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  1. Glar Fortran’s Adventuring Log
  2.  
  3. Anyway,
  4. I never asked for much in life, just the respect everyone deserves
  5. Yet sometimes I wonder how much of my fate truly is in my hands
  6. I don't like talking about my past; I don't believe there is much point in bothering about what happened
  7. Since you can't turn back
  8. All you need to know that our land was ruled by a vicious tyrant
  9. Due to my unusual strength and fighting skill, I was pulled into a rebellion aganist him
  10. I admit I never cared much about the political stuff, but I did want smaller taxes
  11. My motivation wasn't as personal as it was for the rest of my band
  12. More selfish, perhaps
  13. Is this why I was fated to be the only survivor of that doomed attack on the castle?
  14. Why, despite beating the tyrant, I was the only one left to see our land demolished by a dark force
  15. The very thing we fought for, destroyed by a contingency spell planted by the tyrant himself
  16. The battle was won, but the cause for their rebellion was lost
  17. At that time I realised destiny has other plans for me, and that I should listen to it
  18. So I took a greatsword from the castle, some chainmail and tools, and left the country
  19. To travel and do what I do best: fight for the people
  20. On my way I did some smaller jobs, eventually took a job as a bodyguard for this merchant
  21. The pay was steady, but I wasn't doing it entirely for the money
  22. I will admit that the thrill of the battle excites me, and I hoped this job would give opportunities to show off my abilities
  23. But there wasn't any, apart from an occasional travel the guy was just conducting business in cities
  24. Until that day ...
  25. We received news that one of his trading caravans was attacked and very important cargo was missing, along with the crew
  26. Noticing a chance to get in the wild, I volunteered to look for the carriage in the hills, where it disappeared
  27. But he insisted on finding more people for the job
  28. I should have known back then that he knew way more than he was willing to share
  29. Luckily for us, we found a suitable party in a day:
  30. A pair of Elvish travelers trained in combat and archery, a dwarven Cleric and even a Wizard!
  31. I've never worked with a real wizard before in my life
  32. Hotimir was his name, and he was still fresh from the spellcasting academy of Conjuration
  33. traveling the world in search and study of new spells
  34. With him was Thoradin, a warrior priest from the Ironfist dwarves clan
  35. He didn't strike me quite right, and I soon found out why
  36. He apparently pledged allegiance to some Dwarven god of pleasure and drinking
  37. And in exchange for his healing words and holy spells, he devoted himself to drinking as much as possible
  38. He was a good healer, don't get me wrong, but he very very often got drunk beyond recognition
  39. Yet somehow in those moments he was gifted by incredible luck
  40. Dwarven gods really are a force to be reckoned with
  41. At one point he met the wizard, saved his life apparently, and that's how they ended up traveling together
  42. They were pretty cool
  43. The elves, they were kinda weird
  44. Quarion, the male elf, clearly came from a noble background, but he didn't like talking about it for some reason
  45. But he was very well trained in combat, even better than me
  46. Although I never said it to his face
  47. Delilah, his step-sister, was a Rogue however(edited)
  48. More interested in taking spoils and riches than following rules(edited)
  49. Yet for some reason he followed her thieving path and protected her with his life
  50. I'll never understand elves
  51. But they needed money, and my boss offered them a seemingly simple job
  52. Our party was to take one of his carriages with a shipment to neighboring town
  53. We would take the same path where the missing caravan went, and hopefully find out what happened to it
  54. So there we were, wizard sitting on the carriage and controlling the donkeys that pulled it
  55. And the rest of us walking at the sides, prepared to defend it
  56. Didn't seem like it was going to be necessary, as the land was peaceful
  57. A little too peaceful now that I think about it
  58. The road then turned and went through this forest
  59. We go in and make it to this meadow where suddenly we see traces of fight
  60. Two dead horses on sides of road, lots of footprints, bloodstains
  61. And trails of the stolen wagon continuing on the road
  62. We decide to stop and investigate, since this definetly has something to do with the attacked caravan
  63. The cleric inspects the horses, and judges they were killed few days ago, which confirms it
  64. We decide to follow the trail of the wagon, when suddenly something moves in the distance between the trees
  65. An arrow flies into us, and scares the donkeys
  66. And then, four goblins jump into the meadow from the bushes
  67. Two with swords, two with bows
  68. One of each on each side
  69. I run off to the left side to intercept the charging goblin there, and Quarion does the same
  70. Delilah tried to gain some height by jumping on the carriage, but she fails twice and breaks her ankle
  71. Thoradin tries casting a warding spell, but fails and it turns aganist him
  72. And Quarion while charging slips on dead horse's blood and falls to the ground
  73. Luckily he pulled one of goblins down with him
  74. On the left, I surprisingly well deflect the bowman's arrow and lock swords with the other one
  75. After some struggle, I wrestle him off and break his skull
  76. And try to charge to the bowgoblin, who took cover behind the other horse's corpse
  77. I barely jump over and bring him to the ground, but also fall myself and badly bruise my shoulder
  78. Meanwhile on other side the situation gets dire
  79. The other archer goblin shot an arrow through Delilah's leg
  80. And Quarion kept slipping on blood puddles
  81. Thoradin locked his shield with the swordgoblin's sword and was pushing back
  82. So our wizard (know that wizards in dnd are physically very weak) had to step in
  83. From high point on the carriage, he cast few frost bolts on goblins to slow them down
  84. And then some magic missiles to finish them off
  85. Except he messed up one of them and it almost hit Thoradin instead of goblin
  86. Must have been his first fight, I could understand
  87. So, with the goblin attackers finally taken out, we decided to take a short rest and tend to our wounds
  88. Quarion's and mine wounds were pretty minor, one spell took care of them
  89. but Delilah's leg was more severely damaged
  90. At least that's what it looked like to me at first, but Thoradin assured me a bit of healing balm should help
  91. Quarion thought otherwise
  92. I guess with his fighting expertise he saw through dwarf's drunken excuses and realized he can't heal an open fracture
  93. Thoradin wanted to shut him up by magically strengthening his voice, but it only made Quarion more mad
  94. If I didn't step in and pulled him off, the dwarf would end with more than just a black eye
  95. He may be a drunk, but he was also the only healer we had
  96. The wizard meanwhile was meditating his spellcraft and didn't really pay attention
  97. Spellcasting is a hard thing in this world, even simple spells require years of study and practice to pull off
  98. So in order to advance, Wizards dedicate to researching the forces of magic all the time, for life
  99. It seemed like an unreachable goal, but the way he took care of those goblins did make me wonder what I could do with those powers
  100. So, after we were done resting, we continued on the road
  101. We make it out of the forest and get to this bridge over the river
  102. On the other side of bridge, however, we see the wagon tracks going left off road and continue along the river bank
  103. Upwards the river, towards the canyon from which the river was flowing
  104. After a quick vote, we agree on investigating the trail before going forward to our goal city
  105. We move our small carriage off the road and conceal it under the bushes, and let donkeys go on
  106. They knew the path on their own
  107. So we went on foot, following the wagon trail
  108. Into the canyon, which got narrower and narrower as we went on
  109. Until we reached a cave where the river was flowing from
  110. There was still a bit of bank on our side of the cave, wide enough for one person
  111. But no light
  112. So I lit up one of torches we had and went in first, with Delilah, Thoradin, Hotimir and Quarion behind me in that order
  113. We quickly made to an opening on the wall on our right, which continued in some very steep stairs upward
  114. Carefully looking up, I found a small round space with a column in the middle
  115. We decided to go in carefully, as enemy could be hiding anywhere
  116. And they did: a goblin who was resting behind the pillar got scared to death when I stepped behind
  117. His screaming called in another goblin, and panic ensued
  118. I tried to shut him up with my sword, but he protected himself with his shield
  119. Delilah jumped in to help me, but accidentally set off a trap and almost got shot with a dart
  120. So Quarion had to step in and kill the goblin instead
  121. Now that we knew there are traps in this cave, we proceeded with extra caution
  122. On the other side of round room was a small opening, big enough for crawling through
  123. And on other side, we saw a space with a chest
  124. Wizard decided it was best to inspect the chest from a distance and cast spectral hands
  125. which floated through the opening to open a chest
  126. It was unlocked, but we discovered it had a different kind of protection
  127. When one of spectral hands touched it, the opening suddenly collapsed and closed
  128. Hey, at least we didn't get separated
  129. We guessed there had to be another way to get to that chest deeper in the cave tunnel, so we returned there
  130. And continued in the same order on the river bank
  131. Then, in the distance as the ceiling of tunnel got higher, we saw a bridge going over the bank and the river
  132. But it was meters above us, connecting two openings in cave tunnel walls
  133. Meaning there had to be more rooms dug into this cave
  134. As we walked below the bridge, we fell into another ambush
  135. Two goblins stood up from behind the bridge fence and shot at us with their bows
  136. And another goblin came running at us from deeper from the cave
  137. We threw that one in the river and let it carry him out of the cave
  138. But more goblins appeared behind us
  139. I stayed there to hold them off while the rest ran forward in search of cover
  140. Behind the corner, they found a staircase built into the wall leading to rooms upstairs and the bridge
  141. But it was guarded by a few goblins
  142. Quarion took them on, but spectacularly tripped on top of stairs and hit his head in the wall
  143. Delilah took one of the bridge goblins out with her arrows, but got knocked in the rushing river stream
  144. The Cleric and wizard knew they had to do something, and wizard cast his magic missiles while Cleric protected him from goblins on stairs
  145. The missiles missed the goblin on bridge, but hit the cave ceiling there and the falling debris killed him
  146. And buried me under on the river bank
  147. The wizard helped Quarion back on his feet and they took out the remaining goblins while Thoradin tried to pull Delilah out of the river
  148. It didn't work
  149. When I freed myself of debris, I rushed to help them and barely held them by the bank
  150. When everyone was back up on dry land, we decided to explore this room
  151. One hallway went from the room to the bridge we walked under
  152. And the other to the room with chest we saw before
  153. Inside there was some money and a handaxe which I took, but not the important cargo from the merchant's wagon
  154. Which meant more exploring.
  155. We took a short rest, which was interrupted by a band of goblins returning from their hunt
  156. And another one appearing out of nowhere in the room with the chest
  157. I tried to hold that one off while the rest of my party took on others
  158. Delilah took out some with her bow, but got hit by another trap
  159. And the cleric couldn't help her, because he was secretly drinking again
  160. And got too drunk to pick himself up
  161. Quarion tried to pick him up, but hit his head again and fell unconscious
  162. He really should wear a helmet
  163. There is much more
  164. Wizard took care of the other goblins on the stairs
  165. Meanwhile I had the worst hour of my lifer
  166. I missed my sword attacks, and when goblin deflected my blow I failed to dodge
  167. And got a whole swordfull of rusty iron through my stomach
  168. I fell to the ground, not being able to fight anymore
  169. Wizard tried to step in, but got slapped down behind me
  170. and Delilah couldn't get there in time to protect us
  171. Just then, the unimaginable happened
  172. The Dwarf, who was still trying to get on his feet, kept failing all this time
  173. But everytime he fell back, his drunken body somehow avoided all hurt
  174. As he stumbled to the stairs
  175. And then it almost seemed like he could stand up, but he didn't, and was falling down
  176. And in his stupor, he performed some kind of sick breakdance as he went down the stairs, suffering no damage at all
  177. This feat impressed the goblin so much, he just stood there for a moment, watching it
  178. giving Delilah enough time to crawl closer and stab him to death
  179. This is what bad dice rolls gets you
  180. So we rest again to heal up, this time luckily we weren't interrupted
  181. And once we feel like we're ready to continue, we go across the bridge
  182. On the other side, inside the cave wall, there was another small room
  183. And there, a very narrow corridor going on and turning right
  184. Definetly not wide enough for a quick escape
  185. So we go slowly in, prepared for anything
  186. And we make it to a larger cavern, with goblin loot lying around(edited)
  187. On one side there was remains of the missing wagon, and it's crew
  188. Dwarf took the insignia from one of the corpses for evidence
  189. The shipment we were looking for was also there
  190. On other side of the room was a large pile of animal skins and fur
  191. And some bones
  192. Delilah's inspection found no traps, but Hotimir sensed there is some kind of secret doorway around
  193. That what we've seen wasn't the whole room
  194. Then, as I went closer to inspect the fur pile, we heard noise
  195. An opening in one of walls appeared, and goblin attackers were waiting to attack us there
  196. Their battlecry attracted more goblins from the crevice we came from
  197. And woke up something else ...
  198. With a loud growl, a cave troll rose up from under the pelt pile
  199. Our first boss fight!
  200. Wizard quickly decided to thin out the numbers and shot his missiles at the wall above the new opening
  201. The rubble closed it, preventing the goblins on other side from getting in
  202. Delilah went on to take care of reinforcements in the crevice
  203. As I, Quarion and Thoradin positioned ourselves around the Troll to bring him down
  204. A cave troll isn't an easy thing to kill we found out
  205. We tried first to cut his hands to make him drop his giant club, but it had no use
  206. A cave troll skin is thicker than bark
  207. And wizard's spells only blinded it, making it go in an uncontrollable frenzy
  208. We took some hard blows, but eventually I made it around the troll and cut it's arm badly enough to make it drop the weapon
  209. We bring it down to brink of defeat, and I decide to go for the killing blow
  210. I rush over the pile, but slip
  211. and What was supposed to be a crushing blow from my greatsword turned into a sloppy hug of the Troll's belly
  212. It wasn't amused at all, and threw me across the room into the wagon rubble
  213. Luckily Delilah returned from the corridor and gave it a finishing blow right then with an arrow between eyes
  214. The whole cavern shook from troll's fall
  215. And then, there were no more enemies around
  216. We were free to look for the remaining cargo and go back
  217. Among the money we also found a strange stone figure of a Frog with golden eyes
  218. The wizard couldn't detect anything unusual, but as we looked at the frog we couldn't help but feel like it was smirking at us
  219. Delilah jokingly kissed it, but it didn't turn into a prince
  220. So with the cave cleared out, we pick our stuff and head back out to our carriage
  221. Except there was no carriage
  222. And it was getting very late
  223. With all the goblins running around the land, we decided to go our goal city and look for the wagon tomorrow
  224. A risky move still, as the city we were going to had a curfew
  225. The guards were pretty pissed at us trying to enter in the middle of night,
  226. but after seeing our contract they left us in and directed us into the town tavern
  227. We booked rooms and went to sleep
  228. That night I had a terrible nightmare about Delilah getting caught mid night on a theft run and frogs appearing everywhere
  229. It was weird
  230. Especially because the next morning, we woke up to a sound of croaking in the room
  231. A live fat frog was in our room somehow
  232. We tried to throw it out, but as I thought I dropped it out of window, it appeared inside again
  233. This is what you get for kissing strange frog amulets
  234. The wizard and cleric tried inspecting the amulet again, but no success
  235. Whatever spell this was, it couldn't be detected by their level
  236. Eh whatever said Delilah, we got more important business to do
  237. Besides, I don't mind a frog following me
  238. Each of us thought their own, but in the end she was right, we had more important business
  239. Namely, find our merchant and report to him on the missing cargo
  240. And to alert the city watch about goblin camp we found
  241. And possibly to look for new gear
  242. Delilah and Quarion went to the town market, while the rest of us went to the city hall
  243. There we found my boss, who to our surprise was happy to see us
  244. We delivered the cargo, we reported on the goblins
  245. But he didn't seem to care about them, as if there was something else on his mind
  246. We asked him about the city, why is there such a curfew, where is the mayor so we can report the goblin problem
  247. He told us the mayor hasn't been seen in weeks, as he is grieving the death of his daughter, who died of a strange incurable disease
  248. If we wanted to report about goblins, we had to talk to the head of city guard
  249. When we asked him about why all the guards in this city are so stuck up, he mentioned something about a local Red Beard gang terrorizing the town
  250. but he quickly stopped and told us off, claiming he already said too much
  251. "Trust me, you really don't want to look into this."
  252. Well maybe not
  253. He was so in hurry to leave us with our reward he didn't even give me a new assignment
  254. Back outside, we speculated what if this disease has something to do with the Red Beard Gang
  255. We decided to investigate more, so we went looking for the city guard commander
  256. Now this guy was a real militaristic prick, he didn't want to talk to us at all
  257. Not even listen to our warning, saying he had bigger problems
  258. So the Wizard used a little charm spell on him, making us seem like close friends in his eyes
  259. His attitude changed immediately
  260. He thanked us for advice, but told us what is the problem with this city
  261. There was an organised group called Red Beard Gang, members of which periodically went out at night killing and robbing people
  262. But still, he wouldn't give us more information, as if he was afraid of them himself
  263. So we asked him something else
  264. We showed him the frog amulet and the insignia we found in the goblin cave and asked him about them
  265. He recogised them, they belonged to his comrade
  266. Learning about his fate almost brought him to tears
  267. He thanked us and left us with a small piece of information: every night, some Red Beard Gang members would meet in the same storehouse at the market
  268. And then after the meeting leave to go back to the outskirts of the city, where their hideout was
  269. He did let us keep the frog amulet and left us
  270. So we started coming up with a plan
  271. If we captured one of Red Beards and pressed him for information, we could find their hideout and take a large bounty!
  272. But we had to prepare first
  273. I felt my equipment was good enough for my combat style, but Hotimir and Thoradin had to buy some materials for spellcasting
  274. We found a shop with spellcasting supplies
  275. At the counter, a barely living old man looks at us
  276. There are jars of weird stuff and materials placed on the shelves
  277. I let the Wizard do his business while I feed my curiosity around the store
  278. And then, unexpected happens again
  279. The old man, when he looks at Hotimir, changes appearance into that of a wizard professor
  280. Turns out this guy was Hotimir's old teacher at the Conjuration college
  281. They do small talk, about how they got here
  282. Hotimir asks him to inspect the frog amulet for spells
  283. You could see the guy was an expret, he takes one glance at it and bursts into laughter
  284. He tells us the frog had a curse placed on it at some point(edited)
  285. Whoever kissed it would have a frog following them
  286. Trying to get rid of the frog would only bring it back eventually(edited)
  287. And killing the frog would cause two more identical frogs to spawn
  288. And so on
  289. And he laughed because he sensed that the curse was activated already
  290. We didn't tell him who the activator was
  291. Then they bought their supplies, we parted ways
  292. We run into our Elves and tell them our plan
  293. They agree with it, and when night falls, we sneak out of the tavern to the storehouse
  294. The building had a front entrance that led to a small jewelry or something, but there was also a back entrance
  295. We decided to set up our ambush there
  296. Hiding in the bushes, we would wait until Red Beards get in the building and sneak up on them
  297. And lo behold, after few hours, we see two hooded figures meeting behind the building, and entering the back entrance together
  298. Then we spring into action
  299. Delilah picks the lock and we slowly advance
  300. But going into room after room, we find nobody
  301. Just crates and stored goods
  302. I make it to the front part of the building, to the door which leads to the jewelry space
  303. And when I enter it, two Red Bearded thugs rise up from behind the counter and attack us
  304. And then two more appear from behind, coming from one of the empty rooms we investigated(edited)
  305. Was there a hidden passage we missed?
  306. We'll think about this later, now we have to survive
  307. These thugs aren't your typical meek goblins, they put up quite a fight
  308. One of them kept knocking us down, skillfully wielding a halberd in a tight space
  309. But yet, we hold on and counterattack
  310. As we bring one of them down, the other two from behind do something strange with their mouth
  311. Suddenly they start foaming and blindly rushing on us
  312. Their strength was increased and they fought with unstoppable fury,
  313. but only for few seconds before falling down dead
  314. Was this their trick? Going in blind rage before death?
  315. Either way, it made the fight much harder
  316. I tried choke holding one of the remaining thugs, but he did the same move
  317. And broke out of my grip like a rabid dog, breaking my arm before falling dead
  318. And then more thugs appeared out of nowhere
  319. Most of us were badly hurt on the ground now, so Hotimir and I made an emergency run for the jewelry store door
  320. We broke them down and called city guard for help
  321. As we pulled our comrades out and they rushed in, we could only hear the sounds of clanging metal, cutting meat and screams of pain
  322. And then, Remaining living guards carrying out dead bodies
  323. Of Red Beards, only the three we killed, the rest were guards
  324. We didn't know where the other thugs went
  325. And then, the city guard commander arrived
  326. He didn't say nothing, he just knocked us out with the hilt of his blade
  327. When we came to, we were in the city dungeons
  328. The captain was waiting for us, super pissed
  329. "Well, did you get what you were loking for??" he asked us
  330. We tried explaining the situation to him, but he wasn't having any of it
  331. "4 of my men are dead, because you just had to mess with what you didn't understand!"
  332. "Because you had to mess with me"
  333. The thing about charm spells is that once they wear off, the target becomes aware of what happened
  334. Essentially, they know they were charmed aganist their will, and that usually pisses people off
  335. He said we should be hanging for causing this trouble, but because we told him about his comrades and gave him a warning after all,
  336. he decided to give us an ultimatum(edited)
  337. Either rot in cell and pay for our crimes, or deal with Red Bears ourselves
  338. Turns out, the city guard knew where their hideout was, but never disturbed them
  339. Were they that strong? Was there some kind of extortion going on?
  340. Does this have something to do with the mayor and his daughter?
  341. Only then we realized what kind of hornet's nest we stirred, and agreed on his deal
  342. We would head into the hideout of Red Beard Gang and finish them off
  343. They gave us back our equipment, and some healing potions
  344. We were told about what was the deal with rabit suicide thugs
  345. It was a drug produced from local flora that, upon ingestion, makes user go into a state of empowered murder rampage before killing them
  346. Red Beards hid that drug in their fake molars, so they could use it in dire situations
  347. Needless to say, it's pretty effective, as no Red Beard was ever caught alive
  348. We were escorted to the outskirts of town, to this decrepit abandoned house
  349. The guards stayed outside, to make sure no one would get in our out
  350. And we entered.
  351. The house itself was empty and in bad state, but we quickly found a maintained trap door in the floor
  352. Under it, there were stairs going deep in the basement
  353. The basement definetly wans't in the original plans for this house, a door there went to a cave area which was clearly outside the bounds of the house
  354. Through the lock, Delilah saw a larger room with a massive heavy table in the middle and some thugs around
  355. We decide on a rush tactic : me and Quarion would run on sides of room, making space for the rest, while wizard stays back with spells ready
  356. Now, that fight got me a lot of strikes in my head, so I don't remember all that happened or in what order
  357. So I'll just say what details I can recall
  358. Reinforcements came from the corridor that rand around this room, an archer and a swordsman
  359. I blocked them by flipping the table to side, so we had cover
  360. But what they did was kick the table back and knocked Quarion on the ground
  361. Then I remember we were chasing these guys in the corridors around the room
  362. And then when we thought it the air was clear, another unit of reinforcements came
  363. One guy with a wide shield and two archers at his sides
  364. The shield was big enough to protect all three of them
  365. And they held close to the wall so we couldn't strike them from sides too
  366. We tried throwing everything we had at them, but no luck
  367. So we went with a different approach
  368. We hid in the corridor outside the room and put out all torches to create darkness
  369. They stood still in their fortified formation, waiting for any move
  370. Delilah thought about approaching them, she and Quarion could see better in darkness as Elves
  371. And I pulled the wounded wizard closer so we could heal ourselves
  372. But then the thugs changed their mind
  373. The shield guy activated his molar drug and the archers left the room
  374. He wasn't much of a problem though, he broke his skull as he jumped over the table
  375. But then another wave of attackers spawned
  376. I don't recall how it went exactly, but I do remember how it ended
  377. There was one guy left, who miraculously survived everything up until now
  378. I threw my hand axe at him, but missed and hit Delilah in head instead
  379. Quarion for some reason was under the table and tried to attack him, but instead knocked the legs of the table off on his side
  380. Making the table half fall on him
  381. Thoradin was drunk again, somehow
  382. And wizard was out of spellcasting power
  383. So all he could do is swing with his staff to ward him off
  384. I tried to redeem myself for my previous horrible axe throw, so I charged at the thug myself
  385. Rushing over the table, I tackled him to the ground, but also falling myself next to him
  386. It didn't help much though, as when the wizard tried to damage him, he picked himself up and deflected his staff, knocking him down aswell
  387. In his moment, he shouted his battle cry
  388. Something "is that all you lousy adventurers got?"
  389. And at that moment, I had enough
  390. All the failures, all the embarassement pent up in me surfaced up
  391. And I had only murder on my mind
  392. So I did the first thing I thought of
  393. I grabbed his dick
  394. And with one pull, I ripped off his groin, his guts, his entrails, his pelvis bone
  395. Blood gushed all over the place
  396. He just left a small whimper of pain and confusion, and collapsed dead
  397. That was the first time I felt something like that
  398. But I feel like it won't be the last
  399. Nobody said a word. we just accepted what happened, tended to our wounds, and moved on
  400. As we cautiously explored the basement, we found no more thugs, but more rooms
  401. We also found a storeroom full of crates
  402. And around that time we figured out we are not dealing with an usual gang
  403. Some of us tried to open the crates by force
  404. But when we opened them, they would contain horrible things
  405. For example, one crate I broke open had a single, beating bloody human heart in it
  406. But my companions couldn't see it
  407. And when I looked back to the crate, I couldn't see it anymore either
  408. It was like the crate was always empty
  409. Other had similar experiences
  410. Delilah found a crate full human eyes, which could also be seen only by her for a moment
  411. Quarion saw a pile of rotten meat and fingers
  412. Thoradin somehow found the only crate with normal loot, and it was wine
  413. I swear, dwarves...
  414. In another room I found a larger chest, and when I opened it, I saw a whole skinless human body, but no one else saw it
  415. And then it dissapeared
  416. We all had similar experiences, and so we agreed that this loot
  417. This whole place maybe was under some darker spell
  418. Hotimir tried investigating the chest,
  419. I don't know what he saw, but for a moment he jolted like he was in great pain and then collapsed back
  420. He confirmed the place was cursed, but didn't want to say anything more
  421. I didn't like this room either, so we continued exploring the other side of basement
  422. We found a chamber with what used to be a staircase, but it had collapsed long ago
  423. It was too dark to see where it was going to, and too deep
  424. Luckily, we found a replacement - a ladder going down in a nearby closet
  425. Ladder went down into a constructed underground corridor, which split into two
  426. We decided to investigate the right path first
  427. That path was wide enough for only one person, sometimes two at time, so we went in usual formation
  428. Fighters, rogue, wizard, cleric, fighter
  429. We make it to a dead end, but then Quarion and Thoradin dissapear
  430. And a thug appear in front of us
  431. After our last encounter, we decide not to risk and run back to the split
  432. But when we get back, we find out that Delilah has dissapeared too
  433. Me and Hotimir lock our backs together, watching for any possible threat
  434. Going very slowly into the corridor on left
  435. Guards come at us from both sides, but we somehow knock them off
  436. We make it to a door, and when we open it we see some kind of torture chamber
  437. Our Cleric, Rogue and other Fighter are already chained up to the wall opposite to us, and there is an armored guard with a halberd on right side
  438. I charge the guard while wizard struggles to free others
  439. He frees Quarion first, and he jumps to help me,
  440. I try to slam him to the ground, but fail, and Quarion saves me again
  441. We free the others and rest
  442. After that, we investigate the space
  443. There are doors on each side of this chamber
  444. We go to the door on right, and there is a short corridor with another room at the end
  445. Closed behind a curtain
  446. Wizard senses some sort of magic there, so we try throwing some stuff there first
  447. When we throw a torch, the fire is condensed by an invisible force into a fireball and deflected back at us
  448. When we throw a frog, nothing happens
  449. We figure out this curtain only wards aganist energy and spells, so we get through
  450. And behind we see what appears to be a ritual site
  451. A pentagram-like symbol drawn in blood with candles around
  452. Some writing I don't recognise
  453. And the blood is slightly glowing
  454. The writing is in demon speak, so nobody can figure out what this ritual is about
  455. The wizard gets closer to inspect the symbol
  456. But when he touches it, he is instantly pulled in the center of the symbol, floating in air
  457. We sense an immerse, wind like force pushing us away from him, and his eyes glow
  458. And he speaks some creepy gibberish in a demonic voice
  459. For a few seconds, before falling out of the symbol
  460. As he comes to, he doesn't remember anything
  461. But he only knows one thing: this is only one part.
  462. We try to throw Delilah's frog into the symbol, but we don't get any new info
  463. The frog just starts croaking in deep demonic voice before exploding
  464. And then two more identical frogs appear next to her
  465. (I forgot to mention additional frogs don't persist forever, by next day their number returns back to 1)
  466. (But we haven't found out a way to get rid of them completely)
  467. So, we go look through the door on other side
  468. And there, we find another symbol written in blood
  469. Identical to the one we inspected
  470. Hotimir, aganist our warnings, inspects it, and again he is pulled into, shouting gibberish before falling down
  471. And this time his eyes are crying blood
  472. But he knows more now: there is a third symbol hidden somewhere in this space
  473. But we inspected all doors and rooms we see,
  474. unless...
  475. Cleric prays for a revelation, and senses a fake wall back in the torture chamber
  476. We deactivate it, and find the final room with the third symbol
  477. We also notice the stars on all three symbols point towards the centre of torture chamber
  478. Maybe that is some kind of focus point?(edited)
  479. We throw one of frogs in the symbol, but again is croaks satanically before it explodes, and now we have three frogs
  480. And now Hotimir thinks of an idea
  481. These symbols are activated if a person steps inside
  482. What if we activate them all at once?
  483. The rest of us are a bit scared of idea, but we don't have much else to try
  484. So I grab one frog, Hotimir takes one and Quarion grabs one too
  485. We all take our frogs to each of the symbols
  486. And on count of three, we throw them in
  487. Suddenly all symbols start glowing stronger, and Hotimir is pulled in the center of Torture chamber
  488. Demonic chants are now louder
  489. Suddenly we all are blinded by a flash of light
  490. And when we come to, we are no longer in the torture chamber, or the basement, or in town
  491. We have no idea where we are
  492. As we light a torch, we see we are lying on muddy ground but only in a circle of 15 meters
  493. Further from that, it's pure darkness
  494. It feels like some kind of black tentacles are moving there in the shadow
  495. From all sides, and the light is keeping them away
  496. Hotimir also gets up and notices strange demonic writing burned into his arm
  497. Then, a booming voice is heard
  498. "Congratulations on making it this far, mortals.
  499. But this is your end!"
  500. or something like that,
  501. And in the centre of illuminated circle, an eldtrich monster rises from the mud
  502. It's bigger than the cave troll, has torso, two arms and a head, but this is where humanoid properties end
  503. It's body seems to be made up of hundreds of slimy black worms
  504. It's eyes and mouth glow green
  505. It doesn't have legs, it's torso looks like it just grows out of this mass of black tentacles from ground
  506. In it's back we see a lot of weapons stuck deep in
  507. This beast has been attacked before, but never defeated
  508. It attacks slowly, but it's area of attack is large
  509. And attacks are powerful
  510. It tries to swipe us with tentacles, summon black spikes from the ground or slam us into darkness
  511. Quarion gets knocked a bit too far and black tentacles in the shadows start stabbing him
  512. Thoradin quickly pulls him out
  513. As I swing for it's arm, my sword gets stuck inside it's body and I am thrown off
  514. I think of stealing another weapon from it's back and even manage to climb up over its head,
  515. But it throws me off nontheless
  516. It does get distracted enough for our wizard to use his spells on him and hurt him severely
  517.  
  518.  
  519.  
  520. Sympathetic-Yesterday at 10:43 PM
  521. Then, a booming voice is heard
  522. "Congratulations on making it this far, mortals.
  523. But this is your end!"
  524. or something like that,
  525. And in the centre of illuminated circle, an eldtrich monster rises from the mud
  526. It's bigger than the cave troll, has torso, two arms and a head, but this is where humanoid properties end
  527. It's body seems to be made up of hundreds of slimy black worms
  528. It's eyes and mouth glow green
  529. It doesn't have legs, it's torso looks like it just grows out of this mass of black tentacles from ground
  530. In it's back we see a lot of weapons stuck deep in
  531. This beast has been attacked before, but never defeated
  532. It attacks slowly, but it's area of attack is large
  533. And attacks are powerful
  534. It tries to swipe us with tentacles, summon black spikes from the ground or slam us into darkness
  535. Quarion gets knocked a bit too far and black tentacles in the shadows start stabbing him
  536. Thoradin quickly pulls him out
  537. As I swing for it's arm, my sword gets stuck inside it's body and I am thrown off
  538. I think of stealing another weapon from it's back and even manage to climb up over its head,
  539. But it throws me off nontheless
  540. It does get distracted enough for our wizard to use his spells on him and hurt him severely
  541. Then, as the monster is almost starting to fall apart, we see it is attempting to make a regeneration spell
  542. And the circle starts getting tighter
  543. We pull all our strength in to hit it with all we got
  544. Quarion goes for arms again, but it turns around and knocks him away into Thoradin
  545. Delilah distracts it with arrows
  546. And then, I notice my sword on the ground
  547. I pick it up, make a slashing move at the monster's core and hit the critical spot
  548. The monster roars a cry of death and dissolves, the tentacles disappear aswell
  549. All that is left are the fallen weapons, mud and us
  550. Trying to catch our breath, Delilah asks
  551. "Is this it? Did we beat it?"
  552. I told her it looks so
  553. I guess I do have my moments of luck after all(edited)
  554. Then, we hear the same voice as when we fell in this place
  555. "What you just defeated was a demi-god"
  556. "The real thing would be incomprehensible to you."
  557. "We'll see how you take it on."(edited)
  558. And then, in an instant, we are again blinded by light(edited)
  559. And we appear in the market of the town we were meant to save(edited)
  560. But nobody seems at all confused at our arrival
  561. In fact, nobody seems ... alright
  562. We see the guard captain and merchant there, and we run towards them
  563. "Hey, we did it! We defeated a monster in that basement!" I wanted to tell them
  564. But I never got to that
  565. The captain looked at us, horrified,
  566. The last thing he ever said was "You fools. You doomed us all."
  567. And then his guts tore open and he was eaten from inside out by black worms
  568. And one after another were the other citizens(edited)
  569. It was one of few moments when I experienced genuine fear
  570. I just ran
  571. And my colleagues were running too
  572. Soon, the exploding citizens were joined by a tremor
  573. Buildings were collapsing, ground was starting to move
  574. As we ran for the hills, we could see a hole opening in the ground at the center of city, sucking and swallowing everything
  575. And then, when all the buildings were gone and all citizens dead, the hole closed as if there was no city there ever at all
  576. Everything just dissapeared
  577. That night, as we made a camp uphill, we reflected on this mess of an adventure
  578. While the Elves and dwarf were arguing whose fault it was, I was struggling to comprehend the scale of everything we faced
  579. If there are such forces in this world, what hope do we humans even have?
  580. Wizard told me back then that this realization is nothing special,
  581. it's something all students of spellcasting go though when they learn of the world
  582. I didn't really buy it
  583. He told it to calm me down, but I knew he was terrified himself too
  584. Especially with that new tattoo on his arm
  585. And then, a moment of epiphany struck me
  586. I was always a bit jelaous of wizards' ability to make big things with a flick of wrist and few magic words
  587. But only then I realised they are still just people like me
  588. Or, to put it better, I was just like them
  589. And if that is true, then I too could learn how to control the strands of magic in this world
  590. To cast spells(edited)
  591. This is a monster-eat-wolf world. Whoever becomes more powerful faster than others rules the world.
  592. And considering the power of whatever we just pissed off, I will need to become stronger, quickly
  593. And so I did something shameful
  594. When Hotimir wasn't looking, I copied some pages out of his book of spells
  595. It's barely comprehensible now, but enough for me to start.
  596. I have time to train.
  597. Quarion and Delilah wanted to continue investigating this force
  598. Hotimir was on our side too, since he had his own curse to deal with now
  599. We all agreed to part ways for a certain time, to gather strength, investigate, research, train
  600. and recruit some help
  601. After 6 months, we would meet again and organise
  602. Beating a god requires an army, and army requires a lot of other things too
  603. Thoradin sadly wasn't having any of it
  604. Despite Hotimir's pleas, he left our group and joined wizard's mentor (who somehow also survived the city's collapse)
  605. together, they went off to find the best beer of the world(edited)
  606. I can't do more than wish them best of luck
  607. Now I have my own war to fight.
  608. In six months, we would reunite with some new allies, looking for a place to use as the headquarters of our organisation
  609. But that is another story…
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