SWEETSPEARGIRL RETURNS

Chapter 14
A Day Of Rest

Cast of Characters:
- SweetSpearGirl, the Hung-Over Amazon
- Euyfura, the Equally Hung-Over Merc
- Lady FrequentCast, the Ubiquitous Valk

TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...

When SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura woke, hung over from the night's celebrations with the Barbarians, the party was still going on. Blearily, our heroes looked around, hunting for someone who could get them coffee ("strong. Black. I don't care what's in it," Euyfura stated categorically), but all they could see - and hear - were northerners having a good time! Malah was dancing (badly) with Qual-Kehk, several tenors and a bass were singing some kind of battle hymn about - oh Gods - "she Jabs them here, she Jabs them there" (SweetSpearGirl was about ready to just go back to bed!), and Nihlathak was stood behind a hastily cobbled together stall, dispensing something he called "Nilly's Special Brew".

"Have a hair of the demon that stuck an axe up you?" he offered, but both SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura declined, suddenly feeling the urge to go and be hung-over in the loo...

Later, as they slowly recovered (having to make themselves coffee), they reviewed their progress. For once, it was all good news.

"Well, I've now got 22 of life steal," SweetSpearGirl mused, "a crapload of damage... oh yes, the Valk's back..." - the glowing minion looked round briefly and shouted, "Yeah baby!"

Euyfura shook her head in part amusement, part exasperation. "We were doing OK before," she said.

"Oh sure, but the Valk's useful. I mean, how many times have we been facing down a nasty boss pack when I've run out of mana? Or worse, been out of potions? And remember Duriel..."

Euyfura shuddered. That had been bad. As had Mephisto and Diablo, but not as bad as Duriel!

The Rogue critically examined her gear. "OK, so it's not terrible - but there must be better bows around, surely?"

"Well," SweetSpearGirl said, "I do have a family friend who has a rather nice Magewrath. But you'll need to be level 43 to use it."

"Sounds good. Not that far away, right?"

"Careful, you're starting to sound optimistic!" SweetSpearGirl said with a grin and a wink.

"Better watch that then, hadn't I?" Euyfura laughed.

"Hey," SweetSpearGirl said, "how about we head out for a bit? Nothing too strenuous, just blow away the cobwebs. And shake off that Special Brew!"

"Don't remind me," Euyfura said. "I don't know what Nihlathak puts in that stuff, but I'm sure I could taste the Flame Spider venom... argh. I never believed the stories about Harrogath Ale till now! Frigid Highlands waypoint?"

"Sure."

They pulled on their gear and headed out, first for a quick warm-up with Eldritch and Shenk, then to the Arreat Plateau where they took a spin through the Pit of Acheron again. Nothing too bad, except for the obligatory Hell Lord boss (this time Wind Blister, extra strong), but he and his minions got stuck on a bridge and so one by one went down easy. The golden chest contained a decent amount of loot, but nothing major.

Back out on the Plateau they fought Slayers and Lashers again (and a few imps for good measure). The local Lasher boss was a complete wuss - Seethe Venom the Witch (cursed) went down faster than Wind Blister, and even Thresh Socket (crush beast, also cursed) at the Crystalline Passage entrance, was little more than a minor hindrance.

SweetSpearGirl had planned to call it a day there - especially since she'd levelled to 31 on killing Seethe Venom, boosting her Jab to 23 - but the Crystalline Passage was inviting. And a few Stygian Harlots and Frozen Creepers later (the latter breathing coldly on her, but no harm done after all), the waypoint showed up, very close to the entrance.

And they'd hardly even broken a sweat.

"How'd'you feel now, Rogue?" the spearazon asked.

"Ah, much better. Something about the mountain air really clears the head."

"I know what you mean. I always liked it here."

They headed back to town, selling loot and stashing gems and stuff (the most notable drop had been an Amn rune, from a barrel near Thresh Socket's little hangout).

"Can't believe the party is STILL going on," Euyfura commented.

"Well, we did stop the siege, kill Baal's big general guy, and bring home a bunch of lost Barb choirboys, so I figure they're gonna want to get hammered for a while!"

"True. Hey, about this Anya they want us to find - "

"Let's not worry about that today. Besides, I've heard a few questionable things about Anya. Ever hear about that business with the Large Shield?"

"...Oh yes," Euyfura said slowly, an unpleasant memory surfacing. "I heard about that last time we were round these parts."

"Yup. So I think she can spend another day lost, don't you?"

"Sure."

They settled back and relaxed, drinking more coffee while the people of Harrogath partied till the sun went down.