Thanks, Coutelier, for the positive review! I don't feel like Imoen's given enough, in the storyline as is- after getting kidnapped TWICE, experimented upon, and general kicked around mentally and physically. Also, for once, I wanted to explore what would happen if the protagonist WASN'T all buff, sword-swinging, and totally amazeballs (don't get me wrong – I like strong PCs, too, but it seemed like a good time for a change).
Blue-Inked Frost – thank you for your kind words. Since each of them underwent their own special brand of torture, I tried to show a spectrum in their reactions to their imprisonment. I, too, adore Khalid and have a fondness for Dynaheir, and felt kind of cheated when they were taken away so unceremoniously, so I hope they live up to your expectations! They both have some fun stuff planned.
Something very obvious had triggered as soon as the door was opened - lightning arced across the room, the electric sizzle bouncing from wall to wall. Eli had very nearly walked into it, but Khalid - whose reflexes were faster - pulled him back into the Golem Room at the last second. The bolt singed a few hairs, but did no lasting damage to anything other than the wizard's pride.
"Gyah!" He patted himself down, putting out any potential fires and making sure all limbs were intact and accounted for. "What the hell was that?" Imoen couldn't help but to grin; some things never changed.
Another lightning bolt was thrown their way – this time, Eli scrambled to get out of its path, and Khalid shoved the door closed before it hit. The three cognizant party members panted from the adrenaline rush, but once the roar in her eardrums had faded, Imoen frowned. Where there was once silence, there was now chittering on the other side in addition to the crackle of the bolts.
"Trap?" Khalid ventured helpfully.
"No…" She approached the door, which was easy enough since no one else was in a hurry to put themselves in immediate danger. Pressing her ear up against it, she heard the same, odd sound – but now is was doubled. "There's something, or someTHINGS in there. Since there's nothing the way we came, we're going to have to kill them, I think."
"Hmmph," grunted Khalid. "W-well… this could get interesting."
The thief and fighter looked back at the two wizards – Eli was standing awkwardly near Dynaheir, and the Rashemi woman was dazedly looking around them. "Do you think," began Imoen, addressing the other wizard, "that you could stay by Dynaheir until this is over?"
"We're both pretty useless here, aren't we?" Eli nodded. "I can definitely do that. You'll know where to find us. Shout if you need help?"
"And you shout if someone comes looking for us," agreed the thief. "C'mon, Khalid. Let's get this done."
"You make it sound s-so… easy…" he put his hand on the door handle. "On three?"
Imoen shook her head, readying her dagger; Khalid followed lead and unsheathed a longsword. "Let's just go. Eli, might want to duck."
"On it!"
Khalid pulled the wooden door back open, and the pair rushed the room. He was the more seasoned fighter of the two – in fact, the Calishite was the one to notice the two lightning mephits first and he charged them, leaving Imoen behind to take stock of the remainder. Two cloaked figures clad in greys and black lay dead upon the floor, burnt. A pillar in the very center was dimming quickly. As she watched it faded out entirely, then quickly brightened to a brilliant white and sent out a pulse.
"Khalid!" she called. He turned, losing focus from the elementals for a split second as the bolt crashed into the west wall. In its wake, a flickering little creature squeaked, then beelined for the half-elf and the rest of its kin. She bounded over to help him, slashing her dagger at the newly spawned enemy when the room dimmed, blackened, and flashed again. The last addition to the memphit squad fell to the floor just as the new one took its place.
Wait! Imoen thought. There was a pattern to this!
One, two…
The thief woman held her breath and counted as Khalid took down the other three mephits. He paused, catching his breath, and turned towards Imoen. Three, four, five… then as if on cue the pillar in the center beat like a large electric heart, and a bright ball of lightning emanated out of it. It streaked towards the south wall, bounced, and in its place hovered yet another mephit. "Five seconds!" Imoen called amidst the chaos. Khalid sighed, then rushed this new one. "There's five seconds between bolts, Khalid so we have to hurry through if we want – aiee!"
The last pulse had sent a bolt straight for her. Imoen dropped to the floor, tumbled, and found herself face to face with a mephit of her own. It grinned and sent sparks her way – given their proximity they were unavoidable – she cringed, expecting the worst, but although the crackled of energy singed, they weren't deadly in and of themselves.
"Imoen!" Khalid shouted. "I f-found - th-there's a plug! It's on the south wall!"
"Then pull it!" she shouted, trying to grab a hold of the offending elemental to exact her revenge.
"Jus… Just p-pull it out of the wall?"
"YES!" It was both an answer and a triumphant cry – she'd caught the little bastard and was poking holes into it with her dagger. The center pillar was brightening again, readying itself for another blast when suddenly, the room went black. A loud squeak informed her that the mephit was dead; the room was hot and smelled of burnt hair and sweat.
"I think… I think that d-did it." Khalid laughed weakly. "Imoen? Y-you all right?
"Yeah." Imoen coughed, and stood up, trying to get her bearings – en route to the door, she tripped over one of the two dead bodies and stumbled the rest of the way to the door. Eli was wide-eyed on the other side, and the suddenness of going from brightness to dark and back again made both her and Khalid see spots of green. "There was some sort of… lightning switch… or something," she explained, before the more lucid of the two wizards started asking questions. "Whenever it fired off a bolt, it would summon a mephit."
The wizard made a face that clearly expressed just what he thought of all that. "That, uh, explains the piles of dead ones in there, then. Is it safe to go through this room?"
Imoen turned to Khalid, then looked back at the darkened pillar. "…yes?"
"Should b-be," the fighter answered for her. "It's been m-more than five seconds with no lightning or mephits yet, so… t-that's a good sign."
She gestured towards Khalid with a flourish. "There's your answer, Eli. We should go."
"Hm." Eli frowned in thought, and then pointed at the two OTHER bodies. "What about those two?"
"There when we started," said Imoen at the same time Khalid stumbled over, "K-killed by the room b-beforehand."
The lone thief let an audible breath out of her nostrils. "Let's get out of here… this place seriously gives me the creeps." Imoen, always more impatient than the elven contingent, started to move through the room, leaving the rest of her party behind. Khalid looked around, shrugged, and trailed; Eli lagged in the back to help Dynaheir along.
Their rest stop was cut short by voices nearby. They'd hunkered in an abandoned hallway, closed off at both sides – the respite allowed for everyone to catch their breath for a few minutes and to take stock of their situation. Dynaheir had closed her eyes almost immediately, and looked peaceful for the time being. Khalid was inspecting the party's weapons, sorting them into a neat pile by person and ability – he kept the sword and a mace they'd found, assigned a dagger to Imoen, a staff and sling to Eli, and had set aside another dagger for Dynaheir for when/if she came to. Finally, Eli was pacing next to Imoen, who was on watch.
"Stop," she said. It wasn't in an exasperated tone; instead, the formerly pink-haired girl sounded resigned. "The goal was to rest, Elioth. You're going to wear a hole in the floor."
"It'd get us out of here faster, wouldn't it?" The half-elf didn't stop, instead executing an about-face and going in the other direction. "I've been thinking."
"You don't ever stop thinking."
The mage grinned in a most roguish fashion at his childhood friend. "Guilty as charged. In all seriousness, though…" His face took on a much more serious expression. "We're three wizards who don't have a single spellbook between them, and four people with no food or water. One of us is just shy of unconscious."
Imoen glanced up at him, red brows creased. "Think I haven't thought of all that myself? Why not add that we have no idea where we are, and that there's some psycho possibly on the loose, coming after us?"
"It's not pretty. You have to admit that." Eli finally stopped a few paces shy of Imoen and looked down at her, arms akimbo. "I wish I knew where Bran was. Even Viconia would be a welcome sight right now."
There was a low murmur from Dynaheir – both of them turned to look in her direction, but her eyes were still closed, expression unchanged. "… that just means there's motivation to get out of here faster," the thief shrugged. "Imagine it. A warm bed… a hot bath… a table, full of hot apple pies. Crusty, warm bread with fresh butter. Roasted sweet potato –"
"S-stop it," Khalid complained, grinning somewhat. The swelling in his face had gone down more, and he was starting to look more like himself. Himself, plus some interested scars and bruises. "I might b-be tempted to eat one of you at this r-rate."
"… eat Eli. He's the one fetishizing Branwen's nasty spell gruel." With a slightly wicked grin, she added, "He probably looks like a big ol' plucked chicken with braids, doesn't he, Khalid?"
The wizard made a disgusted face. "That's appalling."
"So's your negativity," Imoen retorted. "I, for one, can't afford to think about everything that could – and might! – go wrong in trying to get out of here. Those thoughts make me want to just lie down and give up, and none of us are going to escape without everyone cooperating and trying to find productive solutions to… to all this." She gestured around them. "Hungry? Kill a rat. Eat some moss. You even have full and complete permission to eat me, should something happen. Hear that, Khalid?"
Elioth looked horrified by Imoen's tirade but the fighter – who had been more or less quietly sharpening his sword with a flat stone and listening to the duo – put down his makeshift workshop and chuckled. "W-well said, Imoen. And you have p-permission to eat me, too, if need and opportunity arise."
"See? Khalid's got the right idea. We'll all draw straws or something." She went back to scanning the hallway while Eli figured out how to respond to all of that. Finally, he just plopped down next to the mage/thief and leaned his head against the back of the wall.
"I'm sorry."
Imoen put a hand atop his and squeezed his thin, bony fingers. "Me too. This whole thing sucks, you're completely right."
Eli looked down at their hands, then back up at her while he intertwined their fingers. "I can't help but to think of the worst case scenario... it's probably why Xan and I got along so well. Do you think, when this is all over…" He trailed off thoughtfully. "Mm. Tell you what - I'll buy you a drink once we get out of here. You choice of tavern, your choice of drink."
She smiled, even though she wasn't looking at him. "Fancy, fancy. Better save up your gold, then, because I'm going to take advantage of that."
Imoen had pulled off what she was going for – the oft-dour mage was actually smiling at her, despite his tendency for pragmatic and pessimistic thoughts. Another win in her book, one of scores she'd acquired since stepping out with Elioth that fateful morning last year.
Except… he was smiling at her with a peculiar look in his bright, elven eyes – was that…? He caught her staring back, and quickly averted his gaze to look up at the ceiling, then the wall across from them.
Imoen bit her lip as she turned away and continued the watch. The thought that her wise, predictable childhood companion could possibly be harboring anything other than friendly thoughts was confusing at best, and deeply unsettling at worst.
The next room had, by the sound on the other side of the door, some goblins that needed to be put down. Imoen shrugged at Khalid - that wouldn't be much of an issue, even in their weakened state – and he readied his sword while she listened at the door. Eli (who was patently horrible with any melee weapon but actually a fair shot with a sling) loaded a rock into the piece of leather – as soon as Imoen confirmed that the door was not trapped and swung it open, he managed to knock one of the goblins upside the head before it could react. Shortly thereafter, a second lucky shot finished it off. Khalid easily carved a swath through the remaining handful of them, while Imoen came in last and finished off the stragglers. The battle was less than two minutes, and – as if Tymora wanted to send them a reminder – the creatures had small bags with a few scattered coins, canteens, some ends of stale bread, jerky, and a particularly pungent lump of cheese.
"Told ya we'd be okay," Imoen said, tossing Eli the cheese and some of the crust. They ate while they explored, taking care not to leave a trail of crumbs behind them.
The food revived their spirits – after a while, even Dynaheir seemed to be more alert. The dark-skinned woman lost the glazed look to her eyes and started looking about, though she still didn't offer anything in the way of conversation. Ere long, they came to an open doorway, one that reeked with a sharp chemical smell that burnt their noses and lingered in the back of their throat.
Khalid coughed and wiped water from his eyes. "What is that smell?"
To the party's surprise, it was Dynaheir that answered. Softly, in hoarse tones, she said, "Preserving fluids. This… this is one of his workshops."
"Workshops? For what, I wonder…?" Eli asked, mostly to himself. He was about to take a step in, then thought better and let Imoen go first. The place was crammed full of tanks that all gave off the same harsh chemical smell, but she didn't look inside. Instead, by focusing her efforts to the task at hand, she easily found the crude pressure plate near some storage boxes, and noticed one of the crates itself was glyphed. The security measures were nothing the thief hadn't seen before; she bypassed them easily, and gestured for them all join her. Eli made a beehive for the tanks straightaway, then immediately recoiled at what he saw inside.
"There are bodies in here!"