Cayzle's Wemic Site
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The Mines I -- Ogre and Shadow
After lighting their torches, the party moves inside the mine and Bernard wishes them good luck before making his way back to the Inn. Inside, the mine is wide enough(12 feet) for two people walk side by side, and thus the party moves in the following formation: Owyth and Cronis go at the front, the dwarf claiming to be familiar with underground areas; In the middle goes Solana and Sculg, and taking the rear is Cosmos, with a pair of daggers ready to be pulled from his belt at any sign of danger, and Urameshi, his holy katana already unsheathed and casting a slight blue glow on the masked and dark clothed ninja. They crush a few debris as they move on the rocky ground, which Cronis notices before the others, had been evened by mining tools to ease the movement of carts as well as of workers. The walls though are a lot more irregular than the ground and seem to have been excavated not to search for iron but just to make a passage. The walls are dark gray of color and cold to the touch, and the reflection of the torches' flames are distorted on its surface. The temperature is a little cold and the air is quite humid. Maybe it's because they are close to the entrance, though some of the old wood beans inside the mine look like affected by water, which could have been drained by the mountain from the amount of huge storms hitting it, like the one they faced last night, and affected the air and temperature inside the mine. Either way, the first hundred and fifty yards proved to be very peaceful and even relaxing, compared to what they were expecting to encounter. They passed an empty and rusty hand cart on their way, also spotting a couple of pickaxes scattered on the ground. Then the main corridor ends, making a turn to the right, and once the party walks another hundred feet that way, the path divides in two directions: one going to their left and another that keeps going forward.
As the party halts and decides which way to go, Cosmos says from behind, sharing some of his dark sense of humor "Well, since we are walking to our deaths I don't see what's the problem of getting lost for a while!"
The party decides then to take the way to the left, following Cronis' instinct and experience. The path looks just the same as the one they've been following till now. A passage made by miners to the passage of men and carts, but still there are no signs that iron was searched in this area.
As they reach some 70 feet in that way they realize the path changes, from a man excavated passage in the mines, going straight to the north, to a natural passage going 'up' to the northeast. As they go up in it a little they notice that there's no sign that tools were used either on ground or walls, maintaining their natural condition. A soft breeze comes from the end of it suggesting that somewhere ahead there must be an exit to the outside of the mountain.
"I don't think this is taking us to where we want!" Cosmos says a little loud, so the others ahead could hear him. Half a minute later they hear a grunt. Whatever gave that grunt, it sounds like something big, though it doesn't seem to be very close.
[Condensation: The grunt comes from an ogre, and after a fight, the ogre is slain, although it knocks Sculg unconscious and wounds Owyth. After some magical healing, Sculg is back on his feet. After the fight, Solana scouts ahead and finds an inscription saying 'Carlos Dominus. ']
Recovering their torches from the ground after the fight, they continue their way inside the iron mine, always alert for any possible danger. It hasn't been even half an hour since they entered the mine and already they met an angry Ogre that, even though was quickly defeated, almost killed Sculg, who survived thanks to Owyth's priest spells. The wemic could also have died if the wound he received was a little deeper. But it's obvious the Ogre is the lesser of the problems they're gonna have to face here. Some greater evil resides inside this mine. An evil so strong that, since it was released, it killed all of those who ventured inside the mines, killed almost all of the cattle in Detrit and cursed the land as well as the sky, bringing dreadful storms every single night, and cursing the people with an incurable fever. Whatever it is that is causing such suffering to the people of Detrit, this small party of heroes decided to find out and destroy. They are far from being powerful, their spells still very weak and their weapon skills still needing a lot of improvement, but they lack no courage.
They walk almost a hundred yards to the east, passing by a couple of empty and rusty hand carts on the way, till they finally reach a wide, circular mining area, some ninety feet in diameter. Half a dozen hand carts are spread out around the place, some filled with stones to their top while others are turned over with many stones and pick axes scattered around them. But what really calls their attention is the first sight of dead miners. As the party quickly walks around, they count something around twenty dead men, lying in many different positions and in many different places. The orange light of the torches gives a creepy aspect to the bones and a tortured expression to their faces, most of them having their mouths so wide open, the party could hear them screaming inside their heads. It was impossible to know how most of them died, although some clearly had their skulls smashed by pick axes, which rested near them, dirty with dried blood. Also, two bodies could be seen hanging two feet above the ground on the west wall, their body suspended by pick axes buried below their rib cages and clavicles.
"Looks like they had a hell of a party in here!" Cosmos says, with his dark sense of humor, holding a skull in his left hand, which he throws back on the ground after a quick inspection. Kicking bones and loosen rocks as he walks he says, "It seems we have to choose which way to go again. " he stops, resting his left hand on his waist and quickly surveying around him, "We can either go north, east or south. Man I'm loving this!" he sounds sarcastic, "Why don't they just put a hole here in the middle and we jump down straightta hell!?" he forces a laugh and continues to look around.
The ninja remains silent, as most of the time since they entered the mine. It's as if he is always concentrated, the almond shaped eyes running every dark corner of the room and looking for all sorts of details.
[The party scouts around, finding little. Urameshi, Solana, and Sculg scout out the corridors nearby. Sculg comes back with a friend. ]
Finally, Sculg spots the curve to the southern passage and just as he leaves it he notices that everybody is there in the mining area awaiting for him.
The pair of red eyes enter the area just after the gully dwarf, screaming loudly with anger "YOU WILL DIE SCUUUUUUULG!"
In the center of the room, Cosmos opens his right eye wide in disbelief and curses their bad luck.
"Holy shit!! I knew it!! I knew that the only thing this pest could find in his search was trouble!!" the eye patched mage instantly begins to speak the unintelligible words of magic, making quick movements with his hands and producing a faint white light that quickly spreads all over his body, vanishing afterwards.
Urameshi steps infront of Solana and unsheathes his holy sword, the blue glow of the blade creating a light blue aura around the ninja.
The dark body of the shadow can not be seen from such distance, melting with the darkness around it, since the light of their torches doesn't illuminate that far. But they are sure that it's the same evil creature from the other night. The hissing evil voice and the glowing red eyes are unmistakable.
The red eyes stop following the gully dwarf and keep floating from a distance, staring at the party.
"It's time for you all to join me in death! Come, sheep! Come and diiiiie!"
Then the cry ceases and is replaced by the clanking sound of bones coming from all directions. Sculg gives a quick jump backwards, startled, as he notices that the skeleton he was destroying is now holding his both legs with its cold bony hands. All around the mining area the dead miners rise once more from their 'supposed to be eternal sleep', slowly walking towards the party and beginning to form a barrier of walking bones around them, some carrying pickaxes while others are holding rocks or just bare handed.
Urameshi sees one of the skeletons near him and Solana, thanks to the blue light coming from his sword, and quickly spins over his left heel, covering the front of the elf and making her backsteps a little to give him room. Almost instantly, a blue flash cuts the air infront of the skeleton and a white bony arm falls to the ground, the fingers still moving.
"The deadzu are arisin!!" the ninja shouts over his shoulder to alert the others. On the other side, Cosmos, who had dropped his torch to cast his spell, quickly retrieves it from the ground and moves it around him, letting out a short startled cry as he spots a skeleton with a pickaxe closing behind him. Turning around to face it, the eye patched mage throws the torch in the ground, between him and the skeleton, freeing his hands to cast another spell.
A light blue bolt of energy flies from his fingers and hits the undead miner, exploding most of its ribcage and also taking off its left arm, the right one still holding the pick axe.
"Hell, those things are stronger than I thought!!" he shouts backstepping a little.
The red eyes laugh, entertained by the whole situation and the begins to float slowly towards the gully dwarf.
The skeleton grabbing Sculg's legs is nothing but a head, two arms and a couple of ribs attached to a full long spine. The creepy creature has its mouth opened and seems to go for a bite at the gully dwarf's right leg but, realizing in time, he crushes the skull with a mighty blow of his ladle, splintering bones flying all over him once more. The skeletal remains of the dead miner lies motionless infront of him, the hands releasing their grip on his legs…
"Go for the shadow!!" someone screams. Probably the elf since the voice sounds feminine, Cosmos deduces.
"Yeah right!" he mumbles and almost has his chest crossed by the pick axe the skeleton infront of him is holding. "Shit!" he cursed himself for being distracted and stepped aside just in time to dodge the attack, although a big portion of his beige ragged cloak was ripped off. 'I'm not gonna spend another spell at this pile of bones' he thinks wondering what else he could do to destroy the skeleton. The dagger is totally useless, he knows, and he is not in a good position to retrieve the torch to use it as a club. Thus, seeing no other way, Cosmos releases a punch at the skull.
"Oooouch!!!" he yells in pain and looks frustrated at the undamaged skeleton head, the closed mouth looking like a smirk.
"Oh yeah? Think it's funny?!" he reaches for the pick axe and quickly yanks it away from the skeleton. "Take THAT! AND THAT! AND THAT!" in a burst of rage, he crushes the skeleton into pieces on then floor ground, and as he crouches to retrieve his torch he hears another scream. A very loud high pitched scream that brings a chill to his spine and stomach. "Is it…?" he stands up and turns around, a jet of flame illuminating the area around the red eyes. The light from the flame gives shape to the floating shadow, contrasting it's dark body with the also dark background and Cosmos sees that infront of the shadow stands Solana, the flame being produced from her fingers.
A smile cracks in the eye patched mage but it almost instantly ceases as the shadow growls in anger and sends Solana flying into the darkness. The flame extinguishes and all he can see again is the pair of red glowing eyes. . .
Solana finds herself lying on the ground with two skeletons standing next to her, the closest one holding a pick axe while the other is carrying a rock. She tries to get up but finds herself frozen in that position. The wound in her abdomen feels warm at first, with blood coming out of the four long cuts produced by the shadow's claw, with an faint cold feeling at the border of the cuts, a consequence for being touched by the shadow. Then the warm pain is gone and replaced by something worse. She feels the icy cold touch of the shadow entering her body through the cuts and spreading all over her, making her shiver, chattering her teeth. The skeletons reach closer. . .
"Noooooo!! Lana-chaaaaan!!" screamed Urameshi as he saw the shadow delivering a fierce blow in response to her attack. Inattentive, he finds himself punched in the chest by the skeleton next to him. Almost instantly the ninja grabs the bony arm with his right one and twists it then delivering a quick high kick that yanks the head of the skeleton and sends it flying away into the darkness. The skeleton drops motionless into the ground and the ninja runs to Solana's aid. "Solanaaa?!" he yells and then gets close to her, standing between her and the skeletons. "Aru you ok?" he asks her without taking his eyes from the skeletons. The elf is still in pain but finds enough energy to move again. . .
Charging in full speed, the wemic crosses the distance between him and the shadow in just a few seconds and swings his blessed sword at the dark creature who, only a few seconds ago, attacked Solana. The red eyes turn to face the wemic as it hears him approaching but finds no time to react and cries in pain again as the broad sword cut through its body. The cry is long and high pitched, almost forcing them to cover their ears. The red eyes float backwards, away from the imposing figure of the wemic, and then goes down into the floor, disappearing from view. Whatever happened to it, it's obvious it wasn't destroyed since the skeletons are still standing. That is so true that one of the skeletons throws a rock right at Owyth's chest, although it didn't hurt too much.
And what happened to Cronis? They didn't see or hear the dwarf but hope he's doing ok with the skeletons.
Solana and Owyth call the others to join forces at the eastern tunnel.
Urameshi covers Solana from the attack of the two skeletons and tells her to go ahead first.
Sculg responds to the calling and makes his way to the right side, meeting with the wemic and the elf.
Almost two minutes later, they are all gathered at the entrance of the tunnel, the skeletons that offered resistance lying motionless on the ground. Cosmos has just joined them, following the blue glow from the ninja's sword. Cronis appears another minute later, fortunately with no visible injuries.
The rest of the skeletons close the circle and are now making their way to the eastern tunnel. There are only two options. Either keep fighting or run away.
While the others are busy fighting the undead miners, Cosmos and Solana just watch, not having appropriate weapons to hit the skeletons and also not willing to spend their spells.
"Did you feel that?" Cosmos suddenly shivers, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. At first, Solana is not sure of what the eye patched mage is talking about, but then she feels an icy cold breeze behind her and notices the already weak flame of Cosmos' torch flickering wildly and almost extinguishing.
The two mages exchange a look, probably the same thought crossing their minds, and quickly turn around to check their suspicions. There it is. The pair of red eyes floating only five feet away from Cosmos, the same hissing voice coming from it . "YOU ARE GONNA DIIIE!!"
As always, Cosmos tries to cover his fear by making use of his dark sense of humor "Yeah, that's all you keep saying!! Try something new like, 'You're gonna suffeeeeer!!' or 'Your time has coooome!!'. " the mage mocks the shadow, trying to imitate it's hissing voice. Unfortunately to him, it works just too well and the angry shadow instantly attacks him.
By making use of her infravision, Solana can see, even though if just slightly, the dark hands of the shadow choking the mage, the mocking smile gone from his face and replaced by pure despair. The desperate mage shakes his arms, unsuccessfully trying to grab a hold on the shadow and free himself.
"YOUR TIME HAS COOOME!!" the shadow says, and laughs evily!!
Cronis and Sculg, together with Urameshi, manage to keep the skeletons at bay, while Solana and Owyth deal with the shadow attacking Cosmos. A bolt of energy flies from the elf's hand and hits the dark body of the shadow, but unlikely the other times the evil creature doesn't cry in pain. But that's just till the wemic swings his still blessed sword at the dark creature. It cries once more and releases Cosmos, who falls on his knees, massaging his throat with his hands and gasping for air.
Looking over his shoulder he sees the pair of red eyes still floating behind him. Moved mostly by instinct than reason, he quickly turns around and casts a jet of flame from his fingers, apparently the same spell used by Solana a few moments ago. The pain is added to the scream and the shadow disappears once more, although this time inside the rocky walls. A loud clanking of bones is heard and as the elf, the wemic and Cosmos turn around, they notice that the undead miners are not walking anymore. Their skeletal remains lying unmoving on the floor once more.
Regrouping again there's nothing left to do but go through the eastern tunnel, where Solana and Urameshi found a way down to a lower level of the mine.
The eastern passage takes them to another mining area with more pickaxes and iron ore scattered over the ground. A few things though call the attention of those who haven't been here before. The first one is the big mine carts, large enough to put the wemic inside it, and the next one is the rails on the ground that go all the way down a tunnel in the east wall.
The party hesitates for a while, wondering what lies ahead but once again sees no other option but to go down the tunnel. Whatever it is that has brought this curse to Detrit, it must be very powerful. What if there are more shadows ahead? They could take one down - with some effort, but they did. But what if they meet a dozen of those shadows? It's not even clear if they destroyed that one. . . One things is clear though. A powerful evil lies ahead and the more they venture inside the mine, the closer they feel to death.