by Skyler Grant
Chapter 6
We moved down the one hall we’d not yet explored. Unlike the others with their rows of cells this one had an expanse of bleak gray walls interrupted only by patches of moss. We came to another junction. A large sturdily constructed door was set in one wall, while a short hall off to the right led to another room.
I tried the door.
“Ashley, it’s locked, any chance you can pick it?”
Ashley stepped forward and leaned in to focus on the lock, frowning after a moment. “I need a set of lock-picks. Normally a thief would start with them, but I didn’t and we haven’t found any so far.”
I shrugged and said, “Guess that leaves us one way to go then.”
Shield and club at the ready I advanced down the hallway. It wasn't far to the doorway and what appeared to be an office. Bookshelves lined one wall and a desk was prominently placed in the center of the room. It looked like the office of any minor bureaucrat—but for the dismembered and brutalized corpses everywhere. Truly alarming decor.
One puzzle was solved. All the loot that should have been around was worn by these skeletons. Haphazard assortments of chain-mail that must have once belonged to the guards, and real weapons instead of the makeshift ones we were wielding. Here were our fellow prisoners who'd attempted to make their escape, better equipped, and still none made it. A figure at the desk brought up my targeting box.
Zombie Warden Solkat
Level 7: Type: Undead HP: 110/110
Warden Solkat was a hard man in life, and he’s a harder man in death. A fearsome foe to any who would try to escape.
Level Seven? We were Level Two! To try and count the ways in which this wasn't a fair fight would be futile and the piles of bodies gave testament as to just how overpowered he really was in this situation.
“You see what I’m seeing?” I said.
“I see a fight we can’t win,” Walt said. “Maybe these others appeared one at a time and we have an advantage with being the three of us, but it's still too much. At Level Seven he’ll have a huge resistance to our spells and to your attacks. Maybe if we were just a level or two below him, we could pull it off.”
“I want the loot,” Ashley declared. She seemed very, very intense and the way she was staring at the piles of equipment bordered on creepy. “I really, really want the loot. Let’s figure out how to do this.”
“I can bless water,” I said. “Isn’t holy water dangerous to the undead?”
Walt nodded slowly. “Traditionally, divine stuff in general will mess them up in most systems.”
“Healing magic too, often,” Ashley said. "As for water, we don’t have any, but we have that booze from earlier. We could try blessing that?”
“Holy spirits might make holy fire, if set alight,” Walt said, liking the idea.
“There are all those bandages and sheets from the infirmary,” I said. “So how about we set a trap? I bless the booze, we douse the bandages and sheets to create one big fire hazard and then we load up one of the cells with it. Ashley, how quick are you?”
“Quick. What are you thinking?”
“That we get this guy very interested in chasing you, then you lead him into the cell. Once he's in, you slip past him, close the door and we light it all on fire with magic.”
Ashley considered this and nodded. “To pull that off I’d have to be fast and I’d have to be good. Lucky for you I’m a whole lot of both. Let’s do this.”
Ashley extracted a bottle from her inventory. I accepted it over and focused my bless water spell on it. A brief thrum of power coursed through my veins and I checked the bottle.
Bottle of Yvera’s Madness
This potent alcohol has been blessed by a member of Yvera’s following. Notable power to lower inhibitions and inspire strong displays of intemperance and excess.
Potent stuff, it was nearly a shame to waste it on the Warden Zombie Solkat, but I supposed that once we got out of here I could always make some more. I didn’t know if this whole Paladin thing made me good for much else, but apparently I’d be real good at spiking the punch at parties now. Tucking away the bottle I went to join the others. They'd already started to prepare our death trap.
A cell floor was lined with the broken slats of cots from the infirmary, along with sheets and bandages winding around them making the place one giant torch just waiting to be lit. I handed over the bottle to Walt, as most of this preparation looked to be his, and he carefully emptied the contents into a few strategic points selected to help the whole mess catch alight.
“We don’t have a key, so we won’t be able to lock the door once he's in. Instead, we’re going to have to try holding it shut by tying off a strip of sheet. It won’t be very strong, but hopefully the zombie isn’t very bright,” Walt said. “Ashley, are you ready?”
Ashley was stretching, an absolutely distracting sight given she still hadn't found any sort of shirt. At least I can say her skin now had a healthy glow without the disease. She caught me looking, but seemed more amused than offended.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “You two just be ready to seal the door and set the fire.”
We both nodded and Ashley disappeared down the hall.
“We’ve got this,” I said to Walt. “No problem at all.”
“It's not like he's killed everyone else who ever tried,” Walt said, deadpan.
A cheery thought while we waited.
I heard Ashley’s footsteps first, echoing down the hall as she ran, and shortly thereafter a considerably louder din as the chain-mail clad zombie clattered his way after her.
Ashley darted into the cell, crouching in the corner furthest from the door, and the zombie lunged in after her. She ducked and pivoted, working to get past, but the undead warden lashed out with a powerful blow.
Jailbreaker
Zombie Warden Solkat attacks Ashley with a special attack.
-55 HP
I heard Ashley's ribs snap, a sickening sound of grave trauma. Her broken body flew out the door, smashing against the bars of the cell opposite and she slumped to the ground, her limbs at awkward angles. Her health bar was almost totally depleted and with a nasty bleeding status, she only had a second or two before dying when suddenly a new burst of health entered the bar. She must have used her health potion.
I slammed the door to the cell shut and worked with the sheet we’d prepared, tying a knot while Walt called out, “Seras Altinus!” He sent a flaming dart through the bars.
Flaming Dart
I wasn't even watching what would hopefully be our moment of triumph. I’d already flung myself towards Ashley, laying crumpled upon the floor. I put my hand on her arm and invoked my Lay on Hands spell. There was a rush of power, heady and heavy through my body and an almost electric connection between us for a moment. Ashley cried out, spine arching as the potent heal surged through her and I heard the strange, squelching sound of fractured ribs returning to their proper place.
Ashley tried to say a thank you, but coughed up blood instead. Her status bar revealed the bleed effect was still present. A comparison of the time remaining and how much of her bar was left suggested she should make it. To be sure, I removed my heal potion from the inventory and pressed it into her hands. “I don’t think you’ll need it, but if you do… I need to check on the cell.”
Ashley nodded weakly and I turned back to see our handiwork. The cell was ablaze and it was impossible to see much with the intensity of the flames, but the shape of the warden was thrashing within the glow. The walls trembled as he struck them, but the door was spared.
I tried to get a scan through the fire and couldn't. The cloth securing the door was alight now and when it suddenly gave way a flaming figure, howling in murderous rage, burst through the doorway.
Zombie Warden Solkat
Level 7: Type: Undead HP: 9/110
Warden Solkat was a hard man in life, and he’s a harder man in death. A fearsome foe to any who would try to escape.
; Current status modifiers. Burning with holy fire: -6 HP/Second. Duty never ends: Regenerating 6 HP/second.
This thing regenerated? We’d have had an impossible time killing it, especially with the level difference. It was no wonder that he'd killed everyone who attempted escape. I threw myself protectively in front of Walt, raising my shield.
Jailbreaker
Zombie Warden Solkat attacks you with a special attack.
Critical Hit!
-85 HP
The impact sent me tumbling down the hall like a rag doll, my bones snapping with each wall I bounced off until I was finally left sprawled out. Fortunately in the game the sensations were muted. I hurt, but it was more like being seriously bruised than shattered.
Walt was already casting another flaming dart and I had just barely enough mana left to add a Smite of my own.
Flaming Dart
Smite
The twin spells struck and the Warden’s resistance must have been enormous. Between us we only took him down by 8 HP. The zombie was at 1 HP, regeneration and fire perfectly balanced, and we were now out of mana.
The extremely pissed off and on fire, undead Warden stomped towards us down the hall. Walt was backing up to keep out of melee range and I shakily sat up, attempting to regain my feet. If the Warden got into melee range we were going to die. We were going to die even with the zombie at 1 HP. This really, really sucked.
Backstab
The last point flickered away and with a thundering rumble the zombie collapsed face-first in front of us into a flaming ruin. Behind him was a shaken-looking Ashley, her shiv out. Then she stooped and delivered another backstab, then yet another, seemingly not caring that the foe had fallen. She was gripped in a murderous madness.
“Ashley?” I said, only to get the steady squelching of further stabbing as a response. “Ashley,” I tried again to no better result. “Looting!” I finally tried and she glanced up, the feverish intensity fading from her eyes. She blinked a few times.
“Right, looting.” Ashley gave the corpse a solid kick, “Jerk.”
We’d won. Notifications poured in.
Congratulations!
You have reached level 3
You have one stat point to assign. As a Paladin of Yvera you have gained a further 15% skill to Long Blades and have gained a skill.
Seduction: Beyond actual persuasion this is the ability to inspire in another desire for deeper intimacy. While the connections made by using this skill are often deeper, they can carry considerable more complications than friendships made by the use of persuasion.
You have further gained the following spells and abilities.
Blessed Nature: You gain a minor bonus affected by Charisma on all saving throws as a result of your closeness to a divinity.
Reputation Gain: Yvera
You have killed a much higher level enemy and done so utilizing both fire and an item blessed by Yvera. Your Goddess is impressed.
Perk Unlocked:
Fighting above your weight class: You have defeated a foe over three times your level. The world takes note, you aren’t afraid of the big fights. Fighting enemies above your level gives a negative modifier to almost all activities. For you that modifier is now halved.
That was a lot of information and I didn’t know what to make of any of it. I held off spending the stat point for now. While I was tempted to put it into Endurance and gain a bit more health, what initially seemed a useless Charisma stat was fitting with a lot of my skills and abilities. I also now knew Yvera was a Goddess.
Ashley and Walt came out of checking their own sheets. Ashley began to examine the Warden's body.
“You sure you don’t want to rest up first?” I said.
“I can heal while I loot. I don’t know if the equipment fades away here, if we don’t claim it in time, and I’m not going to take any chances. That bastard nearly killed me, we’re getting his stuff.” Ashley started to strip the body and divide things into three piles.
I got the chain armor. Some coins and gems went on Ashley’s pile, while Walt was given a heavy medallion. I checked out my new gear and whistled appreciatively. With all of the armor together, instead of identifying each piece individually, the prompts read:
Warden’s Chainmail Set
AC: 220 Type: Uncommon
Set Bonus: Upright Man: The wearer is considerably more resistant to knock downs.
Worn Position: Legs, Arms, Chest, Hands, Head, Feet
This set of Chainmail was specially crafted for Warden Solkat. A sturdy suit for a steadfast man.
That was a delight to see. While I found the whole half-naked thing something of a bonus when it came to Ashley, it was stupidly cold in this place. I wasn’t sure the armor would really be an improvement for me, but it would be something. The weight was well inside my limits within the game.
By the time I finished getting dressed the piles of loot had vanished. Ashley tilted her head towards the end of the hall. “Took you long enough, did you forget we have a whole room full of corpses to loot?”
“You make it sound like a giant assortment of presents just waiting to be opened,” Walt said.
“Well, isn’t it? I mean, isn’t that it exactly?”
I couldn’t disagree. I was looking forward to see what else might be found. I didn't have the same zest for it that Ashley had, but it was still exciting. More looting awaited.
Chapter 7
We made our way back down the hallways to the Warden’s office. Fortunately we didn't encounter any further ambushes.
The office was something of a gruesome wonderland. Scattered bodies, blood-smeared walls, shattered skeletons—and all the gear. The most grisly presents one could ever hope to find.
We split up the work. I was to loot the corpses and strip them of any weapons and armor. Ashley searched the desk and other furniture, while Walt would focus his attention on the bookshelves and identify any magical items.
It was a time-consuming exercise. A steady stream of prisoners in their efforts to escape had all ended up meeting their demise in this room. Most of the armor was of a shoddy quality, perhaps owned by whatever prisoners originally occupied these cells, but some clearly once belonged to guards. I set aside a fairly decent set for Ashley, along with a pair of steel daggers to replace her shiv.
Of special importance to me were swords. There were several and I was all but salivating at the thought of finally getting to replace my stolen leg bone with proper steel and make use of my skill with long blades, which I seemed to be gaining at every level.
Steel Longsword
Damage: Power + 4D3
Type: Common
A timeless classic. This particular sword has seen better days yet with the simplicity of its design it is still deadly.
Most of the gear made its way into my bag, vanishing in an instant and leaving me feeling only a little weighed down. I didn't know if any of it might serve some purpose in the future, but I thought it best to take it along just in case. Besides which, our humble and naked start left me valuing every piece of equipment all the more.
Finally, I finished with my grisly work and headed over to Ashley.
“Find anything?” I asked.
“Lots,” Ashley replied with a grin. “Best stuff was in a restricted items drawer. I guess he’d confiscated a lot of items from prisoners over time. I was able to get myself a full thieves’ kit, so I can properly work with locks and traps now. We have a few magical rings, nothing good for you, but something to help me sneak around a little better and one that will boost Walt’s mana pool a bit. A wand of magic darts for me—only two charges left though. Oh, and I think I found the key to unlock those doors out there.”
“Useful,” I said, admittedly a bit disappointed she’d not turned up any gear for me. Still, I suppose I'd been the one to profit the most from looting the Warden himself, so I was hardly in any position to complain.
I turned to move away.
“Seriously?” Ashley said.<
br />
“What?”
“You, with a big pile of armor, me freezing cold and kind of nipply. I know the view's amazing, but…”
I mentally kicked myself. It really hadn’t been on purpose.
“And clearly distracting,” I said with a shake of my head. “Sorry.” I started handing over pieces of leather armor and soon she was looking considerably more dressed and thoroughly kickass, too.
Walt joined us, setting a book and a few scrolls on the desk.
“Anything good?” Ashley asked.
“Uh-uh. Not in terms of loot, but I think I’ve found some theme information. I don’t know how useful it is, but we should probably look it over.”
“Right.” Ashley rested a hip against the table and looked over the paperwork. “Go ahead.”
“I’d thought we must have been started somewhere distant and on the edges of civilization. Some fallen keep somewhere, or something like that. Maybe an ancient rift where they threw prisoners, that sort of thing,” Walt said. It made sense.
He went on, “But all the documentation for this place points to this being the Dungeon of Castle Sardonis. Castle Sardonis is in the middle of the human civilization and from the maps seems to be a central point in the game world.”