A/N: The world of Exile/Avernum continues to be a large place which belongs to Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software. I promise to put the following people: Shaynee, Tesik, Belinda, Bronwen, Mick, and Alexi and places: Fort Remote, the western tunnels, the ruined farm, and the gremlin lair back in the game, unharmed when I've finished with this bit of fun.
Leaving Blosk, they traveled westward. At one small underground lake, they were surprised to see a relatively prosperous farming community--whatever was the case here, they were doing far better than the others in the Great Cave. Most places, though, they saw straggly cave cows, a few barely tamed giant lizards, and rows upon rows of pale mushrooms.
Brynja grumbled, "I don't think I'll ever get used to this place."
Duncan said, "I know it's not so much to look at, but at least a man can breathe free here."
"That's the truth," said Ansel, with a chuckle. "They're not so quick to condemn you for getting the job done."
As they walked, they met upon the road a troop of men whose clothing was uniform and in good repair.
The captain greeted them, and after the exchange of names, he said, "Ah, yes--we've all heard of you. Keep up the good work."
"Thank you, sir," said Ansel, who found that the military still hadn't left him enough to be as casual as he usually was.
After much travel, the companions came to a small structure hidden away in the western side of the cavern--a leather flap covered the single door, and a woman's voice called, "Come in! Come in!" as it appeared she had heard their approach.
The structure itself was small, scented with some sort of strange incense, and packed beyond comprehension with all sorts of items. There were weapons, armor, and crafts made by humans, sliths and Nephilim.
Bustling amongst the items was a short, stout, impossibly animated woman with black hair. "Welcome to my bazaar!" she said. "I am Shaynee."
"Great," replied Ansel. "We've got a message for you," and with that, he handed it to her.
She took the missive, scowling as she read, and looked up at the group. "You couldn't have gotten this to me faster? This was a business matter. Urgent! We could make a fortune, Leith and I, if it isn't too late." She gave a loud harrumph, and said, "Well, I suppose I'd better reward you. I have some old magical scrolls. You could look them over, if you wanted. You might be able to learn something from them. Or you could do some shopping."
"I'd love to see the scrolls," said Jynx.
"As would I," put in Brother Theo, giving Shaynee a disarming grin.
"All right, all right," she said, handing the scrolls over while those with arcane talent pored over them.
"Sorry about not getting here any faster," said Ansel, "we walked as quickly as we could."
"Fair enough, fair enough," said Shaynee. "I've work to do, so you just be about your business so I can see to mine."
After completing their business, the group left Shaynee's, and Ansel said, "You know, this far west, maybe we could go see that Fort Remote?"
"You've been wanting to," said Jynx. "Why not, then, and then we can get back and pick up Brynja's reward and start looking into the slith problem."
"Sounds like a plan to me," said Rudel. "Let's get going, then."
As they continued on their way, they met another uniformed patrol, warning them of gremlins that had been seen to the south. Thanking them for the information, after the exchange of pleasantries, the companions continued on their way, finding a place where much of the cavewood had been chopped down, although no one was present, and crossing paths with a young girl who was herding a small group of sickly looking cave cows. Of course, by now, the companions had been in Avernum long enough to know that this was the natural appearance of cows here, and so after a brief greeting, they continued on their way, and she continued on hers.
Nearing the southern edge of this great cave, they came to a ruined town. Mute evidence in the form of half-ruined stone cottages, shells of farms, and ragged patches of edible mushrooms rapidly encroached upon by toadstools testified that people had once tried to establish a community here, and found that it was just unsuitable for permanent habitation.
The moss and mold decorating the sign made it almost illegible, but they were fairly certain that to the west, they would find the Fort Remote they'd heard of. Indeed, plugging the gap between the large Great Cave and the convoluted passages beyond was a fort, and just before the entry to the fort was another sign reading: "Fort Remote. Please don't startle the guards."
Entering the fort without anyone doing more than giving them a disinterested glance, Ansel looked around, and said, "Where you figure we should go?"
"Let's find a mess hall," suggested Duncan. "I could do with a meal."
Finding a door, they came into a room where a man wearing a large ankh and a subdued expression was sitting at a desk, playing solitaire.
"Sorry to interrupt," said Ansel, "but can you tell me where the fort captain is?"
"I'm the, well ... um, I sort of give some orders here. Name's Tesik, and it's not like there are many to give, but when they come up, I give them!" he said. "Things get rather tedious, I'm afraid."
"What sort of orders do you usually issue?" asked Ansel.
"Open the gates. Close the gates. Stop bickering. Let's have dinner," said Tesik. "That sort of thing."
"So life here is tedious?" asked Duncan.
"Oh, yes. This fort was built before the big wars with the sliths and the nephilim. We were afraid of attacks from the tunnels to the west. But hardly anything lives in there, and the things that do really don't do much, so we have nothing to guard against!" said Tesik. "To stave off madness, we busy ourselves with other activities."
"What kind of activities?" asked Jynx.
"Well, I play solitaire," said Tesik with a save at the desk. "I've played thousands of games. Won two. Pointless, really. Then we all take part in the standard pointless love affairs, have meals, exercise, have sing-alongs... well, you get the idea. And we act hospitable to the occasional visitor. Breaks the monotony."
"So, have you had other visitors recently?" asked Ansel.
"Well, there was a party of adventurers came through a few months back," replied Tesik. They stayed with us a week. Much fun was had. Then they went west, and most of them got killed. Chasm Drake. Then there are merchants, messengers, supply caravans, and so on."
"So, what do you know about this chasm drake?" asked Jynx.
"Fearsome. Deadly. Wealthy. Remote," said Tesik. "It doesn't bother us. We don't bother it."
"Where is the drake?" asked Brynja.
"Oh, you don't want to see it," said Tesik. "It's far too fierce and dangerous."
"No, really," said Ansel. "We do want to see it."
"Its lair is to the west. Be careful. It really is very dangerous," said Tesik. "You'll know you found it when you see an enormous dragon-like creature, roaring and spouting flame, charging you."
"Anything else interesting about this area?" asked Jynx.
"No, not really," replied Tesik.
"Well, thanks for your time," said Ansel. "Could you point us to the mess hall?"
"Sure," said Tesik. "Just go that way," he pointed vaguely. "Can't miss it."
The indicated messhall was nearly empty as the group trooped in, except for one woman slumped in the corner, wearing platemail with a large sword nearby, and obviously suffering from a major hangover.
In a stagewhisper as he sat down, Ansel said, "Ya look pretty hung over--better not let yer captain see ya thisaway."
She laughed, winced, and said, "I'm Bronwen. And actually, I am the commanding officer. I boldly lead my men out here in the back end of nowhere." She took a little sip of water.
"At least you get lots of rest and relaxation," offered Jynx, taking a seat by Ansel.
Bronwen gave another bitter laugh, and said, "Too much. I coulda been at the front, dealing death to sliths and doing some good. But here I am, at good Fort Irrelevant."
Brynja said, "But, no fort can be irrelevant on the frontier."
"Ah, but we are," said Bronwen. "The only thing that could possibly attack is the Drake, and it keeps to itself."
"We heard about that," said Duncan. "Where is the drake?"
"Mick claims he saw it," said Bronwen. "Ask him about it. As for me, I'm waiting to recover so I can resume my drinking."
"Is there anything we can do for you?" asked Ansel.
"Well, there's a pack of fire lizards out west," said Bronwen. "Don't have the troops to go after them, but they spit fire at us sometimes. Be appreciative if ya killed 'em."
"Sure," said Ansel. "Is there someplace we can rest?"
"Sure, use any empty bedroom," said Bronwen. "Keep us company. See Belinda in the kitchen if ya want grub."
"Thanks," said Ansel.
Moving into the kitchen, Ansel saw a pretty pale woman, and said, "You the cook here?"
"I'm the fort chef," she said, grinning.
"Could we all have a taste?" said Rudel.
"Sure," she said, dishing up bowls of stew.
"Delicious," said Rudel.
"I put some extra effort into my cooking," she said. "Eases the tedium out here."
"Why's there so much tedium?" asked Brother Theo.
"Nothing has ever attacked here, nothing ever will," she said. "But we keep busy. I have a hobby."
"What's that?" asked Ansel.
"I like to torment Mick," she said, with an evil grin. "Just say my name--I'm Belinda, by-the-by--and see what happens."
"Yeah, sure," said Ansel. "Well, thanks for the stew--really hit the spot."
Moving out to the west, where they'd heard Mick was, they saw a handsome man sitting by the pool eating a sandwich.
"Howdy," said Ansel. "Whatcha doing out here?"
"Watching the spring," he replied. "It's how I pass the time."
"Nice spring," said Ansel. "You Mick?"
"Yup," he replied. "It sure is calm and pretty, yessir."
"So, Belinda said I should mention her name to you," said Brynja, grinning.
Mick choked on his sandwich, gave an ecstatic smile, rolled his eyes, and breathed heavily, and then winced as though he had a headache, though it seemed that all those things happened at once. Without saying a word, he seemed to have communicated a great deal.
"So, I hear you saw the drake?" said Ansel.
"I saw it! I did! It wanders the tunnels occasionally, and it came close. I was sitting here, and it saw me, and I saw it. I thought it was going to kill me, but it lost interest. Not hungry, I think. But it could've ate me in a second," said Mick. "It's huge! I hope I never see it again."
"So, what else lives out there?" said Ansel, gesturing to the western tunnels.
"Lots of lizards, big and small. I've even heard rumors of a dragon out there."
"A dragon?" said Duncan.
"So I've heard. Rumors, I know. But if Motrax can live down here, why not other dragons?" said Mick. "We know the Empire didn't kill 'em all."
"You're right," said Rudel. "Most anything's possible."
"Well, we're gonna go get a bit of shuteye," said Ansel. "See ya."
They turned back into the fort, and found a small room with sufficient beds for everyone.
"So, I guess this is Fort Remote," said Ansel. "Odd place--whatcha wanna do?"
"It might not be a bad thing to deal with the fire lizards and such," said Jynx, thoughtfully. "We could get some practice fighting before we start looking into getting rid of Sss-thsss."
"You better not say that too loud," said Brynja. "Sneaky lizard probably has spies."
"Could," said Jynx. "Still, I think it might not be so bad to practice against lizards. And if we help these guys out--well, it might be awhile before we can get out this far again."
"I agree said Ansel. "Who else?"
Duncan said, "You're the bossman, Ansel."
"All right, then," said Ansel, "let's go west before we head back to do our job."
Leading the way out, the path became narrow, twisting, with a large ascent, and Brother Theo continued his map making.
"If I don't," he said, apologetically as he was slowing their progress, "I'm not sure we could find our way back out."
"You're right on that," said Ansel. "You just keep it up, Brother Theo--maybe we can sell copies of your maps later."
Eventually, they came to a cave, and there was a crude stone footbridge over an icy, swiftly flowing stream almost as soon as they entered. On the other side, there was a network of narrow, twisting, dark passages--the glowing fungus was absent here, but the smell of giant lizards was nearly overpowering.
"Think we found it?" said Ansel.
"I think so," said Brother Theo. "Let's continue."
"All right then," said Ansel, grinning. "We got us a drake to spear."
As they traveled through the twisting tunnels, they fought lizards, small drakes, even a group of humans who immediately attacked--though nothing was left behind to suggest just what these people were doing in the lair of a great drake. Finally, they came to a central chamber, and after a long and arduous battle, Ansel and Duncan brought down the chasm drake while the rest of the companions concentrated on the smaller drakes within the room.
Severely bloodied, they sat amidst the heap of drake treasure, as Brother Theo went about from one to the other, binding up wounds and casting his spells to heal them.
"Next time you think we'll just go spear a drake," said Jynx, "I'm going to smack you."
Ansel laughed, and said, "OK, it wasn't that great an idea. Now I know why that one gal in Blosk took to drink."
"At least we will live to tell the tale," said Duncan, his arm around Rudel. "Unlike them." He gestured at the bodies scattered around the chamber.
"I wonder what those people were doing here," said Rudel.
"I've looked everywhere," said Brynja. "Can't find a trace of what they were doing. Mystery died with them, I guess."
"Well, this has been all fun," said Ansel. "Should we go back to the fort and rest up?"
"Sounds good to me," said Jynx. "You owe us a good time now."
Upon returning to Fort Remote, they found Bronwen again (or still) in the mess hall, drinking.
"Hey," said Ansel, taking a seat. "We killed them lizards you mentioned."
"Oh, did you? Well, we'll sleep a little easier now, I think," she said, grinning, and pulled out a small sack of coins, and handed it to him. "There you are. A reward. Part of our annual adventurer budget."
"Nice," said Ansel. "Anything else we can do?"
"I wish. Everything out here is quiet. And I think it always will be," she said, shaking her head. "I'm wasting my life."
Not wanting to ruin the mood, she called for some of her 'special occasion ale' and shared a few rounds with the group before they stumbled off to a bedroom, feeling fairly well rewarded, before Ansel and Jynx and Duncan and Rudel paired off, leaving Brynja and Brother Theo awkwardly together.
After a good round of resting, they left Fort Remote, heading back toward duty. As they traveled a road they hadn't before--heading east from Fort Remote, rather than turning north, they came to a ruined farm. The mushroom crops had decomposed into a foul-smelling mire, and a small smoky fire was tended by a lone man sitting on a bedroll.
"Wonder what his story is," said Ansel, leading the way up the path. "Ho, what's the news?"
The man jumped up at the approach of the group, hand on his weapon, and then deciding they were neither bandits nor other foes, he relaxed.
"Welcome! I am Alexi! It's so good to see a human face! I've been out here a week, and the food was starting to run out. I had a lot, but there are gremlins about. Oh, the problems I've had."
They sat and talked, as the group shared some of their more abundant rations, and he explained the nature of his trouble. "I'm a messenger. I carry important messages from fort to fort. I was carrying a valuable missive from Fort Remote to the castle. Then disaster struck! Gremlins attacked me and the guards I was with. We got away, but the message disappeared. If they find out I lost it, I'd get jailed! The guards left me with a bunch of food, and I went looking."
"Where are the gremlins?" asked Duncan, with a side glance to Ansel.
"Gremlins have a lair to the south," replied Alexi. "They probably took it there. They aren't that tough--except for the numbers of them. If you could go there and get the message for me, I'd reward you well! I can do that, believe me. But please help!"
"Can't be tougher than the drake, right guys?" said Ansel.
Jynx gave Ansel a mock smack across the face, and said, "I told you ..."
Ansel gave her a kiss, and said, "Made it up to you later, didn't I? And I'll make it up to you again."
"How can I refuse?" said Jynx, laughing.
"I knew it," said Duncan. "You're in luck, Alexi. The softest-headed group of adventurers in Avernum, at your service."
"Thank you," said Alexi.
After parting company, Ansel led the group into the tunnels to the south. As they progressed, high-pitched, maniacal laughter echoed off the walls of the twisting tunnels.
"You sure about this?" said Jynx.
"Yeah," said Ansel.
Eventually, they reached a strange structure, its walls dug carefully out of the dirt and covered with a strange, smooth waxy substance. From the darkness within, there were scraping sounds, the occasional burst of manic laughter, and something that almost sounded like a scream.
"Cheery," said Duncan.
"C'mon," said Ansel, "those guys aren't so tough--Alexi said so."
"Yeah, and why didn't he take them out himself," said Brynja. "He's regular Avernum army."
"But we're adventurers," said Ansel. "C'mon."
It soon became apparent that the gremlins, while not particularly difficult to kill if one kept one's wits, were exceptional at making one lose one's mind--and it was only with great difficulty that the companions refrained from killing each other while ridding Avernum of a nest of gremlins--and eventually discovering the treasure trove, and amidst the junk, the scroll that was undoubtedly Alexi's missing missive.
Returning to Alexi's camp, Ansel called out a greeting. As soon as he saw the message, he snatched it eagerly.
"And here is your reward! I don't have any money, but I do have this..." he said as he pulled out a pair of gauntlets. "I won these in a game of cards. The guy swore to me up and down they were magic. Well, even if they aren't, they're very nice. Take them with my compliments!"
"Oh," he added, as he quickly packed up his bedroll and kicked out the fire, "thank you for saving my life!" With that, he hurried off to the east.
"Suppose they really are magic?" said Duncan, looking them over.
"Dunno," said Ansel. "You wanna wear'em? I think it's time we headed out to hunt some sliths."