Chapter 37: The Words in the Webs
Ortan Thaig.
The place had taken on almost mythic reverence for Alim and his companions. They had long since lost track of how long they had been down here, wandering in the dark, looking for the long ago fallen Thaig.
How long had it been a week, two, maybe even three, the elf did not know, nor did he wish to find out. All he wanted now was to find Branka and get out of here.
Once again Oghren stepped forward, examining yet another ancient dwarven signpost. Alim waited with baited breath, hoping that at long last they had reached their destination, but fearing that they had not.
He was as shocked as anyone when the dwarf said two words that he was not expecting.
"We're here."
A collective sigh of relief swept through the group, perhaps not from Sten or Shale, but everyone else was grateful. They had gotten turned around so many times. Cave-ins had forced them to take longer roots, usually right into small pockets of darkspawn or nests of deepstalkers. To hear that they had finally arrived was a balm to the soul.
The strangest thing was that they had not seen any darkspawn for quite some time, none living anyway. The only sign they had seen of the creatures recently were several desiccated corpses scatter around the tunnels.
That bothered Alim; the darkspawn supposedly ruled the deep roads now. The fact that they had seen so few of the creatures bothered him.
As always, Leliana stayed close to him, the warden mage had come to take comfort in that. When the bard took watch, he stood with her, and vice versa.
They had…they had grown closer over the last several days, or was it weeks, it was so hard to tell down here.
Regardless, he was grateful for her presence.
The main entrance to the Thaig was blocked off, forcing them to go down a darkened side tunnel; more darkspawn corpses litter the sides of the passageway.
Alim called the group to a stop; he heard a strange scuttling sound coming from chamber up ahead.
The elf shivered what else could this foul place throw at them?
An ogre's roar shook them all out of their lethargy, Alim slid carefully down the chamber, Leliana staying close to him, covering him with her bow.
They found the ogre, and what had killed all of the darkspawn down here.
Giant Spiders.
The creatures were the size of a cow, and that did not include their spindly legs, five of them had an ogre pinned against a cavern wall.
Spider's spat acid and venom at the creature further weakening it. The ogre did not surrender easily however; it pounded the ground viciously, even though the spider's continued to spray it with thicker and heavier webs.
Finally, the venom took its toll, the huge darkspawn slumped down, the spiders pounced on it tying it tighter in their webs.
The ogre gave a weak murmur as the spiders pulled it along behind them, dragging it down a dark shaft to its end.
Alim shivered, he had never heard of spiders hunting in packs before.
But then again, he had never seen spiders as big as cows before either.
Leliana was shivering; the sight was almost too much for the pretty bard to bear.
Alim took her hand in his giving it a reassuring squeeze; it seemed to calm her, at least for the moment.
Sereda advised that they leave quickly, while the spiders were still finishing their meal.
Everyone in the group agreed with that, not one of them wished to try to face those things in their lair.
There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, no one here wished to cross it.
Not any more than they had already anyway.
IOI
They managed to make it into the Thaig proper, all hoping to find some trace of Branka or her house.
Both Sereda and Sten confirmed evidence of that fact that there had been people here, but it had not been for quite some time.
Alim snorted, hoping that they had not come all this way to discover a dead end.
Ordering the group to stay together, they began a search of the Thaig. They were attacked several times by spiders, but these were smaller than the ones they had seen in the outer chamber, young the elf suspected.
If that was so, he hoped that they could move on quickly.
He had no desire to meet their mama.
The journey was not entirely wasteful, Oghren managed to secure some lineage records inside the abandoned shaperate here. Apparently he had made an acquaintance of a young girl named Orta before they left, she believed herself heir to this Thaig, and offered good gold very any of the records that could be found here.
Alim nodded; when they made it back it would be nice to have a little extra gold in their hands.
The spiders remained a problem in this place, but hardly the only one, they also encountered several rogue golems as well. Unlike Shale, these creatures minds had broken years ago, they responded to no commands and attack anyone on sight.
Shale felt completely justified in ending their tortured existences.
Exhaustion quickly set in among the group, they made camp near the underground river that once provided water for the Thaig.
Surprisingly enough, it was still fresh, and untainted.
The chance for a bath appealed to everyone in the group.
They all took turns on watch, while the others bathed. No spiders attacked, and soon they were able to get some rest.
Alim was still not pleased though; they had come all this way, and still no sign of Branka, and where she might have gone.
It was extremely frustrating.
IOI
"WARDEN!"
Sereda's cry woke Alim out of a sound sleep. Leliana who had been sleeping near him was awake in seconds, the dagger that she slept with in hand.
The two bounded to where the dwarf was standing, she had her blade pointed at…something.
"Not another step duster," Sereda spat angrily, "filthy sneak thief, he was trying to sneak up on us warden."
"No, no, no, no, no," the misshapen thing whimpered, "Ruck wasn't hurting anyone…Ruck was curious, looking for shineys. Ruck means you no harm!"
Alim shuddered at the sight of the creature before him. It looked like a dwarf, well…mostly. He, at least Alim thought it was a he, was hunched over, his old leathers tattered and dirty, his body was covered with black sores, his eyes were milky and wet with mucus. Most of his hair had fallen out as well; the creature might just have been some diseased genlock if not for all the whimpering.
Leliana gasped.
"Ruck," she whispered, "You…you said your name was Ruck?"
The ghoul regarded her with his milky eyes; he smiled a smile full of rotted teeth.
The woman cringed.
"Ruck is my name, Ruck does not hear it very often," he giggled, "Sometimes I just say it just to hear it again. Ruck. Ruck. Ruck!"
"Blarg, he is a scavenger," Oghren snorted, "good as sodding gone!"
"What has happened to him?" Alim asked.
"The only way some survive down here warden is by eating the darkspawn dead," Oghren said with distaste.
"It brings the taint," Sereda added, "Makes them invisible to the spawn, but also destroys their minds and bodies, as you can see."
"So this was once a dwarf," Shale said smirking, "May I squish it? I would like to put it out of its misery."
Ruck whimpered; he covered his head, fearing the golem's heavy fist.
Alim stopped it.
"Ruck," Leliana whispered, "Do you know a woman named Filda?"
The ghoul's eyes widened.
"No Filda," he shouted, "No mother! No blanket, no pillow, no stew, or soft words, Ruck does not deserve good memories! I…I was very angry you see, very angry, and someone was dead! Ruck fled into the darkness, ran away. They would have sent Ruck to the mines you see! If Ruck was sent to the minds then everyone would know what he had done. Mother would know!"
Oghren snorted.
"He is a criminal," he spat, "And too sodding gutless to join the legion of the dead. How has your freedom treated you nug-humper? Was it worth it running down here?"
Ruck fidgeted, he did not like being watched by so many, he had been alone for so long.
"At…at least I am free," he mumbled.
Leliana frowned, she…she had promised Filda to search for any news of her son, but could she really tell the poor woman about…this!
Alim approached the ghoul; he still hoped that Ruck might supply them with answers.
"How long have you been down here Ruck?"
"I don't…long time surfacer. Five years, six…such a long time…Ruck no longer remembers the sights and sounds of the city."
Alim smiled slightly, there was still a chance.
"Ruck, he asked, "Have you seen anyone down here in the last few years, a large group of dwarves perhaps."
The ghoul twisted up his features, lost in thought, suddenly his eyes brightened.
"Many were here…not as long as Ruck, but long ago, they left…they all left, but they did not leave with everything. The crawlers took most of it. They took the metal and the shineys. They took the papers and the words. All to the great nest, everything went to the great nest!"
"Paper and words?" Oghren considered what the ghoul had said, "You think that Branka left notes, maybe…maybe told where she was going?"
Alim nodded, it was a hunch.
"Could you show us to the great nest Ruck?" he asked.
The ghoul shook his head no.
Sereda looked like she was ready to run him through.
Alim had a better idea.
"Would you like this shiney Ruck?" he asked taking off a ring. The symbol of the circle emblazoned in crystal.
Alim sighed, the ring had been a gift from Irving, a present for passing his Harrowing, but if it would buy them the means of finding Branka then it would have been worth it.
The ghoul looked hungrily at the ring; he reached for it only to have Alim pull his hand back.
Ruck pouted angrily.
"What does the surfacer want for the shiney?" he asked.
Alim grinned.
"You will lead us to the great nest," he replied.
Ruck shifted uncomfortably, debating if he still wanted the ring.
Finally he took it.
"Follow Ruck," the ghoul said quietly, ""The crawlers will not like your approach."
"Let us worry about that," Alim said.
Ruck shook his head.
"Follow Ruck," he repeated, "Follow Ruck."
IOI
The great nest was a horrible place.
The spider queen that had birthed so many of the horrors that lived down here fell on the warden and his allies. She was large, even for her brethren. The size of an ogre with legs that was twice as long.
Alim and his allies attacked her quickly, trying to end the battle before she could summon help.
Young spiders tried to swarm them. Alim blasted them with lightning. Leliana used her bow to keep anymore spiders from coming to their mother's aid. She lobbed acid flasks, dissolving their webs, occasionally putting an arrow through the eye of one of the beasts that got too close.
The warriors that had come with them overwhelmed the queen.
Oghren and Shale harried her legs, while Sereda and Sten lunged in and out, in and out. Each new lunge brought new injuries to the beast.
Ruck had fled back into the darkness, not that that had surprised any of them.
Once a coward, always a coward.
Leliana managed to free Alim up enough to call down his full power down on the queen.
There may not have been any storm clouds down here, but that did not mean he could not summon lightning. The tempest spell he summoned blasted the queen with electricity. The creature spat venom and webs at her attackers, all to no avail.
Weakened by her wounds and the elf's magic, the queen spider slumped over.
Shale pounced on her, ripping off her head.
All sounds of battle ceased, with the queen dead, there was no reason to continue the battle.
The spiders retreated back into the shadows.
Silence returned to the Thaig.
IOI
Alim and the others spent the next hour sorting through what the spiders had brought here over the years.
Sereda was very pleased with herself. From the webs she was able to salvage an almost perfect set of dwarven battle armor, far superior to the junk she had scavenged from the Aeducan Thaig.
Alim and Leliana helped Oghren sort through Branka's notes. Much of it was just scouting reports and supply strength; nothing told them where she had gone.
Alim glanced over at Leliana, the bard seemed troubled.
He suspected he knew why.
"Are you going to tell that poor woman about her son?" he asked her.
Leliana frowned.
"I…I don't think I can Alim," she said shaking her head, "That poor woman, she believed her son was lost trying to help his people. How can I tell her he became that…that…thing? She…she has already mourned her son. Do you think it is wrong if I tell her that he is dead?"
Alim shook his head. Filda did not need to hear what her son had become. She already had a tale of his end. Would it hurt her to keep believing that tale? The truth would not set her free here.
It was better if she did believe him dead.
"Branka was thinking about me!" Oghren cried out, "I knew she still cared, old softy."
Alim's ears twitched.
"You found something?" he asked.
"I found it warden!" Oghren said interrupting them, he held out a piece of vellum, "She…the anvil was not here. It was moved to Caridin's Fortress! The Fortress of…"
The dwarf fell silent, his face paled slightly.
"What is it Oghren?" Leliana asked.
"It…it does not matter," he muttered, "If that is where Branka went…that is where I'm going."
"Where did she go?" Leliana said.
"Spit it out dwarf," Alim growled.
He gave the two a sad look.
"Caridin took the anvil to Bownammer," he said, "The city of the dead, but we have another name for it now. We…we call it the dead trenches now. The darkspawn nest there."
Everyone in the group paled slightly. It was bad enough that they had come here into the deep roads, now they were supposed to go to the darkspawns' central nesting grounds?
"How many spawn are we talking about Oghren?" the elf asked.
"Most of them warden," he replied, even he looked a little sick at the prospect of going there, "If not all of them."
Alim paused, a single word came to his lips one that summed up their situation perfectly.
"SHIT!"