admits.
They release the Petitioner and make for the other tunnel, but then his wailing starts again. “No. Good lady. Don’t go down there. That’s where they send the ones that have been bad or lazy. All we hear are screams. No one ever comes back.”
After some discussion they decide to heed the Petitioner’s warning and go back to the large wooden door that is protected by the spikes.
Shaaaarghraio opens negotiations. “Open the damn door or I’ll smash it down!” he bellows.
“What do you want?” comes a voice from within.
“We want to talk. Let us in or we might stop being so friendly”
After some discussion the occupants grudgingly grant them admittance. However, when the four companions step inside, they find themselves in an empty chamber, confronted by another door.
Negotiations continue, but little headway is made. The spokesman for the Demons offers to tell them the way out in exchange for a small service but, since Blanca in particular has no intention of serving a demon, the discussion arrives at an impasse. The companions decide to withdraw. However, as soon as they make to leave, there is a cranking sound and the doors behind them start to close.
Overhead, the ceiling rumbles, opening to reveal dark clouds and a crimson sky. Almost immediately a winged shape detaches itself and begins spiralling down towards them. It is followed by another and then another…
