A/N: Yes, the wonderful world of Exile/Avernum remains the property of Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software, not me. I promise to return to the game unharmed the following people: Mairwen, Rosie, Sylow, Toddric, Sianonn; and the following places: the slith fort, Fort Dranlon, and various slith communities and the slith temple.
Leaving Cotra behind, the companions continued rowing their boat to the west. As they rowed through the water, the mists seemed to part for them, and they continued, hugging the shoreline. As they rounded what appeared to be a peninsula, an island seemed to loom south, with some sort of human or humanoid figures barely visible in the mist.
"Should we go that way?" said Brynja.
"I thought we were going to go up to Fort Dranlon," said Ansel, "but I suppose we can stop there. Suppose they're friendly or enemy?"
"I can't tell from here," said Jynx. "I'm sure we'll be able to tell when we get closer."
"All right, then," said Ansel. "Keep sharp," and with that, he began steering to the south, and they found a secluded spot to dock their small boat.
"Don't see anyone right off," said Duncan quietly as they got out of the boat.
"Fort of some sort down there," said Jynx. "I don't think that looks like something humans built, though."
"No, it doesn't," said Brother Theo. "Well, we might be starting our war against the sliths now, then." He closed and stowed his journal.
Entering the fort, it was actually a series of tunnels carved into the rock promontory. Mostly hollow, a lake filled the center, with narrow stone docks about. The cave tunnels were chilly, damp, slimy, and thoroughly uncomfortable for humans—but not silent, as the hisses of dozens of deadly slith warriors could be heard echoing on the walls. Deciding that now that they were here, the only thing to do was fight, Ansel led his companions into the fort, putting to sword, mace, and magic the sliths they encountered.
Despite the stiff resistance, they finally managed to bring down the obvious leader of the sliths within this outpost, and set about looting the fort. In one box hidden in a concealed trapped corridor, they found a number of parchments written in a script that none could read, but some did look like maps and lists.
"Might be someone who can read this stuff," said Ansel. "It'll maybe be some use." With that, he tucked it away. "We'll check at Fort Dranlon."
Finding coins, and a few other goods that looked serviceable enough, they made their way back to the boat and rowed north, around the peninsula and continued until the dark structure of Fort Dranlon loomed ahead.
Pulling to shore, they docked, and it was quite obvious that this fort had taken a considerable beating, being held together by magical barriers, and was on a heavy war-footing, unlike the more relaxed atmosphere at Fort Avernum and even in Fort Duvno.
The fort itself did not have a normal gate of iron and stone, but rather a series of magical barriers like those plugging the holes in the walls. Slith corpses littered the ground outside the fort, making it obvious who the foe was here.
As they drew nearer, a soldier peered through a window, and called, "Hail, visitors! State your name and business."
Ansel said, "I am Ansel, my companions Jynx, Brynja, Duncan, Rudel, and Brother Theo. We come on the king's business against the sliths."
The soldier nodded, disappearing for a moment, and then a narrow opening in the barriers appeared.
"Enter, and quick," he said, "can't be too careful these days."
Passing the guardposts, they noted a sign declaring it to be the office of Mairwen, the fort mage.
"Let's go and say hello," said Ansel.
A mage, dressed in the traditional robes, her brown hair short and curly, her face marked with fatigue and stress, greeted them as they entered.
"So, what exactly is the job of a fort mage?" asked Ansel.
"Oh, I don't know," sighed Mairwen. "Working with the army, I suppose. Seeing a lot of sliths up close and personal."
"What do you know about the sliths?" asked Brother Theo, the journal out again as he was taking notes.
"Cruel. Strong. And their mages are quite admirable. I heard," said Mairwen, her tone suggesting that she was skirting around how exactly she had come by this information, "a prisoner talk about an amazing tome they own."
"Tell me more," said Brother Theo, eagerly jotting down information.
"Well, a slith prisoner swore up and down that they have a really amazing tome in a fort nearby. Somewhere in a swamp," said Mairwen. "If we had that tome, we would have so much information about our enemies."
"That'd be quite a help," said Ansel. "What do you do for the army, then?"
"I lend them a fireball here, a haste spell there," said Mairwen. "Some of the time. Mostly, though, I put up the barriers."
"Why do you use these barriers?" asked Ansel.
"Yeah, you see the sliths have a lot of mages, and they keep hitting the walls with spells to try to bring them down. So I repair them with the barriers—quicker than rebuilding the walls the other way," said Mairwen. "Then, when need be, I dispel them."
"Dispel?" said Jynx. "That sounds great! Could you teach me how to do that?"
Mairwen looked very awkward and uncomfortable, and said, "That is not something I'm supposed to teach. Very private mage information. Of course, we might work something out—if you were able to find and bring that tome I mentioned here ..."
"Why is it so difficult to learn the spell?" said Jynx.
"Simple," said Mairwen, with a shrug. "Teaching the spell is like a homeowner giving the keys of the house away. You have to be sure of who you're teaching, or else you wouldn't be able to use the barriers at all."
"So, is there any magic you could teach us?" asked Rudel.
"I'm sorry," said Mairwen, "I'm really too busy for teaching these days."
"I understand," said Ansel. "We found a fort on an island and some papers I think are written in the slith language. Where's the commander, as I want to see if he can use them."
Mairwen replied, "You'll find Rosie across the way. Just go through the barracks away from the mess, and you'll find him."
"Thank you," said Ansel.
Following Mairwen's directions, they came into an office where a man with commander's insignia wore a rather remarkably good steel platemail armor.
"Wow, nice armor," said Ansel, speaking without thinking for once.
"Yes, it was mine when I served in the Empire army," said Rosie.
"You're Empire army?" said Brynja, bristling.
"I was. No longer. I used to work at the portal, where you all would've been thrown into Avernum. As years went by, I started to have more and more sympathy for those exiled here. At last, I felt I could no longer serve the Empire," said Rosie. "I threw myself through the portal. And so I am one of you. It's uncomfortable at times, but I consider my honor important."
"It was honorable," said Jynx. "I admire that."
"If only the sliths outside our gates were as honorable," said Rosie with a tired smile.
"So, how is Fort Dranlon?" said Ansel.
"It's worn and cracked, but still standing," said Rosie. "Standing strong, I hope as long as I'm in command here."
"What can you tell us about the sliths?" said Ansel.
"The slithzerikai? Nasty warriors, powerful mages. Batter the walls with fireballs, trying to knock them down. Fortunately, we have a mage to repair them," said Rosie. He grunted, and added, "If only we could get a bead on what they're planning ahead of time."
"Well, actually," said Ansel, "that's something I wanted to talk to you about." He drew the papers out.
Looking them over, Rosie actually smiled, and said, "Excellent! You've done a great service for us here! All I can give you is this," he said as he drew out a slender silver bracelet. "Found it on a slith commander. Might be worth something. I wish I could give you more."
"So, is there a bounty for killing sliths?" asked Brynja.
"The reward of killing the enemies of Avernum is about all there is," said Rosie. "Should be enough. Though, the commander of the fort on an island south of here, that'd be a great service if you killed him."
"We did," said Ansel. "That's how we got those plans and maps. I don't mean to sound greedy, but..."
"Excellent," said Rosie, drawing a small pouch of gold coins from his pocket. "That slith warrior had been a cramp in my side for some time now. I can't give you much, but this is a personal gift, with my greatest gratitude."
"Thank you," said Ansel. "We were given a mission from the king, and have to continue west. Can we rest up here?"
"Of course," said Rosie. "Glad to have anyone joining the good fight here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to start sorting these maps and such out."
"Of course," said Ansel. "I'm glad we can be of assistance."
Leaving the barracks for a time, they came to what appeared to be a cluttered shop run by a man wearing heavy iron armor, another indication that things were on a war footing, and no one could risk being unprepared.
"Hello," said Ansel. "What do you sell here?"
"I'm the outfitter here," said Sylow. "Keep the soldiers in arms and armor, and even have a few supplies for the unfortunate travelers who get stuck this way."
"What kind of supplies?" asked Ansel.
"Well, you can buy food from me. Have plenty of spare rations and missiles if you need them. I can identify mysterious items," said Sylow, and his voice trailed to a whisper, "and I have some ... tools."
"You can identify things? How?" asked Brynja.
"Years of practice," replied Sylow. "I been a quartermaster for the last twenty years, and I've seen many things. Good quartermaster has to know magic when he sees it. You got anything you don't know what it is, twenty gold, I'll tell you about it."
"Any work for adventurers around here?" asked Ansel.
Sylow shook his head, and said, "Nah, here, it's all war effort, and you've been a great help already."
"All right, then," said Ansel, waiting for the others to indicate whether they wanted to do any trading here.
After a short time, the companions had divested themselves of bulkier items in exchange for more portable coinage, but adding a few items that replaced supplies.
Leaving the quartermaster, they found themselves outside the infirmary, and stepped inside. Within, a young man in heavy armor, with a fresh scar on his forehead and wearing an ankh was working, and he looked up to greet them upon their entry.
"Hello," said Ansel. "Was wondering what services were available here."
"I provide healing for the soldiers," replied Toddric, "and occasionally get into the fighting myself. And I can provide healing for you folk."
"You get that," said Jynx, noticing Toddric's gesture of smoothing over the scar, "fighting the sliths?"
"Afraid so," replied Toddric. "I'm not so good at the fighting. Not so long ago, a slith swung one of those two pointed spears at me and I didn't duck quick enough. I sure wish I was in a quiet chapel somewheres. Or even traveling where it's safe."
"You've done a bit of traveling?" said Brother Theo.
"Not enough. I love to travel," said Toddric. "There's a huge cave to the north. Dangerous to go to because of the spiders, but quite a sight to behold. And of course, I'd love to find and see the crystal cave someday."
"What's the deal with the crystal cave?" asked Rudel.
"Well, sure it's been damaged, I hear," said Toddric, "and not quite what it was, but I heard it was amazing with these humming crystals. Hard to find and all, but still, I think it'd be worth the looking."
"What kind of spiders are you avoiding?" said Duncan.
"Not the dumb poisonous ones you see a lot of," said Toddric. "Big nasty intelligent ones. They're called aranea, and they live north, near some spire. You'd do well to avoid them. They can use magic and are quite thoroughly nasty."
"Can you teach any spells?" asked Brother Theo.
"Afraid not," replied Toddric. "I'm a good caster, but a terrible teacher."
"Well, I do thank you for your time," said Ansel.
As they walked out, they saw the docks and a young, heavy-set woman staring out into the water.
"Why are you watching the river?" asked Brynja.
"Shh," she replied, "watching for sliths. Be very quiet."
"Sliths attack from this way?" said Ansel.
"Yes," she replied, her tone strongly suggesting 'go away'. "They are quite versatile, and can stay underwater for a long time. We have to keep the docks open so we can get our supplies by boat. Usually, I hear only the tiniest noise before they come up. Shh."
"Well, don't worry about us," said Duncan. "We'll keep quiet."
"I said quiet," snapped Sianonn. "Go away."
"We've been fighting the sliths, and even stole some of their plans," said Ansel. "Did you hear?"
"Yes, yes, very nice," she said. "Now go away. I'm listening."
"Sure," muttered Ansel, and he led the way to some unused space that had clearly been set aside for travelers.
After they had rested, Ansel said, "OK, we know what the main mission is—but how are we going to go about it?"
Jynx said, "Perhaps we first should find that fort in the swamp. That'll be a help, and maybe we can even figure out how we can get to that fort where Sss-thsss is supposed to be."
"OK, south or west?"
"I say south," said Duncan. "Every slith we kill there is one that can't get to the other fort."
"I agree," said Rudel. "And if we find that tome, we can help Mairwen, and learn that spell, too."
Brother Theo said, "I'm with them. Whittle the foe down before we go for the main strike."
"I don't care one way or the other," said Brynja, "but it looks like we're going south."
"Ok, then," said Ansel. "Let's go."
Barely had they gotten into their boat, but they noticed a group of sliths on the shore opposite the fort, apparently watching.
"I don't like that," said Ansel. "Let's get'em."
"Sounds good to me," said Duncan.
Steering the boat across, though not as noiselessly as they hoped, the companions made their way over to the opposite shore, where a battle immediately followed. Mopping up the remnants of the fight, the companions gave each other weary smiles, for they were starting to realize that the death of a dozen or so slith would not much impact the war.
Continuing south, they saw another slith patrol on a shore, and stopped to give battle, finding that they were in a place where many sliths were apparently living and fishing with a number of human slaves in shackles.
"Let's help them out," said Ansel, and they crept up on the first small village to give battle to the sliths there.
Defeating the sliths, the companions quickly broke the shackles of the human prisoners, giving directions to Fort Dranlon. As they gathered weapons and rations, the former prisoners slipped into the nearby passages. Moving quickly from village to village, the companions defeated the groups of sliths, freeing the human prisoners until they found no more villages in this secluded area.
Finally, leaving the area with a feeling of satisfaction, the companions made their way south until they saw an unbroken swamp area to their right.
"Shall we dock here and start looking for that tome?" said Ansel.
"Swamp," said Duncan. "Seems a good place to start. At least, as good as any place." He wrinkled his nose at that, for the swampy area smelled strongly of dead vegetation.
As they made their way through the swamp, they came to a less swampy area which gave an overview of a small island dominated by a massive black stone spire. Gates were set into the side of the spire, and slith warriors could be seen moving about, with a dock on the south side.
"That must be it," said Ansel. "Sss-thsss's place."
"We'll have to be very careful, getting in and out of there alive," said Brynja. "Do you really think we can?"
"Of course we can," said Ansel. "But let's go back and see if we can't find that fort with the tome Mairwen wanted."
Carefully retracing their steps, they proceeded to search the swampy area, and finding nothing but foul-smelling swamp, they got back into the boat and rowed south to the next outcropping of swamp.
Here, however, they found an ancient drake crawling out of a small lair. While it appeared quite old and decrepit, they had already learned not to be fooled by appearances.
But the creature said in a wavering voice, "Hello, adventurers."
"Hello," said Ansel, sounding a bit wary.
As it turned out, the drake was not unfriendly, and they spent a few minutes conversing, before the drake said, "I have been subsisting on mice for a long time, and I would wish for better food. Do you happen to have any you might spare? I would gladly repay you for something that tastes better than mice."
"Oh, why not," said Brynja, opening her pack. "How's this?"
The drake munched down the food, and thanked the group, and then retreated into the lair and returned with a large piece of quartz. "I'm not sure what this is, exactly, but I sense it has value. It is yours now for your kindness."
The drake shambled back into the lair, unlikely to long outlive the encounter, and the companions were left looking at the quartz.
"I think we're onto something," said Ansel. "Look, we found this one in one of those villages we freed the prisoners from—and it looks like it might fit in that cave."
"You're right," said Jynx. "Brother Theo?"
"There looked to be six missing," he said, returning to his notes. "Let's keep looking as we travel."
As they continued searching, they found themselves inside what was clearly a slith building of some sort. Making their way through the twisting tunnels, they noticed the caves were kept warm through the use of many fires, as they killed multiple sliths and snakes, finding that in one corner, they heard chanting, though they couldn't discern the origin of the sound.
"Let me look," said Brynja, as she felt about a seeming blank wall, and quite suddenly sprang a secret door which led into a tunnel that let out where a number of sliths were chanting, wearing garb that suggested they were clerical sorts, the room tiled with a fine stone mosaic.
Knowing better than to expect friendly welcome, they sprang out, surprising the chanting sliths, and after a brief battle, were victorious. Searching the room, they managed to find a large iron key amidst robes and costume jewelry, and figuring that it might well be important, they pocketed it and continued.
Walking through a hall lines with slith statues, they found an upward slope, and ultimately that there was yet another level to this building, which they were now suspecting was a temple of some sort. The slithzerikai, from what they had learned in Gnass, were a religious race, with strange reptilian deities. They worshipped with dedication, and the temple's floor, for that most certainly was what the place was, was worn smooth by countless pilgrim feet prior to the war with the humans. Finally after much fighting, they followed the path to a large chamber, circular in shape. In the center was a dark stone temple.
From the looks of things, the temple was considered too holy for ordinary sliths to enter, for offerings were left scattered about the chamber, apparently even what was to be a purifying walk was insufficient. However, undaunted by this, Ansel led his companions through the path marked by slith statues, and to the dark stone building in the center.
The door was locked by a heavy iron lock, but it seemed the key they had found downstairs was a perfect fit, and Ansel opened the lock to reveal slith priests in a frenzy with snakes around an altar. The place hardly seemed as impressive as its build-up, the only thing of apparent value being a broken bit of sword blade on the black altar. Taking the rune-covered blade after the defeat of the priests seemed to have given the sliths enough time to re-group and attack, but again, Ansel and his companions were victorious, and they searched through the temple, without finding the hoped-for tome.
After a long, fruitless search through these swamps, Ansel said, "Maybe they were wrong about where the fort is. Let's go back north, and then west."
"Sure," said Duncan, as they slogged back to the boat. "We have to go there anyhow."