Chapter 12: The Bull of Hades
Thump, thump, thump.
Valerie awakened fully, feeling a surging warmth in her that typically accompanied a fresh growth spurt. Strange, she thought. No weird dream-visions this time. She rolled onto her side, feeling the bulk of her belly shift. It had grown, for certain. She got to her feet and saw, by her eyeline on the bed's canopy, that she had too.
She felt stronger, and there was a tensed power in her muscles, like she felt just before she hauled off to knock someone senseless. She made a few experimental swipes with her claws, and felt that snap coming as easily and naturally now as flexing her fingers. "This'll come in handy." she said with a smile.
She'd been close before. Had she fully matured as a troll, now? Or did she still have growing to do? Time would, tell, but it was for sure she was still developing in her pregnancy. She paused to look at her midsection in the mirror provided, saw the rounded shape and the pooch of her belly-button turned out.
Without any breasts on her chest, she thought she looked more like a glutton than a mother-to-be, though there was no sag to her tummy, like she'd expect from excess body fat. The movements inside told the truth, and she rubbed at her stomach. "Hey, there. You saying morning to mommy? Hmm?"
Yes, she was an ugly, nine-foot-tall green monster. But that didn't mean she didn't feel an empathy for the life growing inside her. Did ordinary trolls feel any such thing? Or did their upbringing wring such things from them? She wondered about other races, the goblinkin, orcs and kobolds. What was it like for them?
A knock at the door interrupted her reverie, and she redressed before calling "Come in." The serving woman who'd tended her thus far arrived with her breakfast. Valerie smiled, hunger whetting itself inside at the thought of the rich meal. As the delivery was finished, Valerie said "I'd like a hot bath this morning, please."
"As you say, miss. Enjoy." was the reply. Valerie settled down to have her meal. She'd be leaving the inn today for the Company hall in wait for that officious little gnome's readiness for his next expedition. Where was it? Hades? She remembered that as having to do with Greek mythology back home, wondered if there were any similarities.
Regardless, she intended to lurk around here and get her money's worth. That, she decided, meant lazing around in a hot bath this morning until lunch, then taking her last meal for every morsel she could get and finally leaving. Now that she had a better sense of how well her money would do for everyday things, she wasn't too worried about work.
She should stop risking something bad happening, endangering her child, even if she'd proved nigh-indestructible so far. One last job, then hopefully she could get out of this universe and get back to normal before her child was born. And if not, she'd take it easy until he or she came into the world.
She wished she could tell which she was having. But the only way she'd been able to tell Comar was male was by smell. She remembered how Vaprak had seemed genderless too, until...what happened had happened. Son and daughter both sounded fine to her, she just wanted them to be healthy.
A short time later, the serving woman came, informed her the bath was ready, and cleared the dishes. Valerie went to relax and soak in the warm bath, wash herself thoroughly and lazily, and soak some more, until the water lost all its heat. Then she finally drug herself out, dried off, brushed her hair and returned to lay around in her room.
The peace and privacy gave her time to think. If she was going to be here at least as long as it took to have her child, there were things she should do. One was see about becoming full brethren with the Company. Another was to try and get educated about this place, if she was gonna be stuck here for much longer.
She received lunch not long after, and lingered over the meal until at last it was gone. She gathered her things, gave the woman who'd waited on her a four gold tip and left. Once she located a tout, she directed him to take her to the Company hall, where she checked for messages.
None had arrived, so she asked if they'd be forwarded to Clawhold, passing along five gold to see to speedy delivery. With that, she recovered her travel papers and made her way inside and to the portal, passing through the guarded checkpoints until she returned to the company stronghold there on Oerth.
Once there, she found her way back to her bunk, dropped off her gear and went out to take in the fresh summer afternoon in the courtyard. It was a distinct relief from the sooty, choked air of Sigil, and to feel the warm sunshine on her skin was miles ahead of the stagnant 'daylight' of the planar city.
It wasn't long before an orc soldier approached her, "Miz Valerie?" he said, gave her an uncertain salute.
She turned, looked him over, "That's me."
"Lieutenant wants to see you. Follow me?"
"Alright." She trailed after, back inside the mountain and around to an office where Comar was waiting, seated at a chair and desk sized for him.
He smiled when she came in, "Well met." Looked past, "That'll be all, soldier." and saluted when he did likewise. He stood, walked up to her, standing more or less eye-to-eye now. "Guess you're done growin', height-wise."
Valerie said, "I hope so. One of these days I hope I can get some new clothes and not have to worry about them losing their fit." She still wore the loose toga garment the Guardinals had given her. It did nicely for something that could adjust to her changes in size, but she was getting a little tired of it.
Comar grunted, "How was your trip? Find anythin' useful?"
Valerie said, "Nothing yet. I'm dealing with some obnoxious little gnome who's supposed to be a big expert on the planes. I couldn't just buy him off, he wants my help going to some sort of special sites where he does some kind of research."
Comar scratched at his head, "Sounds kinda familiar. I never worked for no one like that, but I think we had job listings from someone others said was like that."
"Well, we went to the Astral Plane, some outpost where I had to fight a giant octopus-spider-looking thing. Astral Kraken, I think they said?"
Comar's brows raised, "You killed it on your own?"
Valerie nodded, "It was a pain, but I got it down eventually. Then he did what he had to do, and we came on back. Next he wants to go to Hades."
Comar frowned, "I'd say that's a bad idea, but if you stood up to an Astral Kraken, you oughtta be okay. Just don't stay too long, less you end up trapped there."
"How so?"
"Hades...it drains your will to live, like. Makes you just wanna give up, do nothing, stop carin', that kinda thing. It's the opposite of Elysium, if you ever been there."
"I have, they warned me about Elysium trapping you, too. So Hades is like the evil version?"
"Yeah. Plus, it's a major battleground in the Blood War, so you got Demons and Devils wanderin' all over, spoilin' to fight."
Valerie scowled, "Oh, even better." she griped sarcastically.
"So make sure you got a solid way in and outta there."
"I will. Thanks, Comar."
"So you gonna stay here until time for your next trip?"
"Yeah. Sigil's got some nice places to stay, but I miss fresh air and sunshine too much."
Comar chuckled, "Can't say I blame ya. Well, come around in the courtyard at morning time. I could use a sparrin' partner."
Valerie smiled, "I'd like that."
The male troll looked back at his desk, and sighed. "I'd sooner fight a dragon than keep scribblin' at all this mess. But..." he walked around and sat again, "that's the job."
Valerie said, "All due respect, but...better you than me."
He smirked, "Awright, get outta here." he said good-naturedly.
Valerie left him to his paperwork and returned to her bunk, where she collected her spears. It had been a while since she'd done any throwing with them, best to keep in practice. She returned to the courtyard, found some targets and spent an hour or so tossing and recovering them at various distances.
When she tired of that, she stopped to watch some of the soldiers at drill, fighting in formation with sword and shield. Then sparring with one another, as the afternoon wore on. She returned to her bunk, washed up with some cool water after being out in the warm sunshine all afternoon, and went to the mess.
There she ran into both Paevo and Yena, and over dinner caught them up on her adventure. Yena nodded sympathetically, "I've escorted people like that before. You end up wanting to tear their throats out rather than get paid."
Paevo gave a hissing spat, " 'Arse-end of a diarrhetic kobold' indeed! That's the sort of racism that keeps our people at each others' throats." He took a deep breath, and rustled his claws over the horn-ridges on his head, "But being a pompous ass knows no racial walls." he sighed.
Once the meal was over, she retired to her bunk, wanting to get plenty of sleep for the morning, when she rose early and was there for breakfast before they'd even finished preparing it. She had her fare and was out in the courtyard, stretching and limbering up when Comar arrived.
"Ah, someone's eager for a thumpin', I see!" swaggered the troll, grinning.
"Just what I was thinking." fired back Valerie with the same playful bombast.
"Put 'em up, lessee whatcha got!" answered Comar, and the two set to brawling. Now that she could snap her hands around like that more or less at will, it wasn't long before she rang Comar's bell a good one. He shook his head, "Yeah, you even hit like Varrok now."
"I'd like to meet him, where is he at?" asked Valerie.
"Last I heard he was out on Eberron, chasin' down secrets of their fallen giant empires on that one island, Zen-somethin'. I'd check with Bork, he's apt to visit him if he's in town."
"Bork Stonemaul? And where's he?"
"He owns the Circus Tempus in Sigil. His idea of retirement is watchin' people knock the guts outta each other every day. Speakin' of, if you could move your hands like you do your tongue, you might be dangerous."
"Dangerous enough."
"Yeah, right up until you ain't. Stay in this line of work long enough, you learn what we all learn: no one's immortal. Sooner or later you're gonna get dead, one way or the other. Your only hope's to make sure someone'll look for you if it comes to that and see you get to come back. And, be as prepared as you can to keep it from happening."
That attitude just seemed alien to her mind. Of course, she still didn't really believe in coming back from the dead, the way they all said was possible. "So what can I do?"
"Here, try makin' your swings shorter and tighter. And when you latch on, tear in, don't waste your movement so much. Snap your hands back in, claw at 'em some more. You might hit, you might not. But the faster you tear one foe down, the faster you get through the others."
Valerie had seen in her battle with those orcs how numbers could wear even her down. She recognized the value of Comar's advice there, and so started working on getting in more blows at a time. It wasn't easy, Comar was used to fending them off, but after a few hours of practice, she was improving.
Comar seemed glad for the excuse to work with her, and switched from his claws to a greatsword after a time, letting her practice against that as well. By midday she was feeling sweaty and tired, but well-exercised. The pair broke for lunch, and after he went off, grumbling, to handle more bureaucracy.
Valerie instead spent a little time engaging in some lazy throwing practice, watched the soldiers drilling with polearms and fighting in formation today, then got cleaned up and joined everyone for dinner. Afterwards, she decided to check out the common room, where many tended to gather in the evenings.
Besides the expected rounds of booze and various games of cards and dice, they were playing games of skill, including knife games of the sort her uncle had talked about, swapping stories of life on and off duty at faraway places: Vaasa, Rookroost, Murann, Oenkhmar, Skullport, Thar, Rockhome, Riftcrag.
Eventually she retired for the evening, sleeping soundly, only to rise the next morning feeling a bit stiff and sore from her exercise the previous day. She joined Comar again for more sparring, while Blind Jak arrived and got involved after a time as well.
For all the hulking beetle-like being seemed ungainly and slow, he was actually quite nimble and skilled at dodging around, cunning in his attempts to take her off her feet. She had to be careful not to hit him full-force with her claws, something that wasn't a concern with Comar.
He didn't have any such reservations, though like Comar he was mindful of not striking her midsection. He did haul off and strike her at one point in such a way that left her stunned and wide open for several moments. "What was that?!" she asked.
"I have trained with monastic orders well-versed in unarmed combat. I combine their skills with my own natural weaponry. I am surprised the blow worked, your kind are usually very difficult to stun." replied the Umber Hulk.
Great, he's a Killer Kung-Fu Beetle. thought Valerie to herself, and smiled. After a time she stepped aside to let Comar and Jak spar instead, before midday and mealtime arrived. Not long after she finished, a new kobold she hadn't seen around arrived.
It stood out immediately, because instead of the usual shades of red-brown most of the kobolds came in, this one had polished silver scales, and striking blue eyes instead of the red-orange ones of others. It was wearing some sort of leather armor with a pair of goggles on its head, hauling a backpack with a small sword at its side.
From the smell as it approached, she could tell it was male. It peered up at her, "Valerie Bridgewater?"
She nodded, "That's me."
The kobold held a hand up, "Argen Redscale. Looks like we'll be working together."
Valerie shook his hand carefully, "Really? On what?"
Argen reached into his belt pouch and produced a document, "Expedition to Hades with one Gnosticus Gneissminer?" he prompted, holding up what proved to be a signed contract. She bent down, looked it over briefly.
"Yeah, I guess so. He tell you when we're leaving?" asked Valerie.
"Tomorrow, unless you've got some reason to delay. Figured it was easier to relay the message myself."
"Okay. I need to get a travel pass-"
Argen waved a dismissive hand, "No need, I've got you covered."
Valerie raised her brows, but said "Okay, if you say so."
"I do. I can get us anywhere we need to go." the kobold drew himself up pridefully, thumbing at his chest.
Comar approached as Argen was saying that, tossed out "Yeah, an' steal everything what ain't nailed down."
Argen fired back, "Only if you don't break it first."
Comar pointed, "Oh, me break? What about the time you shoved that ditherbomb-"
Argen spoke up over him, "Yeah, yeah, one time I go off-target, one time!"
"-right onto the sultan's palace in the City of Brass! We had Ifrit camped outside the Hall for nearly a week before your father-"
Argen snorted, "Oh yes, let's not forget to bring him into the story..."
"-negotiated a bounty for your little accident. That came out of-"
Argen said, "Everyone's pay for the Vaasa campaign! I got it! Hlal's smile, Comar, how many times-"
"At least one more."
"That's what you say every time!"
"See? Least I ain't lyin'."
Argen looked at Valerie, "Don't screw up in this line of work, or they'll never let you live it down." He crossed his arms indignantly, though she got the impression it was more for show than out of any real resentment.
Comar said, "Talarmat may be little, but when it comes to gettin' their pride hurt, they're titans." He gave Argen a playful shove, started off.
Argen hunched forward behind him, swayed his arms back and forth, said in a low dopey gravelly tone, "Hurr hurr grr, gotta do paperwork, hurr grr hurr..."
Comar looked back, "Hey, that's not bad. Maybe when you're ready for a real job you can be a mummer instead of a doorman."
Argen replied with a hissing spat, but smiled after nonetheless, letting Comar exit.
Valerie shook her head once the show was over. "What did he mean by doorman?"
Argen said, "I'm what they call a Gatecrasher. You know what burglars do to doors and windows? I do that to portals."
Valerie said, "You break into them?"
"And more. I can crash two different portals together, make 'em link up. There's almost nowhere I can't go."
"So you're a portal hacker?"
The kobold tilted his head, "I never heard it put that way...but I suppose you could say that."
"So you can get us where Gneissminer wants to go?"
"I can get us somewhere fairly close. We'll have to travel a while to get to the actual site, but don't worry. I have ways to keep us from being seen."
"Okay. When are we going to Sigil?"
"Whenever you're ready, but no later than the morning."
"I'd rather stay here tonight."
Argen gave a shrug, "Okay. One kip's the same as the rest, to me."
"So lemme ask: Have you ever heard of a place called Earth? Not the Elemental Plane or this world."
"Earth. Hmm...no, can't say I have. Why?"
"It's where I'm from. Trying to find a way back."
"I see. If I hear anything I'll let you know. I'm always interested in finding new places to go."
"Thanks. So where is it you can't go?"
"Any portals I haven't discovered. And to Sigil through any portal that doesn't already link there. Or if The Lady locks me out."
"Has she?"
"Not yet, much as I'm sure some wish she would." he gave a smug little grin.
Valerie gave a smile, "Alright. I'm gonna get some target practice in. See you, Argen."
The kobold gave a quick wave as she left for the courtyard to spend some time tossing her spears, then watch the soldiers at drill, practicing coordinated archery volleys. When the time came, she returned for dinner, then retired to her bunk to be well-rested for the trip the next day.
She arose early to get everything together and be ready by breakfast. Argen was there, and once they'd feasted he led her along through the portal checkpoints back to the Company Hall in Sigil. "So can you crash into the portals back there in Midway?" asked Valerie.
"I can, but I try not to, especially if I have others with me. I'm one of a very few people with permanent access in there, so the golems won't attack me for crossing through. Those I'm escorting, on the other hand..."
Valerie nodded as Argen reached into his backpack and hauled out a large rug. While he unrolled it, she said "Flying carpet?"
"Yep. Climb on." replied Argen, taking a seat at one end. Valerie sat near the back, and the carpet lifted up. "You've ridden before?" he asked, glancing back.
"Yeah, but not too fast, okay?"
"Sure. Here we go!" He got the carpet into motion and they lifted up, over the wall and out above the streets of Sigil. From up here, just above the rooftops, the view of the city was more colorful, but also even stranger, as she could see much more of the curve to everything.
Argen seemed undaunted by it, just flew along steadily until he said "Okay, hold on tight. We're gonna switch gravity planes." He started rising steadily upwards.
"We what?" asked Valerie, but she reached down, grabbing the edges of the carpet, careful not to punch holes with her claws. Then, as they drew upwards and away, there came a moment where she felt herself go weightless, and the world spun suddenly as Argen rolled the carpet.
She cried out in alarm, but then felt gravity reassert itself as they were now...descending. She took a moment to collect herself, then shook her head. "Ugh. What...?"
"Gravity tugs down all around the circle of the streets, right? So in the very center there, it's no gravity. I've heard of some that ride it like a rapid river course, but I was never crazy enough to try."
Valerie just shook her head and remained quiet as he got underway again, flying down and around until they arrived at the Cartographic Society's halls. "Grab the carpet, would you?" asked Argen. Valerie stooped to roll it up and toss it over her shoulder before they entered.
There Gneissminer was waiting impatiently with his trunks of equipment. "About time you showed up!" he scolded them, then peered at Valerie. "Did you get bigger? And fatter?"
"Yeah, I started eating four gnomes a day instead of two." she replied sourly, and Argen smirked.
"Okay, let's get this stuff loaded up." said the kobold. He reached to the small of his back, where what Valerie thought was a blanket of some kind was unrolled to be a rather large sack. "Stick those things in there, will you?" he asked her, holding the bag open for her.
"The trunks? They won't fit!" replied Valerie.
"Sure they will. It's a magic bag, they'll fit, just like how I fit the carpet in my pack."
"Okay..." said Valerie, picking one up and sliding it into the bag. Once inside, she let go...and it just seemed to vanish. She jerked in surprise, reached her hand in, waved it around. Nothing. Shrugging, she grabbed the next, repeated the action, and then the final one.
Argen rolled it back up when she was done, stowing it away. "Okay, let's go. Have to find a portal."
When they stepped out, Valerie pointed. "There's one right there."
Argen stopped and looked at her, "How did you know that?"
Valerie shrugged, "I dunno, I just...see them. Hear them, too. They're everywhere."
The kobold lowered his goggles, fiddled with the lenses. "Well, so there is." he said after a few moments. He looked up at her with a growing smile. "I think you and I need to spend some time exploring together."
"And I think you need to spend some time getting on with what I'm paying you to do!" sniped Gneissminer indignantly.
As Argen approached the portal, Valerie muttered, "Can't we just stick him in the bag, too?"
Argen gave a bark of laughter, "Sadly, he'd suffocate in short order. And I still need to get the rest of my payment." Stepping up to where the shimmering doorway hung there just inside an alleyway, Argen removed a few items from his belt. A white crystal rod, a little glass vial with some sort of yellow-green powder, and...a bright red feather?
He set to work then, moving and poking the items at the surface of the portal. Valerie could see it waver and twist, hear the warbling whine fluctuate like an old-fashioned radio tuner seeking a signal. It took him a minute, but then the portal flared to life. "That's it! Everyone through!"
Gneissminer said, "If this is a trick..." archly, before he hopped on through. Valerie stepped through, with the diving sensation and moment of blackness, into a place of gray bleakness. Argen hopped through after, putting away his tools, while Valerie took in the surroundings.
The ground was the gray of wet cement, though barren and dry save for a few stunted, almost blackened leafless trees twisting from the ground here and there. The sky was a pale ashen gray, a perpetual gloom of desultory daylight. Distantly, she could hear the sound of clanging metal, yells and screams. It seemed to come from all directions.
"Carpet, please." said Argen, and Valerie laid it out, unrolling it.
"What is that?" she asked of the sound.
"The Blood War. Everywhere you go here on Oinos, you'll hear it. Louder of course when you draw close to the engagements, but it echoes throughout the whole layer." Argen said, then climbed onto the carpet, looking around carefully. "Okay, get on."
He reached into his backpack, removed a large candle which had wicks sprouting from either end. Then removed a small bronze sphere with what looked like a lens of some kind built into it. To Gneissminer he said, "Your attuned item, please." The gnome reached into his apron and removed a small book.
Argen held it up, pointed the lens of the sphere at it. Suddenly, with a series of ratcheting clicks, the sphere expanded out into something like a cross between a telescope and an astrolabe. He peered through it, then held it outwards. It twisted, turned, and stopped in a direction off to their right.
Handing the book back, he compacted the device again, tucked it away, took up the candle. "When I light this, we'll be covered by a shroud of invisibility and silence. It won't stop everything from seeing us, but it should do a good enough job we can stay unnoticed from the air. While I fly, help keep an eye out. If you see something coming towards us, tap me on the shoulder and point. If you absolutely have to say something, tap me twice on the shoulder and I'll extinguish the silence end. Ready?"
Gneissminer nodded, as did Valerie. With that, Argen snapped his fingers, and the world went silent. He snapped them again inaudibly, then set the candle on his lap and lifted the carpet up and away into the skies. Flying along, in this gloomy gray place, in absolute silence, was eerie and unnerving.
The landscape was so bleak and dead. It was like how you imagined the end of the world would be, once everything was dead. Just a husk, left to fall to pieces after all else had vanished. Now and then she saw things moving about on the ground, but at their height it was difficult to tell what they were, other than 'not human'.
Nothing in the skies either, just that same gray expanse. It reminded her of the Astral Plane, only it at least seemed more like a silver mist, not this gray...nothing. She tried to keep her eyes open, stay alert, but it was becoming harder. It seemed pointless, really.
Hunger developed in her, and eventually Argen halted, extinguished the silencing wick. "Lunchtime." he said, reaching to his pack and removing several small pouches. He handed one to Gneissminer and one to Valerie, keeping a third for himself. "Oh, lovely. Travel rations." griped the gnome, but set into chewing at the dry, leathery brick inside the pouch, sipping at the water in the accompanying canteen.
Valerie did likewise, as she looked around, muttering "This place is fucking depressing."
"It is. Stay here too long and you'll end up trapped by the planar essence." replied Argen.
Reminded of that, Valerie tried to shake herself from some of the gloom, returning the ration pouch when she'd finished. She was getting tired of sitting there. "Any way we can land and stretch our legs?"
Argen looked down and around. "Well...I suppose. We have to be careful." He took the carpet down, flew around as he searched, then descended. "Okay, just for a minute."
Valerie stood and stretched with a grateful groan. Even Gneissminer looked pleased to be able to stand up. Argen did so too, but he stayed there on the carpet. Valerie dug her toe-claws at the ground, scraping at the powdery gray soil. The sounds of battle still echoed in the air. She tried to discern any sense to them, but it was all just meaningless noise.
True to his word, Argen urged them back onto the carpet shortly after, and re-lit the candle, getting them underway. Hours passed, dull but uneventful, as they traveled, before Argen extinguished the silence wick again. "Time to make camp." He drifted down to about fifty feet off the ground, but didn't land. Instead he stood, reached into his pack, and removed a length of rope.
Twirling it like a lasso, he tossed it upwards...and it disappeared into the air. He tugged at it, then pointed. "Up you go."
Gneissminer smirked at him, "Very clever." and climbed up.
Valerie stepped under, looked up...and saw a hole leading...somewhere. "The Hell?"
Argen explained, "It's a Rope Trick spell. Creates an extradimensional pocket you can use as a hideout. Once we're all in, I'll pull the rope up and we can relax."
Valerie wasn't sure about that, but she did as instructed, to find herself in another gray space, though this one reminded her more of the Astral Plane. Once Argen flew up, he folded the edges of the carpet slightly to finish getting in, then settled and drug the rope up. Extinguishing the candle fully, he tucked it away and smiled. "Here we are, safe as can be."
Gneissminer grunted in reply, and Valerie asked, "Where are we? The Astral Plane?"
Argen shook his head, "The Ethereal, actually. Nothing is apt to see us up in here." He unpacked food to share around, and laid out his bedroll. Gneissminer did the same, and Valerie followed suit. Tucked away in here, she didn't feel that pall of gloom and despair weighing her down as she did out there in Hades proper.
"So do we need to keep a watch?" asked Valerie.
"I've got that covered." replied Argen. "Give me a couple hours to rest, then I'll keep my eyes out while you two sleep." He held up one hand, flashed a ring. "Ring of Sustenance." he explained.
Valerie had no idea what that meant exactly, but she took him at his word and settled back, stretching out, glad for the chance to relax. Argen curled up and was soon asleep, while Gneissminer was happy to settle down with a book to read. Time passed, and Argen was awake soon enough, looking refreshed.
Once he did, Valerie laid down and fell asleep herself. She awakened some time after, feeling rested. Gneissminer was up soon, and once they broke their fast, Argen got the carpet and candles going, slid down from the hole out of the camp space to hover below. Valerie and the gnome climbed down and got settled, Argen recovered the rope holding the camp in place, then made another direction check with that curious little collapsible telescope/astrolabe thing of his.
Oriented, they set out on their journey once more, the dreary pall of the plane reasserting itself quickly. But Valerie did her best to stay alert, make sure nothing seemed to be coming in their direction. She spied a winged, tailed creature once far off to the side and below, and at another point she saw a horse running in midair, with eyes and a mane like fire, but neither of these creatures moved towards them.
They stopped at midday to rest, take a quick stretch in another seemingly safe location. "How much further?" asked Valerie, quickly tiring of being in this place.
"We should be there in another hour or two." replied Argen.
"Then we get to see what was so horrible he needed me to come along." grumbled Valerie, eyeing the gnome unpleasantly.
"I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle." replied Gneissminer archly, crossing his arms indignantly.
The trio got underway again, and somewhere between one and two hours later, ahead they spied what looked like a pond there in the midst of the waste, a stunted tree near one side. The water was black as midnight, but most remarkable was the tremendous creature there at its shore.
It had to be more than twice Valerie's height, looking like some sort of horrible cross between a bison and a minotaur. Prodigiously muscled, it had grey skin with charcoal-colored woolen hair upon its head and shoulders. It was crouched there, forearms across its knees, great hooves digging into the soil as it peered down into the water, unmoving.
Valerie tapped Argen's shoulder twice, and he snuffed the silencing wick. "The Hell is that thing?! It's the size of a building!" she hissed.
"Goristro. A siege-demon of the Blood War. They use them to breach fortifications and wreak general havoc amongst smaller enemies." replied Gneissminer calmly.
"What's it doing just...staring into the water?" asked Argen.
"I have my theories, but I'm not apt to test them by making my presence known to the brute." replied Gneissminer.
Valerie sneered, "So I have to go down there and provoke it." She gave the gnome a hard look, "I survive this? You owe me. A lot."
He waved a dismissive hand, "Yes, yes, I know. Now get on with killing it, will you?"
Valerie said, "Bring me down behind it?"
Argen nodded and circled the carpet around and down. Valerie carefully stepped off, and the two small beings hovered upwards. Once they rose up around fifteen feet, they seemed to just vanish completely. Valerie turned her attention to the crouching beast, who even now was taller than her. When it stood up...
Valerie took a deep breath. This is it...
Digging inside, she unleashed her primal fury and charged in, slashing with her claws. Even though she wounded it, she could feel a toughness there to its hide as she struck, blunting the force of her blow. Then she felt the amulet she wore tingle and send an energy through her. Its enchantment going to work?
The demon gave a cry of pain, sounding like a bull through a loudspeaker. But before it could react, she laid into it with her full fury, claws and teeth working hard as they could. This time, she went through its hide easily, and felt glad she'd invested in this amulet after all. The beast reeled under her assault, apparently struck dumb by the force of her blows.
She threw herself into a fresh series of attacks, one of her claw swipes failing to dig deep enough to harm it, but the others all tore into its flesh. Again she kept it off-balance, unable to counter, as the beast staggered, weakened greatly by her savage power.
Taking advantage of an opening presented, she slipped in, thrust her claws upwards, latched onto the ugly monstrosity's neck and tore it open, a shower of black ichor splashing her from above as it gave a final choked gurgle. She dodged aside as it toppled forward onto the ground, unmoving, eyes going glassy.
Just then, a cry from behind caused her to turn and spy the approach over a nearby hillside of three bizarre creatures. Two looked like hulking, black-skinned froglike creatures, hunched forward on all fours, but giving the impression they could stand if they wished, perhaps not as tall as her, but wide and bulky in form.
The third was a tall spiderlike creature, several feet higher than her, with a dark carapace and four of its eight eyes looking like they were made from gems. Was it a living thing, or some kind of made thing? She couldn't tell, she only knew it was coming this way, as were the froglike creatures.
One of them pointed at Valerie, shouting something to the spiderlike thing. Holding to her rage, she prepared to meet them, moving forward and hurling a spear at the spider-thing, striking its side. She saw no blood or other fluid leak from where she hit, so she guessed it was some sort of made thing.
The two froglike creatures rose up, croaking loudly, and beside one, suddenly a third one appeared in a plume of dark smoke. "Oh, you cheating fucks..." growled Valerie, seeing that. The spiderlike thing advanced closer, the red eye on its head suddenly glowing, sending a beam of energy flying at her.
When it struck, it burst into a fiery explosion. She tried to throw herself aside, but still felt the heat scorch her hide. Snarling, she advanced on the spider-thing, noticing as she drew close a hideous stench in the air, rising to choking levels that left her feeling ill. But it didn't stop her from clawing at the towering spider-thing.
The three froglike things moved in around her, the smell of all three at once nearly gag-enducing. But she kept her gorge in check as they all reared up. One let out a loud croaking noise that echoed into the air around her, passing over her, shaking her to her core. A wave of weakness came upon her as she reeled from the hideous sound.
The other two followed up with calling forth explosions of energy, one a multicolored riot, the other a wash of cold, greasy-feeling black energy. Her skin burned and chilled from the magic called down, the spider-thing fired forth another ray, this time from a white gem-eye, splashing her with a wave of deep cold she tried her best to avoid. It then lashed out with its four claws and mandibles, to no effect.
Trying to shake herself from the haze the frog-monster put her in, the three creatures rose up, trying that horrible croak. The sound washed over her, but she felt her body turn its magic aside. When all three had failed to affect her, the spider-thing blasted her with a ray from its blue gem-eye, shocking her with an electric burst.
Finally back to her senses, she snarled and launched herself at it first, failing to find purchase with one of her claw swipes, but tearing it up, even weakened as she was by the magic and horrid smell of the frog-monsters. They unleashed that horrible croaking, knocking her senseless again, and one attacked, causing a minor wound with its claws.
The spider-thing fired a beam from a gray-colored eye now, and she felt a strange tension build briefly over her body before fading. Its flurry of claw strikes managed to deliver a more significant injury than the frog-monster, as she tried to shake herself loose from her stupor.
It wasn't to be, for again the frog-monsters reared, one croaking and knocking her senseless once again, keeping her weakened. The other two tried to claw and bite her, but to no avail. The spider-thing, for whatever reason, didn't fire anything from its eyes, slashing with its claws and biting, but also failed to harm her.
Again she tried to shake off her dizziness, only to be knocked stupid once more by the incessant croaking of these ugly creatures. This time the other two called upon their magic again, blasting her with the multicolored light and greasy-feeling cold dark mist. The spider-thing fired another ray from its red eye, and this time it struck full-force, burning her harshly.
Once more fighting to collect herself, she was again sent reeling by a croak from a frog monster as the other two struck with their magics. The multicolored burst struck her hard, but the greasy darkness seemed not to affect her this time. The spider-thing struck her again with that freezing ray from its eye, clawing at her to no real effect.
She began to collect herself again, and was surprised to see the frog-monsters didn't croak at her again. Instead they used their other magics, of which only the colored burst harmed her. The spider-thing shot her again with an electric jolt, clawing and biting ineffectually.
Finally able to act again, she let forth a roar and latched onto the spider-thing, tearing its head from its body and tossing it aside. It toppled over as she turned towards one of the frog-monsters, lashing out at it with her claws and teeth. She met resistance, strangely unable to get her fangs through its hide, but she felt her amulet send its magic tingling through her again as her target reeled under her attacks. "Shoe's on the other foot now!" she called gleefully.
The other two frog-things moved back away from her, giving her a brief respite from their horrid stench, striking away with their magic again. Feeling her rage starting to wind down, she stepped up to press her attack, again sending it reeling under her fury. The two others kept up their spell barrage, to little effect, as she launched a last swipe, slaying one of them at last.
She advanced in on a second, as they each kept their distance, calling on some other magic that caused their bodies to dissipate into a greasy black mist, retaining a more or less froglike shape. The one closest to her remained near the ground while the other began to fly into the air.
She thrust her claws into the mist, cutting through it, finding resistance enough as wisps of the mist flew away and disappeared, a ghostly groaning in the air. She could still hurt it, hopefully still kill it. The other called down its magic on her again as it flew further into the air, to no effect.
She lashed out, shredding the misty form of the frog-thing, sending it dissipating fully into the air. Looking up at the last one, she drew one of her four remaining spears out. Finally free of the sickening stink of the thing, the remaining frog-monster threw another spell, failing again to harm her.
She took aim, hurling her spear through its form, to little effect. It threw another multicolored burst, and she took minor damage from it, now healing faster than she was being hurt. As her rage started to finally fade, she threw another spear, striking again, this time seeming to disrupt it with the force of her toss.
The weakness of her post-adrenaline rush came along, but she felt the drained, weakened feeling flee from the monsters' hideous croaking earlier as well, which resulted in something of a net gain in strength for her. She drew her fourth spear and tossed it, again disrupting the foggy creature.
Final spear in hand, she threw it, then looked about for something else to hurl at it. She noticed there in the trunk of the tree, near the water, a black-shafted metal spear, ornately made, set with some kind of gem near the head and carved with silvery runes. Moving towards it, she yanked it free and found it surprisingly light in her grip.
She threw it, seeming to cause more damage to it the way the misty substance of its form dissipated noticeably, but then it shimmered, wavered, and just...vanished. Before she could really stop to consider that, the black metal spear she'd just thrown reappeared there, just above her palm!
She jerked, fumbled for a moment, but caught hold of it, then realized it had returned to her. She turned, looking around for the misty form of the creature she'd been fighting. When it didn't reappear, she tried tossing the spear into the dirt nearby. Moments later, it vanished, reappearing in her hand.
A grin spread across her face as she crouched down, resting. "Magic spear, huh? Yeah, this'll be useful." she said to herself, while from above, Argen and Gneissminer came into view. Gneissminer looked at the water with an eager anticipation, while Argen stared at Valerie with a look of respectful admiration.
"Now that was impressive." the kobold said once he'd landed the carpet. "I've never seen or heard of anyone taking out a Goristro like that, much less dealing with Hezrou and a Retriever on top of it! And you found yourself an enchanted spear to boot? Looks like this trip was worth your while."
"Yes, yes, huzzah, now let's get on with something that actually matters!" said Gneissminer, walking down towards the water, looking it over. "My equipment!" he said, snapping his fingers.
Valerie said, "You're welcome." grumpily while Argen just shook his head, shrugged helplessly and unpacked the sack they'd stored his equipment trunks in.
Once they'd been produced and Gneissminer dug into them after his lab setup, Valerie went about collecting her thrown spears. Meantime, she saw the corpses of the creatures she'd fought dissolve away into a foul black ichor before disappearing entirely. Only the spiderlike thing remained, laying there broken and still like a damaged toy.
"So what were those things? More demons?" she asked Argen.
He nodded, "Well, the Retriever's actually a construct, but one made by demons. Given how they were acting, I have a feeling they might've been using it to track down the Goristro."
Valerie thought about that, "So I went and killed their prize bull, or something." She shrugged, "Makes about as much sense as everything else, I suppose." She settled down, having recovered from her injuries, to watch the gnome run his series of tests on the water from the pool.
"Do you have any idea why this place matters so much to him?" she asked Argen after a time.
Argen said, "It's a planar touchstone, and from what I gather, it was important to one of the old Factions that used to run Sigil, called the Doomguard."
"What's a touchstone?"
"They're sites where the energies of the plane in question concentrate. If someone understands how to access those energies, they can gain magical powers based on what the site involves." Argen stretched his arms over his head and yawned, his crocodilian snout stretching wide. "I suppose if I cared I could figure it out myself. But touchstones don't interest me. Just portals."
Before long it began to grow dark, and Argen said "Time to pack it up and make camp."
Gneissminer said testily, "In a minute, I'm right in the middle of something!"
Argen said, "It's called the Grey Waste of Hades. And if you don't get your lab packed up, it's staying out here with you while Valerie and I get secreted away."
Gneissminer sent Argen a dirty look, but set to packing the equipment away. "I still have a lot of important experiments to do!"
"Fine by me, I get paid by the day anyways." said Argen diffidently as he produced the enchanted rope from before. Once the trunks were packed and tucked away, they flew up to make camp again in the sky and the dimensional pocket. Dinner, then rest followed.
The next day they returned down to the side of the pond, where Gneissminer became engaged in his research again while Argen and Valerie kept watch for potential danger. None presented itself, and Valerie contented herself with pacing this way and that, playing with her new magic spear now and again.
The dismal pall was growing worse, Valerie wanted to get off this plane, but even that was starting to seem less and less attractive. She wanted to just stop bothering, sit down, do nothing. What was the point, really? She was just going to end up dead eventually, whether it was on Earth, here, any of a thousand ways.
She could shake these thoughts off, but the weight of them was growing heavier and heavier. She began to see how this place could drag you down, keep you from caring about leaving. Lunch passed, and as dinnertime drew near, Gneissminer said, "I suppose I've done all the work I can. I'd stay longer, but it wouldn't be worth what you're charging."
Argen said, "Suits me. Get it packed up and we'll get off this miserable plane."
Once that was done, Argen packed up the flying carpet as well. That confused Valerie, "We're not flying out?"
Argen shook his head, "Nope. Plane-shifting. Take my hand." he said, offering one to her and one to Gneissminer. The gnome looked at it with disapproval, but did it nonetheless. Valerie did likewise, and moments later, she felt a dropping, lurching sensation like freefall as everything went black for a moment...then faded into silver. The Astral Plane.
"Okay, let's find a color pool and get out of here." said Argen, starting to fly off. Gneissminer flew after, and once she took a moment to center herself, Valerie took to Astral flight once more herself. It didn't take long to locate a swirling vortex like she'd seen before, this one a fiery red.
"Now to crash it." said Argen, flying close and producing a yellow orb, a vial of some green sand and a small twig burning with a blue flame. Juggling them around the portal's surface, it didn't take long before it shifted colors again. "Get through!" he called.
Valerie flew in, then nearly fell as gravity reasserted itself on the far side of the portal. Stumbling forward, she found herself standing in some kind of...park? The sky was blue but dimming as the sun set, around her she saw manicured grass, trimmed hedges, gravel walking trails, a gazebo.
Beyond, more gravel roads, buildings, people walking around. And far off in the horizon, a tall, slender spire stretching into the sky, where a ring-shaped structure floated above the flattened, platter-like top. Gneissminer and Argen joined her, and the gnome grunted, "Tradegate, good. Come, back to the city." He set off at once.
Valerie followed beside Argen, "What's this place?"
"This is Tradegate, border town to the plane of Bytopia, here in the Outlands. And that, floating back up there atop the Spire, is Sigil." explained the kobold as they walked. "Take note where we go up here. As a Company associate, you can use this portal to and from Sigil."
They were soon in a queue leading to said portal, and once they produced their documents were all waved through. Back into the choking stink of Sigil, Valerie might've welcomed it more had the air not been much fresher down in that Tradegate place. Still, she endured it, knowing her journey was almost over for now.
Once they returned to the Cartographic Society and unloaded the gnome's trunks, Valerie said "I expect news from you on your progress. Leave it at the Monstrous Brotherhood's Company Hall, care of Valerie Bridgewater."
Gneissminer waved his hand irritably at her reminder, "Yes, yes...Menzies! Boy, come fetch my trunks, I've returned!" he called, walking back inside their offices.
"And if you don't I'll be along to squish you underfoot." she muttered to herself. Argen snickered and called, "Yes, and forgotten to finish paying me!" as he went after the gnome.
"Oh, is money all you think about, you bothersome kobold?" griped Gneissminer.
"It's certainly not the pleasure of your company." Argen quipped back.
More muttering, then Gneissminer called again, "MENZIES!"
Argen returned, and Valerie smiled. "Thanks for all the help. Think you could show me back to the Company Hall?"
"Sure." said Argen, going outside and removing the flying carpet for them to zip back across town and there.
Once there Valerie said, "Good working with you. I ever need to get around quickly, I'll keep you in mind."
Argen gave a quick little salute, "And if I ever need a one-person siegebreaker, I'll keep you in mind." He punctuated that with a wink.
Valerie grinned and said, "I guess I'll go get this spear appraised, so I know exactly what it can do."
Argen said, "Oh, give it here. I can do it, no charge." He dug out a monocle from his pouch and tucked it into an eye orbit.
Valerie raised her brows, "Really? Thanks again." she handed it over, and Argen stood there for a minute or so, looking it over. Then he offered it back to her.
"Adamantine Javelin, base level magic enchantment, with Adaptation and Distance enhancements. Also got a Greater Returning Weapon Crystal stuck in it, there." he tapped the blue gem embedded in it.
Valerie took it back, "So the crystal's what makes it return to me after it's thrown? What does Distance enhancement do?"
"Doubles its effective range. So I bet you can really hurl that thing."
"Yeah, I bet I could...I'd ask what it's worth, but I think it's safe to say I'm keeping it."
Argen took the monocle off, put it away, "Okay. Well, I'm ready for a hot meal. How about you?"
Sticking the magic spear back in with the others, she said "Sounds good."
The pair made their way to the mess to fill themselves with the evening's fare.