Underdark
Warning: This story has a minor amount of sex but is full of violence. Reader discretion is advised.
I repeat: Reader Discretion Is Advised.
This story starts out as an almost official Caskett story. It ends as a Caskett story.
Remember this story contains violent acts and there will be death. However, no major or minor character death from the series takes place.
You need to read Mirror, Mirror, Love You?, and DAD!? first to understand the story arc. This completes the four chapter story arc.
One Chapter Only
Kate was a happy woman. She was totally sated sexually and was even looking forward to their next Adventure. It was partly because the excitement was addictive, but also after they came back it meant more sex. She'd had a lot of one-night stands to get the male cum she needed to survive. Those had been all fuck sessions. What she was doing now was far more than just fucking. She was making love and finally, her heart was involved. She was still a little nervous about what Castle might do to her heart, but so far it was all good and she didn't see that changing.
"You two ready? Got your compact so we can get home again?" They didn't need Alexis's mirror. They could use any mirror. It was just easier this way.
Alexis rolled her eyes. She took it out of her backpack, showed it to him, and then put it back. "Right, hold hands." Rick pressed symbols around the mirror and said the words as Kate kicked herself for not asking for a translation. Maybe when they got back.
Instantly they were somewhere else.
"DAD!?" Alexis closed her eyes, tipped her head back, and clenched her jaw. Once again this was not a desert.
"I pressed desert. It's not my fault! Though a cemetery is a bit of a desert. Maybe more deserted but a desert. Just without the sand," Rick offered in an attempt to and defend himself. Even if it did sound rather weak.
"Deserted is desert?" Kate was ready to pile on. "On the bright side it's not 155 degrees or hotter with the sun beating down on us. And, I forgot to pack sunscreen."
"So did I," Alexis added. "Fine, let's look around. But if we end up surrounded by Zombies, I'm taking it out of your hide, Dad."
"I'll remove what you don't." Kate glared at Castle. "Two left feet, huh? More like all thumbs."
"You didn't say that last night," Rick countered still defending himself.
"TMI, Dad, way too much TMI. Keep this up and I'm going to need therapy." Alexis sighed and looked around.
Two old stone buildings stood here. The ruined shells of a few more lay nearby, and were a little overgrown, showing they had been down for a while. Around them were many headstones showing that they were indeed in a cemetery.
The closest building had stone doors that were closed. It was evident that there had been a name over them, but time had not been kind to it. Opening them was easy. Looking inside showed that this room had been used often enough. It was clearly used as a campsite, so they abandoned that building and moved on. Another pair of stone doors was farther up the trail.
These doors had two stone statues on either side. An examination of the stone doors showed tool marks. They had obviously forced open in the past. Though opening them now wasn't all that hard.
Just inside the doors were four dead bodies that had not yet started to decompose. Each of them were jet-black like newly mined coal, with silver or white hair. They look stripped of everything but clothes. Curious, Alexis and Kate knelt to look them over.
Alexis pointed to the damage on the bodies. "Sword wounds."
"And drag marks," Kate mentioned and stood to follow them, but she stopped at the stone door on her left. Still, the drag marks continued on.
"Do we know anything about this race?" Alexis looked up at her dad who shook his head.
Kate opened the door easily and could see that the space was totally empty. It was pitch black in this room, so she had to to shift into her Succubus form in order to be able to see in the dark.
Rick and Alexis soon had to do the same. The sunlight coming in from the open doors didn't go far and as soon as they turned right they lost the light completely.
The first door on the left showed chisel marks, but there was no sign that it had ever been opened, so they passed it by. The next door on the right looked like it was sealed all around the edge of the door and was altogether untouched.
They passed both of them by since the drag marks continued down the hallway. It opened into a cavern that had holes dug into the side all the way around and all of them were filled with bones. A few of the bones had fallen out.
"I've seen this before. That catacomb below Paris, I think," Alexis commented.
"The drag marks keep going," Kate pointed out, so they continued to follow those.
The next cavern held a statue in the very center of the room. Around it in the walls were more places holding bones. The statue was clearly chiseled out of marble. It had large eyes, mandibles for a mouth, and a large, elongated head.
"Ever seen anything like it, Dad?" Alexis asked which had Rick shaking his head.
"This way." Kate was still following the drag marks.
"The drag marks go straight but…" Kate and the others saw an opening on their left going into another cavern. It was likely filled with bones, but they turned to look. Instead they found five dead people on the ground in the very middle. Each of them still had armor and weapons. The second they entered two sickly-looking creatures appeared out of nowhere. Each attempted to hit Rick since he was just barely out in front with Kate right behind him.
Rick drew his sword, almost cut one in half, and watched it fall. Kate thought better of firing one of her weapons in this room. Doing so might burst eardrums, so she drew her new sword that she wasn't very good at using and quickly cut its head off.
Alexis drew her sword in case there was something else. Each stepped up to the dead bodies, and Alexis was thinking of putting on her Monocle when suddenly two enormous Spiders showed up from corners of the room.
Rick got first swing on his and actually missed totally. However, Kate cut its head off. The second one took its chance to try to bite Rick, but it missed badly. That allowed Kate and Alexis to swing at it and kill it.
"Damn big Spiders," Kate muttered as she looked them over. Technically, the wretched things had been taller than she was over all. "It's like looking at one of those old sci-fi movies. Radioactive spiders going on a killing spree."
Alexis took advantage of the moment to look at the bodies. "Both studded leather is +1, Rapier is +1, Shirt is +1, Chain Mail is +1, large shield is +1, and Cloak of Resistance is +1." Alexis told them and put her Monocle away. They got that off the dead bodies in the middle of the room.
They opened Kate's Portable Hole, put all that stuff inside, and closed it back up again. "I like this thing!" Kate exclaimed.
"I'm going first this time," Kate told them; she put on her Ring of Invisibilityand disappeared. "Give me a couple of minutes and then follow." Kate walked away from them, turned left, and could spot the same drag marks. Whoever got dragged away came this direction.
Kate came upon a hole in the wall which meant she had to crawl though. She didn't like it, but she did it. On the other side she saw two men wearing black armor. Their skin was the same black as the bodies they had come upon earlier. They had black swords, and each had silver hair. They looked ready to hit anyone that crawled through.
"Trap," Kate thought to herself and needed to figure out how to solve this. The space was large, but they appeared to be all alone. "Guards for others," Kate suspected. She needed to do this as fast and as quietly as possible, and before either Rick or Alexis tried crawling though.
Kate decided to take careful aim and swung at his neck. Vorpal meant cutting heads off, and so far that seemed to be working. Amazingly, his head came right off. Except now she was visible.
Kate decided on a quick use of her Boots and got in the first swing on the other man. She did damage to him but didn't cut his head off. That meant the fight was on.
His first swing missed her, but her second swing did some damage. His next swing caught her in her left arm. "OW!" She was angry; she swung and hit him and watched him fall just as Rick crawled through.
"Guards, they could have cut us to pieces," Kate told them. Rick handed her a vial to drink. A moment later and her arm was perfect again.
"They're the same as the four dead out front, Dad. If there are guards there have to be more." Alexis took out her Monocle again. "They each have two potions of Cure Light Wounds." That meant Rick got to replace the one he had just given Kate to drink, so she got the other three.
"Me first," Kate said as she took her Ring of Invisibilityoff, put it on again, and disappeared before them.
Kate was back and removed her ring. "The tunnel ends, but there's this metal ring in the floor and I can see a line in the floor all around it. The drag marks go right to it and end."
"A hole in the floor," Rick suggested. "We might need your Rope of Climbingfor this." Kate had it wrapped around her backpack.
Rick lifted the plug with ease while Kate attached her rope to the stone itself, dropped the rest down the hole, and went down wearing her Ring of Invisibility. Once down there she spotted three Black men with a combination of silver and white hair, wearing black armor, with black weapons out. Once Kate moved she could tell they didn't see her, but they had seen her rope.
Kate moved carefully till she was behind the one Black man without armor and lined up his neck for a quick strike. He was actually hanging back behind all the others, including the Spider. She swung and took his head clean off.
The others were concentrating on the rope and didn't notice, so she quickly took off her ring and put it back on, becoming Invisible again. She was starting to like this ring!
Kate raised her fingers to her mouth and whistled for the others. That had all three of them turning her direction, but they didn't see her, so all but the Spider turned back in time to see Rick climbing down.
One of them ordered the Spider to charge him. That gave her an opening to hit one of them in the back, and Kate did just that.
Rick landed, drew his sword, and noticed that the Spider missed him, but he didn't miss the Spider. Alexis flew down through the opening in Ethereal form, went over to the man Kate was fighting, solidified, and hit him with her sword.
Three dead Black men and one dead Spider. And Alexis and Kate were each drinking one vial of Cure Light Woundsto heal their wounds from getting hit.
"The rope is a Rope of Climbing and that's all that's down here," Alexis told them and helped Kate wrap the rope around Rick's backpack while her rope got wrapped back around her backpack.
This room opened up onto a massive chasm that was close to fifty feet wide and extended to either side off into the distance. A blast of cold air raised up and traveled off to their right. Down below they could see large strands of webbing that began right where they were standing.
"The drag marks end here." Kate reached out to touch a strand of webbing. "This big one isn't sticky, but the one next to it is. It's not overly wide but may be walkable."
"Fly?" Alexis questioned her.
Kate looked up and down. "Up there are more Spider webs, so we walk the Spider webs or fly straight. They managed to carry dead bodies, so I suppose walking is easy enough."
"Invisible ladies first." Rick smiled at Kate who took off her ring, put it back on, and vanished. "I'll whistle." Kate stepped out and followed the really big line of webbing and just kept walking till she found a cave entrance on her right. She entered after turning to look for Rick and Alexis and was able to see them a little behind her.
Kate stepped in and immediately spotted two Black men with silver hair, black armor, and black swords standing there waiting. She went past them quickly and spied four more along with a Spider in the next room. It looked like a barrack room since it had sleeping spaces.
That had her coming back and she got ready to hack off one man's head. She needed just one good swing. Just as Rick showed up, she swung and took off his head.
The other fellow got to swing at Rick first and missed him. He yelled and Kate cursed since that would bring the others she had seen. Still, Rick and Kate got to swing at this man together and kill him. However, the ones showed up quickly.
Alexis yanked off one of her old red balls, threw it, and a fireball erupted around them, almost reaching them. They could feel the sudden heat from it. Despite that, all of them were still there but singed.
Kate chose one of hers and threw it. She watched as an acid burst exploded and got all of them. And it almost reached them. Interestingly, only the Spider survived all that, but it was bleeding badly.
"Ethereal!" Alexis cried out as she did just that and went deep enough that no one could see her. Rick and Kate followed and they all moved into a wall and waited for a while.
Eventually, they poked a head out to look. The Spider was still there along with two new men, all with weapons out. Kate stayed Ethereal but went down into the barracks where she came upon seven Black men with white and silver hair, black armor, and black weapons. So, she went back to the others.
"Two here and seven down there. There's another opening on the far end. We could go down there, fireball and acid this group, and wait for these two," Kate suggested.
Rick and Alexis liked it so they went past these seven and into a hallway that went left and right. Alexis threw her very last ball off of that necklace, and Kate waited to see the result; she was amazed at the magnitude of the fireball that left them all down on the ground.
"It was my biggest ball." Alexis was suitably impressed. As expected the other two entered and Kate threw one of hers. One died instantly while the other one survived, but he didn't live long once Rick's arrow pierced his chest.
The noise, however, had someone coming around the corner, so he got an arrow in his neck and fell instantly. Rick was finally getting his bow to work. Right behind him was another one that was struck by an arrow and amazingly, he fell as well.
"About damn time this thing started working." Rick was beginning to wonder if it worked at all.
A search of the area told them that it was full of sleeping quarters. Enough beds for sixteen people. They found six cell doors that had small portals that they opened and were able to see all six were empty.
On every dead body was a large ancient key. So the three of them each took one and put it in a pocket.
Alexis found a Wand of Fly with 11 charges and a bag of eleven pearls perfect for Identifyspells. But save for black armor and black weapons, they didn't find anything else useful.
"Not even a single gold piece." Rick was perplexed at that.
Still, there was nowhere else to go, so back out onto the webbing they went with Kate invisible and out in front again. They thought about flying but had spotted some webbing in the air waiting for someone like them to try it.
Rick and Alexis chose to Change Self to look like the Black men, as did Kate, even though she was invisible. Kate stepped inside and spotted three very large lizards that had cargo packed on their backs. Next to them were three gray-colored Dwarves. As she watched it looked like they were trying to sell or buy items from two Black men clad in black armor and carrying black weapons. But it was the other one that had all of her attention.
It was tall and thin, and instead of a mouth it had three tentacles hanging down. In addition it had a cone head and was a bit purple in color.
Kate watched as Rick and Alexis walked in and they got looked at but nothing happened. Kate walked over to them since they had stopped. "I don't like the one with tentacles much. I'm going to get right behind him," Kate told them and moved away.
Rick watched Alexis choose her first victim, and he pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow. The second Kate hit that thing in the back Rick shot him, but he didn't immediately fall, though he did cry out and was bleeding somewhat heavily.
Now having Drow attacking Drow gave Alexis, Rick, and Kate one extra free swing before everyone began to react. However, the tentacled male didn't last long enough to do anything.
Alexis was doing just find save for being hit twice, while Rick killed off the three Gray Dwarves, and Kate killed one of the Drow. Alexis drank another potion to recover and was now looking around.
Ninety platinum pieces, two thousand three hundred gold pieces, one blue sapphire (fifteen hundred gold pieces), +1 great axe, two scrolls, and all of that was in one Bag of Holding Type II.
All of that got left in the bag and attached to a belt.
A quick look into the six doors just up a two foot berm showed nothing but empty rooms. "Warehouse. So what's on these lizards?" Rick was curious.
They knew nothing was magical or Alexis would have spotted it.
Three hundred gold pieces, three hundred platinum pieces, weapons, armor, cheese, dried meats, fungus, climbing kits, pitons, rope, pouches, backpacks, boots, and belts. There was nothing they wanted save for the cheese, dried meats, and the gold and platinum pieces.
Way in the back was a tunnel that went down gradually till suddenly it went down steeply. And there was glowing fungus in various places in it. Then unexpectedly, it opened up into a massive chamber that was glowing from fungus all over the place.
Even from here they could see hundreds of people walking around. There was a mix of those with Black skin, Gray Dwarves, and humans. The Black people so far didn't have armor or weapons, and all the others were dressed in rags. There were large toadstools all over the place and as they watched, people went in and came out of them.
Kate was back to being Invisible. "Now what? We can't kill them all."
"Half of them look like slaves. So long as we look like them we should be fine," Alexis said. "There's a river, see if you can find us an exit. We'll head for the river, stop at the bridge, and wait for you."
Rick and Alexis were just standing there, but they were getting looks. Then finally they heard Kate. "I've got an iron gate that's large, heavy, and locked, and guess what key fits the lock?" Kate smiled even if they couldn't see her.
"Get between us to hide and take off the ring. We need to see you to know where to go," Rick murmured. Immediately, Rick and Alexis could feel her and soon they could see her.
"Follow me." Kate led them to the gate. Sure enough, it looked like a large iron wall with a man gate built in. They watched as Kate used her key and removed the lock.
"Do we lock it again?" Alexis questioned.
"If we don't someone will find it and think somebody went this way. No one's looking, so I say lock it up," Kate replied. In the end they locked it again and headed up the tunnel and into the dark.
|ǂỗǂ|
While they walked they came upon a large, empty space which had Rick taking out his tiny little castle and using the command word. They immediately had a tower that was twenty feet square and thirty feet tall, so it barely fit on one side of the tunnel. They planned to use it to get some rest, and eat and drink if needed.
"Are we going the right way?" Kate inquired. "We were supposed to be in a desert."
"I said I was sorry," Rick grumbled.
"If we don't want to be here we can use my compact mirror and go home," Alexis answered her. "I have no idea what we'll find, but that's why we do this. That last place felt like a city."
"Living in mushrooms?" Kate questioned. "But apart from that, it did. It's just… These Black men use a lot of slaves."
"We did see a few Black men in black armor with black weapons while we waited, but not very many and they were always alone," Rick added.
|ǂỗǂ|
Since it was big enough Alexis set up her tent and entered since the temperature and humidity was always perfect. Getting sleeping bags out they got some much needed sleep.
Kate had found that sleeping on Rick's chest so that she could hear his heartbeat while wrapped up in his arms was her new favorite sleeping position.
|ǂỗǂ|
Alexis switched her tent back to a cloak. Exiting the Fortress, Rick spoke the command word, reduced it to the size of a Christmas ornament, and put it back in his backpack. From here they went back to walking with Kate invisible but looking like a Drow way out in front while Rick and Alexis followed in Drow form.
The main tunnel, because they did see little tertiary tunnels leading off of it, just kept going and going till finally, Kate saw something, walked up to it, and looked around before retreating.
Kate took her ring off. "Guys, up ahead there's another of those iron bars with a locked gate. Just the other side are three…" Kate was frustrated since she didn't know what they were. "I don't know what to call them, but they're fifteen feet tall, wearing armor, no weapons, and are deep red in color. More red than we are. However, they look bored. And opening that gate is going to cause noise.
"More to the point what's beyond them looks like a burning city and it's huge! There were fires everywhere, and the place is heavy with smoke," Kate explained.
"They might be giants," Alexis offered. "We've heard of them, but we've never actually met any."
"We could probably take them. Sneak up on them and kiss them perhaps," Rick put forward.
"Ooo, GROSS!" Kate wasn't kissing one of those Giants. Kiss Castle any hour of any day but these guys? No thank you!
"That leaves Ethereal again and going past them and looking around. Pick and choose maybe?" Alexis shrugged.
|ǂỗǂ|
They were a little past just barely Ethereal and even if the Giants did see them they might think they were seeing ghosts. So they walked through the gate, past the Giants, and kept walking.
Soon they came across a large lake that was fed by two streams. But the lake itself was reddish in color and reeked of tainted blood and dead bodies.
"GROSS!" Once past the Giants they were back to being solid and looking like Drow with Kate back to being invisible again.
Walking around the lake to the left and crossing the small, clean, fresh water stream that fed the lake took time.
The sound of combat had them going up and over a ten foot rise where they saw a tall, sixty foot, walled building. "It's a coliseum like in Rome. You don't suppose?" Rick put forward.
"Combat with Gladiators in the center?" Alexis suggested.
Walking up to it they found six drunk-as-a-skunk Goblins sort of guarding the entrance. They were more passing one of the many bottles lying about and drinking than guarding, and the three of them walked right past them.
Going up the stairs they saw the place was filled with all manner of creatures. Giants like the first three were yelling and screaming since there was a fight going on. Right next to them was another Giant who had hair that was actually on fire. There were Drow, Orcs, Ogres, and others in the stands, all yelling and screaming with a few throwing things into the center.
In the center there was a single massive Elephant the size of a Mammoth with huge tusks and his head was on fire. He seemed to be battling three naked Ogres with several dead bodies littering the floor.
Far off to one side they noticed a lone man that looked part Drow maybe. He seemed to be rooting for the Mammoth as best they could tell.
Rick suggested deep Ethereal and flying over to him. Maybe they could get him to talk and tell them what was going on around here.
Kate and Alexis remained Ethereal while Rick solidified and attempted to Charm him to get information out of him. The room he was in had murals all around the room depicting lavish fights of slaughter. When he wasn't standing and yelling he could be sitting in a luxurious mound of pillows with several bottles of perhaps wine within arms reach.
There were also three large chests, one of which was open.
Rick got his attention and again tried to Charm him. "You piece of SCUM!" Instead he drew his weapon. For a Drow he was a big guy. He was also reddish in color and he had a tail and horns.
That was Kate's and Alexis's cue. They both leapt and became solid and Kate got in the first kiss. But he somehow managed to throw her off his body. Then Alexis got in a kiss, and then another, followed by several more.
Now he was resting on his mound of pillows, a shell of the man he used to be.
Rick and Alexis searched the chests while Kate interrogated him since she was better at it.
(seven hundred ten platinum pieces, five thousand six hundred gold pieces, fifteen thousand four hundred silver pieces, fifteen fine chalices, platters, goblets, and statues each worth three hundred gold pieces, one large crystal skull worth three thousand six hundred gold pieces, 3 foot x 5 foot Carpet of Flying, +4 Bracers of Armor, Ring of Wizardry I, +3 Shortsword, +2 Mithral Shadow Breastplate)
They would count the coins later, but it all got dumped into Kate's Portable Hole.
"I knew I liked this thing." Kate was happy to have it. "You two are not going to believe this story. Basically there's a war between the Drow. That's all these Black men with black armor, and black weapons. Anyway some goddess named Lolth is beginning to lose grip on her control. A different group is trying to usurp her and take over.
"They had a battle here and apparently still are fighting. That's the cause for all this. One side is based here in this coliseum, and the other is based in a castle. They each send out patrols and get into fights. Until one side or the other gains reinforcements, they're at a standstill.
"The castle is off to the northeast, Drow noble houses are off to the northwest, while the way out is due north through another locked gate. This place used to hold something like eleven thousand people including farms for crops. Now each side is down to a couple thousand.
"And get this. One side is alive, but the other side is UNDEAD!" Kate was truly beginning to believe in the Undead.
"He has a +2 Flaming Greatsword," Alexis added since he was lying there all peaceful-like, and his weapon went into the Portable Hole.
"So where to? Castle, houses, or out?" Alexis wasn't sure she wanted to get involved in all this and battling UNDEAD sounded like an incredibly bad idea. "If I get a vote, I vote Noble Houses or just out to the north."
"Personally, if I was going to sack a place I might start with the Nobles, so there isn't going to be anything there. I vote castle, or north and out," Rick said.
That left it to Kate. "I just know I'm going to hate myself in the morning, but I vote castle, then north, and out." Except she wanted to get there Ethereal and by flying. And if it had a top level she wanted to land there and work their way down.
It turned out there was one hole in the very top of the tallest tower. It held a strange blue light that went up to the top of the ceiling of the cavern, some six hundred feet up and down into the castle itself.
They started out trying to climb down but realized that the light worked a little like an elevator. They just told it where they wanted to go and it took them there. The next level down held two doors. First door led to a pair of small but finely furnished rooms. There were purple tapestries and velvet furniture. It smelled of perfume. And if Kate had the proper light she could spot old semen stains showing that these rooms were used for sex.
The double doors had a design of a large spider carved into them. "I'm starting to detect a theme here," Kate noted and became invisible while still looking like a Drow and let Rick open the doors for her. It was a corridor with slots looking out on either side. About fifty feet long, it ended in another pair of double doors with another spider carved into them.
The other side appeared to be a bedroom for two, but it was empty save for some weapons hanging on the wall. There were two doors and they took the one on the right.
This first room was very well appointed and luxurious in the extreme, though a great battle appeared to have taken place here. There were scorch marks from a fire and blood was sprayed everywhere.
"Blood splatter," Kate commented. "Looks like enough blood to say someone died here." There were two more doors for them to try. The next room held five chests that weren't locked.
(four hundred eighty platinum pieces, eight thousand four hundred gold pieces, twenty-six thousand three hundred silver pieces, six goblets at three hundred gold pieces each, a Staff of Frost with 44 charges left, +4 Elven Chain Mail of Invulnerability, and a +3 Heavy Mace of Disruption)
"The Mace reads as if you strike an Undead creature you have a chance at destroying it with a single blow," Alexis said and watched her dad take it and carry it around with him.
"Almost as good as my bow and if there are Undead, I definitely want it," Rick defended himself. However, it meant one hand was always full.
Another door had another elevator, so they went down with Kate going first.
Stepping out, Kate was confronted with two, twenty foot long, very dead Dragons. One was white and the other was black. They were both deep into decomposition and the room reeked of rotting flesh. Kate reverted to doing what Lanie taught her to help avoid the smell and not lose the contents of her stomach.
But as soon as Rick entered the room both of the Dragons rose up slowly. "OH, SHIT!" Nonetheless Rick walked over to the black Dragon first and hit it with his new mace, watching it shatter into dust and fall to the floor. Since Zombies were terribly slow Rick got in a swing on the white Dragon and it, too, shattered into dust and fell to the floor.
"It's official. I like this weapon," Rick announced and looked it over. Kate rolled her eyes.
"The entire castle or can we leave now and go north?" Alexis knew that Kate's Portable Holewas getting pretty full and couldn't hold much more. "You may like your new mace, Dad, but if this place is all undead, I'd rather leave."
Kate added her voice. "I'm with Alexis. All this undead is creeping me out. What if there's worse than these two?"
Rick knew they were at the very top of the castle. However, based on information they had learned there was an entire army downstairs and it was just the three of them. He gave in. "Fine, we can leave and go north."
"Thank you, Dad." Alexis was grateful.
"Thank you, Castle." Kate walked up to him and gave him a quick kiss.
So up the elevator they went and switched to Demons and flew to the far north.
They saw four Giants with massive weapons standing guard at broken gates that were barely hanging on. That was enough, so they landed, changed to Drow form and went Ethereal. They were able to walk right past them and into the tunnel.
|ǂỗǂ|
They had switched back to being solid and looking like Drow with Kate invisible and out in front. Eventually, Kate came across a very small stream coming out a wall that had cut a path down the very center of the tunnel, making passage difficult if not impossible without getting wet. So she stopped, took off her ring, and waited for Rick and Alexis to join her.
"Ethereal again I'm thinking, at least until we can walk again," Alexis offered and soon each was Ethereal and walking till it widened out. Though when it did and they became solid again, once again their noses were assaulted. For off to the left was a pool of water that was putrid almost beyond belief. That had them hurrying past it only to come across yet another one. Only right after this pool the tunnel got very narrow with the stream running right down the middle. So back to Ethereal they went till the stream vanished into the wall again.
Eventually, they found a spot for Rick to bring out his Fortress. He got it to grow, then all of them went inside, and Alexis set up the tent. Instead of sleeping they talked.
"This is a big one, Dad. We've never been down here before. There are entire cities. And you can practically taste the evil that's down here," Alexis stated flatly.
"You two have been doing this far longer than I have. Is this too much for us?" Kate questioned. "There are only three of us and none of us do Magic such as I'm hearing about."
"It's extensive, but I'm thinking so long as we pick and choose we can handle this. We're not an army. Can you imagine us three trying to defeat everyone back in that burning city? Coming in from the top of that castle was an excellent idea. An entire army spread out at the base.
"Plus, so long as Alexis has her compact we can go home when we please," Rick said.
"But we got here by accident. Desert is not deserted cemetery, Dad," Alexis countered.
Rick sighed. "I said I was sorry."
"Well, we're learning about Drow. It sounds like a Civil War. One side loves Spiders and the other side loves Undead." Alexis offered her thoughts about this place. "Once we leave I don't want to come back down here again."
"Me, too," Kate added quickly.
"Me three." Rick groaned. This was supposed to be a challenge and fun. But this place was getting dangerous. "You know, I'm wondering if the next time we come back we can stay in Waterdeep and find someone to train us in some of the various skills we've learned about."
"That might help," Alexis admitted.
"Such as?" Kate asked since they were talking about something new.
"There are a lot of them. Basically, there are Fighters, Wizards, and Clerics. After that you can get more advanced and specialized. For example, a fighter can be a Paladin, Dervish, Knights that have subsects, Ranger like in Lord of the Rings, Warblade.
"Then there's Wizard. Archmage, Shadowcraft, something about Eldritch, Alchemist meaning he makes potions.
"And then there are Clerics. Servant of Pelor, WarPriest, Hunter of the Dead, Divine just about anything.
"Think about a doctor. Is he a general practitioner or is he a surgeon? Pediatrician? Only works with elderly or only with children?
"The three of us are mostly just simple fighters. General Practitioner. We've learned that to use scrolls accurately, we need to know magic. Wands and staffs or rods are just items. Speak the command word and it works. The magic items we have and wear continuously, so knowing and understanding magic is not required," Alexis explained.
"Think what we're doing because we are Demons. What we're doing is considered magic here. A Wizard reads books and memorizes spells as we understand it. A Sorcerer has magic inside him. That's more us. We just need to learn how to do other spells," Alexis said.
"So, fighter Sorcerer?" Kate questioned.
"Pretty much, though we're limited to what a Succubus knows because we are one. We believe there are hundreds of possible spells. However, to learn new ones requires training," Alexis added.
"Which is where the problem comes in. We're Demons. In this realm all Demons are considered Evil, and not just Evil, but VERY EVIL," Rick told her. "So who here is going to train us?"
In the end they stripped down to underwear and slipped into sleeping bags, but soon Kate couldn't take it. She opened her sleeping bag and put it over the two of them so she could sleep on his chest and listen to his heartbeat. She really wanted to make love to him, but Alexis was right over there, so she suffered without.
|ǂỗǂ|
Dressed and outside again, the Fortress was tiny and back in Rick's backpack. They continued down the tunnel and it seemed to last forever. Then the tunnel opened up wide and a few yards away was a massive wall of rock that went straight up for hundreds of feet and the ceiling was even higher and there was glowing fungus everywhere giving dim light to the entire space. They could spot three caves in the wall. Two were small openings while the other was much larger.
Walking up to the wall and looking up they saw a bell hanging on the side. It was a simple bell like one of those Come to Dinner bells shaped in a triangle with a rod hanging next to it. Kate was invisible and everyone was Drow again.
Rick ran his hand over the surface and could tell it had been ground smooth. "I'm no climbing expert, but this looks impossible." Rick tilted his head back and looked up. "We can fly it, I suppose."
"Maybe it's the bell," Alexis said and she took the rod and started ringing it.
"PUMPKIN!?" Rick wasn't ready to ring it.
A moment after she did rang it this creature jumped out of a hole in the wall and flew down. He was reddish in color with large, jet black wings. He landed and said something. That had Alexis using one of her skills.
"He says we can go up if we pay him twenty gold pieces per person," Alexis told them even if she couldn't see Kate.
"That's it?" Rick was surprised. So far everyone seemed to want to kill everyone else down here except for this person. "So, who lives in the big cave?"
Alexis asked him. "He says his name is Glouroth. He's a Dragon." Alexis looked at her dad. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
His answer was to take forty gold pieces out of his pouch and hand it over. Then he took potions out of his backpack, handed one to Alexis, and one disappeared when Kate took it.
Each of them drank and while Kate wasn't so sure about this, she was right behind them when Rick and Alexis changed to Demons and flew toward the large cave. Along the way Rick got his bow ready, took out an arrow, and nocked it.
"Stay out here for now," Rick told them and landed inside. The first thing he saw was a Dragon resting on the floor. It looked to Rick like a grayish Black Dragon. It had its eyes closed, so he lined up a shot, released the arrow, and hit it right in the nose. Its eyes snapped open and it looked and sounded pissed. Before it could get up Rick got in another shot that hit it in the nose again.
Now it was up enough to try and bite him. However, Rick's 60% miss Chance proved useful, so it missed. Rick let another arrow fly and hit it. It was literally right there, after all.
Angered, it used both front legs, both wings, and tried to bite him. Both wings hit him, but it didn't hurt all that much. So he shot at it again and hit it again. This time the Dragon hit him with both claws and did far more damage. This time, it did hurt, a lot.
Rick took another shot and the Dragon's nose was starting to look like a porcupine, but it was still up. Rick silently cursed his luck.
Once again the Dragon hit him with both its wings that did some damage. And just about then Rick could see it taking in deep breaths getting ready to breathe fire or whatever on him, so that was going to seriously hurt if he stayed.
Rick let a final arrow fly and hit it in the nose again. He was all set to turn and jump out of the cave when much to his surprise, the Dragon fell to the floor, dead.
"ABOUT FUCKING TIME!" Rick almost couldn't believe this shit. "You couldn't just die on the first shot!?"
Alexis and Kate joined him. "You're bleeding, Dad." He was bleeding somewhat heavily, actually.
"I'll be fine eventually. I have a Ring of Regeneration," Rick reminded her.
All of them were looking around to see if this Dragon had anything.
(seven thousand seven hundred gold pieces, thirteen thousand two hundred silver pieces, Potion of Lesser Restoration, Potion of Endurance, Potion of Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Scroll of Summon Monster V, and Teleport. Wand of Cure Light Wounds – 38 charges left, Rod of Thunder and Lightning and 16 +2 Shocking Arrows.)
"Okay, that was worth it." Rick liked this location.
They walked past yet another bell with Kate invisible and out in front, and they were back to being Drow.
|ǂỗǂ|
They were forced to stop and retreated into the Fortress yet again. Without a sun to judge time, they were stunned to learn that they had been down here for five, almost six days, according to watches each was wearing.
"I'll be out of time off work soon," Kate commented.
"We can go home tomorrow or the day after," Rick told her.
"I have a question. Remember those undead Dragons in that tower? Just how did those two even get in there and why kill them?" Alexis asked. "I don't know about a White Dragon, but a Black Dragon is Evil, and so far everything here is Evil."
Kate added her voice, "Yes, how did they get in there?" And she looked expectantly at Castle.
"Why are you looking at me? How the heck should I know?" Rick had no idea and since they were dead, dead, he didn't care how they got in there. "Got in as babies and grew up in there. I. Don't. Know."
"And you call yourself a writer?" Kate teased him and smiled at him. However, he still let Kate sleep on him that night. As it happened, he felt better with her sleeping on his chest and in his arms. Two years and she was finally paying attention to him. Even if it did take two things: being an Incubus, and going on Adventures.
|ǂỗǂ|
Eventually, the tunnel just ended. It opened out onto the side of a lake and it looked like a big one at that. It was completely black and each of them were thinking, "Just great! Another rotten, stinking lake." Except this one didn't seem to stink and a quick smell and a tiny taste suggested that this lake was a clean lake. Just black.
They could see three islands and one of them had a building covering almost all of it and looked to be two stories tall. The ceiling here was easily over one hundred feet tall.
"Swim or fly?" Rick queried and watched both women stare at him like he had just lost his mind. "Fly it is. The island with building first."
Rick changed course when he noticed two cave openings, and since one was far larger than the other he went there and saw Alexis landing next to him. Since they were still Demons they weren't immediately attacked. They also didn't spot the occupants and started walking.
The next cave was empty, but the one after that was not. This cavern held two very tall creatures that almost appeared to be made of stone. Suddenly a rock shattered next to Rick showering him with bits and pieces.
One of them spoke but none of them understood a word he said. "What did he say?" Rick looked at Alexis who used her skill.
"He says he missed on purpose and wants to know what we are," Alexis translated.
"If he doesn't want to kill us ask him if there's a way out," Rick asked her.
However, before she could ask him he pointed past him. "That way."
"You speak common." They finally came across someone that could speak a language they understood.
"That way is out and that way is Drow." He gestured at where they had come from and where they wanted to go.
"Really?" Rick decided to hand over twenty gold pieces to both of them for passage and was a little surprised that they watched them leave.
"That was weird," an invisible voice that sounded like Kate commented.
"First time for everything, I guess," Rick replied.
|ǂỗǂ|
They weren't exactly outside, but they could see daylight. "Okay, Pumpkin, take us home. I, for one, am done with being down here. I want to see some sunlight."
Alexis took out her compact, held hands, and they were in the study again.
"Can we actually go to a desert next time, Dad, and I don't mean deserted." Still annoyed with her dad, Alexis hurried to her bedroom to strip and take a nice hot shower to get clean. She hadn't bathed in days.
Kate invited herself in to Rick's shower with him in it. That lead to a lot of kissing and sex in the shower. Kate had her legs wrapped around him and her back was up against the shower wall, but she was being fucked. She needed to be fucked in the worst way.
|ǂỗǂ|
Kate was again sated sexually. Rick had made love to her as Incubus and Succubus. That had her resting after she had no idea how many orgasms. Somehow Rick had a way to get her to lose her mind and just let her body take over with orgasm, after orgasm, after orgasm.
Her heart was beating madly and she was sweaty, stinky mess, but she was resting on Rick yet again. She wanted to stay just like this. Rick had changed her life. She was glad she had chased him down after he had left the precinct. It was only now that it occurred to her that she hadn't actually broken up with Tom. She could do that tomorrow.
|ǂỗǂ|
Kate was clean again come morning and dressed for work in clothes she had arrived at the loft in weeks ago. She also had her AR-15 that she was never going to need again. She had a Vorpal sword. What did she need an AR-15 for?
"Have fun in Waterdeep." She was betting they would be going there to sell stuff. Kate hugged and kissed Rick in front of Alexis. Then she hugged Alexis. "Hit him if he doesn't take you to your desert," Kate said with a grin as she teased Rick.
"I'll do that. It's not going to be the same without you, Kate. You're sure you can't take more time off work?" Alexis asked.
"I can barely afford three weeks off without pay as it is," Kate answered. "Find me something nice, just don't spend too much."
"With the amount of gold, silver, and other stuff? It's going to be better than nice," Rick assured her. He kissed her again and watched her leave.
"It really isn't going to be the same without her. You should solve that problem, Dad." And with that Alexis went to her bedroom to get suited up for the trip to Waterdeep.
|ǂỗǂ|
Rick had talked her into accepting a key to the loft. Amazingly, after her first day back at work, which consisted with catching up with all of their cases, here she was using her key to let herself in. But after searching the place she didn't find anyone home.
"It takes that long to sell and buy stuff?" That was all today was supposed to be. She decided to wait for them to come back. Since it was dinnertime, she placed an order for Happy Family from the Chinese restaurant down the way and it was delivered in less than half an hour.
Kate had gotten into Rick's bed naked that night and had fallen asleep. When she woke up in the morning she found an equally naked Rick right next to her sleeping soundly. She leaned up on one elbow and studied him while he slept.
She reached out a hand to lay on his chest and search for his heartbeat. Kate could feel her heart reaching out to his. She wanted him to answer her wish, not just lay there sleeping. Then suddenly his eyes snapped open.
Kate grinned at him. "Hi, there."
"Hi." Rick spun to face her. "We sold a few of your things, bought you new ones, and something else new."
"You sold some of my stuff?" Kate was ready to hit him for that. She had left it all behind so she could get dressed here for another Adventure.
"We turned some of your items from +3 to +5 which is as powerful as it gets. Then we bought you a Cloak of Displacement – Major, just like mine. Now when someone tries to hit you, you'll have a 60% chance that they'll miss you."
"Oh!" Kate liked that idea so she leaned across to kiss him. "What else?"
"We did the same for our stuff, so it's all +5 now. Bought Alexis a Ring of Regeneration. For some reason you can only wear two magic rings at the same time. She only had the one magic ring, so we bought her another one," Rick explained.
"Oh." Kate approved so she kissed him again.
"So how was work?" Rick inquired.
"Paperwork. I finally looked at my cell phone and I have so many messages and texts. Lanie wants a piece of my ass. I haven't talked to her for over a month." Kate moved herself in closer and pressed her face into his neck to try and hide. What Lanie was going to do to her wasn't going to be pleasant.
"Does anyone know you are a Succubus?" He meant besides himself and Alexis.
"No one. Who would believe that I'm a Succubus?" She didn't even know if her dad knew. They never talked about it.
"Come over and stay every chance you can get this summer," Rick offered. "It'll be nice to come home to you."
Kate knew she hadn't even thought about going home tonight. "I'll think about it," Kate responded even if she already knew she would be doing just that.
She wasn't ready to tell him that she loved him. But she knew she was falling in love with him and she was no longer afraid of that. He was an Incubus to her Succubus, they were lovers, and she wanted to keep him as her lover.
What came next she would see. But she was no longer afraid.
|ǂỗǂ|
Studded leather is +1, Rapier is +1, Shirt is +1, Chain Mail is +1, large shield is +1 and Cloak of Resistance is +1.
Wand of Fly – 11 charges
Ninety platinum pieces, two thousand three hundred gold pieces, one blue sapphire (one thousand five hundred gold pieces), +1 Great Axe, two scrolls, and all of that was in one Bag of Holding Type II
Three hundred platinum pieces, three hundred gold pieces
Seven hundred ten platinum pieces, five thousand six hundred gold pieces, fifteen thousand four hundred silver pieces, fifteen fine chalices, platters, goblets, and statues each worth three hundred gold pieces, one large crystal skull three thousand six hundred gold pieces, 3 foot x 5 foot Carpet of Flying, +4 Bracers of Armor, Ring of Wizardry I, +3 Shortsword, +2 Mithral Shadow Breastplate
Four hundred eighty platinum pieces, eight thousand four hundred gold pieces, twenty-six thousand three hundred silver pieces, six goblets at three hundred gold pieces each, a Staff of Frost with 44 charges left, +4 Elven Chain Mail of Invulnerability, and a +3 Heavy Mace of Disruption
+1 Flaming Greatsword
Seven thousand seven hundred gold pieces, thirteen thousand two hundred silver pieces, Potion of Lesser Restoration, Potion of Endurance, Potion of Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Scroll of Summon Monster V, and Teleport. Wand of Cure Light Wounds – 38 charges left, Rod of Thunder and Lightning, and sixteen +2 Shocking Arrows.
Three thousand two hundred ninety gold pieces in total left over after updating and purchases
Alexis Castle
+5 Ring of Protection
Ring of Regeneration
+5 Bracers of Armor
Rapier of Unerring Detection (This rapier has a curved blade and a hand guard of delicate golden filigree. This deadly weapon can find hidden enemies and pierce the protective magic that veils their true locations. When you wield a Rapier of Unerring Detection, it functions as a +1 Ghost Touch rapier.)
Relic Power (If you have established the proper divine connection, a Rapier of Unerring Direction automatically ignores all miss chances, whether they stem from concealment, blink, displacement, or some other source.)
+5 Vest of Resistance
+5 Amulet of Natural Armor
Bag of Holding Type III (weighs just 35 pounds but can hold up to 1,000 pounds of weight and has 150 cubic feet of space inside)
Belt of Many Pockets (64 mini pockets that worked just like the bag of holding only hold smaller amounts)
Heward's Handy Haversack (bigger on the inside, what you want is always on top)
Boots of the Mountain King (full movement over rocky, and rough terrain and stoneskin)
Cloak of Shelter (4 person tent as leomunds secure shelter)
Eyes of the Eagle (vastly increase your ability to see and spot things not normally seen)
Necklace of Fireballs Type V (2 balls left)
New Necklace of Fireballs Type V (2 small, 2 larger, 2 larger still, and 1 large one)
Rope of Climbing (it will go up and wrap around anything on command and then release on command)
Wand of Detect Magic (12 charges left)
Goggles of Water Breathing (Allow you to see 5 times farther than normal under water and creates a bubble of continual air around your head)
Monocle of Clarity.
Artificer's Monocle.
Wand of Fly – 11 charges
Richard Castle
Belt of Holy Might (+2 armor, +4 strength, magic circle against evil, word of recall)
Moon Cloak (Cloak of Resistance plus Levitation and Water Walk)
Moon Bracers (Bracers of Armor plus one Dimension Door per day)
Hewards Handy Haversack
Quiver of Ehlonna (Holds 60 +1 arrows and 10 Javelins of Lightning)
+5 Ring of Protection
Ring of Regeneration (Heal wounds slowly and grows a limb if one is cut off while wearing the ring, but not after losing a limb)
Bag of Holding Type II (weighs 25 pounds, holds up to 500 pounds, 70 cubic feet inside)
Boots of Teleportation (teleport instantly to a location you know clearly, any distance once per day)
Cloak of Displacement, Major (60% chance of being missed)
Daern's Instant Fortress (it creates a three floor fortress with locked doors that no one can enter, but you can shoot arrows or cast spells out of)
Bow of the Solars (+3 bow that turns every arrow into an Arrow of Slaying)
+3 Frost Brand Longsword (extra cold damage)
Goggles of Water Breathing (Allow you to see five times farther than normal under water and creates a bubble of continual air around your head)
Kate Beckett
Goggles of Water Breathing (Allow you to see five times farther than normal under water and creates a bubble of continual air around your head)
+5 Ring of Protection
6 foot x 9 foot Carpet of Flying
Heward's Handy Haversack (larger on the inside, Cost = two thousand gold pieces)
Rod of Resurrection - 11 charges
+5 Moon Bracers (Bracers of Armor plus Dimension Door, Cost = nineteen thousand one hundred gold pieces)
Boots of Speed (eight thousand gold pieces)
Bag of Holding Type II (weighs 25 pounds, Holds 500 pounds, 70 cubic feet, Cost = five thousand gold pieces)
Ring of Invisibility
Detect Magic, wand (50 charges)
Detect Secret Doors, wand (50 charges)
Figurine of Phantom Steed. Ride over sandy, muddy, or even swampy ground without difficulty or decrease in speed. Run at 100, water walk, air walk and fly. Lasts for 8 hours every 24 hours.
+3 Vorpal Long Sword
Magic Bedroll
Necklace of Acid Pearls
Wand of Cure Light Wounds – 44 charges
Cloak of Displacement – Major (60% miss chance)