The Jungle Tomb of the Ice Queen (The Flying Tooth Garden Book 1)

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The Jungle Tomb of the Ice Queen (The Flying Tooth Garden Book 1) Page 10

by M Harold Page


  Now it was just a matter of feeling for where the mortar had crumbled away.

  About half way up, he was probing with left foot when his right began began to slip.

  His outstretched foot found crevice. He levered himself up another six feet or so.

  The stone in his left hand came out of the wall. It bumped down his arm, rattled off down into the night.

  His weight went onto his right side and for a moment he was flapping like a prayer banner in the wind.

  Result = 6 (Performance) +3 (Feat) -1 (Luck) -9 (Challenge) = -1.

  Effect = Climb about halfway.

  Test of Potestas, 2. Fall avoided.

  Torstag clung on with the fingers of one hand while the ice wind plucked at his robes, clawed hail into his bare legs. “What…what were the odds?”

  Silence.

  “Okay, you know what, perhaps I’ll go back and surrender myself to the monks. Tell me the odds!”

  Was that a sigh?

  With Potestas 2, it would be typical to avoid a fall 2 out of 6 times.

  “Six? What in the Thirteen Hells? Is this a thrice-damned game of dice?”

  Then the thought hit him that when his climbing failed, he had had a better than 4 in 6 chance of simply falling off the wall.

  What was he supposed to do now?

  A bleak determination seized him. There were no choices left anyway.

  Using Scout, Climb+1. Cost 1 Potestas. 1 of 4 Potestas remaining.

  Limbs aching now, he swarmed up a few hundred feet. After that the going was easy. The stonework curved in until at last he was more crawling than climbing.

  Result = 6 (Performance) +3 (Feat) +0 (Luck) -9 (Challenge) = 0.

  Effect = Success.

  He stood up on the domed roof and resisted the urge to whoop into the wild weather and pretend he was flying. He walked toward the very top of the Dormitory, the wind like ice knives on his bare legs. As he reached the summit of the dome, his muscles shuddered and gave. He sank to his knees and gathered his robe close.

  1 Vitality Lost.

  2 of 3 Vitality remaining

  Toughness 1 surpassed.

  You have condition Stunned. Form 0. No Feats possible.

  Hardening towards Issue “Cowardice” advances to 2/6.

  His Tempter tested his Will three times before he felt better.

  Slowly, he rose again and turned on the spot, taking in the arc of stars, the moonlit peaks, the darkened valley between the mountains, and the black mass off the cliff where the dormitory half merged with it. This was the first time he’d been truly alone since he was ten winters old.

  Though perhaps he’d never really be alone again. Maybe the monks of the Grey Cortège were correct and he risked being hollowed out…but if they were correct, then why were they lying to him about whatever it was they were lying about?

  “Fucking hell!” said Ingar, completing the last part of his climb. “You took your time changing your mind!”

  Torstag took a step toward him, checked. “I didn’t. Brother Neutrality spotted me.”

  “Spotted you escaping?” said Ingar.

  “Spotted me succumbing to my Tempter. I think they were just waiting for me to fall asleep.”

  “Fuck,” said Ingar. “Well let’s get you the fuck out of here.”

  “You’re not angry with me?” said Torstag.

  Ingar shrugged. “Brave isn’t your thing.” His teeth flashed in the gloom. He closed he distance and hugged Torstag. “I can’t believe we’ve gotten this far!”

  “Not by good planning,” said Torstag, returning the hug. “I’m down to one Potestas.”

  “Nine,” said Ingar, letting go. He bowed. “Ingar Ingridson, Third Level Burglar at your service, and possessor of a mighty maximum Potestas of five, ten after meditation.”

  Torstag nodded. “How did you make it look like you were still in bed?”

  “I smuggled in some wicker hoops from the garden. Set them up under the covers. I’ve been planning that for weeks.”

  “Cunning,” said Torstag. “I had to burn Potestas.”

  “What?” asked Ingar. “To make an illusion? Can Necromancers do that?”

  “In a way.” Torstag turned and tried to pick out their route in the dark. The Dormitory, along with most of the monastic buildings and guest temples, was on the highest of the five great terraces. However, their destination was the final stretch of the Dedicant Road that ran along a wide ledge that overlooked the rest of the monastery.

  It was impossible to make out anything.

  What does Necromancer show me?

  Form 3.

  Performing Necromancer at Level 4.

  Scores of silvery threads stretched out from the Dormitory and from the Monk’s cells, braided together and extended up the pitch black cliffs to what had to be the location of the Catacombs of Hesitation.

  Pale light illuminated the way ahead.

  Torstag’s heart leapt. He spun around.

  It was only the moon rising above the mountains on the other side of the Untrodden Valley.

  A vision of the girl’s pale face flashed across his mind’s eye. He shook his head.

  “Perfect timing!” Ingar clapped Torstag on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take it from here.”

  Chapter 15: Traps!

  The hailstones drummed the back of Ingar’s hood.

  The cliffs glowed in the moonlight, all except for a square of black; the entrance to the Catacombs of Hesitation.

  Ingar chewed his lip. Since he’d started to level up, his dreams had been full of scything blades, sprung spikes, explosions of flame and other traps.

  1 Vitality Restored. 2 of 3 Remaining.

  “I just got one Vitality back,” said Torstag. “And I’m already back to two Potestas.”

  “Me too,” said Ingar. “The Vitality at least. I’m still have a cushion of extra Potestas from meditating.”

  “I’ve got two,” said Torstag.

  Ingar grinned. “A good job I’m doing the work from here.”

  Ingar strained his ears, listened for an alarm bell. Nothing. “I think we got away with it.”

  The two acolytes were clinging to the crags just below where the winding Dedicant Road reached its destination. It had cost them a Potestas each, but it had been an easy climb, with Torstag using his ability to see threads to keep them on track.

  “And I just got a Potestas back.”

  1 Vitality Restored. 2 of 3 Remaining.

  “Hang on,” said Ingar. He half closed his eyes and thought, OK Doofus, where am I at?

  You are: Ingar, Human Warlock, Youth, Quick Witted, Nimble Fingered, Hedonistic, Sensitive.

  Potestas 9/5. Will 2.

  Vitality 3. Toughness 1.

  Vocations:

  Burglar 3: Hide, Climb, Fall, Spider Climb, Move Silently, Stalk, Pick Pocket 3/6, Open Lock 5/6.

  Cleric 1 (learned): Meditation. Repel Shade, 1/6.

  Entertainer 2 (Learned): Tout, Recite, Acrobatics, Sing.

  Artist 0…

  Ingar blushed. Enough!

  “Can we still do this?” asked Torstag. “We’ve not really had time to level up.”

  “Fuck it,” said Ingar. “We’ve got all those past lives to steal from.” He started to climb. “There’s nobody around, we might as well get on with it.”

  Together, they pulled themselves up onto the Dedicant Road and, hunching low—as if that would make a difference if somebody looked their way—scurried the short distance to press themselves against the wall either side of the doorway.

  Well, more of a gate than a doorway.

  An iron grating blocked the entrance. From somewhere beyond came the echo of sporadic clattering, loud enough to be heard over the hiss of the hail.

  “What’s that sound?” whispered Ingar.

  “No idea.” Torstag sniffed. “What’s that smell?”

  Ingar inhaled and caught the Practice Vault scent of tar and embalming fluid. “Just mortuary pong.”


  “No, more than that.”

  Ingar moved to press his face against the bars. A dry breeze warmed his face. Behind the mortuary stench was the scent he remembered from when work took his band of strolling players to the Palatinate of Sandilands: herbs and dust with the promise of better fragrances if it rained. “The desert,” said Ingar. “How?”

  “Portal,” said Torstag.

  “Of course,” said Ingar. “It would be a good source of dry air for the catacombs.”

  “Bastards,” said Torstag. There was a new edge to his voice. “They had this, but they kept us shivering in our dorm.”

  “I could have told you they were bastards when I arrived here.”

  “You did,” said Torstag, “frequently.”

  Ingar dropped to his haunches and palmed his everlight so that it was exposed just enough to illuminate the lock.

  “Hey?” said Torstag.

  “Oh,” said Ingar. “I’ve been practising my Burglar skills.”

  He took out his tools—a pair of bent wires harvested from the Mortuary Temple workshop—and set to work.

  Form 2. Level 3 Burglar.

  Performing Burglar at Level 5.

  Using feat Burglar, Open Lock 5/6. Cost 1 Potestas. 8 of 5    Potestas remaining.

  Result = 5 (Performance) +2 (Feat) -1 (Luck) -8 (Challenge) = -2. Failed.

  “Crap!” said Ingar.

  “Is something wrong?” asked Torstag.

  “No,” lied Ingar. “Everything is fine.”

  Using feat Burglar, Open Lock 5/6. Cost 1 Potestas. 7 of 5 Potestas remaining.

  New Form 1. Cost 1 Potestas. 6 of 5 Potestas remaining.

  Performing Burglar at Level 4.

  Result = 4 (Performance) +2 (Feat) -1 (Luck) -8 (Challenge) = -3. Failed.

  “Crap!” repeated Ingar. He screwed up his eyes and focussed on feeling the interior of the mechanics.

  “Crap! Crap! Crap!”

  He tried again, this time concentrating the way the monks had when they taught him to meditate.

  New Form, 4. Cost 1 Potestas. 5 of 5 Potestas remaining.

  Performing Burglar at level 7.

  Using feat Burglar, Open Lock 5/6. Cost 1 Potestas. 4 of 5 Potestas remaining.

  Result = 7 (Performance) +2 (Feat) +1 (Luck) -8 (Challenge) = 2.

  Effect = Lock Opens.

  The lock clunked.

  Open Lock advances to 6/6.

  Open Lock Secured.

  You have Burglar 3: Hide, Climb, Fall, Spider Climb, Move Silently, Stalk, Pick Pocket 3/6, Open Lock.

  You have 7 Burglar Feats. 10 Feats required to advance to the next level.

  Ingar’s head started to hurt.

  “At last!” said Torstag. “Come on, before they start searching,” He took a pace forward.

  Something seemed wrong about the corridor.

  “Wait!” said Ingar, grabbing his friend’s arm. “Traps!”

  “Oh…” said Torstag.

  They both stared into the gloom. “I think my Tempter warned me,” said Ingar.

  Possible traps.

  “Yes,” said Ingar. “When my form is good, it tells me stuff.”

  “Likewise,” said Torstag. His brow furrowed. “Relying on you makes me feel blind.”

  “Thanks a fucking bundle, mate,” said Ingar.

  But Torstag didn’t seem to hear him. He had screwed up his face and was muttering, apparently to his Tempter, “Come on! Come on! You’re not telling me I never robbed a tomb in a past life…” He sighed. “Apparently not.”

  “Perhaps your Tempter is tired,” said Ingar.

  “I’m an idiot,” said Torstag. “I’ve got four vocations on the go.”

  A horrid thought struck Ingar. “What? There’s a limit?”

  “Didn’t you ask?”

  “Fuck.”

  You may have 4 Vocations then an additional Vocation every 4th Level.

  “What did you pick?” asked Torstag.

  Ingar flushed and wished he could stop just blurting out his thoughts. “We can talk later,” he said. “Let me do my Burglar thing.” He shone his everlight down the darkened passage.

  Unlock Burglar, Detect Trap?

  Hold your horses, Doofus.

  With Performance 7, he might not need to burn Potestas on a feat.

  “What do you see?” asked Torstag.

  “Nothing.” Or at least nothing his performance would let him spot.

  “Well?”

  “I’m going to need a Feat.”

  Burglar, Detect Trap unlocked at 2/6 Grasp.

  Current form 4. Performing Burglar at level 7.

  Using feat Burglar, Detect Trap 2/6. Cost 2 Potestas. 3 Potestas remaining.

  You are Detecting Traps at = 7 (Performance) +2 (Feat) = 9.

  “Phew,” said Ingar.

  “Well?” prompted Torstag.

  “Shut up.” Ingar dangled the everlight lower so that it cast long shadows from any irregularity in the floor. Something was not quite right about a crack running across the passage a body’s length beyond the threshold.

  Success    = 9 (Detecting Traps) +1 (Luck) -10 (Challenge) = 0

  Possible pressure pad or trapdoor.

  Detect Trap advances to 3/6.

  “See that crack? We’re going to have to jump past it.”

  The leap is a Level 4 challenge…

  He backed off a few paces.

  Unlock Feat Burglar, Leap?

  He shook his head. His Form was good enough he didn’t need to burn Potestas. He took a running jump…

  Success = 7 (Performance) + 2 (Boldness) -1 (Luck) -2 (Challenge) = 6.

  …landed fine, then got out the way for Torstag.

  The taller acolyte launched himself over the obstacle. “Shit!” His front foot slapped down just short of the crack. He dived forward and collided with Ingar.

  They both ended on the floor.

  Ingar’s everlight rattled away across the flat rock.

  Ingar rolled over to sit up and reach for the enchanted orb. “What the fuck Torstag?”

  Something whooshed past at chest height. His topknot fell to the floor.

  They both stared at the ball of red hair.

  “What the hell was that?” asked Torstag.

  “You must have clipped the um…pressure pad?” said Ingar. “Holy Shit Torstag! It was only a Level 2 challenge!”

  Torstag looked away. “I um, have this personality trait that kicks in from time to time. I’m cautious.”

  “Nice timing,” said Ingar. “Do I need to worry about this ‘trait’?”

  “Worrying is my job,” said Torstag.

  “Literally,” said Ingar.

  Torstag shrugged. “Is it safe to get up now?”

  “Buggered if I know. Let’s go on hands and knees first.”

  Ingar used a foot to hook his everlight closer.

  Side-by-side, they crawled into the teeth of the warm breeze. Every so often he halted and held the light low to cast those tell-tale long shadows.

  “Hang on,” he said. “I think we can get up.” He helped Torstag to his feet. “Now look—” He lowered his everlight again.

  It cast shadows from a big crack that ran across the tunnel, and from a second one a good dozen paces off.

  Success = 9 (Detecting Traps) +1 (Luck) -6 (Challenge) = 3

  Effect = Tilt Trap Identified.

  “This section tilts.”

  “Seriously?” Torstag squinted at it. “Which way?”

  “Along its length so people can get past. But is it left or right…?” Ingar crouched. “Let me see where the wear patterns are.”

  “We don’t have much time.” Torstag raised his foot.

  “No…!” began Ingar.

  Torstag stomped the floor.

  It tilted left, and it was clear it was finely balanced lengthways along its middle.

  “What happened to ‘cautious’?”

  Torstag shrugged. “Doesn’t always apply.”

>   “Come on,” said Torstag.

  Keeping to the right, they edged past the trapdoor. The tunnel opened out further ahead. The warm breeze grew stronger and the stench of embalming chemicals overwhelming, as did the clattering sound.

  “Almost there,” said Torstag, striding out. His foot swung over a row of dents in the floor.

  Success = 9 (Detecting Traps) +0 (Luck) -9 (Challenge) = 0

  Effect = Possible Trap Detected.

  Test of Potestas 3. Success.

  Ingar grabbed Torstag, yanked him back.

  A half dozen rusty iron bars slammed out of the ceiling, clanged on the stone floor, one bent slightly.

  “Damn,” said Torstag.

  “Didn’t you see the dents?” asked Ingar.

  Torstag shook his head.

  The bars started to retract, but the bent one jammed them just above head height.

  “Step this way,” said Ingar, starting to duck.

  They reached the end of the tunnel, stepped long over the threshold, and found themselves on a raised landing. Five stone steps led down into a cavern full of skeletons, clattering as they aimlessly stamped and shuffled around. Swords and shield bosses and burnished helmets all glittered in the illumination from the everlight.

  “I think we’ve found the source of the noise,” said Torstag.

  The skeletons crowded in close around the base of the platform.

  Chapter 16: Skeleton Army!

  Ingar considered the jostling skeletons. The curved swords looked awfully sharp, as did the spiked maces.

 

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