The party advanced up the stairs with great caution. They entered a massive
cave-like room. Located in the center was a massive black dragon. Arek went
to draw his sword when he was stopped by both Tavion and Minsc. "What is
with you two?" he asked the pair.
"Look at the ground and walls brother. There are chains holding the dragon in place. It would be heartless to kill this creature."
"Minsc and Boo agree."
"Ok, so what should we do?" Arek asked the whole group.
"Well, perhaps if we take the chains off, we can both leave this level without confrontation," Victoria said from the back of the group.
"Ok, sounds like a plan." Arek advanced carefully and drew his sword. Tavion and Minsc followed suit and walked cautiously towards the dragon. The dragon looked down at the three with a suspicious eye and opened its mouth, readying to spray fire down on the warriors. Before it could, Arek, Tavion, and Minsc reached the chains. With lightning speed and great strength, the warriors cut through three of the chains. The dragon understood and packed off. The three finished cutting the rest of the chains off and backed slowly away from the dragon. Arek turned and nodded to the mages. The cast simultaneous spells and in an instant, where there once was a brick wall, there was a large opening. The dragon looked out into the air and flew out of the tower, leaving the party that had released it. "Alright, let's keep going," Arek commanded and he moved towards the next stairway.
At the top of the stairs, they were once again in a normal hall. "I wonder what Octavion has in store for us here," Arek thought aloud. In the distance he heard heavy footsteps. He looked to Minsc and then to Tavion.
"Boo thinks that we will soon find," Minsc said off to Arek's right. In the low lightning of the room, the creatures emerged into full sight. They stood 8 feet tall and held massive clubs in their hands. Twelve ogres stood in the middle of the hall. Arek unsheathed the Avenger and charged. He heard Tavion draw his sword and Minsc bellow a war cry. The mages began casting spells. Victoria sent bolts of lightning into the ogres, sometimes barely missing charging party members. Keara summoned her usual white wolves and they soon joined the fray. Valerine cast healing spells on those that were injured. Arek pulled his sword out of one of the ogres belly's just in time to turn around and look at the club. Before Arek could raise his sword to defend against the blow, one of Keara's white wolves's jumped on the arm of the ogre and caused it to drop its club. Arek quickly dispatched the ogre and gave Keara a nod of gratitude.
Further down the hallway, a Fallen Paladin stood watching the conflict. He was Octavion, the leader of the Fallen Order. He watched the fighting progress and laughed to himself. Arek, how sorry you will be to have attempted to take my stronghold he thought. The fighting had ended and he caught Arek's eye. "You still have a lot more levels to cover, Arek. Come up to the top and fight me if you dare. Even if you make it to the top, I guarantee, you will not make it down alive."
"Those are strong words coming from a man who ran out on everything he knew. What's to stop you from running here?"
"I have something now I didn't then."
"Oh really, and what might that be?"
"Come to the top and find out for yourself. Until then, I bid you adieu." With that the Fallen Paladin left the level and was out of sight.
"Oh, I will reach the top, and when I do, your life will end," Arek said to the shadows.
The group stopped to rest. They posted a guard at each end of the hall. Every three hours the duty would switch. After an uneventful night, Arek woke the group up after nine hours of rest. "We need to get moving before Octavion can fortify himself further, so let's go." He led the party up the stairs and onto the third level.
They were greeted by the smell of rotting flesh and the site of huge cobwebs; littered with partially devoured carcasses: a spiders den. The group drew their weapons and walked cautiously through. Minsc and Tavion led the way using their ranger skills to detect possible traps. The reached a large area that was surrounded by cobwebs on all sides, except the one that they had entered through. Once they were in the clearing, however, the side from which they had entered closed up on then and they found themselves surrounded by cobwebs on all sides. That is when the twittering began. The first group was a wave of smaller spiders. They were fast but the group quickly dispatched them, save for one. One of the spiders had gotten through and was attacking Victoria. She was failing unsuccessfully to kill the beast. Arek came to her aid and split the spider in twine. "Are you alright?" Arek asked.
"No, no I am not. I, I HATE spiders! They give me the creeps," she explained.
"Alright, just stand in the middle of us and we will protect you from all sides. I have a feeling they are going to get bigger." As soon as the words had left his mouth, the next wave came. They we huge spiders, large fat bodies with long, strong, thin legs. They were at least five feet tall and had deadly fangs at their mouths. Arek, Tavion and Minsc circled around the mages in a protective manner and waited for the oncoming strikes. The first one came at Minsc and he waited until the fangs were at his head before moving. Before the fangs could embed themselves in Minsc's flesh, he stabbed with is sword up and into the spiders oversized brain. The next attack came at Tavion who beheaded the spider after parrying a lunge from the spider. Arek used the Flail of Ages and Azuredge in two handed combat against two attacking spiders. He threw his axe at the first spider and with the arc of the swing; the axe took off all the spiders' legs. The torso of the beast fell to the ground and rolled around. Arek then swung his flail at the next spider and collapsed its torso. His next swing finished off the legless spider. The next group of spiders were much larger then the ones before. They stood well over six feet tall and had much thicker legs then the previous groups. This time it was, to Arek's surprise, Victoria who dealt with the spiders. With a single fireball, she burned the three oncoming spiders to ashes. Much to Arek's disappointment, the sounds he heard next were bone-chilling to any adventurer who had experience fighting spiders. The sound was like that of metal on stone, a steady *clink*. The next spiders to attack were at least six feet tall had thick legs, but the two front legs were as strong and as sharp as a sword: Sword Spiders. Arek, Tavion, and Minsc all took on a spider in fierce combat. The spiders moved with great speed and struck again and again with their sword-like legs. Arek closed with his spider, this time using the Avenger. He parried each leg, trying to knock them out of the way so that he could make an attack. Minsc closed with the Equalizer, not able to use Lilracor because of his arm, and was doing considerable damage to each leg. Tavion was taking a similar approach, but his blade seemed to do more damage then Minsc's. The mages were trying to cast spells without interfering with the fighters. Arek was the first to dispose of his spider, finally getting close enough to kill the beast by decapitation. Tavion got fed up with the parrying and simply jumped on the creatures back and stabbed his sword down into the creatures brain. Minsc was finally able to beat the spider by rolling under the beast while slashing upwards. He finished the roll as the creature's body collapsed onto the floor. When they were sure the Sword Spiders were dead, Arek rotated around listening for any sound that would alert them to anymore spiders. He heard a faint whoosh, followed by two more. "Everyone for around the mages, we got Phase Spiders." As soon as the words had left his mouth, a spider appeared right in of him. He took a step towards it, but it 'phased' again and was gone from site. Minsc heard the whoosh of a spider, and by pure experience in the ranger ways, he moved to a spot in the clearing and waited. Not a second later, a spider appeared where Minsc was and was instantly cut down. Tavion listened and he too moved to a spot and killed a second one. Arek, this time by pure luck, was able to kill the third one as it emerged from its 'phase'. Arek and the others looked around and determined there were no more to come. Victoria cast a spell and a bright fireball erupted from her hands and burned away all the cobwebs in the room.
"That way, no more of those foul creatures can come back here to a solid nest," she said when Arek threw her a questioning look.
"Alright then, sounds fair enough. Lets keep going, we got a lot more ground to cover." Arek headed towards the stairs that lead up to the fifth level.
Octavion frowned when his scout came to him with word that Arek and his party had made it past his spiders. He hadn't expected the experience of the ranger in the party, nor that Tavion would learn the ranger arts. It was alright that they made it through the fourth level. There were many more obstacles in front of them that would slow them down.
Arek reached the landing of the fifth level. He looked around and smiled. He had expected Octavion to fortify himself, but this was too much. In the room in front of him stone statues. The thing about these statues was that they had once been alive. They had entered the layer of at least one, if not more than one, basilisk. These creatures could turn enemies into stone with a blink of an eye. What Arek had learned through his travels was that it was always nice to have a shiny, reflective shield. This could blind enemies with light, or repel spells, or special abilities of creatures, such as Petrifaction. This was the perfect situation for using this type of shield. They walked cautiously through the chamber, Arek holding the shield, with Tavion and Minsc trying to find the beast, or beasts. The mages stayed back behind them, trying their best to listen for the basilisk as well. Arek was the first to see the beast. It was a large, flame red lizard about fifteen feet long. It looked to be sleeping, but Arek knew better, the creature wanted to lure them in so that it could strike, leaving the attackers little time to prepare. Arek looked at Tavion and nodded. Tavion, using Minsc's bow, fired a shot into the basilisk's side. The basilisk started to move with that shot. It was obviously pissed off and looking to do damage. Arek got its attention and let Tavion and Minsc close in from the sides. Tavion and Minsc quickly began to do damage to the basilisk. Arek drew his sword and began to step forward. The basilisk turned and looked right at Arek. Arek saw the eyes of the beast twitch and he ducked behind the shield. He felt the impact of the beasts special ability bounce off the shell. He then heard the sound of steel striking on stone. He looked up to see a large stone figure there, which had once been a basilisk. Arek was breathing a sigh of relief when he saw more then ten stone figures advancing on him. They were golems, and to be more specific, they were stone golems. The golems advanced on the party and the three fighters were soon engaged in combat. Arek placed the shield on his back and drew the Avenger. He readied himself for the coming attack. He whistled loudly and he heard the rustle of wings as the three familiars advanced towards the fighting, followed by the mages. Valerine healed the wounds that Minsc and Tavion suffered from the basilisk, and then began casting protection spells. Victoria cast Melf's Minor Meteor. She then began throwing balls of fire from her hands at the golems. Keara summoned fire elementals who then began attacking the golems. Every time fire came in contact with the golems, some superheated stone fell away from the bodies of the golem. Arek downed one of the beasts, and rushed the next one. Tavion and Minsc were busy with their own golems. The mages and familiars seemed to have the most success with killing the golems. The familiars moved from golem to golem, simply burning the heads of the golems away. The fire elementals threw fists of fire into the golems, sometimes burning holes all the way through. The golems were soon destroyed and Arek took a pause to recover. He seemed to be struggling with something internally.
"Are you okay there brother?" Tavion asked.
"Something is calling the Slayer. I'm having trouble trying to control it. It hasn't wanted control since the Bhaalspawn troubles." Arek grimaced in pain. When the pain seemed to subside, he stood up straight and looked at the group. "Let's keep going, we are half way there." He walked away and was followed tentatively by the rest of the group.
A shadowy figure watched as the group left the room. Octavion smiled to himself. It was working; the power he was drawing on was causing the creature sleeping inside Arek to awake, and also to want the power being drawn. He followed the group up the stairs to the sixth level. True, it was a shame that he had lost part of his force, but if he could get Arek to let the Slayer out, the Slayer would most likely kill the party members then continue on in the tower. Even if he continued to wreak havoc through out the tower, Mardaag would be able to handle the Slayer.
The party made their way upstairs to the sixth floor. They entered a marble- floored room and were surprised to see nothing there. Arek looked over and Minsc and Tavion and nodded. The pair moved to the front of the group and began to look around the room. While they looked for traps, Arek and the rest of the group followed at a safe distance. Arek reached the next stairway and looked back over the room. What was Octavion up to, he wondered.
Up to the seventh floor they went, all surprised to have had such an easy trek through the seventh floor. The party entered into a room lined in strange patters with hedges; a maze. Victoria turned to Cloudwing and said, "Fly above the maze and tell us where to go." The familiar nodded and flew off. Arek led the group through the maze based on what Cloudwing said. The encountered few surprises that they weren't warned about and they soon found themselves on the other side.
Just as the group exited the maze, Octavion nodded to his mages. They began casting a spell. Glowing light surrounded their swirling hands. They finished there spell and the swirling light turned to streams of light as they connected in the middle of a protected circle. A fire pentagonal shape appeared in a ring of bones. There was a bright flash of light and suddenly there appeared an enormous monster that looked to have come from the gates of Hell. Mardaag, a pit fiend of Cyric, stood before Octavion. It took a lunge at its summoner's but was held back by the protective circle. Just as the monster was summoned, Octavion looked back into his seeing orb and smiled as he saw Arek collapse to the floor in agony.
Arek shook as he fell to the ground. He could feel the Slayer overcoming his will. He would soon fall to the power that lay within him. He turned to his brother and yelled, "Tavion, take them back into the maze, I can't control it, I'm going to turn!" As the last words left his mouth, he tore off his armor and under clothes. If he was naked, it mattered not, for his body was already changing. His skin had darkened, and his muscular body swelled with even more muscle. A powerful spiked tail grew out of his lower back and four arms grew out of his chest and abdomen. His face elongated and pincers grew out of his mouth. He had become the Slayer, the godly being of his father that had a mind of its own.
The Slayer looked around for his prey. It had been some time since he had feasted on the souls of the helpless. He was hungry. He looked back and saw that the party had run off. He was sure he could have caught them, but that would take to long. Its better when the prey puts up a fight. He turned and headed the other way, sensing a great source of power in the floors above him. He set off in search of it.
As the Slayer headed up the stairs, Tavion returned to where it had transformed. He gathered up Arek's things into his pack and he, Minsc, and Victoria went up the stairs to follow the Slayer. Keara started to follow them when Valerine said, "Are you crazy, that thing will rip us to shreds. Why are we going to follow it?"
"Eventually, that thing will turn back into Arek. If he happens to be in the middle of a fight, we will need to protect him while he puts his armor back on. When we get near, cast protection from evil, he won't be able to harm us." He headed up the stairs while the rest of the party followed. Valerine, reluctantly, was the last one to follow.
The Slayer found his prey. Some unsuspecting orcs met with a vicious end. His tail lopped of their heads and, starting at the necks, he devoured their bodies, then their severed heads. There were a dozen of them, and still the Slayer was hungry. He moved on, sensing the power getting nearer. The beast climbed up to the ninth floor. Humans in armor were waiting for him, along with several mages. He went for the mages first, wanting to devour their souls for the Throne of Bhaal. He went did the similar process of lopping off the heads. He was able to eat one of them before he felt little pricks on his back. He turned around. He batted away his attackers' swords. He flung his arm into the group scattering them. He turned and devoured the two remaining mages. As he finished the last mage, the Slayer's body shook. He collapsed to the ground, spasming uncontrollably. He felt his body shrinking, returning to the size of the body he inhabited. Curse the gods; he was so close to the source of power.
Arek felt himself gain control once again, and at such a bad time. He was naked in the middle of a barracks filled with Fallen Paladins. Luckily for him, Tavion and the rest of the group rushing into the room caused the Paladins to lose track of him. Tavion through his pack to Arek and he quickly armed himself and went to battle. He rushed the closest Paladin and impaled his sword in the Fallen One's back. He kicked the dying man off of his sword and moved about the room. Minsc was fending off four Paladins but was tiring. Tavion fought hard but was being overcome quickly, trying to defend the mages. Arek vaulted over the men surrounding his party. He ushered his party back down the stairs and then slammed the door behind him shut, leaving him in a room full of almost two hundred Fallen Paladins. He grinned at them and said "You want a fight, then come fight me."
Some of the Paladins started to move, but where halted when a figure came down the stair from the tenth floor; it was Octavion. "Stop," he commanded, "you are not to move until I say so. Well, Arek, I must congratulate you on your efforts, you have made it farther then anyone I've fought against. But this is where it ends. You have foolishly locked yourself in here with my men. But I'll tell you what, you let us by, we'll kill your party, make you a Fallen One, and you can be my second in command. What say you to that?"
"None shall pass."
"What? You are insane!" "No, I am Arek, and I claim this threshold as my own. Send your men one at a time, or all in a rush, I don't give a damn! None shall pass!"
"Then you leave me no choice." He nodded to his men and they closed with Arek. They came at him, first one at a time, and they were slaughtered quickly. Then they came in pairs, then quartets, and still they were slaughtered. All Octavion could do was watch as his army was decimated, not by another army, or by a beast, but by one man protecting his friends. His forces were cut by half after only fifteen minutes of fighting. After thirty minutes, only a quarter of his men were left standing between Arek and Octavion. Arek meanwhile, stood atop a pile of bodies; a mountain of death where he was King. After only thirty-five minutes of fighting, only Octavion's honor guard was left to defend him. "We'll finish this upstairs Arek; come get me if you aren't afraid." He withdrew with his guards upstairs.
Arek opened the door that protected his friends. Tavion and Minsc rushed in and looked disappointed that there was no one left to fight. Arek climbed over the mountain he had built and looked around the barracks. "Look around for anything we can use and then get some rest, the end is near." With that he collapsed from exhaustion into a deep sleep.
He woke up eight hours later. Tavion and Minsc stood guard at the stairway to the top floor. The mages were busy trying to identify items and weapons. "If you can't identify it, put it in my Bag of Holding. We'll identify it when we get out of here," he said, surprising everyone. "Let's get going, we should finish this before too long. This is what we are going to, Valerine; you'll cast Protection from Evil on us so we can't get attacked by the fiend. Victoria, you and Keara cast spells aimed at the mages that he has up there. Minsc, take out Octavion's guards. Tavion, you have Octavion. I'll take care of Mardaag. Now let's move." The party headed up the stairs to the last level.
"Look at the ground and walls brother. There are chains holding the dragon in place. It would be heartless to kill this creature."
"Minsc and Boo agree."
"Ok, so what should we do?" Arek asked the whole group.
"Well, perhaps if we take the chains off, we can both leave this level without confrontation," Victoria said from the back of the group.
"Ok, sounds like a plan." Arek advanced carefully and drew his sword. Tavion and Minsc followed suit and walked cautiously towards the dragon. The dragon looked down at the three with a suspicious eye and opened its mouth, readying to spray fire down on the warriors. Before it could, Arek, Tavion, and Minsc reached the chains. With lightning speed and great strength, the warriors cut through three of the chains. The dragon understood and packed off. The three finished cutting the rest of the chains off and backed slowly away from the dragon. Arek turned and nodded to the mages. The cast simultaneous spells and in an instant, where there once was a brick wall, there was a large opening. The dragon looked out into the air and flew out of the tower, leaving the party that had released it. "Alright, let's keep going," Arek commanded and he moved towards the next stairway.
At the top of the stairs, they were once again in a normal hall. "I wonder what Octavion has in store for us here," Arek thought aloud. In the distance he heard heavy footsteps. He looked to Minsc and then to Tavion.
"Boo thinks that we will soon find," Minsc said off to Arek's right. In the low lightning of the room, the creatures emerged into full sight. They stood 8 feet tall and held massive clubs in their hands. Twelve ogres stood in the middle of the hall. Arek unsheathed the Avenger and charged. He heard Tavion draw his sword and Minsc bellow a war cry. The mages began casting spells. Victoria sent bolts of lightning into the ogres, sometimes barely missing charging party members. Keara summoned her usual white wolves and they soon joined the fray. Valerine cast healing spells on those that were injured. Arek pulled his sword out of one of the ogres belly's just in time to turn around and look at the club. Before Arek could raise his sword to defend against the blow, one of Keara's white wolves's jumped on the arm of the ogre and caused it to drop its club. Arek quickly dispatched the ogre and gave Keara a nod of gratitude.
Further down the hallway, a Fallen Paladin stood watching the conflict. He was Octavion, the leader of the Fallen Order. He watched the fighting progress and laughed to himself. Arek, how sorry you will be to have attempted to take my stronghold he thought. The fighting had ended and he caught Arek's eye. "You still have a lot more levels to cover, Arek. Come up to the top and fight me if you dare. Even if you make it to the top, I guarantee, you will not make it down alive."
"Those are strong words coming from a man who ran out on everything he knew. What's to stop you from running here?"
"I have something now I didn't then."
"Oh really, and what might that be?"
"Come to the top and find out for yourself. Until then, I bid you adieu." With that the Fallen Paladin left the level and was out of sight.
"Oh, I will reach the top, and when I do, your life will end," Arek said to the shadows.
The group stopped to rest. They posted a guard at each end of the hall. Every three hours the duty would switch. After an uneventful night, Arek woke the group up after nine hours of rest. "We need to get moving before Octavion can fortify himself further, so let's go." He led the party up the stairs and onto the third level.
They were greeted by the smell of rotting flesh and the site of huge cobwebs; littered with partially devoured carcasses: a spiders den. The group drew their weapons and walked cautiously through. Minsc and Tavion led the way using their ranger skills to detect possible traps. The reached a large area that was surrounded by cobwebs on all sides, except the one that they had entered through. Once they were in the clearing, however, the side from which they had entered closed up on then and they found themselves surrounded by cobwebs on all sides. That is when the twittering began. The first group was a wave of smaller spiders. They were fast but the group quickly dispatched them, save for one. One of the spiders had gotten through and was attacking Victoria. She was failing unsuccessfully to kill the beast. Arek came to her aid and split the spider in twine. "Are you alright?" Arek asked.
"No, no I am not. I, I HATE spiders! They give me the creeps," she explained.
"Alright, just stand in the middle of us and we will protect you from all sides. I have a feeling they are going to get bigger." As soon as the words had left his mouth, the next wave came. They we huge spiders, large fat bodies with long, strong, thin legs. They were at least five feet tall and had deadly fangs at their mouths. Arek, Tavion and Minsc circled around the mages in a protective manner and waited for the oncoming strikes. The first one came at Minsc and he waited until the fangs were at his head before moving. Before the fangs could embed themselves in Minsc's flesh, he stabbed with is sword up and into the spiders oversized brain. The next attack came at Tavion who beheaded the spider after parrying a lunge from the spider. Arek used the Flail of Ages and Azuredge in two handed combat against two attacking spiders. He threw his axe at the first spider and with the arc of the swing; the axe took off all the spiders' legs. The torso of the beast fell to the ground and rolled around. Arek then swung his flail at the next spider and collapsed its torso. His next swing finished off the legless spider. The next group of spiders were much larger then the ones before. They stood well over six feet tall and had much thicker legs then the previous groups. This time it was, to Arek's surprise, Victoria who dealt with the spiders. With a single fireball, she burned the three oncoming spiders to ashes. Much to Arek's disappointment, the sounds he heard next were bone-chilling to any adventurer who had experience fighting spiders. The sound was like that of metal on stone, a steady *clink*. The next spiders to attack were at least six feet tall had thick legs, but the two front legs were as strong and as sharp as a sword: Sword Spiders. Arek, Tavion, and Minsc all took on a spider in fierce combat. The spiders moved with great speed and struck again and again with their sword-like legs. Arek closed with his spider, this time using the Avenger. He parried each leg, trying to knock them out of the way so that he could make an attack. Minsc closed with the Equalizer, not able to use Lilracor because of his arm, and was doing considerable damage to each leg. Tavion was taking a similar approach, but his blade seemed to do more damage then Minsc's. The mages were trying to cast spells without interfering with the fighters. Arek was the first to dispose of his spider, finally getting close enough to kill the beast by decapitation. Tavion got fed up with the parrying and simply jumped on the creatures back and stabbed his sword down into the creatures brain. Minsc was finally able to beat the spider by rolling under the beast while slashing upwards. He finished the roll as the creature's body collapsed onto the floor. When they were sure the Sword Spiders were dead, Arek rotated around listening for any sound that would alert them to anymore spiders. He heard a faint whoosh, followed by two more. "Everyone for around the mages, we got Phase Spiders." As soon as the words had left his mouth, a spider appeared right in of him. He took a step towards it, but it 'phased' again and was gone from site. Minsc heard the whoosh of a spider, and by pure experience in the ranger ways, he moved to a spot in the clearing and waited. Not a second later, a spider appeared where Minsc was and was instantly cut down. Tavion listened and he too moved to a spot and killed a second one. Arek, this time by pure luck, was able to kill the third one as it emerged from its 'phase'. Arek and the others looked around and determined there were no more to come. Victoria cast a spell and a bright fireball erupted from her hands and burned away all the cobwebs in the room.
"That way, no more of those foul creatures can come back here to a solid nest," she said when Arek threw her a questioning look.
"Alright then, sounds fair enough. Lets keep going, we got a lot more ground to cover." Arek headed towards the stairs that lead up to the fifth level.
Octavion frowned when his scout came to him with word that Arek and his party had made it past his spiders. He hadn't expected the experience of the ranger in the party, nor that Tavion would learn the ranger arts. It was alright that they made it through the fourth level. There were many more obstacles in front of them that would slow them down.
Arek reached the landing of the fifth level. He looked around and smiled. He had expected Octavion to fortify himself, but this was too much. In the room in front of him stone statues. The thing about these statues was that they had once been alive. They had entered the layer of at least one, if not more than one, basilisk. These creatures could turn enemies into stone with a blink of an eye. What Arek had learned through his travels was that it was always nice to have a shiny, reflective shield. This could blind enemies with light, or repel spells, or special abilities of creatures, such as Petrifaction. This was the perfect situation for using this type of shield. They walked cautiously through the chamber, Arek holding the shield, with Tavion and Minsc trying to find the beast, or beasts. The mages stayed back behind them, trying their best to listen for the basilisk as well. Arek was the first to see the beast. It was a large, flame red lizard about fifteen feet long. It looked to be sleeping, but Arek knew better, the creature wanted to lure them in so that it could strike, leaving the attackers little time to prepare. Arek looked at Tavion and nodded. Tavion, using Minsc's bow, fired a shot into the basilisk's side. The basilisk started to move with that shot. It was obviously pissed off and looking to do damage. Arek got its attention and let Tavion and Minsc close in from the sides. Tavion and Minsc quickly began to do damage to the basilisk. Arek drew his sword and began to step forward. The basilisk turned and looked right at Arek. Arek saw the eyes of the beast twitch and he ducked behind the shield. He felt the impact of the beasts special ability bounce off the shell. He then heard the sound of steel striking on stone. He looked up to see a large stone figure there, which had once been a basilisk. Arek was breathing a sigh of relief when he saw more then ten stone figures advancing on him. They were golems, and to be more specific, they were stone golems. The golems advanced on the party and the three fighters were soon engaged in combat. Arek placed the shield on his back and drew the Avenger. He readied himself for the coming attack. He whistled loudly and he heard the rustle of wings as the three familiars advanced towards the fighting, followed by the mages. Valerine healed the wounds that Minsc and Tavion suffered from the basilisk, and then began casting protection spells. Victoria cast Melf's Minor Meteor. She then began throwing balls of fire from her hands at the golems. Keara summoned fire elementals who then began attacking the golems. Every time fire came in contact with the golems, some superheated stone fell away from the bodies of the golem. Arek downed one of the beasts, and rushed the next one. Tavion and Minsc were busy with their own golems. The mages and familiars seemed to have the most success with killing the golems. The familiars moved from golem to golem, simply burning the heads of the golems away. The fire elementals threw fists of fire into the golems, sometimes burning holes all the way through. The golems were soon destroyed and Arek took a pause to recover. He seemed to be struggling with something internally.
"Are you okay there brother?" Tavion asked.
"Something is calling the Slayer. I'm having trouble trying to control it. It hasn't wanted control since the Bhaalspawn troubles." Arek grimaced in pain. When the pain seemed to subside, he stood up straight and looked at the group. "Let's keep going, we are half way there." He walked away and was followed tentatively by the rest of the group.
A shadowy figure watched as the group left the room. Octavion smiled to himself. It was working; the power he was drawing on was causing the creature sleeping inside Arek to awake, and also to want the power being drawn. He followed the group up the stairs to the sixth level. True, it was a shame that he had lost part of his force, but if he could get Arek to let the Slayer out, the Slayer would most likely kill the party members then continue on in the tower. Even if he continued to wreak havoc through out the tower, Mardaag would be able to handle the Slayer.
The party made their way upstairs to the sixth floor. They entered a marble- floored room and were surprised to see nothing there. Arek looked over and Minsc and Tavion and nodded. The pair moved to the front of the group and began to look around the room. While they looked for traps, Arek and the rest of the group followed at a safe distance. Arek reached the next stairway and looked back over the room. What was Octavion up to, he wondered.
Up to the seventh floor they went, all surprised to have had such an easy trek through the seventh floor. The party entered into a room lined in strange patters with hedges; a maze. Victoria turned to Cloudwing and said, "Fly above the maze and tell us where to go." The familiar nodded and flew off. Arek led the group through the maze based on what Cloudwing said. The encountered few surprises that they weren't warned about and they soon found themselves on the other side.
Just as the group exited the maze, Octavion nodded to his mages. They began casting a spell. Glowing light surrounded their swirling hands. They finished there spell and the swirling light turned to streams of light as they connected in the middle of a protected circle. A fire pentagonal shape appeared in a ring of bones. There was a bright flash of light and suddenly there appeared an enormous monster that looked to have come from the gates of Hell. Mardaag, a pit fiend of Cyric, stood before Octavion. It took a lunge at its summoner's but was held back by the protective circle. Just as the monster was summoned, Octavion looked back into his seeing orb and smiled as he saw Arek collapse to the floor in agony.
Arek shook as he fell to the ground. He could feel the Slayer overcoming his will. He would soon fall to the power that lay within him. He turned to his brother and yelled, "Tavion, take them back into the maze, I can't control it, I'm going to turn!" As the last words left his mouth, he tore off his armor and under clothes. If he was naked, it mattered not, for his body was already changing. His skin had darkened, and his muscular body swelled with even more muscle. A powerful spiked tail grew out of his lower back and four arms grew out of his chest and abdomen. His face elongated and pincers grew out of his mouth. He had become the Slayer, the godly being of his father that had a mind of its own.
The Slayer looked around for his prey. It had been some time since he had feasted on the souls of the helpless. He was hungry. He looked back and saw that the party had run off. He was sure he could have caught them, but that would take to long. Its better when the prey puts up a fight. He turned and headed the other way, sensing a great source of power in the floors above him. He set off in search of it.
As the Slayer headed up the stairs, Tavion returned to where it had transformed. He gathered up Arek's things into his pack and he, Minsc, and Victoria went up the stairs to follow the Slayer. Keara started to follow them when Valerine said, "Are you crazy, that thing will rip us to shreds. Why are we going to follow it?"
"Eventually, that thing will turn back into Arek. If he happens to be in the middle of a fight, we will need to protect him while he puts his armor back on. When we get near, cast protection from evil, he won't be able to harm us." He headed up the stairs while the rest of the party followed. Valerine, reluctantly, was the last one to follow.
The Slayer found his prey. Some unsuspecting orcs met with a vicious end. His tail lopped of their heads and, starting at the necks, he devoured their bodies, then their severed heads. There were a dozen of them, and still the Slayer was hungry. He moved on, sensing the power getting nearer. The beast climbed up to the ninth floor. Humans in armor were waiting for him, along with several mages. He went for the mages first, wanting to devour their souls for the Throne of Bhaal. He went did the similar process of lopping off the heads. He was able to eat one of them before he felt little pricks on his back. He turned around. He batted away his attackers' swords. He flung his arm into the group scattering them. He turned and devoured the two remaining mages. As he finished the last mage, the Slayer's body shook. He collapsed to the ground, spasming uncontrollably. He felt his body shrinking, returning to the size of the body he inhabited. Curse the gods; he was so close to the source of power.
Arek felt himself gain control once again, and at such a bad time. He was naked in the middle of a barracks filled with Fallen Paladins. Luckily for him, Tavion and the rest of the group rushing into the room caused the Paladins to lose track of him. Tavion through his pack to Arek and he quickly armed himself and went to battle. He rushed the closest Paladin and impaled his sword in the Fallen One's back. He kicked the dying man off of his sword and moved about the room. Minsc was fending off four Paladins but was tiring. Tavion fought hard but was being overcome quickly, trying to defend the mages. Arek vaulted over the men surrounding his party. He ushered his party back down the stairs and then slammed the door behind him shut, leaving him in a room full of almost two hundred Fallen Paladins. He grinned at them and said "You want a fight, then come fight me."
Some of the Paladins started to move, but where halted when a figure came down the stair from the tenth floor; it was Octavion. "Stop," he commanded, "you are not to move until I say so. Well, Arek, I must congratulate you on your efforts, you have made it farther then anyone I've fought against. But this is where it ends. You have foolishly locked yourself in here with my men. But I'll tell you what, you let us by, we'll kill your party, make you a Fallen One, and you can be my second in command. What say you to that?"
"None shall pass."
"What? You are insane!" "No, I am Arek, and I claim this threshold as my own. Send your men one at a time, or all in a rush, I don't give a damn! None shall pass!"
"Then you leave me no choice." He nodded to his men and they closed with Arek. They came at him, first one at a time, and they were slaughtered quickly. Then they came in pairs, then quartets, and still they were slaughtered. All Octavion could do was watch as his army was decimated, not by another army, or by a beast, but by one man protecting his friends. His forces were cut by half after only fifteen minutes of fighting. After thirty minutes, only a quarter of his men were left standing between Arek and Octavion. Arek meanwhile, stood atop a pile of bodies; a mountain of death where he was King. After only thirty-five minutes of fighting, only Octavion's honor guard was left to defend him. "We'll finish this upstairs Arek; come get me if you aren't afraid." He withdrew with his guards upstairs.
Arek opened the door that protected his friends. Tavion and Minsc rushed in and looked disappointed that there was no one left to fight. Arek climbed over the mountain he had built and looked around the barracks. "Look around for anything we can use and then get some rest, the end is near." With that he collapsed from exhaustion into a deep sleep.
He woke up eight hours later. Tavion and Minsc stood guard at the stairway to the top floor. The mages were busy trying to identify items and weapons. "If you can't identify it, put it in my Bag of Holding. We'll identify it when we get out of here," he said, surprising everyone. "Let's get going, we should finish this before too long. This is what we are going to, Valerine; you'll cast Protection from Evil on us so we can't get attacked by the fiend. Victoria, you and Keara cast spells aimed at the mages that he has up there. Minsc, take out Octavion's guards. Tavion, you have Octavion. I'll take care of Mardaag. Now let's move." The party headed up the stairs to the last level.
