For reasons quite unfathomable, Chi Chi
decided that - having stolen the Eye of the Beast and got the payoff from the
Cult was not enough – she wanted to rescue the only known elf with a talent for
being obnoxious. Romano, her dwarf accomplice, had no interest in saving
Riccardio’s skinny red neck from the hangman’s noose so they part company,
considerably richer… but wiser?
It was now 4am. Chi Chi decided she should
have some help and was prepared to pay (maybe Riccardio would cough up later,
she somewhat optimistically thought) and so, being a rogue, she hotfooted it down
to the Rogues’ Guild, careful to conceal her death-dealing whip, this being the
obvious means of identifying her as one of the gem-thieves. The Guild was open
24/7 and she flashed her token to get past the yawning door guards. When she
told the front desk clerk her business she was taken through one of the eleven
doors ringing the atrium and she was left to sit in a very comfortable padded
armchair to wait. Not for too long, fortunately, given the elf bowman’s
execution scheduled for the day just about to dawn.
A middle aged woman with silver hair
wearing a deep blue velvet dress entered through the room’s only other door and
soon showed she was easy to do business with. Chi Chi’s willingness to pay could
have been a telling factor - 600 gold pieces to have the Guild find within, the
hour, a wizard, an expert in traps, someone good at sewer fighting and a fourth
talented in causing distractions. Chi Chi had given quite some thought as to
what she wanted at her disposal. Her luck held and within forty minutes the
silver haired woman returned with the four potential recruits. Chi Chi thought
better of asking where they had been found or what they were doing in the small
hours when decent folk should be a-bed.
The first was an aged yet novice elf wizard,
quaintly named Wizzie, who professed some knowledge of traps. He filled two of
Chi Chi’s needs in one and was quick to accept her terms – 100 gold pieces if
they brought Riccardio out alive, 50 if they brought him back dead and 25 if
they failed in that but escaped with their lives. Next was a dwarf by the name
of Jim who was a janitor who had frequently to deal with leaky pipes in
basements, more often than not ending up knee deep in water. He too took the
price and shook hands, triggering the curse the Rogues’ Guild had in place for
any deal broken that was initiated under their auspices. Following on from Jim
was an interesting specimen: a living statue of dark grey hue who clearly had a
formidable constitution and who claimed a knack for distractions. Yamato, too,
was hired and Chi Chi’s shopping list appeared to be filled.
The last fellow paraded in front of Chi Chi
was a hobbit, a warrior of sorts. More likely out of sorts, since he had not
the strength even for a kukri, that standby of so many desperate delvers. This
Paddon could offer no talent he chose to name and, unlike the others, quibbled
over the price, notwithstanding there being nothing obvious Chi Chi might gain
by his employment. The rogue was anxious to get going so the hobbit too was
hired.
The Guildswoman made two more offers.
Firstly, the sale of a healing potion for a further hundred gold, which the
team were pleased to see their leader pay up. Secondly, rather than having to
trace their way out of the city and round the walls to the abandoned village of
Aardvark, where she and Romano had previously entered the sewer system, the
party would be allowed to descend into the bowels of the Guild, there to find
quick ingress into the tunnels. Chi Chi gladly accepted this too.
The woman authoritatively summoned another
elf, not young in years, but junior enough to Wizzy for him to give a slight
bow in deference. This rogue led the party out into the atrium and through
another panelled door. This led in its turn to a thickly carpeted corridor, lit
with dripping candles, which ended abruptly in a staircase of stone, spiralling
downwards.
Events now began to unfold as they would
continue. Badly. Stupidly. Wizzy tried blowing a candle out. The elf rogue didn’t
like it and told him so sharply before leading them down the stairwell. ‘Don’t’
was all he said . Wizzy then tried to bump his way down the stairs on his
backside and tried opening one of the regularly spaced doors they passed by. ‘Stop’
the elf told him, fixing him with a stern stare. He was shot another warning but
carried on aggravating the guide. Enough was more than enough. The elf cast Hold
that Pose and then sliced Wizzy’s right ear lobe off – 2 points of CON gone for
no good reason. The wizard, now chagrined and down to CON 9, pulled himself together
and shrugged off the night’s drinking.
By now, both Yamato and Jim had been set a
bad example. As the rogue led them down and out into a rough stone cavern with
a manhole cover leading to a ladder down into the sewer system, the statue
tried opening the last door on the way down. ‘No,’ the elf instructed. Yamato
ignored the punishment meted out to Wizzy and pushed the elf out of the way to
get to the manhole cover. A final warning didn’t suffice so the rogue cast a
spell to show the statue who was boss – he gave him shocking yellow hair as a
permanent souvenir of his transgression. Jim scratched his head and wondered if
a living statue could cut his hair off.
The elf left them, admonishing Chi Chi to
take control of the group and telling her that they would not be able to return
via the Guild’s sewer entrance. Wizzy now decided to start earning his fee by
checking out the manhole. When he saw there was an iron ladder running three
metres down to the sewer, he scuttled down and began testing the depth of the
water. ‘One metre, no problem,’ he called up to Chi Chi, who was on her way down,
now blocking out most of the light from the cavern above.
Now things went seriously wrong. There was
no danger, no reason for Chi Chi and Wizzy to worry. However, something snapped
in Yamato’s brain - whatever it was transmitted itself instantly on to Jim. The
living statue hurtled past a nonplussed Paddon and leapt down the manhole. Jim
flew after Yamato, not far behind. The outcome was clear - injuries accrued to
three of the party, two serious. The living statue was extremely heavy. Chi Chi
heard him coming, looked up and twisted desperately as she saw him coming
straight at her. She twisted in a futile effort to avoid harm but took the full
weight of Yamato on her shoulder. Not before she hit the warrior with a Hold
That Pose spell though. She was smashed savagely against the stone side wall
and the crack of breaking bone echoed in the well. Her shoulder was badly
broken and she had to make a L1 SR on her current CON (7 down from 29 as she
took 5d6 damage). She made the roll thanks to her level and now it was Wizzy
was in dire trouble. The rogue crashed down on top of the wizard, with the
statue and the dwarf providing the crushing force. The 2d6 damage that Wizzy
suffered reduced his CON to zero and he slipped out of consciousness. Jim took
2d6 damage as retribution for his idiocy but, being a dwarf, he scarcely noticed.
The four delvers were now underwater in the
sewers and in near total darkness. Chi Chi struggled to her feet and cast Poor
Baby on herself, using up all her remaining khremm. The bones rippled under her
shirt as they knitted themselves back together and she breathed easier with CON
up to 15. Yamato was still held by her spell but it would elapse in a few
seconds. Jim got to his feet, up to his broad chest in the foul water but
little troubled given his talent. In the gloom, he went to draw his katar with
the intention of taking the map of the sewers from Chi Chi which he knew to be
in her pocket. The rogue was too quick for the dwarf and brought her whip slashing
down on the hilt of the punch dagger. She made the L5 DEX SR required to hit
the target. The whip had magically toughened glass shards embedded throughout
its length and the force of this lethal weapon was enough to sever Jim’s hand
left hand at the wrist. He bellowed, spurting blood in the darkness, falling
into the water for a second time.
Meanwhile Yamato had risen and picked up
Wizzy’s still unconscious body. He sensed Chi Chi mounting the ladder back to
the Guild cavern and threw the elf in what he hoped was the direction of his
employer. Jim was now reaching for his lantern with his remaining hand. And
what of the hobbit? Paddon had decided he wanted nothing to do with this crew
and was struggling to push the manhole cover back in place. His strength of 5
made this a slow process. Wizzy crashed into Chi Chi’s legs but she was strong
enough to retain her grip on the iron ladder and she entreated Paddon to let
her back up to safety.
The hobbit thought about it and decided she
was the only other sane one so soon he and Chi Chi had closed the manhole with
its snug-fitting cover. Being thrown some violently by Yamato had finished poor
Wizzy off. His corpse sank under the oily water. Jim failed to locate his
severed hand, instead fastening his fingers around the blade of the katar,
taking another cut. At this, he threw his head back and began singing. Yamato
ripped the ladder from the wall in frustration and then leapt away from a
wheezing, rasping sound he heard behind him. He stumbled over Wizzy’s body and
knocked Jim over. Reaching down for Jim’s lantern, he instead pulled up the dwarf’s
hand, which he threw away in disgust.
The breathing was now in Jim’s ear. Yamato
got to his feet and surged powerfully off into the pitch black sewer. Jim
stopped singing and felt teeth puncture his neck before strong arms encircled
him and he was carried off, helpless, into the tunnels.
To be continued.
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