Act Two
Tyrael strode boldly into the open tomb of Tal Rasha. The Dark Wanderer, the poor mortal who had defeated Diablo, and then become him, turned around. Tal Rasha was still bound to the pillar, the magical wards keeping Baal chained. "Tyrael," he whispered, "what an unexpected surprise to see you here."
Tyrael held his ground, saying nothing as he watched the warrior cross the bridge back to him. "Not an angel of many words, are you?" The two stood there for a moment, eye to eye. "Finally decided to give up on these lowly humans and do the job yourself?" Diablo laughed sarcastically.
Still Tyrael said nothing, simply raising a hand and conjuring a blade of pure white light. The Wanderer stepped backwards, raising a hand to shade his eyes, but not as far as Tyrael had expected. "Still, these mortals have some advantages over you."
With a sudden explosion, Tyrael was knocked from his feet, lurching sideways into one of the walls. When the angel looked up, three of the Prime Evils confronted him. "So I was too late after all," he lamented, straightening proudly. The demons snarled, and the battle was fierce but brief.
Briefly, Tyrael lamented that angels could not lose consciousness, as they chained him to the pillar where Baal had so recently been kept. Duriel laughed, frosty fetid breath washing over the angel's face. Baal smirked from the other side of the bridge, waiting as Diablo and Duriel joined him. "Sorry we can't stay and chat, Tyrael, but we have to visit our other brother."
They turned away, moving towards the exit, but Tyrael's whisper cut through the air like an arrow. "Why did you choose the darkness so long ago, Baal?"
The eldest and most powerful of the Prime Evil stopped, looking over his shoulder in contempt. "We knew, you and I, that from the beginning of time this battle must be fought. And if I must choose a side, I would rather be a Lord in my own realm than anything less under you."
They exited the chamber, leaving Tyrael hanging there, chained to the pillar, trapped like an insect in amber.
Several weeks later, Warriv's caravan stopped at the gates of Lut Gholein. Mercenary guards, all dressed with a red badge, warily searched the caravan with long spears and shields always at hand. But at last, the guards stood aside, waving the caravan into the city.
They traveled not far, pulling the wagons into a semi-circle in an open plaza. As the adventurers started to unload goods from the wagons, Lord Jehryn approached the train with guards in tow. "Warriv, welcome back. Thank goodness you've arrived. We've been waiting for weeks."
The two friends talked for several minutes about the affairs at the Sister's monastery, before Jehryn turned his attention to the group of seven heroes. "So Warriv, tell me about these heroes you bring with you."
The trader chuckled. "Well, they may not look like much, but they not only rescued Deckard Cain from the ruins of Tristram. They cleared out most of the Monastery, and banished Andariel back to Hell." He carefully pointed to Rupert, carefully organizing crates and barrels of goods. "The paladin there dealt the final blow, but they were all in on the fight."
Jehryn nodded, watching each one in turn. But soon the unloading was complete, and the adventurers crowded around Warriv to meet the leader of Lut Gholein. "Welcome, heroes. I hope you can do such a good job here. The deserts outside our walls have been growling thicker with monsters. Your caravan is the first in many months."
Tharos nodded. "Trust me, we noticed. The last two days we've slain dozens of giant bugs."
Jehryn nodded, narrowing his eyes at the necromancer. "Indeed. At any rate, you might want to talk with Atma. She runs the tavern on the northern side of the city. I also suspect that Greiz, the mercenary captain, will want to speak to you as well."
Jehryn turned and walked away towards the palace, and the group slowly turned towards the north side of the city. They passed dozens of small merchants, most set up on nothing more than a folding table, hawking wares. Garou stopped at one stall to sniff in disdain at the stuffed Moose head and carved ebony bird.
Near the center of the marketplace stood Cain, sitting on the edge of a large stone well, telling tales to a group of excited children. But they turned aside, stopping at another booth. "Hey there, I'm Lysander! I can serve all your potion needs, for Jews or Gentiles! All potions made with completely kosher ingredients!"
Erris and Tharos shared a look of confusion. "What the heck does kosher mean?" the amazon asked.
Garou just shook his head, pushing them through the crowd. "Keep moving, ignore Mel Brooks." The necromancer glanced back once more though, reading the sign over his stall displaying, "All circumcisions - half off!" and winced.
After a tiring walk through the marketplace, and several streets of sunbleached homes, the group finally reached the tavern that Jehryn had spoken of. The main room was fairly well packed, with several off-duty guards and many townsfolk taking a break from the scorching heat of midsummer.
Behind the bar stood a sad-looking woman, dressed all in black, pouring drinks and serving strips of lamb and fish to the customers. Garou's eyes lit up at the sight of the kegs behind the counter, but the crush of patrons inside was too thick to force their way to the bar.
Jezebel finally managed to get everyone's attention. "Let's come back later," she shouted over the bustle. "When it's less crowded." Slowly, the five forced their way back to the slightly less crowded streets.
After a little more wandering, and some directions from red-tunic guards, they saw a man standing on a corner, dressed up as a military commander. While his clothes looked designed for a ball at the palace, the spear he carried was still fresh with blood. As they approached, they saw him tense, and spear another rat, casually tossing it off the spear behind him.
"Ah, you must be those heroes everyone in town is talking about." He held out a hand in greetings. "My name's Griez. Most of the mercenaries you see around here are my men. Yep, we're the only ones who can keep law and order in this town, not like …" His voice slowly faded away into silence, though his mouth kept moving. Finally Jezebel reached over and tapped him. "Hmm? You had a question?"
Jezebel looked at him oddly. "Well, your voice sort of faded away."
Griez groaned. "Curses! There's a tribe of Claw Vipers, fairly far out in the desert, but we passed them on our way here. Damn beasts cursed me, so whenever I start to go off on a monologue my voice just disappears. It's really not fair, with all the places I've been, to not be able to talk about them. Like that battle in …"
The group slowly conferred as Greiz silently prattled on. "This guy is a looney," Erris muttered.
Oksana licked her lips. "I dunno, men in uniforms look yummy."
Rupert groaned. "Whatever. He's a mercenary captain, let's see if we can hire a soldier who knows the area fairly well."
They turned back to Greiz, Jezebel tapping his arm again. "Mister Greiz, do you have any soldiers we could hire, who know the area pretty well?"
The captain nodded. "Of course, you must be going after Radament!" At their blank looks he tried to explain. "The undead leader down in the sewers? Eating lots of townfolk until my soldiers started guarding the sewer entrances. Yeah, he'll be a tough one to get out of there, just like …"
Erris smacked his arm impatiently. "What? Oh, right, soldier." Greiz whistled piercingly, and waited. A few moments later, a soldier waddled out of the barracks behind the captain. The new soldier was so fat he looked round enough to roll, and was dressed in a garishly orange cloak, with the hood pulled up over his head. "Here you go, Kenny will go with you."
In astonishment, the group stared at Kenny. Erris whirled back on Greiz. "That bucket of lard? What good is he in a fight?"
As Greiz started to open his mouth to respond, the sewer trapdoors near him burst open. Several skeletons clattered out, the one in the lead firing an arrow that swiftly buried itself in Kenny's head. In perfect unison, every soldier within sight cried, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny! You bastards!"
In a frantic rush, the soldiers all charged the trapdoor, battering skeletons apart with their spears and shields. As the last one fell, the soldiers closed the trapdoors and returned to their normal activities.
Tharos looked at Kenny in shock. "Well, so much for a mercenary."
Greiz waved a hand airily. "Oh no, don't worry. He'll be up and about in a few minutes. The Claw Vipers cursed him that he can't die, poor bugger." Indeed, as they watched, the arrow slowly was forced from his flesh, the wound closing and healing.
With their new mercenary in tow, the group of heroes returned to the central marketplace. Garou and Tharos looked at each other. "Ever get the impression that you were trapped in a really bad story?" the druid asked.
The necromancer nodded. "Sometimes. Like right now. Why do you ask?"
Garou sighed. "Well, when this is all over, I want a big reward. Either the author's life, or a bottomless cask of wine."
Hearing the last part, Jezebel snorted. "I still can't believe the two of you drank a cask five times your size in two days."
Ron Bars grinned. "Ron Bars drink well!" he boomed.
As the afternoon wore on, the sweating adventurers stumbled back into Atma's tavern. Off in a corner, a loud drunk was shouting out a drunken tale of his exploits. But the group ignored him, Ron Bars pushing a way through the smaller crowd to a large table. After a few minutes, Atma came over to their table. "Greetings, adventurers. What may I do for you?"
They quickly ordered meals, but before Atma could turn away, Rupert asked her, "I've heard something about you, and a monster in the sewers named Radament?"
She nodded sadly, adjusting the black veil that held her hair in place. "Yes. He is a horrible monster. Some weeks ago, shortly after nightfall, my husband and son were returning from the marketplace with more supplies for the tavern. Radament and a score of skeletons came out of the sewers, slaying some people and dragging others down to the sewers with them."
Erris frowned. "How is it that everyone knows this monster's name?"
"Fara, the blacksmith in the main square, is a follower of Zakarum. She and Drognan, the lord's advisor, did some research after Radament appeared, and named the beast. That was when Lord Jehryn hired Griez and his mercenaries to keep order in the town."
With a small bow, Atma left the group. Tharos drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "After we eat, let's try to find this Drognan. He will probably know more about the nature of Radament."
Jezebel scoffed at him. "What, the powerful necromancer doesn't know the nature of the dead?"
He smiled thinly. "Jezebel, there are at least a dozen different kinds of undead that have to eat living human flesh to continue their existence. Since Drognan already seems to know which kind it is, I prefer to ask him, so that we may prepare ourselves ahead of time."
As the two argued, Garou tapped Ron Bars on the shoulder, pointing at the large casks behind the bar. "Bet you a hundred gold that I can drink one of those before you."
The barbarian laughed. "Ron Bars drink well!" he boomed, as the two prepared to raid the wine stocks.
But Oksana and Erris grabbed them, and forced them back to their seats. "No more drinking for you two!" the assassin admonished. "Or have you forgotten there's a man-eating giant zombie in the sewers?"
"Ron Bars kill!" Oksana simply rolled her eyes and sighed.
But he fell silent as Atma returned, pushing a small cart and revealing their meals. As they started to eat, Atma managed to get their attention. "If you are truly here to help the city, as the rumors say, then there is no harm in my asking.
"I do not expect this of you, but …"
Tharos handed a lit torch to one of his skeletons, and descended into the sewers, holding his nose. The others followed after him, trooping down the narrow, muck-covered stairs into the smelly darkness. "Tharos, are you sure we're prepared for this?" Erris asked him.
He just nodded. "Yep. Drognan explained it to me."
Rupert looked around the narrow tunnels. "So how do we kill Radament then?"
Tharos chuckled darkly. "Same way you kill any other undead. Hit it until it stops moving, hit it some more for good measure, then sprinkle some salt on it."
Jezebel sighed, trying to avoid stepping in anything. "You make it sound so simple," she muttered.
The group turned a corner, coming face to face with a large pack of red-colored skeletons. "Burning dead!" Tharos cried as his skeletons clattered forward to shield him. Ron Bars charged forward, but stopped as a burning arrow clanged from his helm.
Kenny lumbered forward as well, holding his spear out. But one of the skeletons just stepped aside, tripping the mercenary and watching as Kenny impaled himself on his own spear.
But the battle was quickly over, Erris firing arrows of cold into the ranks of skeletons. She snorted at the impaled Kenny. "I still say we should go back and ask for a different merc."
Garou shrugged. "Why? He'll do well enough. As long as he distracts the enemies long enough for us to get in the first blow, does it matter?"
With a sigh, the group waited until Kenny had recovered, and set about exploring for the bottom level of the sewers.
Two floor, several piles of sewage, and many hordes of skeletons and decaying zombies later, they found the bottom floor. Oksana stopped, looking at a wall for a moment, before starting to use her katar to clear away some of the grime. The others stopped to look over her shoulder.
Etched into the wall was a rough outline of a book or a box, and an arrow pointing deeper into the sewers. With several cautious glances around, the group slowly walked deeper into the tunnels. They followed the direction of the arrow, finding more etchings in the walls to guide them further.
Finally, Rupert halted the group, gathering them into a small circle. "Doesn't it seem odd that there aren't any undead down here?" he whispered. They all shared worried looks, but against followed the arrows deeper into the sewers.
Then from up ahead came the glow of torchlight. The group slowed, taking the torches from Tharos' skeletons and grinding them out. The necromancer crept up to the corner of the wall, carefully peering around it.
In a small chamber, several burning dead stood there, holding torches. Sitting on a rough crate was Radament, or at least that's what Tharos assumed. But the undead leader did not appear human any longer - one arm had been replaced with a scythe blade, and the head had been transformed into that of a jackal. And on his lap was a great tome, that Radament was softly reading to himself.
Tharos stopped to consider for a moment, then made a gesture with his hand. His two skeletons clattered forward, walking into the chamber. As the necromancer had thought, Radament paid no attention to his minions. Not until his skeletons stepped up and shattered two of the burning dead.
Radament slammed the book closed, rising to his feet. As the undead leader stepped forward, one of Tharos' skeletons flipped him the finger. With a roar of anger, Radament slashed with his scythe-arm, shattering one skeleton. Tharos promptly raised another one, turning it against the burning dead.
This game went on for several minutes, Tharos and Radament fighting by proxy with the skeletons. But finally Tharos waved Erris forward, whispering to her as he controlled his minions. "Get an arrow ready with this," he murmured, handing her a salt crystal. "When he turns this way, shoot him in the chest."
As the others watched, Erris quickly replaced the arrowhead with the salt crystal, testing the balance before preparing her bow. As she pulled back the string, Tharos had one of his skeletons stab Radament in the back, causing the undead leader to spin around. Erris quickly let fly, and the arrow burst on his chest, showering Radament with tiny shards of salt.
The giant undead staggered for a moment, moaning as the salt crystals sucked away his magical life. Then, with a crash, and a cloud of poisonous vapors, he dropped to the floor, the withered body disintegrating.
With a few more arrows, and a lightning bolt from Jezebel, the last of the burning dead fell. Tharos' last skeleton came clattering back, holding forth the tome, and they all gathered around to read it. But as they flipped through the first few pages, none of them recognized the language it was written in.
Garou tapped the book. "Let's take this back to Cain. He might be able to read it." Munin cawed agreement, and the group turned around to head back to the surface.
The adventurers trooped back onto the city streets, to the amazement of all who stood near the docks. Some of the people cheered, but most just looked at the group in astonishment. Finally they reached the tavern, and Atma stood outside waiting for them. "Is it true? Is Radament dead?"
Tharos nodded silently. Drognan also stepped out of the tavern. "You did make sure to cut him down before you applied the salt, didn't you?"
"Well, actually, oof!" Rupert cut off as Erris elbowed him sharply. "Of course we did," the amazon continued.
Just then, a roar sounded from the sewer entrance near the docks, sounding too much like the undead they had left behind. Cursing, the adventurers rushed back towards the dock, Garou and Erris rolling Kenny along after the mercenary tripped.
As they came in sight of the docks, they could see Radament standing there, controlling almost three score undead, battling with Griez' beleaguered men. But Erris winked at Garou, and with a final shove, they hurled the rolling Kenny straight into the crowd of skeletons.
With several crashes, Kenny bowled straight through the bony ranks and into Radament, launching them both into the air, off the side of the docks, and out into the ocean. As the undead hit the salty water, his body shattered, the bones dissolving into the sea. Without the leader to guide them, and with Oksana and Ron Bars merrily joining the melee, the other skeletons were quickly turned into little piles of splinters.
Drognan finally limped up to them, shaking his staff at Erris. "You said he was dead already!"
She shrugged. "Hey, not my fault. We threw salt at him, he fell down and didn't get back up. Now we now for sure he's dead."
Lysander covered his eyes with one hand. "Oi Vey," he muttered.
Away from the group, Atma looked out to sea where Radament had fallen in. She whispered something, then turned and walked up to the adventurers with tears in her eyes. "Thank you for providing me with vengeance. I have talked to all the merchants, and they have agreed to offer you reduced prices on their goods and services."
From the back of the crowd, Lysander muttered, "And don't think we're not regretting it, either."
Drognan shot the apothecary a dark look, and he subsided as Atma continued. "At any rate, I believe Lord Jehryn will likely want to speak with you again. You can find him at the palace.
The group approached the palace, set into the wealthier corner of the city. Here, the streets were more uniformly paved, and the citizens they passed wore finer clothes, even silk for many. Finally they reached the open plaza in front of the palace, with several of the royal guards posted around the square.
They all stopped to stare at the gleaming structure. Gold and brightly covered ceramic mosaics covered the entire building, showing pictures of the history of the city and people of Lut Gholein. The spires above flew several banners, and more guards stood on the balconies, their spears or swords held tightly with pride.
"Shiny," Ron Bars said, in a quieter voice than usual. Jezebel snorted, poking the barbarian in the ribs. The group slowly mounted the marble steps leading to the palace entrance. A decorated guard stood outside, holding his spear sideways to block the doors.
"You may not enter the palace," the guard said.
Ron Bars looked at him. "Shiny building," he said.
"You may not enter the palace," the guard replied.
"Shiny building," Ron Bars growled back.
As the two of them went on like this, Jezebel tapped Rupert on the shoulder. "Well, what now? How are we supposed to talk to the lord if we can't go in to find him?"
As Rupert opened his mouth to answer, Munin cawed, and flapped off a short distance to land in a palm tree. From that direction though, Lord Jehryn came walking down the street, chatting with the townsfolk as he returned to the palace. Erris thwaped the barbarian with her bow to get his attention, and the group turned back to face Jehryn.
The lord of the city looked at them with narrowed eyes. "I have heard many reports of your defeat of Radament. So far, you do not fill me with great hope for my city, but unfortunately, you are the best chance I have." He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with one hand. The seven looked between themselves, mostly showing a bit of embarrassment and a little bit of outrage.
"Since you are the best chance my city has for survival, and because of my discussions with Cain, I will tell you what I know. Several weeks ago, a Dark Wanderer passed through here. It is well known there are seven Horadric tombs …"
The seven trooped back across the city toward the gates into the desert. Suddenly, Rupert stopped dead in the street, almost causing Jezebel to crash into him. "Wait a minute, what happened to Kenny?" he blurted.
The others looked around, a slow look of horror creeping over their faces. With Erris in the lead, they turned and ran back for the docks, finally skidding to a halt where the mercenary had gone in. There, out a ways in the harbor, floated the fat Kenny.
Erris grabbed Tharos by the shirt. "Go in, go after him!"
He looked back in astonishment. "I can't swim," he said.
She looked at Ron Bars, who waved his hands in front of his chest. "Ron Bars dog paddle," he boomed.
With a cry of frustration, the amazon threw down her bow, stripping off her armor, and most of her clothes. Several men in the street stopped to whistle and catcall as she dove off the pier into the salty water. In silence, they watched her swim out, and start dragging Kenny back to the side of the pier.
Rupert, Garou, and Ron Bars all strained to help pull Kenny up the ladder onto the docks, but finally the mercenary rolled onto the boards, gasping and coughing up water. Oksana helped Erris up the rest of the way, pulling the amazon into a close embrace before being loudly slapped.
Tharos chuckled at Oksana as they both watched Erris wring the water out of her hair. "You just couldn't resist, could you?"
The assassin smiled seductively back. "Funny, I didn't hear you complaining when I did that to you," she purred. He coughed, blushing a bright red.
Finally, with Erris re-armed and armored, the group turned again for the gates to the city. Garou tossed his raven up into the air, letting Munin take flight to scout out the closer reaches of the desert for them. The druid squinted up at the sky, looking at the position of the sun. "I think we can reach the closest watering hole before nightfall, and set up camp there," he said.
Jezebel nodded, narrowly missing two playing children with her staff. "Then what?"
Rupert looked back at them. "Maybe before we head out to the desert, we should ask Cain if there's anything important in that book we found Radament reading?"
Garou clapped him on the back. "Good thinking." They turned down a street, heading back for the central marketplace.
The group sat around waiting while Cain finished telling a story to a group of children. But finally, the sage motioned them over, and the gathered near to listen. "I've managed to decipher a great deal of this book," he said, tapping the leathery cover. "It's an old Horadric journal, and it tells of how the mages sealed Tal Rasha into his tomb. To get inside the tomb, you need to construct a Horadric staff, and I think I know where the parts are. But first, go into the desert and find the Halls of the Dead …"
As night began to fall, they reached a large watering hole on the edge of the Dry Hills. With Erris and Garou on watch, the others quickly pitched their blankets and prepared to sleep for the night. The night air was thick with insects, and the group found it hard to sleep, constantly slapping at biting flies. But finally, they drifted off, trading watches as the moonless night wore on.
With the morning sun, the tired group pressed onward where Cain had directed them. As midday approached, they stopped at another water hole to refill their empty canteens. But soon, Munin came winging back to perch on Garou's shoulder, cawing weakly before winging off again. "Well?" Jezebel asked.
The druid sighed. "He says that there is a building sticking up from the sand not too far away. I hope it is the one we seek."
Erris snorted. "Come on, how many can there be?"
Rupert kicked at a small swell of sand. "Remember the small sandstorm we went through with Warriv's caravan?" She nodded slowly, and the others remembered it with horror. "Imagine a big sandstorm. It could bury a building for years, maybe centuries, and until another windstorm came along to blow away the sand, no one would ever know about it."
Jezebel looked horrified. "So what if the tomb we need to find is buried under the sands?"
Tharos waved a hand towards his laden skeletons. "These two can dig, though not very fast. As long as we knew the right place, assuming it's buried, we could reach it in a few days, I think."
The sorceress shook her head sadly. But from the rise of the next dune, they saw the dark granite stone of the temple Munin had seen. The outside had been worn away from countless years of exposure to the harsh winds and sand, but in a few spots they could still see remains of elaborate carvings.
As they reached closer, Erris looked into the darkened interior. "Well, these stairs go down. So we must be at the top of this thing." She turned, looking at Kenny. "You first, merc." As he waddled forward, she shoved him down the stairs with a clatter. Somewhere at the bottom they heard a crash, the sounds of breaking pottery and bones.
With torches and magelight held aloft, they trooped down slowly. Sure enough, there at the bottom lay Kenny, the broken pieces of several skeletons sticking out of his body. Sandwiched between him and the wall were the remains of several decorated urns. Tharos examined them gravely. "If there were undead here before Kenny crashed in, then they surely know we are here now."
Oksana furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about? How can a dumb skeleton know we're here from a broken pot?"
The necromancer shook his head. "Many tombs in these deserts were ensorcelled with Horadric magic after the fall of the three Prime Evils. In tombs like this one, necromancy was often used to discourage looters and graverobbers. If any of the burial provisions are disturbed, it awakens the entire tomb. And if Diablo has passed by here, there will be even more and stronger undead and demons waiting for us."
As Kenny finally recovered and started to stand, several burning arrows whizzed out of the darkness, all of them striking him. With a clash of weapons, the seven stood victorious over the dead archers. "You sure there will be more, Tharos?" the paladin asked. As he nodded, Rupert knelt in prayer. To their surprise, he began to glow as his prayer finished. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" Rupert asked nervously.
Jezebel shook her head. "Just never seen a paladin, let alone you, do that." With the glowing Rupert in the lead, they headed into the tomb. Rupert's aura shattered skeletons, and the few demons and spear cats fell easily to arrows and axe.
Finally, they reached what appeared to be the bottom floor of the tomb. Garou held his torch closer to the wall, looking at the fanciful frescos and mosaics that adorned the walls. As the group started down the hallway, he grabbed Jezebel by the arm. "Look at this picture here," he pointed, "what is that thing he's holding there? It looks like some kind of strange box."
The sorceress also puzzled over it for a moment. "Probably some chest with gold or jewels in it," she said. "I can't read this language." They hurried to catch the rest of the group, stopped some distance away.
But as they grew closer, Garou saw why his companions had stopped. The end of the passageway was blocked by a large slab of stone, almost perfectly fitting the doorway, and carved with more hieroglyphics. Tharos kept roaming his eyes over the door, muttering to himself as he pointed out symbols.
Finally, Erris grew tired of waiting. "Well, can you open this door or not, Tharos?"
He looked over his shoulder at her. "Sure, opening it is easy. Just push on it, and the counter-weight will lower it into the floor. It'll also kill us." Jezebel squeaked nervously. "If I can figure out what this 'curse of slow poison' is, and how to avoid it, then I'll open the door."
Oksana shrugged, sitting down and sharpening her katar. Ron Bars also sat down, yawning and closing his eyes. The others also relaxed, except for Kenny - no one was sure whether he was relaxed or not, as he was too round to sit on the ground.
Finally, muttering obscenities under his breath, Tharos threw his wand to the ground in disgust. "I give up. I can't read enough of this ancient script to figure out what to do."
Rupert thought for a moment. "I guess then, let's retreat back to the stairs, and we can use one of your skeletons to push open the door." The others nodded, as none of them had any brighter ideas, and Erris kicked Ron Bars to wake up.
They quickly walked back to the stairs, leaving only the two skeletons standing by the door. As they watched, Tharos held his wand, and one skeleton shoved against the stone slab. Slowly, it retreated into the floor. But no apparent traps were triggered, and Erris snarled. "Kenny, go check it out!"
Mutely, the mercenary wobbled forward, spear held ready. But nothing invisible in the hallway killed him, and no monsters appeared in the room to slay him either. As the skeletons followed him in, their torchlight revealed an empty room - except for a single pedestal, holding a strange, wooden box.
Kenny greedily rested his spear, picking up the box. With a loud grinding noise, the walls of the hallway split open, hordes of skeletons swarming out. Ron Bars shouted in glee, charging at the skeletons. Rupert was only a moment behind him, still glowing brightly and bashing skeletons away with his shield.
Over their heads, Oksana threw a trap, which landed near the doorway, spewing flames at the skeletons. But all too soon, the undead were vanquished, and the heroes carefully walked back to the room. Tharos clucked his tongue, noting the poisoned blades the skeletons had wielded. "So that's what the symbol was," he muttered to himself.
Kenny, of course, had been nailed to the pedestal with a poisoned blade sticking out of his chest. In disgust, Erris pulled it out and tossed it into a corner. Jezebel picked up the box, looking at the carvings on every side. "What a curious thing," she said. "But there doesn't seem to be any way to open it."
One by one, the others all took a try at the box, but no one could understand the strange, wave-like carvings or decipher how to open it. Garou sighed, handing the box to Tharos' skeleton. "Let's take this back to Cain, too. Maybe that book told him we had to come get it."
Wearily, they trooped back to the surface, occasionally watching Ron Bars shatter a skeleton they missed. But back in the arid evening air, they hoisted their packs and prepared for the long walk back to the city.
Back in the city, Rupert presented the box to Cain. The old sage's eyes widened in great surprise. "A Horadric Cube! Then I was right!" He pulled the book back out, flipping through pages and muttering to himself in an unrecognized language. Finally, Cain stopped and look up at them again. "Do you remember passing an oasis with the caravan?"
Rupert nodded. "Sure, I remember. That's almost three days out in the desert."
Cain nodded again. "There are some tunnels underneath the oasis. By now, they have probably been overtaken by some of the giant insects, but in those tunnels is the Staff of Kings. Find it and bring it back here."
"But that will take us a week," Erris complained. "What about Diablo?"
Jezebel rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. If I can find a scroll of town portal for sale, then we only have to walk out there."
Their first stop was to see Lysander. As they approached his booth, they noticed the curtains were closed. As Rupert reached up to tap on them, they heard a snik and a cry of pain from inside. Lysander hurried out of the curtains, almost knocking Rupert down. The apothecary called over his shoulder, "Just put some ice on it, and it'll be fine!"
Jezebel cleared her throat, and Lysander turned to regard her. "Ah, yes, the adventurers? What can I do for you? Maybe you came here to buy some sacramental wine?"
Garou's eyes lit up, but Erris smacked him before he could say anything. "No, actually," Jezebel said, glaring at her companions, "we were wondering where we could buy a scroll of town portal."
The old man hummed, stroking his beard as he thought. "Well, not from me. Drognan might have some. Where are you headed to, anyway?"
Tharou sighed. "A set of tunnels out in the desert, probably taken over by those giant maggots."
Lysander clapped his hands together. "Then you do need sacramental wine! Just a minute." He turned and rushed back into his booth, coming out with several small vials. "Sacramental wine, guaranteed to cure what ails you! Hurts, poisons, weariness," with a wink and nudge to Rupert, "problems with the ladies, anything!"
Rupert turned bright red, but Oksana grabbed several. "Thanks so much! We'll tell you how they work out!" The group quickly walked off, looking for Drognan.
Fara walked over to stand next to Lysander. "Are you sure those seven know what they are doing?"
He chuckled. "Does it matter? There's not anyone else, but I'm sure Tyrael has his hands full keeping them alive." He chuckled some more. "Boy, I think they're going to get really shnookered with that wine!" Fara rolled her eyes and walked back to her own booth.
Three days later, they finally reached the edge of the Far Oasis. As the sun rose, the group awoke to the scent of Ron Bars frying sand maggot eggs over a small fire. Jezebel walked over to look, and made a face. "Oh, that looks disgusting!" she cried. "I hope you weren't expecting us to eat that?"
In answer, the barbarian picked up his portion and swallowed the greasy thing whole. Garou came over as the sorceress fled, and tried a small bite of the eggs. With a face, he managed to swallow it. "No offense, Ron Bars, but your cooking skills leave much to be desired." The barbarian looked at him in confusion, then shrugged and downed the rest of the eggs.
As they started walking the perimeter of the oasis, Oksana asked, "How are we supposed to find these tunnels, anyway? I certainly didn't notice them on the way in with the caravan." The others shrugged.
Suddenly, with a wail, Kenny dropped out of sight, a hole in the sand suddenly appearing. Jezebel almost fell in as well, but her staff got stuck in the sand, with her desperately hanging from it, halfway into the hole. Ron Bars carefully lifted her up, and they all looked at the hole.
Erris sighed. "This must be it. I'll go down first." But as she started to step forward, Tharos blocked her way with an arm.
"Don't be stupid. We don't know how far down the hole goes. You could be killed." He carefully stepped backwards from the hole.
The amazon bristled. "I suppose you want to be a dumb male and shield me from all the danger?"
Tharos rolled his eyes, and gestured. One of his skeletons clattered forward, and jumped down the hole. "I'd prefer to shield all of us from pointless death, if I can," he said, smirking. "The hole curves a few feet down, and it's a safe landing."
With a shout of glee, Oksana dove into the hole, and they could hear her laughing all the way down. One by one, they dove after her, until all stood in a roughly circular chamber, some thirty feet below the surface. Jezebel held her ball of light aloft until the others could light torches. Finally, they looked around.
The chamber seemed to have only one exit, covered by a thin membrane of some slimy mucus. Rupert carefully set it on fire, wrinkling his nose at the smell. But it burned away quickly, revealing a tunnel leading deeper into the sands. "Well, I guess this is the way we should start," he said, stepping forward.
They wandered for almost an hour, through the twisting passages and occasional chambers. Finally, Garou stopped in one chamber. "I think we're going in circles," he said. As he opened his mouth to continue, a gout of poisonous mucus came from the passageway behind him, coating the druid's head and back and sending Munin tumbling to the ground.
With a roar, Garou turned around, shifting into a werewolf as he tore the sand maggot into pieces. The others all stayed well back until he had finished, and turned to regard them, covered in ichor. He looked down at himself, and growled. "Damnit, I hate these accursed bugs!" He spun around angrily, stalking down the tunnel.
That was how he found the hole down to the next level, another long slide down to another set of circular tunnels. Several more hours of walking in circles later, they found a third slide down. "I sure hope we find this staff soon," Oksana muttered. "I'm starting to run out of traps."
The others nodded, walking along wearily. Even Ron Bars was dragging his axes along the ground, and only the animated skeletons showed no sign of exhaustion. But this third level seemed different than the others, with only one long, straight tunnel from the original chamber.
Finally, they could see ahead of them the tunnel widening out into a very large chamber. They doused all but one torch, and dimmed the magelight, as they grew closer. At the chamber entrance, they stopped and stared in wonder.
The chamber itself was almost fifty feet across, and twenty feet high. Near the center was the largest sand maggot any of them had ever seen, almost thirty feet long, slowly pumping out egg after egg into the sand. Other sand maggots were moving the eggs slowly into piles in another part of the room.
The adventurers quietly prepared themselves, and Rupert counted down with his fingers. As he reached zero, arrow and lightning bolt flew towards the huge queen maggot, a lightning web arced across the eggs and worker maggots, and the others charged into battle. It was over very quickly, the adventurers all covered in gore and mucus from the sand maggots.
Rupert dug into the pile of shattered maggot eggs, pulling out an ornate box. As he opened it, the staff inside began glowing. Jezebel whistled at the sight of the staff. "Well, that's certainly interesting, don't you think?"
Oksana poked the sorceress. "Where's that scroll? I want to go take a swim in the ocean and clean all this muck off of me." The assassin carefully scraped away a line of green ichor off her cheek.
As they started to leave through the portal, Erris growled, stepping over to the wall and prying Kenny loose from the sand, where a gout of maggot spit had plastered him.
As they stepped into town, the people of Lut Gholein quickly parted, leaving a big hole in the crowd for the stinky, gore-covered adventurers. Without a word, they all trooped down to the docks, climbing in even in armor to clean away the sticky green maggot blood.
Finally clean, they staggered back to the main square of the marketplace and collapsed at Cain's feet. Rupert carefully pulled the glowing staff from his pack and handed it to Cain. "Yes, this is it!" he said triumphantly. "Good, you only need one more piece to create the Horadric Staff necessary to open Tal Rasha's tomb!"
Tharos held up a hand. "Hold it. Why do we need to open the tomb that holds Baal?"
The sage glared at him. "How are you going to prevent Diablo from freeing Baal?"
Tharos frowned. "Hey, I'm just worried that we might accidentally free Baal ourselves."
"Oh, that's quite beyond your skills. I fervently hope so, anyway." He frowned, and leaned the staff against the well next to him. "At any rate, the other piece for the staff is the Viper Amulet. It should be in the Claw Viper temple."
"Now wait a minute!" Erris cried. "Claw Vipers curse people. If we go in there and loot their temple, won't they curse all of us?"
Cain rolled his eyes. "Once you take the amulet, the Vipers won't be able to curse anybody! Now quit arguing, and ask Griez where the stupid temple is already."
Oksana shook her head. "Alright, we'll get there, but first, I need some … sleep." Cain groaned and shook his head in despair.
