10/19/04
                       THE COMING OF THE ZIOTH
                            TURN SIXTY-TWO


   Kreemon kept his hand on the slippery wall, and followed it wherever
it led. After only a few feet, he hit his head against stone and
learned that the passage became only four feet high. When the grate
began to slide open, Kreemon signaled the others to duck into the
passage and hurried on.
   A lantern was lowered into the hole, and the passage suddenly
became visible. The ladder was in a small alcove, from which two
circular passages extended in different directions, and continued into
the darkness. Every surface except the floor was coated in a thick,
wet, reddish slime. The floor held two inches of a murky fluid, no
doubt a mixture of rainwater, decomposing slime and human waste. Two or
three rats scurried away from the light, along with dozens of
centipedes and countless roaches.
   Kreemon chanted a silent prayer to Zahira and led the other two down
the passage. They had to keep moving, both to lose their pursuers and
to keep hope alive.
   The next sound they heard besides their own sloshing feet was a
crack that reverberated through the tunnel ahead and behind, followed
by a loud splash and a grunt. The ladder broke under a soldier's
weight. Glancing back, Kreemon, Ardith and Kay could see exactly what
was going on, with the help of the lanterns. Unfortunately, their own
clothing, especially Ardith's wet cloak, reflected light as well. They
were seen.
   Two other soldiers hung down from the ledge and dropped, without
touching the ladder. They made sure their companion was still alive and
his head was out of the water, and then followed down the passage.
   "Keep moving," Kreemon said to the other two. He pulled his bow free
and strung it while continuing to move as quickly as possible. Once he
was ready, Kreemon nocked an arrow, pulled, turned and crouched. With
calm precision and an urgent prayer to Zahira, he fired an arrow and
nocked another. In the dim, shifting light, it was hard to tell for
sure whether the arrow had hit until a faint splashing sound came from
far in the distance. The two soldiers drew swords and continued to
advance. "Stand down," one of them said. "You are to be arrested for
the attempted assassination of the Second Clerk."
   "Damn," Kay whispered. She turned and fired an arrow of her own,
aiming low, and hitting nothing but water and stone. It was difficult
to aim in this light, and with so little maneuvering room.
   Kreemon signaled for the three to fall back down the tunnel. He
thought it unlikely that the guards would charge since they could
hardy see where they were going. Kreemon watched the guards as he
backed off.
   Kay fell back with Kreemon, but Ardith held her ground and chanted
and gestured the complex words and motions of a spell. When she was
finished, she stood and waited.
   "Try to knock them out," one guard said to the other, and both
splashed forward as quickly as they could in the darkness. Both had
swords drawn, and the one with the lantern set it down on a dry patch
before following.
   When the lead guard reached Ardith's position, she reached out her
hand and touched him gently on his chest. He staggered back at the
touch as if he had been pushed, and his sword splashed into the water.
"She bit me!" were his last words before he collapsed. By the dim light
of the lantern, Ardith could see faint wispy streams of darker water
spread out from his still twitching body. He was alive, but barely.
   The other guard stepped over his companion and swiped at Ardith,
cutting a long gash down her arm. Two arrows shot past the pair,
each one striking a wall.
   Not wanting to accidentally hit Ardith with an arrow, Kreemon stowed
his bow, drew his sword and moved up to melee range with the remaining
guard.
   "We need some help down here!" the guard yelled, while Ardith cast
another spell. The guard staggered back at her touch, but didn't fall.
"What was that?" he said with a weak voice. Too desperate now to spend
time wondering about his mysterious open wounds, he stabbed at Ardith,
piercing her other arm. Then he withdrew towards the ladder, with
Kreemon in pursuit. Kay's arrow caught up with the guard and stuck fast
in his side, and Kreemon finished him off before he could reach the
ladder.
   The guard with the broken leg, however, was still very much alive,
and he used all his strength to call for help from the bottom of the
ladder. "They're down here! At least three of them, armed! Herel's
down! Now Klie! Help!"
   Looking over at Kreemon, Ardith was sure that there was nothing good
or ill she could do for the guard that Kreemon would not do first, so
she used her power for the third time, healing her wounds.
   Kreemon snarled at the crippled guard, walked over to him and
brought his sword down hard to silence the calls for help. The guard
made a desperate attempt to dodge and parry, but was unable to stop
Kreemon's blade from cutting deep into his shoulder. Kreemon's next
blow did him in.
   When the guard was silenced, Kreemon turned away and headed down the
passageway. Due to the distance between the underground passage and the
floor above them, it seemed unlikely that the voice would have carried
far, and if it did, it would still be difficult to pinpoint its source.
Kreemon led the three down the passageway, looking for a way out of
this unfortunate situation.
   The three were at least a hundred feet down the passage before they
heard another splash from behind, followed by four more. The voice of
a guard echoed down the passage. "You -- get help. Pull these three out
of here. I hope it's not too late. You two -- down that way. If you see
anything, holler. We'll take this one."
   Kreemon continued to lead, more cautious now, hoping that the noise
the guards made would drown out their own. It was almost pitch black.
The only light they could see was a brief flash here and there as the
lantern light a hundred feet behind reflected off a wavelet or a bit of
wall-slime.
   Another thirty feet, and the passage opened up. It felt good
to stand straight again. This seemed to be a room like the one where
they'd entered, possibly with another wooden grate on top, though it
was impossible to tell for sure, since no light at all came down from
above. The passage continued on as well, taking a slight turn to the
right. Like the previous one, the new passage was only four feet high.
A pair of rats ran past Kay, one brushing against her leg and the other
scurrying between them. Other, smaller creatures could be felt on the
skin of all three adventurers, but that was best ignored. Maybe it was
just sweat, forming in large beads and slowly creeping down.
   The two guards were gaining ground.
   Kreemon whispered to the other two, "Ardith get on one side of the
passage opening, I will get on the other. Kay move across the
passageway and ready your bow. When the guards come through, I will
attack the one closest to me. Ardith attack the one closest to you and
Kay fire arrows at them both. With surprise, we should be able to take
them out quickly. Their light will help us in our navigating too."
   Kreemon drew his sword and moved to the left side of the passageway,
ready to spring on anyone who approached. Besides being invisible in
the darkness, he had the added advantage of being able to stand
straight, while the guards would be bent over when they entered. Ardith
took her position on the right side of the entrance, and cast a spell.
Soon, she felt a faint warmth radiating from her staff, and its balance
shifted until it was as easy to wield as a knife. Kay stood against the
side wall a few feet into the chamber, nocked an arrow and waited.
   Tired of waiting, Kreemon checked his side for a ladder and looked
up for any slits of ambient light coming from the ceiling. He found the
ladder, or the base of it, anyway. The rest was totally rotted away. As
for light, there was none to be seen. He thought he spotted a glimmer
for a moment, but it turned out to be a reflection of the guards'
torches. It was time to move back into position.
   A tense period followed, where the guards crept forward cautiously,
watching out for any sign of danger, while the group waited silently
on either side of the entrance. Kreemon squinted his eyes against the
approaching light to avoid being blinded when the guards entered the
chamber. Finally, the first guard showed his head, and Kreemon struck
savagely, but only managed a glancing blow. "Over here!" the guard
yelled. He tried to return the attack, but an arrow slit open his
sleeve and opened a gash in his shoulder, almost making him drop his
sword.
   The second guard rushed in, and as he was straightening from his
ducked position, Ardith's enhanced staff came crashing down on his
neck. Despite the pain, he managed to locate Ardith and stab his sword
in her direction, opening up a wound in her arm in almost the exact
spot she'd just healed. The guard's own counterattack unbalanced him
enough that he dropped his torch. It was immediately doused by the
water, throwing the battle into darkness. New sources of light were on
their way, however, along with a loud, often clumsy splashing.
   "We'd better keep moving," Kreemon said as he poised his arm to
parry any guard's blow. He backed up a few steps and then ran as fast
as he safely could to the other tunnel, entered it, and continued down
it with a silent prayer to Zahira that he wouldn't be struck down from
behind. The tunnel had to end eventually.
   Ardith and Kay silently agreed with Kreemon, and followed him into
the tunnel. Ardith went first, with Kay bringing up the rear. Once a
few feet into the tunnel, Kay loosed an arrow blindly back into the
chamber, thinking, 'If they're following, I might hit something.'
   The arrow missed, as did the guardsmen's swords, and then the
awkward chase began, five people running blindly, bent over with
weapons extended. The splashing disturbed whatever growths had remained
stagnant for however long, and a terrible stench rose into the air.
Whoever was in back at any given moment was likely to feel the prick of
one of the guard's swords. At least one of them was keeping up, and
always seemed to be close behind. After twenty seconds or so, the
passage turned slightly, totally blocking out the light. Fortunately,
the floor was curved to give warning of the change in direction, or
else there could have been a comical pile-up against the wall.
   Kreemon kept up the pace, knowing that every second they ran put
them farther from reinforcements. The guards, emboldened by their hot
blood, didn't seem to realize that they were putting themselves at an
increasing amount of risk. It was only a matter of time before they
found another open chamber. Kreemon grew a tight grin as he realized
that due to their rapid pace, the guards weren't able to keep calling
out for help. The guards were chasing their death and they didn't even
realize it.
   Another fifteen or twenty seconds and the shape of the floor
indicated that the passage was opening up again. Kreemon moved at an
angle after coming out of the tunnel, and turned around to attack,
beginning another blind battle. His plan to block the passage was
foiled when both guards slipped in past his blade. The guards set
themselves up on opposite sides of the room, so that they could swing
freely without risk of hitting each other. After a few ineffective
strikes, one guard swung at Kay, deeply slicing both her legs, and
nearly cutting them off. Reinforcements were coming closer.
   Realizing that blind combat was stupid, Ardith activated a spell and
her hand burst into flame, illuminating the room. Everyone was dazed
for a moment by the sudden appearance of light, and Ardith was able to
rush to her friend before anyone could react. When the guards' eyes
recovered, they were dumbfounded. Only a second passed before the guard
nearest Kreemon recovered and said, "Well, cut her arm off!" He then
took a swing at Kreemon, cutting a nasty gash across his abdomen. The
other guard hesitantly went for Ardith, but his swing was clumsy. He
was hypnotized by Ardith's burning hand.
   Covering his wound with his left arm, Kreemon attacked with his
right, slicing through enough flesh to make the guard stagger back.
The guard's next strike was so poorly executed that he might as well
have still been fighting in the dark. He missed Kreemon by more than
a foot, and Kreemon neatly swung his sword underneath that of his
enemy and disarmed him. Taking advantage of the guard's situation,
Kreemon struck another savage blow, cutting deep into the guard's
shoulder. The guard snatched up his sword with his other hand, but the
battle was already lost. All he could do was parry a few of Kreemon's
blows before he was cut down.
   On the other side of the room, Kay drew a dagger and stabbed at the
air, her weakened state impeding her aim. Soon, though, she was ready
to fight again. Ardith dropped her staff and cast another spell. She
gently touched Kay's thigh, and the wounds in her legs stopped bleeding
and sealed up, leaving dry scabs that, while painful, would not hinder
movement. This display left the guard frozen with indecision.
   "Here, catch!" Ardith yelled, and threw her flame at the stunned
guard. He woke up just in time to dodge the ball of fire rushing
towards his head. He turned to watch the flame pass and sizzle some of
the mold on the wall. Then the room went dark, and immediately bright
again, as the flame reappeared around Ardith's hand. The guard's head
shot around when this new light appeared, and then he saw Kay slip on
something, sending her dagger flying down the tunnel. He gripped his
sword with new resolve, approached Ardith and swung at her arm. Ardith
managed to pull her arm away and caught the blade with her leather
armor. It cut a strip off her cloak, but left her with no more than a
bruise. Ardith picked up the end of her staff and tried to swing it
around to knock the guard off his feet, but she overestimated her own
strength -- even magically lightened, with one hand, all she could do
was drag the staff through the water. She dropped the staff again and
took a step back, dodging a swing, and then tossed another ball of
flame. This one caught the guard's beard on fire and rapidly consumed
the flesh of his face. Soon after he'd doused himself in the putrid
water, he was dead.
   This moment of darkness was incomplete. The torches and footsteps of
the other guards were getting closer, and it sounded like there were a
lot of them. They could arrive any moment. Ardith's hand reignited, and
it was time to decide whether this room offered a way out.
   Like the previous two, the room had a grate on top, which had
admitted no light during the darkness, and a two-inch pool of water.
The ladder was rotted through, and what was left of it reached only
half way to the grate. Three passages extended out of this one. Besides
the one Kreemon still guarded, a second passage continued straight
ahead, and another split off at an angle towards the right.
   Kreemon sheathed his sword, picked up the dead guard's sword and
tucked the guard's dagger in his belt. "We need to keep moving.
Hopefully we come to a chamber with an intact ladder soon." Kreemon ran
down the passage that angled towards the right. Hopefully, the guards
would pause for a bit when they reached the chamber, both to examine
their dead allies and to decide which passage to follow. If there was
another bend in the tunnel, Ardith's light would be difficult to see,
and they'd have to split their forces again. Kreemon prayed to Zahira
that their luck would change for the better.
   The tunnel did bend, almost immediately, so they were traveling
perpendicular to the previous tunnel. They continued to run bent over
through the water, and before long, the guards' torches were visible
some distance behind them. They came to another chamber, where they
stopped just long enough to confirm that the ladder was rotted away.
The next chamber, however, had a ladder that, while rotten, reached all
the way to the ceiling.
   "Let's try this ladder," Kreemon said. "I weigh more, so you ladies
better go first. Put your shoulder into the grate to get it to move."
Kreemon drew his sword so he had a weapon in each hand to guard the
women's retreat.
   Kay looked at the condition of the ladder and said, "Shit, no. I'm
not climbing that!" Ardith pointed to one of the passages and ran. As
soon as she was sure all her companions were with her, she extinguished
her flame, hoping to save the few seconds left of her spell for the
next chamber. The next chamber, however, was quite a ways away, and the
spell had long since expired. Their pursuers were close enough and the
passage straight enough, fortunately, that they could see the faint
outlines of three entrances. Ardith tapped the other two on the
shoulder and directed them down one, and then kept running in the dark.
   The chase went on for an indeterminate time. These tunnels were a
masterpiece of construction, and why they had been built, when they
allowed covert access to the castle, was anyone's guess.
   Caring only to get away, Ardith, Kay and Kreemon had an advantage.
While they picked their path at random, the guards had to stop at each
intersection and listen, and if they weren't sure in which direction
the group had headed, they would have to split up. The bulk of their
numbers stayed on track, though they fell further and further behind
until, even in the straightest passages, they could only be heard, not
seen, except as a mote of light in the distance.
   The large chambers became further and further apart until it took
minutes to get from one to the next. Three minutes down a very straight
tunnel, and the water began to seem deeper.


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It is night on this eighteenth day of Farinon, ninth moon of Halkak,
two hundred and forty-second day of the one thousand first year of the
Zioth, in the City of Huerten, in the Barony of Huerten, the Kingdom of
Rang.

/--Next New/Full Moons--\      Upcoming Events
|            New   Full |  -----------------------
| Halkak:    10/1 10/14 |  10/16 First day of winter
| Tirop:     9/20  9/28 |
| Ot:        9/28 10/17 |  Market days occur on every 2nd and 6th day
| Ilsapeich: 10/8  11/6 |  of the week. The next one is on the 20th.
| Zabrigar:  12/8  10/4 |
\-----------------------/


Notes
-----
   Yay. Nice and fast. :)
   Kay's down one dagger. Fortunately, it wasn't her expensive one. Her
character sheet has been updated.


Levels and Experience Totals
----------------------------
200XP was earned from the combat. The rest is for role-playing.
Ardith:   4 8400/10000
Kay:      3 5250/6500
Kreemon:  2 5525/4500


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* Game Name    Real Name           | Game Name    Real Name           *
***********************************************************************
* DM           Eli Fenton          | Kreemon      Chris Dunn          *
* Ardith       Karl Schinke        | Sahlman      Mohammed Qureshi    *
* Johannes     Nathan Weismuller   | Ziedon       Alex Corbin         *
* Kay          Karl Schinke        |                                  *
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*     Email addresses are character_name (lowercase) at zioth.com     *
*             Zioth web page: http://www.zioth.com/zioth              *
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