Helswane Dungeon

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The shark was dead, the waters bloodied and foul-smelling. With help from Mallow and Jace, Darius was hauled out of the water and to the ropes that Garrick and Lindon put in place. They climbed, slowly, strenuously, making it back to the original ledge where all of them slumped for a few minutes, catching their breath and confirming they were still alive. The chamber was silent but for the slow lapping of other sharks and squid in the remaining tanks.

What happened next was all the easier for the lack of goblins. With a rope around his waist, Garrick clambered onto the vertical-tipped planks and edged along them, placning his feet on the cross-ropes. With his diminished weight the planks didn't tip. They were the perfect handhold for him. With a few hops, totters and lunges, he got to the other planks then sauntered to the levers, reseting the rope bridge. And as the others came slowly across he made a point of kicking the bodies of the goblins and the sea serpent into the tanks. The sea creatures would get their feeding after all. And Mallow would get his axe back.

Through the door at the end of the planks they found the barrack room for the goblins. A few bunk beds, a still-crackling camp fire, and a bundle of clothing and travel packs. There was food too - some kind of fishy meat that was perhaps squid or sharkfin - stewed in soup. It smelled delicious, which perhaps said more for the exhaustion of the party than the delight of goblin cuisine. With silent consenus, the five adventurers slumped into the room and chose their places to rest.

A search of the furnishings would turn up more coins [20 gp each] as well as a second fishing rod should they wish to go back for the armour in the feeding tank [medium half-plate armour]. And with fresh wood for the fire they would be able to dry out their clothes and possessions. Lindon went back to check on the shaft they had come up, and he confirmed that the water from the lower level was rising only slowly.

They had time. And they needed it.

Darius was the first to drift asleep by the fire, his leg freshly bandaged.


[180XP each]
 
[size=+1]We settle down for some well-earned rest.

The water below is rising, but not at a rate to be concerned by; we have time to regain our strength. In the next room we find a barracks that the goblins had until recently been using, the site for our camp. The wood provides a fire to dry our clothes and possessions and I find a dry bedroll to sleep upon while my own is dried by the fire.

All in all, not a bad set-up. I would have settled for a lot less.

Darius is the first to drift off, shattered from his ordeals over the last few hours. I don't blame him; the man needs his sleep. The rest of us sit around the campfire, and I find myself idly strumming at the lute I have somehow managed to drag through the dungeon.
"All things considered we're making good progress, friends," I observe to those still awake, "Rather glad I found myself in your company. Unconventional though we may be, there's plenty others who wouldn't have made it through what we have." I chuckle. "As Grandpa Benjen used to say, 'if it ain't broke, son, don't fix it'."

I scratch my head and think for a moment. "Now, that ancient gas stove he had did eventually explode and kill him, but I'll be damned if I'll let that spoil a good phrase."[/size]
 
The provisions left behind in the quarters were more comforts than Jace had been used to in the middle of operations, but they did little to ease his mind while he dreamed of blood tides and floating sharks. He awoke first as he often did, his schedule to raise with the sun. Pulling one of the bedrolls closer to the fire, he rekindled the flame lightly and assumed a cross legged position before it, slowly reciting devout mantra's while slowly manipulating his hands. The ordeal yesterday had left him drained, but the night of rest and the hour of prayer he was performing would wipe all but the few wounds from his being. Near the end of the hour process, he found himself distracted as dark shadows clouded his mind despite his best attempts to shake them off, he envisioned half eaten and pale bodies floating among the staining red tide. With one large wave of pale white water, the scene relinquished and he again felt at peace.

Moving away from the fire, Jace started the process of readjusting his armor and checking his weapon. Like the day, the horrors they faced had just begun and he had no intention of being caught unprepared again.
 
"Amusingly, my entire life has been spent attempting to fix things no one else thought was broken." Lindon smirked, reclining in front of the campfire with a sigh. He reached up to take off his helmet, placing it next to him as he ran a hand across his sweat-glistening forehead into his hair. "I'll tell you what, I'm going to miss the 'prestidigitation' effect that was placed over my quarters as a gift from my master. Pretty much cleaned everything that was in there for too long, including myself. We're going to smell awful in mere days, especially with all this combat."

It might have been strange, the cultist worrying about cleanliness. A few moments ago, he had butchered a dog in a fairly brutal manner. Yet to him, that event felt like weeks ago. It took him a while, but he finally moved to drift asleep, leaning against a wall - an old habit, from an old fear of being snuck up on while he slept.

It was almost a surprise that he woke up in the morning. A pleasant surprise, of course - stretching out a bit after sleeping in his armor, it didn't take him long to get back into the feel of things. He moved to kneel in front of the dragon skull he normally wore on his head, closing his eyes. Every so often, a low noise that a human shouldn't be able to make emitted from his chest as spells sent from his dark patron settled in the cultist's heart. Curling black smoke trailed from his nose as this happened, before he brought the entire soot-like stuff out with a snort. "There. That should do it." Lifting the helmet from it's resting place, he held it under one arm until the time would come for him to wear it.
 
Like Jace, he dreamed of blood nights and shifting things. All was ink, filling lungs and eyes, and writing out the lament of his days. In the level below, the eyeless creatures moved amid the bones of sailors in a world transformed to its murky, suffocating inverse. And there were still screams down there too, echoing in every ripple as the dead made tidal congregation. Inch by inch the water rose, and with it the creeping fingers of the ones who had not made it. The ones who were angry... the ones who resented that he had lived...

Darius's eyes snapped open. The campfire shadows made fingers of light and darkness on his flesh. He almost swatted at them before remembering where he was. The clerics were praying and Garrick and Mallow were beginning to stir. If the rhythm of their bodies concurred, it was morning. The seabirds would be coming to pick amongst the dead. Maybe some morning fishermen would see the wrecks. Maybe they would be off this island before the day was out.

Darius sat up against the wall, watching the others as the embers gave their last. He owed each of them his life now, and that was a bond greater than any ties of church and crown. His father had taught him that much. When Lindon, Garrick, Jace and Mallow had plucked him from that shark pool, they had placed him in their debt. He would stay with these men, come what may... not as a corporal or a commander... but as an ally against the dark.

And if... when... the royal fleet came to rescue them, he would vouch for the honour of every one of his fellows.

With this made up in his mind, Darius rose from his blanket and ducked past the line of drying clothes. The shark bite on his leg was healing. Jace had mended the worst of it, leaving only a top layer of tender flesh. Crossing the chamber, he stooped and picked up the fishing rod that the goblins had left. And with that he left the chamber and backtracked the short way to the feeding tank room. His heart thumped, being back here, and his feet were shaky on the planks as he traversed and peered down the shaft they had come from. The water was almost to the top. Soon it would spill over and fill the feeding room, giving the sharks and squid inside free reign of this dungeon level. Maybe they would kill each other... or come looking for their captors.

Turning, Darius hurried back to the near side of the chamber and dangled the fishing rod over the top left tank.

It was time to be thankful for the few blessings in this place.

Five minutes later, the paladin had fastened the final catch on the half plate armour. It was relatively intact. The few pieces of flesh that stuck to its joints seemed to have been fried. No doubt its former owner had been electrocuted by one of the sea serpents they were breeding here. The breastplate was human size, and the greaves in proportion, which made him wonder what other races had found this island over the centuries. The armour felt heavy but sturdy. With a smile the paladin left the chamber and returned to the barrack room to see what breakfast they could--

"Wake up, maggots! The masters send more food!"

The voice was deep, gruff like a bear's growl, and almost unintelligable. Darius froze, watching the tunnel ahead, then dodged into the room where the others were stirring. He had seen something shambling out of the dark, heading their way, and as his comrades frowned he waved his hands to silence them. The sight of him in a new set of armour, gesticulating silently, was odd to say the least.

"Ogre!" Darius hissed, before edging away from the archway. Heavy footsteps and the smell of rotten meat was approaching.
 
A well earned rest indeed. Placing my pack on the ground as a pillow, I was no stranger to sleeping in terrible conditions. I laid my head down lightly and drifted away into a wondrous dreamscape filled with treasure. All around me were towers, nay, mountains of gems and gold. They were solid yet had the consistency of liquid, allowing me to walk or swim through them with ease. My own equipment had changed as well. I wore the finest Mithril Plate armour and wielded an axe crafted from a dragon's bones, encrusted with enchanted baubles. The whole world glowed a bright yellow and radiated happiness. T'was a happy dream, as my dreams normally were, until one of the mountains came crashing down behind me.

"muhamsmd....Maggots!" Was all I could make out. The voice was dark and deep. The world spun around me, causing me to face the direction of the voice. Mountains melted all round, turning into small black pools and the world no longer glowed. It became dark, too dark for me to even see a few feet...

Thump...thump...thumpthumpthump! I heard a thumping noise getting louder and louder as I clenched my axe.

"Ogre!" I saw the foul maw of a disgusing ogre grinning as she slammed into my mithril armor. The armor shattered like glass leaving me defenseless and the impact felt so real that it jolted me from my sleep.

"Ogre!" I yelled, waking up frightened. The world was still fuzzy to me as my eyes had yet to adjust. I had no idea what was going on at the time. Everything around me was hazy and seemed to be in good order. The fact that I had just yelled and possibly doomed the party didn't even register.
 
The Ogre was stooped over. The eight foot tunnel was a head too low for him, unlike the rooms that gave him space to straighten up. This is why he moved in a quick hunch, not liking the cramped passageway and all those filfthy goblin traps he had to get past. He would have liked to smash their little traps, but the masters had said forbidden it. And what the masters wanted, the masters got.

Hefting the sack of bodyparts to his other shoulder, the Ogre trudged towards the archway of the lefthand barrack. Up ahead, the tunnel continued to the feeding tanks and his stomach rumbled. Maybe the goblins had found another dead shark this morning and would give him a piece if he thumped them hard enough. Killing the masters' pets wasn't allowed, but if they died of their own accord, as some of them did when they couldn't stomach the masters' special food, then what was to stop him taking a bite or three? And as long as those nasty goblins didn't tell on him, all would be well.

He had thought once about eating some of the food in the sacks that the masters gave him. But even he wasn't that stupid. He had seen what the special food did to those animals - made them bigger and nastier. And the Orge, in his humble opinion, was big and nasty enough. And if he grew any more he wouldn't fit through these damned tunnels.

He flexed his other hand around the shaft of his greatclub. Just one walloping was usually enough. He would smack the nearest goblin and demand some of the food they had hiddden. That would show them who was next in line in the masters' pecking order---

He stopped when he heard Mallow's waking shout from the barrack room. The Ogre was about thirty feet from the archway on the left, where the embers of a campfire were burning. He grunted, wrinkled his nose, and squinted. That didn't sound like a goblin's voice.

"Who's there?" he barked, his voice shaking dust from the tunnel ceiling.
 
Glad he had awoken early to finish his prayers, Jace was already over the fog of sleep when the others had begun to move. He kept them in the back of his mind as he reclined against a wall in his armor, arms folded and in a small meditation. At Darius' hiss of "OGRE",Jace was already moving. Gripping Mallow by the collar, Jace pulled him close and said into his ear: "The Tank Room. Bring him there, get everyone to follow." He wasn't angry that their presence might have been given away, just quick to act.

Letting go, Jace made gestures to the rest of the party, leaving Mallow to explain it to them as they had the wonderful task of luring the Ogre. With his intent clear, Jace immediately fled out the door to the corridor towards the tanks. If there was any change to the room, he would be on his own until they arrived, so he made it straight for the lever to the platform the Ogre would first reach.
 
When Jace grabbed me, my senses came to. I realized what was going on. There really was an ogre, and apparently I had alarmed him...this was not good. My suspicion was confirmed when a thunderous voice came rumbling down the tunnel. Jace quickly whispered a plan into my ear, which I knew to relay to the team as soon as Jace made his leave.

"Oi!" I whispered to the group. "He's gonna go stand at the levers, we'll have to lure this oaf to the planks. Maybe just one of us will be enough to lure him. I'll stay if ye want. But we need to decide quickly! If yer stayin' raise yer hand, if yer goin with Jace, go now!"

The plan was actually very good and I had a lot of confidence in the Idea of toppling the ogre into one of the tanks. It would be like shooting an ogre in a tank of water...We would have to deal with him...If he lived, he could come from behind and surprise us, or worse, get his friends.
 
Darius's mind whirled with the information. Seeing the Ogre, dashing into the room, Jace lunging past him into the tunnel, then Mallow spreading word of the plan. The Cleric's quick-thinking was impressive - and just as impulsive as Darius's own thinking yesterday when he had barged through that door and into the hunting dog's jaw.

The plates of his new armour pressed around him. Trying to follow Jace would be a clanking, clumsy affair that would only endanger them all. He nodded, "Staying!"

He turned from Mallow and crept further into darkness. The only feasible place to hide in this armour was behind the drying line, where Garrick had hung his winter blanket. Crouching there, ready to pounce, he gripped his shield and warhammer. It was time to act upon his word. With the new suit of armour he was the new Darius - one who would give his life without question for his friends.

His adrenaline began to pump. He would smash this beast to pieces if he had to.
 
[size=+1]I dream of pies.

Don't judge me; it's a Halfling thing.

All things considered, it's a pretty good dream about pies. I find myself seated at a long row of tables occupied by various relatives, living and deceased, and we're all working together to depopulate the tables of any and all food.

Just as I'm about to demolish a particularly delicious-looking steak and kidney pie, however, a booming voice blasts me back to wakefulness.
"WAKE UP, MAGGOTS. THE MASTERS SEND MORE FOOD." I jolt upright and scramble for my crossbow, spotting Darius nearby and decked out in new armour. 'Ogre', he whispers to us, and a second later Mallow wakes up and yells an echo of this statement.

So much for a quiet start to the day.

Snatching up my pack and crossbow, I watch Jace disappear off round the corner and back towards the chamber we made it through earlier.
"He's gonna go stand at the levers," Mallow explains, "we'll have to lure this oaf to the planks. Maybe just one of us will be enough to lure him. I'll stay if ye want. But we need to decide quickly! If yer stayin' raise yer hand, if yer goin with Jace, go now!"
"I'll watch your back from the shadows, friend," I let Mallow know, "bastard won't know I'm here. That way I can draw him away if things go tits-up." 'As they often do' I almost add, but decide against it.

Locating the part of the room most covered by shadow I make myself disappear into it, my dark clothes allowing me to blend with my surroundings.

If my luck holds the Ogre won't know I'm here.

'If' being the key word here.[/size]
 
Lindon, likewise, was pulling back into shadow as Garrick spoke. "If you're on your own, he's more likely to charge, rather than turn and call his friends. Good luck." The Cleric found another spot behind the drying line, close to Darius, where he readied his crossbow.

The Ogre, meanwhile, had heard none of this. His senses had become dulled through years of being down here with the other minions. But he was sure he had heard something before. Probably the Goblins squabbling over some trinket they had taken from that dead human - the one they had thrown in the tanks a month ago. He knew they had held out on him. He was going to smash two heads for this, and find where they were hiding their food. All of it. He would have breakfast today if it was the last thing he did.

Hefting the sack again, he continued onwards, coming to within ten feet of the archway.

"Get the planks ready, shit-crawlers! Or I'll throw you in as well!"
 
The footsteps of the Ogre were getting closer as everyone, save Garrick, stealthily retreated towards the tank room. I nodded at Garrick to thank him for staying with me, i felt considerably safer with him watching my back.

I sighed before making my move. The Ogre was considerably closer now. With Garrick at his back, and us to his front, this ogre didn't stand a chance. "Ok. Let's do this."

I bolted out of the room and stopped briefly to flip the Ogre a bird yelling, "Yer Dumb Arse couldn't catch me in a million years!" before running for my life towards the tank room.
 
For a moment the Ogre was startled, blinking as he watched the Dwarf appear then scurry off towards the Feeding Room. Then his brain clicked. That voice he had heard earlier... it had a Dwarven accent. The Ogre's eyes widened.

"OI! COME 'ERE YOU LITTLE RATSHIT!"

He dumped his food sack and took up his club, lumbering after Mallow. In the corner of his eye, as he passed the barrack room, he noticed the suit of armour from that human the goblins had killed a month ago. It looked like they had hung it on the drying line with their clothes. Typical goblins. Wherever they were, he would have each one of them put to death for letting this Dwarf into the masters' lair.

He didn't notice that the suit was filled by Darius.

The Dwarf was a slow runner, but the Ogre was restricted by the low tunnel. He lashed out with his club as the Dwarf got to the Feeding Room, his ten foot reach giving him a good chance. But the club smacked the wall above Mallow's head, showering him in soil and rockdust as he got through into the room where Jace was waiting.

"I'M GONNA EAT YOUR BEARD, YOU MAGGOT!"
 
The water remained as ominous as the previous day when Jace arrived at the bridge. He could hear the Ogre shouting down the corridor, but the lack of noise suggested to him that they were not in combat. With a relieved sigh, he crossed the bridge, noticing Mallow's taunt as he uttered it. Quickening, Jace realized that they were right on his tail and moved to the top set of controls. The previous day hadn't revealed which lever was the one that he wanted, but it mattered little as he would just pull both when the time came. Bracing his hands on the levers, he watched the doorway and readied himself once Mallow was across and the Ogre was on the bridge.
 
I ran for dear life laughing at the Ogre's attempt to squash me. I soon reached the tank room and bolted towards Jace, who had his hand ready on the lever. I'd stop and turn around once I was safely across. I couldn't miss this, the poor dumb Ogre falling down into the cold depths. It would be too good to miss. I also wondered if Garrick would take a couple shots at the oaf...hopefully we would soon find out.
 
"Shit!" Darius hissed as he stood by the drying line. He could have sworn the Ogre had glanced directly at him as he passed the archway. The gods must be smiling. As the fiend crashed down the hallway after Mallow, the paladin moved out, crossed the barracks room and crept into the hallway. His hammer and shield were ready. If the Ogre turned then Darius would have to bullrush him on to the platform. Not an appetizing thought, given the size of the beast.
 
"YOUR SKULL WILL MAKE A FINE--"

The Ogre stalked after Mallow, the planks creaking with his weight. He knew the Dwarf had nowhere to go. The only way out was the crawl-shaft to the guardroom where those rancid Orcs were. But as he stepped on the first plank, he stopped and scowled. The Dwarf had a friend with him: a shiny-looking human with a smile on his face and his hand on a--

The Ogre crired out as the plank tipped, scrambling to grab the rope-rail to avail. His weight slid off the slime-spattered wood and he crashed down into the smaller side-tank at the bottom left of the chamber. The room shook with furious roars and splashing water, and amidst the waves a squid rose to the surface behind him, angered at its early wake-up call.

 
The roar made his heart ache, but the splash brought a cool wash of relief. Darius moved to the doorway, looking down into the tank where the Ogre was thrashing. The plan had worked perfectly. Darius looked across at Mallow and Jace, who was now resetting the plank. As Darius stepped out on it, testing its weight, he couldn't help the adrenal laughter that tumbled from his lungs.

"You have a devil's cunning, Brother."

He gripped the rope-rail and looked down at the stranded creature. His laughter soon subsided and his face hardened into a frown as he watched the scene. A thought occurred to him, but he was unsure of it. Darius's voice was low as he pondered the idea.

"Maybe we could make a deal with it. Save it in return for information..."
 
The Ogre was enraged by its fall. With great sweeps of its free hand and kicks of its legs, it stayed afloat and roared as the squid tried to grapple it. Three times they exchanged punches and blows, until the ogre got hold of its slimy body and pulled it close. It started hammering it between the eyes, but then the water swallowed him up. As he sank the squid wrapped around him, and they were locked in a death roll. The adventurers watched the seconds tick by, the feeding pool bubbling like some infernal cauldrom as blood and ink mixed with water. A good few minutes must have passed, and by that time Garrick and Lindon were at the plank with their crossbows ready.

"Make a deal with an ogre?" Garrick answered Darius. "You'd get similar results from repeatedly headbutting a wall. They're brutes, not great fonts of information."

Finally the pool seemed to settled, the black waters becoming steady. Then, with a great roaring gulp of air, the Ogre broke the surface again. He was covered in bites and scratches, but still alive and spluttering water.

"Have you had enough?!" Darius shouted down at it, looking it square in its reeling eyes. "If you calm down, we'll help you out. We have rope." The Ogre roared and spat at him, then started swimming to the rigging. "My friends here are happy to put a bolt in your eyes. You want to live, beast?! YOU'LL ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS!" The Ogre scaled the rigging with great lunges then perched at the top of the barrier. "MOVE ANOTHER INCH AND WE'LL KILL YOU! LAST CHANCE! TELL US WHO YOU ARE WORKING FOR?" The beast spat at him again. "WHO ARE YOUR MASTERS?"

The diplomacy was hopeless. The Ogre wasn't listening and with a great leap it tried to jump from the rigging to grab the plank, even though it was far too high. With a frustrated sigh, Darius stood back and nodded to Garrick and Lindon. The crossbowmen opened fire. Garrick's first shot glanced off it's hide, whilst Lindon's struck it in the throat. The Ogre groaned, slumping against the rigging, before Garrick's second shot pierced the top of its skull.

The Ogre splashed back into the water, floating there amidst the blood.

"Damned fool..." Darius whispered.

They remained there for a while, staring down at the great juggernaut they had slain. For sure, that thing would have torn them all apart if not for Jace's ingenuity. Then a voice sounded. "Our friend had been hoarding," said Mallow, who was coming back from the tunnel. Clearly he had slipped back there while the others were watching the feeding pool. The Dwarf was dragging the monster's bag, which was filled with foul-smelling bits of meat and grain soaked in noxious chemicals. The adventurers recoiled from it immediately, almost gagging. But tied to the loops at the bottom of the sack were a pouch of coins [20gp each] plus a piece of armour scavenged from somewhere [Medium Breastplate]. And in his hand, Mallow was carrying something that had been tucked in the loops.

"Looks about your size, Garrick," he remarked as he tossed the halfling an exquisitely-made Goblin throwing spear [Small Masterwork Javelin].

At the far end of the chamber, the water from the lower levels had overflowed from the crawl-shaft and was now pouring in over the ledge.

It was time to move.


[180XP each]
 
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