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Betrayed ... The sting is excruciatingly painful, but nothing compared to the feeling of your essence shattering, splitting, fading ... You've made countless entities fall; now you know how they felt ... What you've lost, however, is almost more than you can bear ... Betrayed - and you know not by who ...
After an eternity of darkness and silence, you awake to the sound of shrieks of pain - although those are quickly muted. Opening your eyes, you find yourself in a rocky chamber. You're underground. From somewhere nearby, you hear several voices.
Celia rubs her head, trying to make sense of the darkness and sounds permeating her current world. "What? Where?" When she hears the voices, she quietly moves closer to hear.
Unused to the limitations of your current form, your movement is clumsy and slow as you walk toward the voices. There, you find a vast cavern with a collapsed wall. Buried in the piles of rubble are the arms and legs of several people who clearly didn't survive whatever caused the avalanche of stone. In the back of the cavern, a disturbing shape looms. Nearly the size of a horse, what appears to be an immense black spider crouches silent and still on the ground.
The voices you heard come from a trio of individuals who are gingerly extricating themselves from the rubble. You see a pair of humans (male and female) and a male elf with a cloth covering his eyes. The woman is holding her clearly broken leg, and the elf has several severe burns. The majority of the noise, however, is coming from the third individual - who appears almost completely uninjured aside from a few bumps and bruises.
Celia quickly changes form to a lovely, blonde haired human woman, tall and lithe. Quickly as possible, she goes to check on the injured parties.
"Are you all alright? There is something very large and probably not so friendly at the back of this cave, so do keep it down..." She approaches carefully, not to disturb the creature.
The startled reactions reveal that none of these individuals can see particularly well in this dark cavern. The human man, in particular, seems rather panicked. "There is!?! It's a monster! We're going to die!" "Shut up, Horgus!" snaps the woman. "You're only making things worse!"
Celia sighed. "It's not moving right now, but if you keep that up, we could all be toast. We will worry about the creature if it comes to that. What is this place? Where are we?" Celia keeps one eye on the monster.
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It's the Elf who responds. "We're somewhere beneath the city. Most likely in a fissure that opened when the Demons attacked. Do you see a way out?"
Celia's head begins to spin, trying to take in all of the information she was just getting. She had so many more questions but she wasn't about to ask. She could find out when she got out of this situation. Now, it was time to use these people to get somewhere safe. The girl wont be worth much due to her broken leg, except maybe bait to get away. The annoying, shrieking man would be good for distraction. The bandaged elf, I don't know what he is capable of yet. Best help them for now.
She looks around for an exit, hoping it was not going to be behind that creature. She had nothing with her, causing her not wanting to fight just yet.
Behind the unmoving creature (which seems to be some kind of large spider) are two tunnels leading off into the darkness. The spider appears to be long dead, but its torso is moving slightly in a rather disturbing fashion. You'll have to psss rather close to it in order to reach the two possible exits.
Celia sighs. "There are two possible exits, but both are behind that spider thing. I dont think its alive, but it is moving... How's your leg? can you walk on it?"
She shakes her head with a wince. "I can't put any weight on it. If it was set, I could try to hobble a little, but I know nothing of the healing arts." The other human, meanwhile, continues to panic. "It's moving?!? It's probably an undead sent by the Demons to kill us! We're doomed!" The Elf continues to sit in stoic silence. You're beginning to suspect that he's unable to see much of anything.
Celia grimaced, ignoring the annoying human. "I have no idea how to set a broken leg. What are all of your names? We can worry about whether or not this thing needs to be killed or just sneaked past. But with you-" she says pointedly to the human "If you don't stop your crying it will be near impossible. So please, shut it." She rubbed her head.
The man folds his arms and sits down in a huff while the woman begins clumsily attempting to set her leg. The elf, meanwhile, responds in a calm voice. "Hey now, let's not get ourselves riled up. We're all stuck in an awful situation, but if we work together, we may still get out of this alive." He smiles in your general direction. "I'm Aravashnial, a mage. The fellow you shushed is named Horgus. He's a minor noble - and an honest one." He glances toward the man, who gives him a glare before piping up. "Don't trust Anevia. She'll rob you blind if you're not careful!" Glaring at the woman, he continues, "Does your wife know what you really are?"
"Quiet, Horgus! You speak of things of which you know nothing about. You don't see me blabbing your secrets to strangers, do you?"
Aravashnial waves his hands in an attempt at keeping Horgus and Anevia from derailing things further. "Please ignore them, ma'am. This situation is stressful for all of us. Who might you be?"
"Leera, my good sir. It's a pleasure, even though this situation clearly isn't..." She hesitates. "Here, let me try to help. I think I might have saw someone set a broken arm in my youth..."
Celia grimaced as her hands slip on the blood, only seeming to make things worse. "My apologies..." What the hells? What has happened to me?! Who did this to me! Where is my power....
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Anevia bites back a pained grunt but is eventually able to get her leg braced with a long piece of timber. It's not pretty, but she'll at least be able to hobble along. Now that she's standing, you can see a quiver with a few arrows strapped to her back. A longbow lies nearby, and she picks it up and uses it as a walking stick.
Celia's eyebrows raise. "Hey, how well can you use that? We might need some fire power for this thing back here and my weapons are all gone. I'm guessing you could try and work some magic, Aeavashnial?"
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"I'm a fair shot if it comes down to it." After your question, the Elf nods. "That's correct, although I'll need someone to be my eyes. Perhaps you can lead our little group? You seem to be able to see pretty well down here. Stay out of the way if we run into anything nasty, though. Since you're unarmed, we don't want you getting hurt."
Celia nods. Ill only fight if I need to. "Sounds like a plan. Shall we try to sneak around it. It looks dead, but you never know..." She goes to help Anevia sneak past as well, supporting her weight.
Your stealthy journey begins well-enough, and your assistance helps Anevia keep up with everyone else. Then the Elf trips over a bit of debris and falls headlong on the ground. In the process, he bumps into Horgus who immediately begins to yell in outrage. That's when you hear it. You're very close to the creature (which turns out to be a recently-deceased giant black widow spider) when you hear a muffled chewing sound coming from inside of it. Thanks to your enhanced senses, you can also see a bulge wriggling inside the spider's abdomen.
Uggh. Of course. This is what I get for trying to help a whiny noble... The other two, they might be able to hold their own weight, even though they are crippled...
A moment after you raise your guard, a pair of enormous maggots burst from inside the spider. They seem hungry. Horgus gives a disgusted belch, and Anevia looks confused. "I don't think I should waste my ammunition on these things...."
Celia looks confused. "Do you think we should just walk around them?"
Anevia responds, "I don't know - they're a lot bigger than any maggots I've ever seen." You can see that the vermin have large pointy teeth.
Celia sighs. "Wait for a moment. I need to concentrate." She closes her eyes and says a few words in Sylvan and not long after, a big, elegant fox pops into existence next to her with an ornate dagger in its mouth.
"An féidir leat a cúram a ghlacadh de na dom?"
Anevia and Horgus jump in surprise as your vulpine friend materializes beside you. Talli, meanwhile, looks very confused but quickly composes herself.
Taking advantage of the confusion, the two maggots mindlessly lunge forward toward the source of the noises. One of them latches onto your leg .
Celia bites her tongue. She knew better than to fight with anything right now while still so unsure of her surroundings.
With a practiced motion, Talli dashes past one of the maggots. A second later, it separates into two halves, dead. At the same time, a Celestial Eagle appears next to Aravashnial. He speaks to it in Celestial, and it charges the other maggot, ripping into it with beak and talons. Within seconds, it too, is dead.
Celia nods at Talli.
"Beidh orainn plé níos déanaí, Talli."
"We will have a discussion later, Talli."
With that the creature disappears. Celia looks at Aravashnial. "I see you have some tricks of your own, Elf." She smiles at him, her voice friendly and soft. She tears some cloth off of her tunic and wraps her injured leg.
"Now, which way should we go? It's dangerous in here."
Horgus clambers out from behind a rock where he'd been hiding. "You're a mage, too? That's wonderful! You can get us out safely, then." The Elf looks in your general direction. "You're a practitioner of the arcane art? Perhaps we can collaborate on some research once we're out of here. I have a few summons prepared, still, but I think you should take the lead. As much as I'm loathe to admit it, my current lack of sight is quite a hindrance."
"Most of my arcane talent is in less violent spheres, though I do have Talli. I can cast a few defensive spells, but I will need all of your help. If someone has a dagger, I am much more skilled with blades than magic..."
She looks around, hoping Anevia will have a small blade.
The Elf fumbles through his pouches before producing a small knife. "I use it for peeling fruit, mostly. Perhaps you can make better use of it."
"Thank you, Aravashnial. I have just become much more helpful. And yes, I think that a collaboration between us two would be very helpful. I have many questions." She puts the small knife in her boot. "So, left or right?"
Surprisingly, it's Horgus who responds. "If we want to get back to the city, we should take the left path. If you recall, we were at the East side of the city when we fell, so heading right will only take us farther away. As long as we stay left (assuming the path doesn't twist around too much), we'll eventually surface somewhere near civilization."
Celia nods. So he is useful.
"Left it is. Lets hope the maggots are the last of the excitement down here." She heads off left, still assisting Anevia.
You follow the path for about 60ft before it opens into a small cavern that appears to have once served as a campsite or temporary lair. A torn bedroll lies next to the cold remains of a fire. A pile of bones, broken equipment, and rubble lies just past the campsite. Past the rubble, the path continues into the darkness.
Celia looks around to see if anyone's still there.
The campsite is long deserted, although you do find several items of possible interest.
Torn bedroll x1
Candle stub x3
Bent fishhook x1
Badly-frayed hemp rope (10ft)
Copper brooch depicting a bat perched on a mushroom
Celia passes out the candles to those who need them and pockets the brooch. Slinging the rope around her shoulder, she theads the fish hook into the rope for safe keeping. "Anyone want a ratty old bedroll?" She asks with a laugh. Celia goes about lighting one candle.
Your companions shake their heads - Horgus with visible signs of disgust. Continuing along the path, you soon notice a ledge jutting out at an angle on the south wall of a cavern, fourteen feet off the ground. The leather strap of a backpack hangs from the edge of the ledge, while above, a narrow fissure yawns up into the dark.
"Hold on, there is a pack up there. It could have useful things in it. Im going to try to get it." Setting down Anevia, Celia readjusts the fish hook and throws the rope at the backpack, attempting to fish off the backpack from whatever is holding it.
As it turns out, the backpack has quite a lot of supplies inside, and although the fishhook is bent completely out of shape, you probably don't mind too much.
MW Backpack x1
Trail Rations x10
Flint and Steel x1
Caltrops
Oil Flask x2
Arrow x12
Potion - clw x1
Potion - lesser restoration x1
Celia throws the arrows to Anevia. "That should bring you up a bit. I have no use of these. There is also some food and two potions, and caltrops. Id like to keep the pack if that fine with you all. I have nothing at the moment." She slings the pack over her shoulder, helps Anevia back up, and continues on, taking left turns when possible.
"What exactly is happening up there?" She looks at the crew.
Anevia gratefully accepts the arrows and stows them in her quiver. Meanwhile, Horgus and Aravashnial explain what they remember. It's a wild tale involving a demonic invasion, dragons, and lots of fiery death. They're surprised you don't remember.
Celia contemplates the situation. "I must've hit my head or something. But I do not remember that. Perhaps I was out longer than I first thought... What's the date? I hope I haven't been unconscious too long."
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Anevia laughs. "You must have hit your head pretty hard, then. It's 23 Rova, 8715."
If she's telling the truth (and, honestly, why would she lie about something like that?), you've been unconscious for over 4100 years.
Celia nods, now lost in thought. 4100 years?! What happened?! How have I been out this long. She bites her cheek. "We should get going."
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Several mounds of rock lie in heaps in this cavern, recently fallen from the walls and ceiling. Now and then, bits of dust settle from cracks in the stone above. As you make your way through it, Horgus trips over the rubble and disturbs a cave viper!
Celia sighs. She takes out the dagger and searches for the best place to attack.
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