Light Wrapped in Darkness 10
Magicman: A question for all reviewers. Who's your favourite NPC? Not for stats or good spells, just because you like them.
Smokegirl: I like Xzar best. He's crazy! Either him or Edwin. Or Viconia. But NOT Korgan! He bugs me!
Magicman: I may as well get used to her being here; she's not bloody likely to leave now.
Smokegirl: Hey Kitty I've got a joke for you. How many paladins does it take to screw in a light bulb? One to do the actual work and six more to preach at him about the evil way he's doing it! HA HA HA HA HA!!!
Magicman: Oh boy. Well anyway, don't worry. I won't have the party size grow eternally. I just don't like the idea of kicking out party members just so you can talk to someone new. Also, I'm improvising the knights' names seeing as I can't remember them.
***
Taurus woke up in the middle of the night. Terror constricted his soul and closed off his throat. He couldn't breath for precious seconds. Slowly he relaxed. It had been a terrible dream. Irenicus had appeared out of nowhere and goaded him verbally. What had he said? He could still hear the cold voice of the mage, speaking mockingly.
"It is a portrait of what has happened and what may happen" Irenicus had declared. "Do you cling to the past or can you see through the pain? You feel the potential within don't you? Do you cringe from what you know you want, what you can take as your own? You know what you want," the mage said with finality. "It is you after all who has brought us to the dream. Nothing is real. Yet".
The final words had held no hint of threat, merely a cold certainty that was far more unnerving than any threat. Taurus shivered, knowing that those words would become true.
***
"Stand away from me!" Viconia snapped. "I do not want your stench in my nostrils anymore than it must!"
Taurus simply nodded and walked a little farther away, though never standing too far from her. Viconia noticed this and became furious.
The party was roaming through the slums, hurrying toward the silver Sphere that had caused all this trouble. Viconia and Taurus had been elected to walk rearguard though the Drow didn't seem happy about it.
"Why I put up with you I have no idea" she continued bitterly. "I could be safely out of the city by now. People wouldn't find me. I could be left alone to my worship of Shar. I could be in peace right now, without having to fear discovery or murder!"
"So why aren't you?" Taurus asked curiously.
Viconia tossed her head, her long hair making it a gesture of magnificent scorn. "Because I thought that you were a man of drive. A man of action! A strong leader capable of inspiring his followers with his words and actions! It is my misfortune that you are nothing more than a worm, barely aware of your own existence let alone what you could really do! And I can't even leave you because the entire city knows about 'the Drow monster' travelling through it."
Viconia wave her hand at some passing people. The moved quickly to the other side of the street and she smiled bitterly.
"If you really want to leave then go ahead" Taurus suggested. "They'd let you alone".
"Oh please!" Viconia snorted. "Name one surfacer who has treated me with any kind of decency."
"Me".
"Bah!" Viconia stomped forward to join the rest of the group. Taurus followed slowly, a smile on his face. She was as cute as Aerie when she got angry.
He rejoined the group more slowly, and arrived just as Valygar was telling them about the sphere.
"Here we are. This is the Planar Sphere in the slums" the stalker announced. Face to face with his legacy, his stalwart complexion seemed to crumble. "We should...we should climb the stairs and enter. If I'm right, my presence should unlock the sphere."
"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get to it." Nalia caught Yoshimo's arm and walked forward, dragging along the older thief. Twirling her staff, Jaheira followed, along with Viconia. Aerie walked by Minsc, who seemed to be chattering to her cheerfully. Taurus caught up with Valygar, who watched the sphere with trepidation.
"What will I find in this place?" Valygar muttered to himself.
"We'll never know 'till we find out!" Taurus said cheerfully. He strolled past the ranger, whistling tunelessly. Valygar muttered again and moved to catch up with him.
When they arrived at a small door that was embedded in the side of the sphere, they all looked to Valygar. Hesitantly he reached out and grasped the handle. The air shimmered and there was a slight surge of magical energy. The door opened into a dark corridor. Valygar entered the sphere of his ancestor, followed by the rest of the party.
Several minutes after the party entered the sphere two thin and inconsistent shadows approached the sphere. They drifted through the open door. No sooner had they done so then the door slammed shut. The sphere glowed fiery silver. Then a blinding flash of bright white light lit the entire slums district.
When the light diminished the sphere had vanished, leaving several stunned citizens.
***
"You just had to put the fucking key in the fucking lock, didn't you?"
Jaheira glared at Taurus. "You realise" she continued, gesturing to the 3-d map, "That we are now the Gods know how far from Athkatla, Imoen, Irenicus, and any hope of getting to them. You also realise that we are now trapped on some unidentified plane of existence with a crazed wizard and who knows what else!"
"I get the point Jaheira" was all he said.
The party was waiting in the chamber they'd entered. The locked door they had faced was now open but, as Jaheira had been saying for twenty-six minutes, unlocking the door had caused the sphere to travel. Taurus was sitting at the edge of the map, staring aimlessly at the hostile landscape.
"Leave Taurus alone Jaheira" Aerie berated the older elf. "He knows that he made a mistake. He doesn't need you to keep harping about it!"
Jaheira swallowed an angry retort. The girl had a point.
Aerie sat next to Taurus. "Besides" she said, looking on the bright side, "We couldn't find Valygar's ancestor locked in here, could we?"
Valygar nodded. "Not unless he was on a morning stroll".
Jaheira sighed. "So what do we do now?"
"Moving forward might be a good idea" Yoshimo suggested matter of factly.
Taurus nodded and heaved himself to his feet. He caught Aerie's hand and pulled her up too. Their eyes met for a moment and Aerie turned away quickly, blushing. Viconia watched them with a scowl.
"Little bitch" she muttered to herself. Yoshimo kept his smirk to himself and pretended not to have heard.
Pressing on through another hall, the party came to a fairly comfortable looking room. It had a stone fireplace, a table with a chequered cloth, and three humans in platemail.
The two groups halted and eyed each other warily. Then Taurus sighed and sheathed his weapons. He advanced slowly, his empty hands extended to either side. "We come in peace".
The woman seemed to be in charge. She lowered her long halberd and advanced until she stood in front of Taurus. She studied him before thrusting out her gauntlet-covered hand in an expression of friendship. "Well met sir" she said. The two leaders shook hands and both groups relaxed a bit.
While the groups mingled, Taurus and Carina, as the woman had introduced herself, conversed.
After hearing Taurus' tale she nodded. "We have also become trapped in the sphere," she said. "We pursued a mage who had committed murder and death in our homeland of Solamnia."
"Solamnia? I've never heard of a land named Solamnia. Of course" Taurus checked himself, "I wouldn't have if it's from another world like you seem to be."
Carina nodded. "Indeed. We pursued this mage aboard the sphere, not knowing that it was a travelling vessel. We lost the wizard when he activated his ship. We were locked in and have been here ever since." She shook her head ruefully. "Upon reflection we should have known not to enter the abode of a mage. Ever have they proven clever and devious."
Taurus smiled. "Well do you know anything about the sphere?"
Carina shook her head. "Sadly no. We began to explore to the west but were quickly set upon by a pack of vicious creatures. They were of children's size but were most ferocious."
"Do you mean halfling?"
"If halflings devour flesh raw then yes, they could very well be halflings. One other thing we discovered. To the west there is a room. Within it is a strange creature. It looks manlike but manmade as well. It misses an arm and its head." Carina shrugged her armoured shoulders. "I apologise for not being of much help to you friend Taurus, but that is all that I know."
"No need to apologise for what can't be helped. I guess we'll meet again on our way out. Stay alive." Taurus smiled to let her know that he was joking then waved his group onward.
They left the room by the west door, Taurus in the lead. He hadn't gotten ten feet before a tiny critter leaped at him, a weapon raised. Startled, the Crintri kicked out. His foot caught the creature under the chin and sent it flying upward and backward.
The creature was replaced by two more. Minsc ploughed through the doorway and trampled over the small beings, using his great size to squash them flat. Lila wasn't happy at not being used. He insulted the big ranger who ignored him.
Jaheira examined the three corpses. "Well I'll be damned" she said when Taurus walked up to her. "These are halflings!"
"Really?!" Taurus looked closer. The figures were indeed halflings but their death frozen faces had captured looks of complete madness and a thirst for blood. "By Mystra! What on Faerun do you think happened to them?"
"Probably the mage experimented on them" Viconia shrugged, indifferent. "Does it matter?"
"Probably not. We'll run into more, unless I miss my guess."
Taurus didn't miss his guess. They continued down a bone-covered path, weapons at the ready and defensive magics prepared. The silence was eerie. In a way, Taurus had to admire this Lavok. It must have taken a great deal of magical skill to design and build this sphere containing numerous different bio-habitats.
Even as he thought that thought the group was brought up short. A halfling warrior sat on a nearby rock. It chewed on a bloody bone; hunks of flesh still clinging to it. It looked up and smiled a wicked smile at the party. "Ah! More meat to feast upon!" Before anyone could stop it, it pulled out a small whistle and blew a single piercing note. The clatter of armoured feet sounded from further up the path. In a flash the halfling warrior was joined by three more, one wizard, and a cleric. They growled with feral voices and attacked.
The battle turned into a melee instantly. Confusion reigned as the vicious little beasts attacked furiously unmindful of any hurts they took themselves. The mage cast a confusion spell and confused the companions. By sheer luck, Viconia was casting Dispel at the same time and removed the confusing enchantment. The priest summoned up several undead soldiers but Aerie and Viconia successfully turned them. Magic and arrows flew through the air with wild abandon until the fight ended.
The magic user proved to be the greatest threat. He had a tendency to shield himself from the weapons of the fighters and elude the spells of the casters. His paralysing magic held still Taurus and Yoshimo, making them easy prey for a volley of fiery magic arrows. Unfortunately for him this wore down his invisibility spell, which enabled Nalia to Breach his magical shields, which allowed Jaheira to smash his skull open with her staff.
The cleric also proved troublesome but without his skeleton his skeleton henchmen the party rolled over him easily. The rest of the halfling monsters were dealt with equal efficiency. The party then waited for Yoshimo and Taurus to regain use of their limbs.
"Well" Taurus said sarcastically once he could move again. "That was fun. At least the little bastards won't be bugging us anymore."
"A distinct point" Valygar said.
The slightly battered companions continued along. At the end of the bone-strewn path was what appeared to be a large metallic chamber. Yoshimo quickly picked the lock and they stepped inside. A couple of spiders and some Ettercaps had made the room their home and weren't pleased to be woken up. However hostile their intent, though, it didn't measure up and soon they were nothing more than bloody bits.
Once inside the room, Aerie stared in open-mouthed awe at the great glass tube. Inside was a partially completed golem, still missing its head and its arm. But it was an impressive display of magic nonetheless. "Wow" she murmured, placing a hand on the frosted glass.
"My" Viconia said snidely as she walked past her elven rival. "Aren't we easily impressed?"
"Be quiet" Aerie murmured, too transfixed with the magical construction to argue. Viconia snorted and went off to the other side of the room.
While Yoshimo, Taurus, Valygar, Nalia, and Minsc were exploring the nearby rooms Jaheira stayed with the two elves, both to watch their backs and to keep them from killing each other. 'I've been turned into a babysitter' Jaheira grimaced. 'Taurus owes me big time'. She examined the small room until her eyes set down on a book on a nearby bench. Curious, she picked up said book. It was rather dusty from disuse but it was readable. Opening the book, she read a few words. It turned out to be an instruction book for building the golem. Apparently it had been designed by Lavok to deal with the numerous creatures from different planes of existence that made their way into the sphere. That revelation gave Jaheira a nasty jolt. What if that thing came alive all of a sudden? Then she took another look at the headless, one-armed being floating in a jar of dull oil. It wasn't likely to come alive at any time soon.
"It's a remarkable piece of craftsmanship". Aerie's commentary brought Jaheira back from her musing. The elf was explaining learnedly to her two companions about the golem.
"See that oil it's floating in?" Aerie pointed. "That's the revival fluid. Once the head and the arm are placed into the machine and the machine is powered, the fluid will attach the body parts to the rest of the body and then will turn it on, for lack of a better term. It will then complete its function." She paused before adding, "Whatever that is."
"Show off" Viconia grumbled.
Aerie flashed her an innocent smile. "My, aren't we easily impressed" she said, mimicking Viconia's tone of voice.
"Be quiet," Viconia said right back. For an instant the two women smiled at each other before snorting and going back to what they were doing.
Jaheira took Aerie aside and held out the book for her to see. "What do you suppose would happen if the golem was brought to life?"
Aerie looked at the book. "My guess would be that it would ignore us and go find some planar intruders to swat."
"Why would it ignore us? We're planar intruders."
Aerie shrugged. "Well yeah. But then again we're from the same plane as this Lavok. We all have more or less the same vibration frequency, much more similar than you and a Lich or a Beholder would have. Lavok probably wouldn't want the golem to confuse him with some weird planar monster that snuck onboard the sphere. Besides" she added, kicking the door in the east part of the room, "It might be nice enough to lend us a hand with this door. I doubt that we can break through on our own."
Jaheira just kind of stared. "How do you know so much about golems?"
Aerie blushed modestly. "Uncle Quayle had a friend who made golems for a living. He stopped by one time at the circus and gave me some lessons on magical theory and golem building. He was really nice, though most of the others in the circus didn't like him." She frowned slightly. "Maybe it was that third arm of his."
"Maybe".
Shortly thereafter the men and Nalia returned, looking rather battered. Yoshimo however was smiling with pride. "I disarmed three traps and unlocked two doors" he said when asked why he was so happy.
The others weren't so pleased with themselves. They had been jumped by more halflings and a couple of golems, similar to the one in the tank but weaker and capable of dying. Despite the difficulties they had managed to find some treasure, including the golem's head, which went well with the arm that Yoshimo had picked up earlier. After a short discussion, they agreed to follow Aerie's suggestion to rebuild the golem.
Aerie was chosen to set up the golem, mostly because she was the only one of the group who had any idea what she was doing. With some trepidation, she placed the head in a tube that led into the interior of the machine. The head slipped down through the tube and into the fluid. The fluid seemed to lift it up and place it on the shoulders of the artificial creature. When she placed the arm into the tube it to was floated up to the shoulder where it belonged.
Nothing horrible happened. Nothing at all happened.
Viconia snorted and clapped her hands sarcastically. "Wonderful job butterfly. Shall we ask it to make us lunch now?"
Aerie glared horribly at Viconia. "Maybe after we, oh I don't know, turned on the power?!"
Viconia glared back but she didn't have any response, so she just snorted and turned away.
Jaheira held up the book she was scanning earlier. "According to this we have to throw some coal in the three furnaces north of here. Also we should watch our backs. Something is likely to happen, though it doesn't say what."
Taurus looked over the book dubiously. "That's what it looks like". He glanced at his party members. "What do you guys think?"
Yoshimo tried to open the lock on the door to the east but with no luck. "I don't see that we have much choice. We seem to be stuck."
"To beat the evil about the face and neck we must first beat the door" Minsc elaborated. He roared and charged the door, scattering the others out of his way. The ranger hit the door and bounced off woozily. "And to beat the door" he continued, "We must find someone with bigger butt- kicking power than Minsc".
"Easy big fella" Lila soothed.
Valygar shrugged. "If we must we must."
"Anyone else?" Taurus looked to the rest of the party. Nalia shrugged, Jaheira nodded once, Aerie also nodded, and Viconia scowled at him.
"Don't mind me" she snarled when he asked her opinion. "It's obvious that you're going to do it anyway."
"Okay then. Shall we go to the boiler room?" Taurus offered Viconia his arm but she brushed past him with a snort of derision. Sighing, Taurus followed and the rest followed him.
The boiler room contained three large boilers, as its name suggested. Each was cold and waiting for fuel. Occasionally sparks would flicker within the depths, and the heat of the room would rise momentarily. Taurus eyed the boilers with some confusion.
"So what do we use to fuel them?"
"Why this of course". Yoshimo reached into his pack and pulled out a large amount of coal. His packrat tendencies had made him gather it up when it appeared to have to earthly use. He ignored the incredulous looks the other gave him and walked over to one of the furnaces. He tossed some coal into its depths.
Instantly a blast of fire raised the room's temperature exponentially. The party had to cover their faces against the heat. Taurus managed to squint against the heat and see what happened. Through the shimmering air, he saw a fiery beast pull itself out of the boiler. Instantly he knew what it was.
"Fire elemental!"
The monster growled a sound the mimicked the roar of fire. It attacked the party instantly. Magic missiles flew through the air, striking it. Minsc and Taurus, Valygar and Jaheira attacked it. It seemed to shrug off most of their blows and burned Jaheira so badly that she had to fall out of the fight and heal herself.
Then the beast turned to Viconia when a Hold spell hit it. For a couple seconds the creature was paralysed. Then it broke free. The backlash of the splintered spell hurt Viconia badly, throwing her back a few steps. The elemental surged forward and seized in arms of fire.
The Drow's black skin crackled and she screamed in pain. The monster hissed, gloating. Then it screamed and dropped the Drow. Taurus and Minsc had plunged their weapons in its back. Minsc's more magical sword had caused the most damage and it was enough. One more flash of Magic missiles from Taurus finished it off. It collapsed into a pile of ashes.
Aerie and Jaheira both hurriedly worked to heal Viconia. Taurus wrung his hands in nervousness. He didn't want Vicky to die. He cared too much about her! 'Does this mean you've picked one yet?' 'No! I care too much about Aerie to just ignore her like that.' 'Sigh. Well it's your funeral.'
The sound of Viconia's cursing brought him back to attention. "Back away! I don't need your help. Back away!" Aerie and Jaheira walked away, muttering something. Taurus could make out the word 'ungrateful' but nothing else. He walked over and sat beside Vicky who glared at him. "Oh why don't you go fight more monsters?"
"Because". He smiled for he knew it would infuriate the beautiful drow. She yelled at him while the others killed two more elementals and powered up the other two furnaces.
Back in the golem chamber, the machine had brought the beast to life. The creation of Lavok was an impressive sight. Its stone musculature seemed to ripple with unnatural life and it stood stock-still like some great monolith.
Then its eyes suddenly opened. It spoke in a monotonous voice. "Intruders detected in the sphere. Must clean them out. Must remove all inter-planar intruders". It strode forward at great speed, crashing clear through the stubborn door and into the hall beyond.
The group followed more slowly, Yoshimo leading to detect any traps. Indeed, they almost ran into one when they stepped from the golem chamber. The passed through a strange room with a glowing sphere and four symbols on the ground. They passed through a long hallway strewn with rock and stone. Finally thay came upon the golem, face to face with an Elder Beholder, the mightiest kind of Beholder.
"Wizard!" it screamed in fury as the golem approached. "Your sphere isnot a fitting tomb! Your golem be damned, I will escape!"
The following battle was tremendous. The companions had the sense to stay out of the way of both combatants. Yoshimo tapped Taurus on the shoulder. "What do we do if the hunk of rock loses?"
"Run".
The golem did not lose. It seemed immune to all magics that the eye monster hurled at it while the same did not hold true for the golem's fists. With a wail of frustration unfulfilled the Beholder succumbed to the guardian of the sphere.
After the battle was over the beast stood still again. "No intruders detected" it said. "Standing by for further orders."
Slowly the companions walked past the golem and the corpse of its foe. There was a door imbedded in the wall, marked with the words 'Navigation room'. This was undoubtedly where they would find and confront Lavok the necromancer.
After a short rest, the party entered the room, weapons ready. The confrontation would take place now.
***
Magicman: And stop!
Smokegirl: You stopped it just as they were about to fight the necromancer?! What on Earth is wrong with you?!
Magicman: What can I say? Cliffhangers are a weakness of mine. Though in this case it shouldn't be too bad since everyone knows what will happen. That's the problem with playing out the plot of a popular game. -_//'
Smokegirl: Ah well. FIRE! *sets fire to a passing peasant, who runs screaming* Muahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!
Magicman: A question for all reviewers. Who's your favourite NPC? Not for stats or good spells, just because you like them.
Smokegirl: I like Xzar best. He's crazy! Either him or Edwin. Or Viconia. But NOT Korgan! He bugs me!
Magicman: I may as well get used to her being here; she's not bloody likely to leave now.
Smokegirl: Hey Kitty I've got a joke for you. How many paladins does it take to screw in a light bulb? One to do the actual work and six more to preach at him about the evil way he's doing it! HA HA HA HA HA!!!
Magicman: Oh boy. Well anyway, don't worry. I won't have the party size grow eternally. I just don't like the idea of kicking out party members just so you can talk to someone new. Also, I'm improvising the knights' names seeing as I can't remember them.
***
Taurus woke up in the middle of the night. Terror constricted his soul and closed off his throat. He couldn't breath for precious seconds. Slowly he relaxed. It had been a terrible dream. Irenicus had appeared out of nowhere and goaded him verbally. What had he said? He could still hear the cold voice of the mage, speaking mockingly.
"It is a portrait of what has happened and what may happen" Irenicus had declared. "Do you cling to the past or can you see through the pain? You feel the potential within don't you? Do you cringe from what you know you want, what you can take as your own? You know what you want," the mage said with finality. "It is you after all who has brought us to the dream. Nothing is real. Yet".
The final words had held no hint of threat, merely a cold certainty that was far more unnerving than any threat. Taurus shivered, knowing that those words would become true.
***
"Stand away from me!" Viconia snapped. "I do not want your stench in my nostrils anymore than it must!"
Taurus simply nodded and walked a little farther away, though never standing too far from her. Viconia noticed this and became furious.
The party was roaming through the slums, hurrying toward the silver Sphere that had caused all this trouble. Viconia and Taurus had been elected to walk rearguard though the Drow didn't seem happy about it.
"Why I put up with you I have no idea" she continued bitterly. "I could be safely out of the city by now. People wouldn't find me. I could be left alone to my worship of Shar. I could be in peace right now, without having to fear discovery or murder!"
"So why aren't you?" Taurus asked curiously.
Viconia tossed her head, her long hair making it a gesture of magnificent scorn. "Because I thought that you were a man of drive. A man of action! A strong leader capable of inspiring his followers with his words and actions! It is my misfortune that you are nothing more than a worm, barely aware of your own existence let alone what you could really do! And I can't even leave you because the entire city knows about 'the Drow monster' travelling through it."
Viconia wave her hand at some passing people. The moved quickly to the other side of the street and she smiled bitterly.
"If you really want to leave then go ahead" Taurus suggested. "They'd let you alone".
"Oh please!" Viconia snorted. "Name one surfacer who has treated me with any kind of decency."
"Me".
"Bah!" Viconia stomped forward to join the rest of the group. Taurus followed slowly, a smile on his face. She was as cute as Aerie when she got angry.
He rejoined the group more slowly, and arrived just as Valygar was telling them about the sphere.
"Here we are. This is the Planar Sphere in the slums" the stalker announced. Face to face with his legacy, his stalwart complexion seemed to crumble. "We should...we should climb the stairs and enter. If I'm right, my presence should unlock the sphere."
"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get to it." Nalia caught Yoshimo's arm and walked forward, dragging along the older thief. Twirling her staff, Jaheira followed, along with Viconia. Aerie walked by Minsc, who seemed to be chattering to her cheerfully. Taurus caught up with Valygar, who watched the sphere with trepidation.
"What will I find in this place?" Valygar muttered to himself.
"We'll never know 'till we find out!" Taurus said cheerfully. He strolled past the ranger, whistling tunelessly. Valygar muttered again and moved to catch up with him.
When they arrived at a small door that was embedded in the side of the sphere, they all looked to Valygar. Hesitantly he reached out and grasped the handle. The air shimmered and there was a slight surge of magical energy. The door opened into a dark corridor. Valygar entered the sphere of his ancestor, followed by the rest of the party.
Several minutes after the party entered the sphere two thin and inconsistent shadows approached the sphere. They drifted through the open door. No sooner had they done so then the door slammed shut. The sphere glowed fiery silver. Then a blinding flash of bright white light lit the entire slums district.
When the light diminished the sphere had vanished, leaving several stunned citizens.
***
"You just had to put the fucking key in the fucking lock, didn't you?"
Jaheira glared at Taurus. "You realise" she continued, gesturing to the 3-d map, "That we are now the Gods know how far from Athkatla, Imoen, Irenicus, and any hope of getting to them. You also realise that we are now trapped on some unidentified plane of existence with a crazed wizard and who knows what else!"
"I get the point Jaheira" was all he said.
The party was waiting in the chamber they'd entered. The locked door they had faced was now open but, as Jaheira had been saying for twenty-six minutes, unlocking the door had caused the sphere to travel. Taurus was sitting at the edge of the map, staring aimlessly at the hostile landscape.
"Leave Taurus alone Jaheira" Aerie berated the older elf. "He knows that he made a mistake. He doesn't need you to keep harping about it!"
Jaheira swallowed an angry retort. The girl had a point.
Aerie sat next to Taurus. "Besides" she said, looking on the bright side, "We couldn't find Valygar's ancestor locked in here, could we?"
Valygar nodded. "Not unless he was on a morning stroll".
Jaheira sighed. "So what do we do now?"
"Moving forward might be a good idea" Yoshimo suggested matter of factly.
Taurus nodded and heaved himself to his feet. He caught Aerie's hand and pulled her up too. Their eyes met for a moment and Aerie turned away quickly, blushing. Viconia watched them with a scowl.
"Little bitch" she muttered to herself. Yoshimo kept his smirk to himself and pretended not to have heard.
Pressing on through another hall, the party came to a fairly comfortable looking room. It had a stone fireplace, a table with a chequered cloth, and three humans in platemail.
The two groups halted and eyed each other warily. Then Taurus sighed and sheathed his weapons. He advanced slowly, his empty hands extended to either side. "We come in peace".
The woman seemed to be in charge. She lowered her long halberd and advanced until she stood in front of Taurus. She studied him before thrusting out her gauntlet-covered hand in an expression of friendship. "Well met sir" she said. The two leaders shook hands and both groups relaxed a bit.
While the groups mingled, Taurus and Carina, as the woman had introduced herself, conversed.
After hearing Taurus' tale she nodded. "We have also become trapped in the sphere," she said. "We pursued a mage who had committed murder and death in our homeland of Solamnia."
"Solamnia? I've never heard of a land named Solamnia. Of course" Taurus checked himself, "I wouldn't have if it's from another world like you seem to be."
Carina nodded. "Indeed. We pursued this mage aboard the sphere, not knowing that it was a travelling vessel. We lost the wizard when he activated his ship. We were locked in and have been here ever since." She shook her head ruefully. "Upon reflection we should have known not to enter the abode of a mage. Ever have they proven clever and devious."
Taurus smiled. "Well do you know anything about the sphere?"
Carina shook her head. "Sadly no. We began to explore to the west but were quickly set upon by a pack of vicious creatures. They were of children's size but were most ferocious."
"Do you mean halfling?"
"If halflings devour flesh raw then yes, they could very well be halflings. One other thing we discovered. To the west there is a room. Within it is a strange creature. It looks manlike but manmade as well. It misses an arm and its head." Carina shrugged her armoured shoulders. "I apologise for not being of much help to you friend Taurus, but that is all that I know."
"No need to apologise for what can't be helped. I guess we'll meet again on our way out. Stay alive." Taurus smiled to let her know that he was joking then waved his group onward.
They left the room by the west door, Taurus in the lead. He hadn't gotten ten feet before a tiny critter leaped at him, a weapon raised. Startled, the Crintri kicked out. His foot caught the creature under the chin and sent it flying upward and backward.
The creature was replaced by two more. Minsc ploughed through the doorway and trampled over the small beings, using his great size to squash them flat. Lila wasn't happy at not being used. He insulted the big ranger who ignored him.
Jaheira examined the three corpses. "Well I'll be damned" she said when Taurus walked up to her. "These are halflings!"
"Really?!" Taurus looked closer. The figures were indeed halflings but their death frozen faces had captured looks of complete madness and a thirst for blood. "By Mystra! What on Faerun do you think happened to them?"
"Probably the mage experimented on them" Viconia shrugged, indifferent. "Does it matter?"
"Probably not. We'll run into more, unless I miss my guess."
Taurus didn't miss his guess. They continued down a bone-covered path, weapons at the ready and defensive magics prepared. The silence was eerie. In a way, Taurus had to admire this Lavok. It must have taken a great deal of magical skill to design and build this sphere containing numerous different bio-habitats.
Even as he thought that thought the group was brought up short. A halfling warrior sat on a nearby rock. It chewed on a bloody bone; hunks of flesh still clinging to it. It looked up and smiled a wicked smile at the party. "Ah! More meat to feast upon!" Before anyone could stop it, it pulled out a small whistle and blew a single piercing note. The clatter of armoured feet sounded from further up the path. In a flash the halfling warrior was joined by three more, one wizard, and a cleric. They growled with feral voices and attacked.
The battle turned into a melee instantly. Confusion reigned as the vicious little beasts attacked furiously unmindful of any hurts they took themselves. The mage cast a confusion spell and confused the companions. By sheer luck, Viconia was casting Dispel at the same time and removed the confusing enchantment. The priest summoned up several undead soldiers but Aerie and Viconia successfully turned them. Magic and arrows flew through the air with wild abandon until the fight ended.
The magic user proved to be the greatest threat. He had a tendency to shield himself from the weapons of the fighters and elude the spells of the casters. His paralysing magic held still Taurus and Yoshimo, making them easy prey for a volley of fiery magic arrows. Unfortunately for him this wore down his invisibility spell, which enabled Nalia to Breach his magical shields, which allowed Jaheira to smash his skull open with her staff.
The cleric also proved troublesome but without his skeleton his skeleton henchmen the party rolled over him easily. The rest of the halfling monsters were dealt with equal efficiency. The party then waited for Yoshimo and Taurus to regain use of their limbs.
"Well" Taurus said sarcastically once he could move again. "That was fun. At least the little bastards won't be bugging us anymore."
"A distinct point" Valygar said.
The slightly battered companions continued along. At the end of the bone-strewn path was what appeared to be a large metallic chamber. Yoshimo quickly picked the lock and they stepped inside. A couple of spiders and some Ettercaps had made the room their home and weren't pleased to be woken up. However hostile their intent, though, it didn't measure up and soon they were nothing more than bloody bits.
Once inside the room, Aerie stared in open-mouthed awe at the great glass tube. Inside was a partially completed golem, still missing its head and its arm. But it was an impressive display of magic nonetheless. "Wow" she murmured, placing a hand on the frosted glass.
"My" Viconia said snidely as she walked past her elven rival. "Aren't we easily impressed?"
"Be quiet" Aerie murmured, too transfixed with the magical construction to argue. Viconia snorted and went off to the other side of the room.
While Yoshimo, Taurus, Valygar, Nalia, and Minsc were exploring the nearby rooms Jaheira stayed with the two elves, both to watch their backs and to keep them from killing each other. 'I've been turned into a babysitter' Jaheira grimaced. 'Taurus owes me big time'. She examined the small room until her eyes set down on a book on a nearby bench. Curious, she picked up said book. It was rather dusty from disuse but it was readable. Opening the book, she read a few words. It turned out to be an instruction book for building the golem. Apparently it had been designed by Lavok to deal with the numerous creatures from different planes of existence that made their way into the sphere. That revelation gave Jaheira a nasty jolt. What if that thing came alive all of a sudden? Then she took another look at the headless, one-armed being floating in a jar of dull oil. It wasn't likely to come alive at any time soon.
"It's a remarkable piece of craftsmanship". Aerie's commentary brought Jaheira back from her musing. The elf was explaining learnedly to her two companions about the golem.
"See that oil it's floating in?" Aerie pointed. "That's the revival fluid. Once the head and the arm are placed into the machine and the machine is powered, the fluid will attach the body parts to the rest of the body and then will turn it on, for lack of a better term. It will then complete its function." She paused before adding, "Whatever that is."
"Show off" Viconia grumbled.
Aerie flashed her an innocent smile. "My, aren't we easily impressed" she said, mimicking Viconia's tone of voice.
"Be quiet," Viconia said right back. For an instant the two women smiled at each other before snorting and going back to what they were doing.
Jaheira took Aerie aside and held out the book for her to see. "What do you suppose would happen if the golem was brought to life?"
Aerie looked at the book. "My guess would be that it would ignore us and go find some planar intruders to swat."
"Why would it ignore us? We're planar intruders."
Aerie shrugged. "Well yeah. But then again we're from the same plane as this Lavok. We all have more or less the same vibration frequency, much more similar than you and a Lich or a Beholder would have. Lavok probably wouldn't want the golem to confuse him with some weird planar monster that snuck onboard the sphere. Besides" she added, kicking the door in the east part of the room, "It might be nice enough to lend us a hand with this door. I doubt that we can break through on our own."
Jaheira just kind of stared. "How do you know so much about golems?"
Aerie blushed modestly. "Uncle Quayle had a friend who made golems for a living. He stopped by one time at the circus and gave me some lessons on magical theory and golem building. He was really nice, though most of the others in the circus didn't like him." She frowned slightly. "Maybe it was that third arm of his."
"Maybe".
Shortly thereafter the men and Nalia returned, looking rather battered. Yoshimo however was smiling with pride. "I disarmed three traps and unlocked two doors" he said when asked why he was so happy.
The others weren't so pleased with themselves. They had been jumped by more halflings and a couple of golems, similar to the one in the tank but weaker and capable of dying. Despite the difficulties they had managed to find some treasure, including the golem's head, which went well with the arm that Yoshimo had picked up earlier. After a short discussion, they agreed to follow Aerie's suggestion to rebuild the golem.
Aerie was chosen to set up the golem, mostly because she was the only one of the group who had any idea what she was doing. With some trepidation, she placed the head in a tube that led into the interior of the machine. The head slipped down through the tube and into the fluid. The fluid seemed to lift it up and place it on the shoulders of the artificial creature. When she placed the arm into the tube it to was floated up to the shoulder where it belonged.
Nothing horrible happened. Nothing at all happened.
Viconia snorted and clapped her hands sarcastically. "Wonderful job butterfly. Shall we ask it to make us lunch now?"
Aerie glared horribly at Viconia. "Maybe after we, oh I don't know, turned on the power?!"
Viconia glared back but she didn't have any response, so she just snorted and turned away.
Jaheira held up the book she was scanning earlier. "According to this we have to throw some coal in the three furnaces north of here. Also we should watch our backs. Something is likely to happen, though it doesn't say what."
Taurus looked over the book dubiously. "That's what it looks like". He glanced at his party members. "What do you guys think?"
Yoshimo tried to open the lock on the door to the east but with no luck. "I don't see that we have much choice. We seem to be stuck."
"To beat the evil about the face and neck we must first beat the door" Minsc elaborated. He roared and charged the door, scattering the others out of his way. The ranger hit the door and bounced off woozily. "And to beat the door" he continued, "We must find someone with bigger butt- kicking power than Minsc".
"Easy big fella" Lila soothed.
Valygar shrugged. "If we must we must."
"Anyone else?" Taurus looked to the rest of the party. Nalia shrugged, Jaheira nodded once, Aerie also nodded, and Viconia scowled at him.
"Don't mind me" she snarled when he asked her opinion. "It's obvious that you're going to do it anyway."
"Okay then. Shall we go to the boiler room?" Taurus offered Viconia his arm but she brushed past him with a snort of derision. Sighing, Taurus followed and the rest followed him.
The boiler room contained three large boilers, as its name suggested. Each was cold and waiting for fuel. Occasionally sparks would flicker within the depths, and the heat of the room would rise momentarily. Taurus eyed the boilers with some confusion.
"So what do we use to fuel them?"
"Why this of course". Yoshimo reached into his pack and pulled out a large amount of coal. His packrat tendencies had made him gather it up when it appeared to have to earthly use. He ignored the incredulous looks the other gave him and walked over to one of the furnaces. He tossed some coal into its depths.
Instantly a blast of fire raised the room's temperature exponentially. The party had to cover their faces against the heat. Taurus managed to squint against the heat and see what happened. Through the shimmering air, he saw a fiery beast pull itself out of the boiler. Instantly he knew what it was.
"Fire elemental!"
The monster growled a sound the mimicked the roar of fire. It attacked the party instantly. Magic missiles flew through the air, striking it. Minsc and Taurus, Valygar and Jaheira attacked it. It seemed to shrug off most of their blows and burned Jaheira so badly that she had to fall out of the fight and heal herself.
Then the beast turned to Viconia when a Hold spell hit it. For a couple seconds the creature was paralysed. Then it broke free. The backlash of the splintered spell hurt Viconia badly, throwing her back a few steps. The elemental surged forward and seized in arms of fire.
The Drow's black skin crackled and she screamed in pain. The monster hissed, gloating. Then it screamed and dropped the Drow. Taurus and Minsc had plunged their weapons in its back. Minsc's more magical sword had caused the most damage and it was enough. One more flash of Magic missiles from Taurus finished it off. It collapsed into a pile of ashes.
Aerie and Jaheira both hurriedly worked to heal Viconia. Taurus wrung his hands in nervousness. He didn't want Vicky to die. He cared too much about her! 'Does this mean you've picked one yet?' 'No! I care too much about Aerie to just ignore her like that.' 'Sigh. Well it's your funeral.'
The sound of Viconia's cursing brought him back to attention. "Back away! I don't need your help. Back away!" Aerie and Jaheira walked away, muttering something. Taurus could make out the word 'ungrateful' but nothing else. He walked over and sat beside Vicky who glared at him. "Oh why don't you go fight more monsters?"
"Because". He smiled for he knew it would infuriate the beautiful drow. She yelled at him while the others killed two more elementals and powered up the other two furnaces.
Back in the golem chamber, the machine had brought the beast to life. The creation of Lavok was an impressive sight. Its stone musculature seemed to ripple with unnatural life and it stood stock-still like some great monolith.
Then its eyes suddenly opened. It spoke in a monotonous voice. "Intruders detected in the sphere. Must clean them out. Must remove all inter-planar intruders". It strode forward at great speed, crashing clear through the stubborn door and into the hall beyond.
The group followed more slowly, Yoshimo leading to detect any traps. Indeed, they almost ran into one when they stepped from the golem chamber. The passed through a strange room with a glowing sphere and four symbols on the ground. They passed through a long hallway strewn with rock and stone. Finally thay came upon the golem, face to face with an Elder Beholder, the mightiest kind of Beholder.
"Wizard!" it screamed in fury as the golem approached. "Your sphere isnot a fitting tomb! Your golem be damned, I will escape!"
The following battle was tremendous. The companions had the sense to stay out of the way of both combatants. Yoshimo tapped Taurus on the shoulder. "What do we do if the hunk of rock loses?"
"Run".
The golem did not lose. It seemed immune to all magics that the eye monster hurled at it while the same did not hold true for the golem's fists. With a wail of frustration unfulfilled the Beholder succumbed to the guardian of the sphere.
After the battle was over the beast stood still again. "No intruders detected" it said. "Standing by for further orders."
Slowly the companions walked past the golem and the corpse of its foe. There was a door imbedded in the wall, marked with the words 'Navigation room'. This was undoubtedly where they would find and confront Lavok the necromancer.
After a short rest, the party entered the room, weapons ready. The confrontation would take place now.
***
Magicman: And stop!
Smokegirl: You stopped it just as they were about to fight the necromancer?! What on Earth is wrong with you?!
Magicman: What can I say? Cliffhangers are a weakness of mine. Though in this case it shouldn't be too bad since everyone knows what will happen. That's the problem with playing out the plot of a popular game. -_//'
Smokegirl: Ah well. FIRE! *sets fire to a passing peasant, who runs screaming* Muahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!