Party at Castle Grof

by Kira Morgana

  “Why do we need to use these corridors at all?” Ariana asked her voice muffled as she rifled through her bag of Holding. “Ah ha!” She pulled out a large copper plated cube.

  “What in Tyr’s name be ye doing with a Digger Mech, Lady?” Arnhammen said his eyes wide as he watched her. “I ha’nae seen one o’them since I were a wee Dwarfling at home in Reldheim.”

  “I picked it up in Laikholm when Aranok, Erendell and I were helping with the Urakh Troubles.”

  “What are you suggesting Ariana?” Aranok asked.

  “We could take your proposed route, but instead of going through this top door which would take us straight into the Treasury, where there are likely to be a lot of creatures, why don’t we stop here,” she placed her finger on the east corridor roughly half way up, “and dig our own tunnel into the centre of the Dungeon?”

  “That sounds like the best plan that I’ve heard yet.” Grald cracked his knuckles and stretched as Ariana put the Mech away. “What do you think Aranok?”

  * * *

  “That would indeed be an excellent Plan, if it were not for the fact that you are watching, Master. What would you like to do, Milord?” The Jar grinned.

  The Aracan Katuvana pondered for a moment, his head on his hand. Then he used both hands in a book opening gesture. One of the books from a pile on the table beside the throne floated into his lap and opened.

  “Ah, the Grof Dungeon profile,” the Jar murmured.

  The Aracan flicked through the pages to a map of the Dungeon and spent a few moments tracing his finger around the rooms. He laid the book aside, still open and went over to the window. A brief hand gesture later and the face of the Grof Custodian appeared.

  She was a shapely elf with long deep red-brown hair, blue eyes and skin so pale it resembled a fine, translucent linen cloth.

  “Dearest Lord and Master, how may I serve you?” Her voice chimed musically as she curtsied deeply. It was deep enough to show her ample cleavage in the low neck of a deep red dress and the Aracan Katuvana was clearly mesmerised by the sight.

  “You will be having a party of adventurers arrive in your Dungeon shortly, Lych Mistress,” the Jar told her.

  Katuvana recovered his senses and waved his hand over the bottom left corner of the window and a map of the Dungeon appeared. He pointed to the spot where the Party’s planned tunnel would start. He traced a line across to the Heart Crystal Dais.

  The Lych Mistress made a pretty moue of irritation.

  “Again? I only just rid myself of the last group.” She appeared to study something in front of her. “A tunnel? Hmmm, I have some Hellhounds available, Lord. I could build a guard post between the Library and the Lair. Hellhounds are perfect guard dogs.”

  Katuvana nodded.

  “Excellent idea, Lych Mistress. Oversee the work personally,” the Jar said as the elf curtsied again and the view returned to that of the party.

  “That Lych Mistress is one fine figure of an Elf – mayhap you could make her your Mistress?” the Jar suggested slyly.

  The Aracan Katuvana growled and the Jar seemed almost to jump.

  “Of course not Master, I would never suggest…”

  The Aracan Katuvana shook his head and sat back on the throne, facing the window.

  * * *

  The group moved into the Dungeon, leaving their horses hobbled in a clearing near the entrance.

  Erendell produced a Trap Hunter and set it to automatic. Within three hundred yards of the entrance, the globe detected several different traps. Erendell disarmed them with barely a bead of sweat decorating her brow.

  “Those weren’t on the map,” Aranok frowned as they moved past the disarmed area.

  “It was almost a year ago since Shilir came down here,” Grald shrugged. “They’ve obviously fortified their weak spots.”

  Aranok started swearing as they found another three traps in the crossroad.

  “Erendell, deal with them.”

  “I can’t disarm these, they’re Aethyric traps,” Erendell snapped. “I left home before my mother started teaching that particular lesson.”

  “I thought she kicked you out,” he said, glaring at the dark elf.

  Erendell’s face darkened.

  “I can deal with them,” Ariana soothed her brother. She knelt beside each one and disarmed it carefully.

  “Thank you, Ariana.” Erendell smiled at the young mage. “Aranok is getting rather tense.”

  “That’s okay. He’s not at his best underground.”

  “What Elf truly is?” Erendell laughed. “Even my mother’s people live high up in the Under City where it’s more airy.”

  Following the corridor to the right, they encountered nothing. The walls ran with glowing green ooze that lit the passageway. It puddled in cracks and overflowed to create tiny waterfalls, before disappearing through the floor with a gurgling, sucking noise.

  “That’s disgusting.” Ariana wrinkled her nose.

  “It does sound a wee bit strange, Lady Mage,” Arnhammen agreed with her.

  On the ceiling, white moths with black skull-like patterns congregated and chose to flutter around the party.

  “Don’t let the moths touch your skin,” Erendell cautioned them. “They’re poisonous.”

  “How d’ye know Drow? Ye never lived below ground, I wager.” Arnhammen sniffed and grimaced.

  “No, but my mother did. I’m only half Drow by blood,” Erendell said. “She taught me about much more than just magic.”

  At the end of the corridor Ariana fashioned a small bird golem out of glowing ooze and sent it under the door to scout ahead, shutting her eyes to better concentrate. The rest of the party took the moment to relax and have a drink.

  “Was ye maether a mage?” Arnhammen asked Erendell, passing her a small flask.

  “Eliethorendraelliana is her full name,” Aranok told him. “She is one of the greatest mages that ever existed, but her story is a tragic one.”

  “My mother has suffered much because of her power. It is her duty to teach those who come to the Mage Library in Alethdariel, as she is the only one strong enough to help them.” Erendell blinked rapidly, moisture shining in her eyes.

  “She’s a marvellous teacher,” Ariana said softly, opening her eyes.

  “What did you see?” Aranok asked.

  “Steady on, Aranok, the Lady has only just returned!” Arnhammen held out one hand. “Gie her a minute to come to herself.”

  “It’s all right, Arnhammen.” Ariana smiled at the dwarf. “The corridor ahead is patrolled by Skeletons. They move in groups of five and should be easy enough to deal with – if Arnhammen is up to it.”

  “I hae ne’er been more ready, Lady.” The dwarf looked eager to go.

  “Then let us away to battle the Undead in our bid to free this world of evil!” Erendell proclaimed as if reciting some ancient battle cry.

  Grald and Arnhammen looked at Erendell as if she’d grown horns. Aranok gagged and turned away, unable to speak, and Ariana grinned.

  “It’s ok,” she said. “She’s eating Copperleaf and Berry Bread.” She pointed at the wedge of bread in the dark elf’s hand.

  “Huh?” Grald sounded confused.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Aranok said, swilling his mouth out with water. “Erendell put that stuff away.”

  “Oh all right.” Erendell folded a napkin around the wedge and put it into her knapsack.

  Erendell disarmed the alarm and gas traps that she found by the door and unlocked it with a twist of a pick. They moved cautiously through and into the next corridor.

  Here there was no glowing ooze so Ariana produced a Mage Globe and whispered to it. It glowed a soft yellow that made Erendell’s golden eyes gleam in the borrowed light.

  “She’s so beautiful,” Grald whispered longingly to Aranok as they made their way up the passage.

  “Be careful, Grald. Erendell is nearly one hundred and eight years old and has had at least four human lovers that I know o
f. She’ll break your heart.” Aranok shook his head when the barbarian’s face turned stubborn. To change the subject he asked, “Do you have any family?”

  “Yes. I have a younger sister, Freya.”

  “Where is she at the moment?”

  “She’s a Pleasure House Slave in Jira. I used to be a Gladiator Slave there as well. A merchant who won a lot of money betting on me bought me and set me free. Now all I have to do is buy her free.”

  “Is that why you’re adventuring? You never did tell me when we were talking last night.” Aranok looked around the corridor they were walking up. “It’s too quiet.”

  Grald wasn’t really paying much attention to Aranok.

  “Yes, Lord Harnez promised me enough gold to pay off at least half of her price. I’m hoping to pick up some more here and I have a third of her price already stashed away.”

  They reached the point that Ariana suggested they dig from without encountering any Skeletons.

  “That was strange. I expected at least one skirmish on the way up here,” the mage remarked as she pulled the Digger Mech out of her bag. The copper cube sat on the ground quiescent as she attached a leather cord to her wrist and another to a loop at the back of the cube.

  “Aye Lady t’is strangely quiet, but I shall nae count on it staying that way.” Arnhammen set out four blue quartz cubes two on either side of the party, setting them down in the centre and began to pray over his medallion of Tyr.

  The cubes glowed, rose from the ground and began to spin around them, just over their heads. A translucent barrier surrounded them with a pale blue light.

  “Why in the Mother’s name have you put a leash on that thing, Ariana?” Erendell frowned, examining the cube minutely, her curiosity getting the better of her.

  “It’s just in case I forget that I’ve set it off.” Ariana fiddled with the Mech, opening a flap, turning a dial and pressing a button or two, seemingly randomly. “They just dig continuously and should we be interrupted and I don’t get a chance to stop it, I’d lose it.”

  “Aye, Mechs o’any sort are on the expensive side o’costly. We would nae want tae lose it.” The dwarf grunted through his prayer. With a final smattering of Dwarfish, he finished and kissed the medallion. “There, that should do it.”

  “I hope I’m not prying, Arnhammen, but what exactly does this barrier do? It doesn’t look very substantial,” Aranok asked.

  “’Tis a Warding o’ Holy Tyr. Should any undead chance upon it, they will feel Lord Tyr’s wrath upon their unholy forms,” The dwarf said.

  Aranok didn’t feel confident about the almost non-existent shield, so he put Grald and Erendell on opposite sides of the blue lit area and set himself just beside Ariana as the Mech began its work.

  The small copper cube unfolded and expanded itself into what looked like a metal gremlin with clawed scoops instead of paws. The Mech leapt into the air to cling to the wall near the ceiling with its feet, then rapidly dug with its front paws, sending rock flying until it broke through the stone facing on the wall. Once through that, the Mech began to dig down until its feet were on the floor. As soon as the Mech had created a shallow niche it expanded again, becoming taller than Grald and wider than Arnhammen.

  “Ye set it to the barbarian’s height? My compliments, Lady, ye hae been studying the rudiments o’tunnelling it seems.” Arnhammen said.

  Ariana blushed. “It seemed like a good idea when I bought it. The Mech usually needs a second Mech behind it, shoring up the walls and ceiling, but Eliethor added a spell to its body that solidifies the dirt it leaves behind. She said it should stop any cave ins, but could still be dug through by other creatures.”

  “Mother always was oddly practical for someone who lived with her head in the clouds.” Erendell sniffed.

  The Mech moved forward and began to dig, shifting the loose soil behind it. As the soil left the thing’s scoops, it shrank to the size of peas.

  “Another of Eliethor’s spells?” Aranok asked, scuffing his feet in the loose dirt.

  Ariana nodded. “She said that she’d modified it with as many things as she could think of, so it may do a lot more than the Mechs of Arnhammen’s childhood.”

  Ariana stayed with it and once they had moved into the new tunnel, Arnhammen stood and moved with them, the barrier cubes following him and still enclosing them.

  The Mech moved methodically, digging in the direction Ariana had set, so it came as no surprise when they were attacked from behind by a group of skeletons.

  “I knew it was too quiet,” Aranok said, slipping his sword from its sheath and positioning himself to protect Ariana.

  The skeletons charged.

  The barrier made several fall apart. The skeletons ignored their companion’s bones, walking straight over them.

  “They’re still attacking!” Erendell called to the dwarf.

  “Aye, Lassie. We’d best be crunching some bones then.” Arnhammen dropped the barrier spell, the light flaring brightly before going out and laid about him with his mace.

  Grald contented himself with a thick-bladed sword breaker, the notches catching the bones and snapping them easily. Erendell had brought a holy dagger out from somewhere. The barbarian, dark elf and dwarf soon dealt with the threat.

  Aranok put his sword away. I didn’t need to worry after all. He felt oddly self-satisfied at the thought.

  Moments later, the digger hit a stone wall and Ariana stopped it untying the leash from her wrist.

  “I need to use an All-Seeing Eye spell to see what is on the other side, before I use the Mech to dig through.” She sat down on the floor, away from the Mech and closed her eyes, murmuring the spell to herself.

  As the others waited, Aranok’s sharp ears caught strange scratching, scuffling sounds from the other side of the wall.

  * * *

  “It looks as though the Hellhounds are in place, Lord. What is keeping those adventurers?” the Jar grumbled.

  Aracan Katuvana moved to the window and waved a hand over Grald’s picture, then over Erendell’s picture.

  On Grald’s picture, the pink ring became a deeper colour, almost the same colour as the Bougainvillea that grew wild in the tropical forests of the Southern Islands.

  “Ah yes. An intriguing thought that, Lord,” the Jar cackled.

  Katuvana gestured and a green glow surrounded Erendell.

  “Erendell, you will activate the digger again. Grald you will assist her by doing anything she asks you to,” the Jar whispered. Both glows flickered as the instructions sank into their minds.

  Katuvana went back to his throne.

  * * *

  “This is taking too long–we need to be in and out of the Dungeon quickly!” Aranok muttered.

  Ariana said nothing, still concentrating on her spell.

  “We could just dig through,” Erendell suggested brightly. Grald nodded in enthusiastic agreement, staring adoringly at her.

  Aranok frowned at them. Grald is supposed to be a renowned warrior. Why is he acting like a love struck urchin?

  “Don’t be daft, Erendell. I thought you had more sense than to run into an unknown situation.”

  “She is not daft!” Grald’s temper flared. “I agree with her. We ought to just dig through and deal with whatever comes when it happens.”

  “Barbarians!” Arnhammen snorted. “Always rushing in swords waving before they should.”

  “Because we’re brave, Underdweller! We don’t hide in holes like some people!”

  Aranok groaned. “Grald, please be quiet and patient. Ariana is working as fast as she can.”

  “If she’s half as powerful as my Erendell is, she’d have found out by now.” Grald moved forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword-breaker.

  Aranok blinked. “Your Erendell?”

  “Shut up,” Ariana said with her eyes closed. “I can’t hear properly.”

  “Well, we’d hear it a lot better without that wall in the way. Help me, Grald!” Erendell shouted and rush
ed past the seated mage to the Digger Mech, followed closely by Grald. The dark elf crouched down and began to activate the Mech.

  “Ye stupid Drow! Ye’re not going to do this! I willnae let ye!” Arnhammen lunged for Erendell only to run into Grald.

  “You might not want her to, but you will not stop her, I’ll see to that!” the barbarian retorted and pushed the dwarf back.

  A wrestling match ensued.

  Aranok groaned again and tried, unsuccessfully, to push himself between Grald and Arnhammen, trying to reach his sister.

  Ariana let her spell dissipate.

  “What’s going on?” she asked as she opened her eyes. “No,” she gasped scrambling up onto her feet.

  Erendell had activated the Digger Mech and while Aranok had been trying to break the wrestling match up, the Mech was already halfway through the wall.

  “What do you think you’re doing, Erendell?” Ariana yelled.

  “Aranok said it was taking too long, so I decided to speed things up a little,” the half Drow said in an unconcerned manner.

  “You idiot, Erendell, there’s a guard post behind the wall! They’re…” The Mech broke through the last of the wall. Behind it stood four massive two headed dogs, drool dripping from between their six inch fangs as they growled at the party from atop a wooden platform.

  “…waiting for us.” Ariana shook her head ruefully. She deactivated the Mech with a flick of a finger and a small magic pressure before it could start to dig into the platform.

  Erendell backed up quickly and bumped into Grald. The barbarian dropped Arnhammen to the floor and spun to catch the elf as she fell. Aranok jumped back to avoid being knocked over. Grald set Erendell back on her feet and moved back slightly, loosening his sword in his scabbard.

  “What the…?” Aranok asked, glancing between the Hell Hound and Ariana.

  “No time now, Brother, we need to get out of here!” she replied, turning to run back down the tunnel.

  “Going somewhere?” a voice drawled languidly from the shadows.

  Arnhammen scrambled up and hurled himself between the surprised mage and the rest of the tunnel.

  Ariana produced a mage globe and lit it with a gesture. It flared bright white and lit the whole tunnel revealing a figure wearing luxurious, deep red velvet, in the form of a hooded robe, its face in hidden by the shadow.