A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas,
Chapter 12: Deeper In
Our strange group continued north from the fountain room, arriving in a hallway lined with prison cells, likely used long ago by the cultist who once worshipped here. To the east, there was another door. We decided to try the north path first. Almost as soon as we started this way, four giant rats skittered out of the cells, right towards us.
Lydratir quickly drew is bow and fired, severely wounding one of the rats. The same rat which Lydratir just attacked ran forwards, attacking Krisyra. The rat's sharp teeth pierced through her armor, and she reeled back a bit. A second rat ran in to gang up on Krisyra, but she managed to dodge this one. I stepped up, and bit down on the weakened rat, finishing it off. The third rat rushed towards me, but it missed. Charles stepped around, and fired his heavy crossbow at the fourth rat. The bolt fired right on target, taking out the rat. Krisyra focused for a moment, and her staff glowed with power. She brought the staff down upon the rat, taking it out. Narcrath stepped around, and attacked the remaining rat with his Shocking Grasp, quickly downing it.
"There are certainly quite a lot of rats in here," said Charles.
"If that odor is any indication, we might be near their source," I said.
I watched as Lydratir breathed deeply for a moment, and unleashed a bust of healing magic into Krisyra. We continued up the hall, arriving in a chamber much like the one we were in previously, with the same fountain, but also a series of disarmed pit traps. I saw Lydratir brush away some dust from the fountain, revealing another inscription in Draconic. I read it over silently, and then spoke up.
"We got lucky last time," I said, "based on what that says, I don't think I should read it out loud".
We headed over to the western door, and the foul odor of rotting meat intensified. We entered, and an oppressive wave of foul stench slammed into us. the odor came from dead rats, small vermin, and a few dead humanoids. In the center, there was a particularly large rat's nest. Three giant rats skittered out… along with an even larger rat. This one was nearly 6 feet long, and looked like it was carrying some nasty disease.
Krisyra focused for a moment, and unleashed a bust of power, and the chamber rang with thunder. Three of the rats dodged the attack, but the fourth caught it full blast. Narcrath stepped up, and fried another rat with his Shocking Grasp. Lydratir moved around, and slashed at another of the rats with his short sword, but it dodged away. Charles stepped up next, and hacked into the largest rat, but it remained standing. The rat which Lydratir had gone after struck back again him, finding a gap in his armor, its teeth sinking in deeply. The largest rat attempted to strike Charles, but the combination of the Thunderwave and the sword wound caused it to trip over its own tail. I moved up, and brought my claws down upon the very large rat, finishing it off.. but leaving me wanting to wash my claws badly. Krisyra readied another small flame, and launched it at the remaining rat, taking it out.
With the area clear, we spent some time searching the room, and came up with a decent pile of gold and silver, as well as a few small gems. We also came upon the corpse of a ranger. A quick search of his belongings revealed some studded leather armor, some daggers, a longbow, a backpack containing some basic supplies, a potion bottle, and a gold ring with the name 'Karakas' engraved on it. As Charles looked the ring over, he spoke up.
"I know this name," said Charles, "he's one of the adventurers who departed from Oakhurst to search this place".
"But Calcryx," said Meepo, who'd been cowering behind us, "where's Calcryx?"
"Not in this direction," I said, "it appears we're at a dead end".
"Let's head back and explore the other path," said Narcrath.
We backtracked to the hall, and headed west this time. We entered an empty room with another door to the north, where we could see the tracks of numerous humanoids in the dust, as well as odd marks near the northern door. Krisyra and I shared a glance, as she pushed the door open slowly. There was a slight clink of a recently attached bell, but our caution prevented it from ringing. We looked out into the hall before us, and saw that the floor was blanketed with caltrops. The northern end of the wall was partially blocked by a roughly mortared stone wall. We moved slowly and carefully, working to avoid stepping on the caltrops. We came into a small chamber, where we found two goblins which seemed to be playing cards with each other. However, the suddenly leapt to their feet and drew their weapons when the spotted us.
Krisyra reacted quickly, launching a small flame at the goblins, but the dodged away. Charles stepped up next, taking out one of the goblins with a mighty swing of his greatsword. I took a swipe at the remaining goblins, but it dodged away. The goblin immediately turned to try and run away, but this time I caught it with my claws.
We made our way into the next room, where we could hear the twang of bowstrings. As we emerged into the chamber proper, we spotted a trio of goblins firing into crudely made training dummies. However, the soon took notice of our presence, and turned their bows upon us.
Charles reacted the fastest, charging one of the goblins with particular resolve, the goblin had just enough time for its eyes to go wide before Charles' greatsword cleaved it clean in half. Lydratir fired his bow upon one of the remaining goblins, but missed due to the fact it was reeling back from Charles' attack. The same goblin attempted to fire back at Lydratir, but also missed. The other goblin fired upon me, but the arrow just bounced off my scales. Krisyra launched another small blast of fire, but the goblin dodged. I leapt forwards, and swiped at one of the goblins, but once more it dodged away. Narcrath stepped up to the other goblin, and struck him with shocking grasp, but in remained standing. Charles turned and came over to assist me, slashing into the goblin with a fierce blow, but it didn't fall. Lysratir stepped up, drawing his shortsword and driving it into the goblin engaged with Narcrath, finishing it off. Krisyra summoned fire once again taking out the last goblin in this area.
With the area clear, we made sure the door were secure, and paused for a bit to ready for a whatever lay ahead. As I lay down to keep watch on the northern exit, I felt the familiar warmth within my chest of my fire. I felt like it was burning a little bit hotter than before. I knew that I'd taken a step towards wielding my full might.
A/N: And there we go! The party has officially reached Level 2! Next time, the adventurers come upon Calcryx. See you then!