A/N: The wonderful world of Exile/Avernum remains the property of Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software. Following my fun here, I promise to return to the game unharmed the following persons: Waldby, Jasmine, Nicholas, Tor, and Carol and places: northeastern tunnels of Avernum, Waldby's shop, Gunston homestead, and thecaves of the GIFTS and the aranea.
During the last ten years, the people of Avernum had expanded voraciously into the unoccupied caverns, each of the new waves of exiles wishing to find a plot of land to call their own. Alas, with the invasion of the Empire, this process came to an abrupt end. Many settlements, like the one Jenneke's platoon had just entered, were left unfinished, as their builders fled to the safety of more established cities.
Among these empty, half-finished buildings, there was little of interest. They had been abandoned for months, and the only thing of interest was one half-rusted bar of iron which had been left behind. Yet, just beyond this settlement, there was a shop which somehow had managed to stay open. Inside, the place was a jumble of junk.
A small, dapper man with carefully tended hair and an elegant mustache greeted them, and said, "I am Waldby. Welcome to my store."
"What do you do out here?" said Jenneke.
"Why, I am a salesman!" said Waldby. "What else?"
"You run a shop out here?" said Feodoric, thoroughly astonished.
"Believe it or not, this is my lovely shop," said Waldby. "Or, it will be until the Empire comes."
"What will you do when the Empire comes?" asked Nigel, eying the junk.
"Any day now, I expect to hear news of Empire troops coming. When that happens, I'm ready to be out of here within the hour," replied Waldby. "I'm not interested in suicide. That's all it would be if I tried to defend my shop against the Empire."
"How do you get customers out here?" asked Michael.
"You came, didn't you?" said Waldby. "I am remote, I know, but this is where I prefer to be. From here, I scavenge items as best I can. Then I sell them. Would you like to buy something?"
"Depends. What sort of things do you scavenge?" asked Jenneke.
"With all the battles and refugees and such, there's useful stuff abandoned all over these caves. Empire supplies. Lost goods. I find it, clean it up, and sell it to my fellow prisoners of Avernum," said Waldby, and he sighed. "Now, if only I could find an Empire supply cache. Then I would be set."
"Tell us about the supply caches," said Jenneke.
"They're all over the place, heavily trapped and filled with valuable supplies straight from the surface. Even dirt!" said Waldby. "The only problem is, I can't find the password."
"What isss ssso valuable about dirt?" asked Thissa.
"Dirt from the surface is really rare down here. More valuable than silver," said Waldby. "Empire caches are sealed by a password, though, and I haven't the foggiest idea what it is. The only way you could find it is by getting it from the Empire, and I don't know how someone could do that. Oh well."
"That is a problem," said Jenneke. "Well, best of luck to you."
They were still shaking their heads over Waldby when the twisting tunnels led them to a heavy iron door, set rather incongruously in the cave wall. The metal was shiny, as though of recent construction, as there were no signs of rust. Nigel attempted to open the door, and letters suddenly appeared in a tracery of flame on the smooth surface of the door. They spelled a simple, grim word: "Password?" Each member of the platoon tried a few guesses, but none were correct, and the writing disappeared, and the door remained shut.
"I'll bet that's Waldby's cache," said Nigel. "Too bad we couldn't get it open."
"That would've been something," said Jenneke, grinning. "Can you imagine ... but crown, hawthorne, empire, even worms didn't work ..."
"If we ever learn the password," said Michael, "I'll bet it will be something so obvious we'll smack our foreheads for not figuring it out."
They turned the corner, and at a narrow gallery's end, they found a stone barricade, guarded by a rather well-armed garrison of Empire soldiers, jumpy but for some reason they did not attack.
After a few nervous moments of eying each other, one of them yelled, "You don't attack us, we won't attack you!"
"Betcha they're cut off like the rest of us," said Jenneke. "What do you boys think?"
"If we do not attack, they will only come after us later," said Feodoric.
"They lie," said Thissa. "They will attack usss when our backsss are turned."
"Yeah, I thought so," said Jenneke. "Let's go!"
Gritting their teeth, they charged the barricade, and arrows peppered the platoon, while others in the garrison prepared for the attack. The fight was long, and brutal, and not feeling inclined toward mercy, the platoon slew everyone within the small Empire encampment. Following the battle, they searched, finding little more than what was on the bodies of the dead, suggesting that their supply lines had been cut by the barriers.
"At least one small favor here," said Jenneke, gathering a case of bolts, apparently unused for lack of a crossbow. "Barriers hurt them as much as us."
They came to three crude cairns, hurriedly built against the cave wall. A worn tablet atop each undoubtedly once said who was buried there, but they were illegible now. A shadowy form began to coalesce over one cairn.
"It took a minute, but eventually the mist coalesced into an insubstantial figure of a middle-aged man wearing clerical robes. When he was fully formed he began to speak. The words were halting and so quiet they had to struggle to hear. "Ambushed ... Ogres ... Secret tunnel... Couldn't get to boat ... My god... ashamed ... Save me ... Must be avenged ... Ogres in secret valley ... south ... will reward you ... help me." With that, the challenge of communicating seemed to overwhelm him, and he dematerialized.
Having little better to do, they continued south, finding a secret valley in the rough approximation of where they guessed such a thing would be found. Ahead, there were lights, and smoke and other ranker things could be smelled. The crude, guttural language and snarling was further warning. A band of ogres sat around a campfire, bickering over pieces of meat and gambling.
"We'll never surprise them with that big open space," said Jenneke.
"But maybe that spirit knows something about how to bring down the barriers," said Michael. "At the very least, helping him to his final rest is a good deed."
"All right," said Jenneke. "Let's go."
They attacked, and grievously wounded, were victorious. They searched the ogre camp, finding a mix of barter goods which suggested a recent attack on a farm or merchant train, and after patching themselves up, they left the filthy camp behind, one more obstacle to peaceful life in Avernum removed.
"If only winning the war were as easy as that," said Feodoric, as they walked back to the cairns.
Returning to the cairn, the shade appeared again, taking less time to form, and more substantial than before. "Thank you, warriors. My blood has been paid for with theirs, and I may rejoin my warrior brothers beyond. And now, your reward ..." With that, the ghost began to pray. The prayer began with strange words, uttered in a low guttural voice, and worked up to something between a chant and a bestial scream. With that, the ghost began to fade, as he said, "I have prayed for you. You now have an honorable place in the afterlife. Thank you ..." And with that, he was gone.
"That's fine," said Jenneke, "but I'd rather not collect on that any time soon."
"I quite agree," said Nigel.
Their wanderings led them back toward Forts Draco and Ganrick, and they stopped at Gunston's homestead. Like many of Avernum's small farms, the wall was heavy, the residents all armed. Pens for animals were to the east, a farmhouse to the west, and to the northeast, a tunnel into the cavewall. The primary components of the Avernite diet: mushrooms, lizard meat, and cave cow milk were all provided at this farm.
A radiant, red-headed woman, possibly in her very early twenties, was busily working as they stepped in, many scars showing up on the translucent white skin of a long-time resident of Avernum. "Hello, and welcome," she said. "My name is Jasmine."
"Hi," said Jenneke. "I'm Jenneke, with the Avernum army, and the rest of my platoon here—Thissa, Nigel, Feodoric, and Brother Michael. What are you doing?"
"Nicholas and I work for Tor and Carol. It's their farm. I watch the livestock, he works the mushrooms," replied Jasmine. "Nicholas and I are engaged to be wed. Nicholas looks after our mushroom patches to the south. Growing them is a lot of work down here, even though there aren't any weeds."
"Livessstock doesssn't ssseem friendly," said Thissa.
Jasmine looked at the scars on her hands. "It's sad work. The cows are always sickly and sad," said Jasmine. "And they're better than those lizards! Those nasty cretins will take your hand off if you let them! But where else can we get meat?"
"So, how's the farm?" said Jenneke.
"This is the biggest homestead around here. Tor and Carol look after the other farms, organize, that sort of thing. Nicholas and I just work for them. They're good to work for. They've just been under a lot of strain because of the salamanders."
"What salamanders?" said Jenneke.
"They're down in the larder, and they're dangerous," said Jasmine. "We can't get them out. You should talk to Tor about it. He's in there."
Entering the house, a tall, striking woman with short dark hair was grinding something with a mortar and pestle, and not stopping her work, she said, "I'm Carol, of the Hamer clan. Welcome to our humble household."
"Greetings," said Michael. "What are you doing?"
"I and my husband look after our farm and the farms around here. We raise livestock and some mushrooms. I'm also a healer. I can help you, if you need," said Carol. "Running this farm has been a lot of work because of the salamanders."
"Having problems with salamanders?" said Jenneke.
"Two nasty salamanders are holed up in our larder," replied Carol. "Talk to Tor about it. He'll tell you how it happened."
"Thank you," said Jenneke.
They saw then a dour, well-worn man sitting at the end of the table, deep in thought, a heavy blade at his side.
"My name's Tor," he said. "Welcome to the Gunston homestead."
"Thank you," said Jenneke. "This is your homestead, then?"
"Aye, I run this place with my lady. I also help the other farmers, when I can," said Tor. "I used to work at the fort, but haven't done any of that for a long time. I was a soldier, I had the know-how, so I was a natural to help the other farmers organize and stuff when the nephilim attacks started. Haven't done it much lately, though, 'cause of those damned salamanders."
"What have the nephilim been up to lately?" said Jenneke.
"They hadn't given us a moment's peace since they built that fort to the north," replied Tor. "Nephil bastards. Been a little better lately, but they still come and raid from time to time. Much preferred it in my soldier days. I was the quartermaster. I negotiated and bartered for supplies with people from all over. I'll tell you one thing. I could tell you a thousand tips about how to get better deals for stuff."
"That'd be very helpful," said Jenneke, forgetting for the moment that he meant to ask about the salamander issue.
"Not now, I'm too busy keeping my farm running," said Tor. "It's those salamanders in the pantry. Just too much trouble."
"Tell us about your salamander problem," said Jenneke.
Tor shook his head, and said, "Not long ago, a mated pair of salamanders broke in here. We tried to drive them out, but they hid in our larder, and we can't get them out. They're eatin' our stores. Kill 'em, and I'll reward you the best I can."
"We'll give it a try," said Jenneke.
As they walked back, they met a pale young man with a studious, harried expression, carrying a basket of mushrooms.
After an exchange of greetings, Nigel said, "Working hard?"
"I look after the mushroom patches," said Nicholas. "I bet you think it's easy."
"Uhh ... no, I'm sure farming mushrooms is difficult," said Feodoric.
"Yes! It's hard work. Bats fly down and munch on them. The fungus light is barely sufficient. Stray lizards eat them. And I have two patches to look after outside the farm. They're each a half-mile long," said Nicholas, and he sighed, and looked embarrassed. "You probably think I'm being whiny."
"Nah," said Feodoric. "It's not easy for anyone down here."
"Sorry about that. It's just that we're having a problem with some salamanders," said Nicholas. "Never had problems like that in Cotra."
"You know how things are going in Cotra lately?" said Jenneke. "I'm from there, too."
"No, haven't been back in some time. Before the barriers, even."
"Well, I guess we've been hired to deal with the salamanders," said Jenneke. "Good to see some others from home."
They turned, the passage sloped down steeply. The air was stuffy and dank, with the smell of sulfur thick in the air, and hissing and unnatural warmness suggesting that they were about to enter a very dangerous area. Only slightly singed after their fight with the salamanders, Jenneke and his platoon returned to the farmhouse.
"We took care of those salamanders that have been bothering you," said Jenneke.
"Thanks for your help. I got something for you. We in the Gunston house remembers those that help us," said Tor, and he disappeared into the next room and returned with a delicate necklace. "This'll turn many a blow away."
"Thank you," said Jenneke, passing it down to Feodoric, whose armor was the lightest. "You think you could give us some tips on bartering now?"
"Surely I could," said Tor, and he launched into the discussion.
"Ssso, what fort did you work at in your army daysss?" said Thissa.
"I used to work at Fort Avernum. Everyone who arrived from the surface world went by me. I gave'em a knife, food, and directions. Without my stuff, nobody woulda lived long," said Tor. "Course, the Empire stopped sending people down. Fort Avernum shut down, and I left the army. Oh well, what can ya do? Now there's nothing there. Just rubble, place is abandoned. I can't say it makes me sad. Nobody new will be trapped down here."
"You got provisions you can sell?" said Jenneke.
"Sure we do," said Tor.
After completing their business, Jenneke and his platoon said their farewells, and started on their explorations again. Eventually, they came to a cave filled with thick, choking steam from several large fumaroles, while sulfurous steam assaulted their senses, the cave floor covered with faint tracks from a giant lizard's strong claws. The area had only recently become volcanically active.
Moving into a cavern, they saw the familiar signs of lizard infestation, but further in, there was a grisly surprise. A merchant caravan must have gotten lost and camped here, only to be ambushed by the lizards. The bones were heavily picked over, and most of the supplies were crushed, but a few goods were still scattered about.
They explored as far as they were able, killing lizards and fire lizards as they went, but eventually found their way blocked by barriers they could not pass, though of the sort that Feodoric said confidently that he would be able to by-pass with further study. There being no further help for it, they left, determined to return when Feodoric's studies had advanced sufficiently.
"I know I'm going to regret it," said Jenneke, "but we could always see what those spiders west of Fort Draco want."
"I rather like my sanity," said Feodoric. "Can we pass on that?"
"What if they have some sort of strange knowledge that would actually help us bring down the barriers?" said Jenneke. "You want to take that chance?"
"Argh! Can we at least stock up on the ale," said Feodoric. "At least then, I can drink myself into oblivion so I won't really remember."
"Fine, we'll get it in Draco," said Jenneke.
After getting fortified with large quantities of mushroom ale, they walked west of Fort Draco and into a narrow gap in a barrier of spiderwebs, apparently built by the giant spiders to the north. The huge arachnids moved about purposefully, carrying items in sacks woven from the webbing. They immediately began discussing the group in friendly high-pitched voices, a vehement disagreement as to whether their visitors were "Cute" or "Neat". At least, none is arguing that we'd taste great, thought Jenneke.
Finally, after dealing with several spiders, they found their way to the one who was called Mayor Spider instead of just Spider like the others.
"Hi. I'm the mayor, the sacred leader of the spiders here, and leader in the worship of the Great Spider Goddess!" said Mayor Spider. "But you could probably tell."
Trying not to reveal that every spider looked the same to him, Jenneke said, "The Great Spider Goddess? What is she like?"
"She's like a spider, but really, really, really big! And she eats bugs the size of, well, uh ... really, really, really big bugs," replied Mayor Spider. "And she's cute, too."
"So, what does a spider mayor do?" said Jenneke.
"Right now I direct the war against the great, evil aranea. They cast magic spells, but they're wimpy if you get up by them, and you can beat them up. We're silly, but we're tough too, and we have big, big fangs," said Mayor Spider. "We're really mad at them, because they stole our babies."
"Maybe we could help recover your stolen babies?" said Jenneke.
The mayor spider jumped up and down with joy. "Would you? Wow! You're the best humans ever! The nasty aranea live in a cave to the south. They're mean and dangerous, so you'll need to visit the special pool to get past the barriers we made so they can't come back. If you find our eggs and return them, I have something very, very nice for you."
They utilized the pool, touching the liquid there, and the odd feeling soon wore off. Heading south to the aranea, they found the passage blocked by a huge mass of webs, but they were somehow able to maneuver through.
After a quick fight, they ducked into a corner to try to get patched up, and were shocked to find a spider hiding in the corner. Expecting an attack, it took them a moment to register that it was one of the friendly spiders.
"Shhhh," it said in the loud chirpy voice of its kind. "I'm Spider!"
"You shouldn't be here," said Jenneke. "It's too dangerous."
"I have to stay here until someone rescues the eggs the nasty spiders stole from us. I'm real scared, but I got to stay! It's my sneaky spider duty! I'm spying on the aranea," it said, skittering quietly back and forth across the filthy floor. "I'm a stealth spider."
"Aren't you afraid of the aranea?" asked Michael.
"Yeah, the big old meanies. I gotta be real careful," said Spider. "Fortunately, they don't see too good, so they think I look like a dumb spider! I'm sneaky!"
"Sneaky?" said Feodoric.
"You gotta be sneaky to be a stealth spider," replied Spider. "It's hard work, though. I really miss Spider."
"Who's Spider?" said Jenneke.
"That's my mate! If you see her, tell her I said hi," said Spider.
"Have you been spying here long?" said Jenneke.
"Yeah, I've been here for ... uh ... some days," said Spider. "I know all about this place. What do you want to know?" It gave them a definite once over, and said, "You're cute."
Definitely not wanting to go where that was headed, Jenneke decided to skip over the cute remark, and said, "We're here to rescue your spider eggs."
"They have our egg sac here. It's way on the other side, in the far corner, not in the center," said Spider, hissing, as he pointed northwest. "A bunch of nasty spiders guard it, so I can't get it." Hissing very loudly again,he added, "They want to do an experiment on them!"
"What's in the center?" asked Michael.
"The center of these caves. That's where the aranea's leader is. Stay away from her. She's a big ol' meany," said Spider, his leg hairs twitching in aggravation. "It's real, real dangerous."
After a long struggle, they came into the lab, and found a sac filled with spider eggs. Sure that these were the ones that they had come for, Jenneke grabbed the sac, and they fought their way back to the spy spider, letting him know it was safe to leave. Then, they made haste to get out of there, and returned to the friendly spiders.
"We have come back with the eggs," said Jenneke, handing the sac over to Mayor Spider.
The spider bounced up and down and shouted for joy, a shout that was soon picked up by all the spiders in the tunnel. "You brought our eggs to us!"
Some spiders cleared out a barrier, as Mayor Spider said, "Thank you, cute people! Thank you. We trapped some nasty humans who were attacking us back there. You can take all their stuff. We don't want it. We just want bad humans and spiders to stay away and leave us alone!"
"When did the humans you trapped come here?" asked Jenneke.
"I don't know. Not long ago. They were stalking some other humans. They hid in here. They saw us, and they started attacking," replied Spider. "Very, very bad humans."
They carefully made their way through the small hole, and found it necessary to breath through their mouths, covering their noses, as the reek of decaying flesh was overpowering. The friendly spiders had trapped a group of Empire soldiers back here and left them to starve, while the equipment still looked usable.
"Gods," said Jenneke, "I almost feel sorry for them."
"Sorry for them?" said Nigel.
"Almost, I said," said Jenneke. "Can you imagine starving to death having to hear those spiders?"
Feodoric shuddered, "Even Empire might not deserve that fate."
They quickly searched them, finding another red bordered piece of parchment, declaring itself to be a red pass, which would grant the bearer permission to pass certain check points.
"Well, we ever get these barriers down," said Jenneke, "I guess this would be useful. Let's get out of here."
"Good idea," said Feodoric, "I really need a drink."
They hurried from the spiders, brushing off the admiring spiders who called them cute, invited them to be mates, and share bugs, and made their way to Fort Draco. Coming into the House of Crisper, they asked for drinks, and after getting thoroughly drunk took a room.
The next morning, drinking the weak concoction of healing herbs, mushroom ale, and ember flowers, they nursed the hangovers, and deciding that they had searched everywhere without finding anything, would head back to Formello in the hopes that someone had come up with a new idea about how to solve the problem of the barriers.