Chapter Nineteen: Loot Gobblin’

Zuglah couldn’t breathe. It was too painful. The bolt had missed his heart, but just barely. It didn’t feel like it had missed his lung though. He could feel blood filling it, weighing it down. He tried to move his arms but they were too heavy. It was impossible. He needed to reach his potions.

And then, Blessed Light. He didn’t feel scared or hurt, only warmth and golden sunlight. He didn’t even feel the urge to gasp for air any longer. Distantly, he heard a soft tink and then another tink. He knew that those were the sounds of the bolts falling out of his body.

He took a deep gasp of air that didn’t seem to stop. It kept filling and filling him until he was light headed and seeing stars. He was standing.

Denton was there, holding him up by the shoulders. So that’s how he was up. He could not focus on his words because of the roaring in his ears. His head still spun, but he knew one thing for certain. He was pissed.

He didn’t look at Denton, or search around for Redda Mo. He simply walked over to the edge of the platform closest to the balcony and unleashed Blazing Inferno upon all of the archers.

Zuglah only thought he had dumped mana before. Now, he pushed everything he had into the flames, not looking to extend them for even a second. The mana was all to make the fire hotter.

It was over in seconds. The archers were no more. Whether there was any trace of them on the balcony’s stone floor nobody was interested in finding out. A large section of the railing had melted, and stone was dripping like candle wax into the molten river below. Zuglah staggered as he turned around, surprised to find himself face to face with Pliesson.

The Driole clung to his sleeve and turned away, pulling Zuglah after him. He paused briefly and then handed Zuglah his quarterstaff. “Thanks.”

“You dropped me again.” Redda Mo said pointedly. At least his hearing was back to normal. He realized why he was so dizzy, and reached into his belt pouch. He drank his first Mana Pot.

It was like waking from a dream. What Warwick’s Blessed Light had done for his body, the Mana Pot did for his mind. He instantly assessed the entire room, noting that everyone was down on the opposite side except for the Shaman and Larrio. Denton and Warwick were holding their own. Zuglah thought they could do better.

First, he used a Blast of Frost to slow down the Bugbear’s daunting speed. Not that Denton seemed to need the edge, but Zuglah wanted to increase the skill gap as much as he could. Next, he unleashed a never-ending barrage of Dancing Mana upon the Shaman. He sent a stream of mana bullets that crashed into him, one after another, until finally Denton danced in close and rammed his sword through him. The Shaman dropped dead.

Zuglah still had Dancing Mana in the air. He pushed them through the target, onto the Bugbear. The concise blue spheres banked as they flew, catching Larrio in the back over and over. Zuglah continued sending.

Denton did not need the help. When it came to pure skill, Larrio was outmatched. He had strength, reach and size on his side, but Denton appeared to have his number. The huge glaive did not really come near to him at any point, but the Fighter scored hit after hit. The Dancing Mana kept Larrio staggered, which helped. Finally, Denton was able to put him away with a mighty leap and a slash that very nearly chopped his head off.

“Gods, that felt good!” Denton was fired up.

Zuglah kept drawing deep breaths, putting his hand on his chest where the bolt had been. There wasn’t so much as a twinge.

“First time?” He turned to Warwick, who was smiling. “You got mad. That’s a pretty common reaction, actually.” He pointed up at the ruined balcony. “The Healing takes away the memory of the wound as well. Wouldn’t be much good if it didn’t. We’d all have so much trauma we’d be functionally insane.”

“It felt pretty amazing. Thanks for that, by the way.” The Cleric nodded.

“That was a close call, Zuglah. But good job.” Denton was grinning.

“It’s a shame about Randall. They’ll bring him back, right?” It was school, after all.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Will Wizard Gamstone come down, do you think? Also, I’m pretty sure Randall’s already back with the other students.” Pliesson pointed up to the ledge far above them. Sure enough, it seemed like that was Randall, right in the front. He saw them look up and waved. He shook both his fists in the air, cheering.

“Seems to be over his recent death. I gotta say he’s taking it well.” The Fighter turned to Pliesson. “I don’t think Gamstone will be back until we quit or win.” Denton looked like he could keep going all day. “So what do you guys think? You want to go fight a giant, three-headed dog, or what?” It looked like their short rest was over.

Zuglah and Pliesson searched for Iron Blossoms and found quite a few. Denton and Warwick searched the bodies on the platform, while Zuglah blinked up to the balcony that Randall had cleared and searched those bodies. He found three Heals and a little over seventeen gold pieces.

The others did significantly better. Zuglah added his offerings to the growing pile on top of Larrio’s corpse; sixteen platinum, two hundred and fourteen gold, six Heal Pots, two light green potions called Hasty Decisions. There were seven rings, two swords and three daggers. Two crossbows and three arrow quivers. There was also the great glaive, the maul and the Staff, which looked significant after the Cleric bashed it against the wall to remove the Curse Totems and the bleached bulls horns that they had hung from. Zuglah looked down at the ribbon that still hung from his own chest. Lose a fortune. That felt like he was getting off light, compared to the alternatives.

Zuglah cast Detect Magic over the loot pile. There was a lot of glow coming from the rings and some of the arrows. The glaive was mundane, but the Maul and the Staff both lit up with firm pulses.

“I know you're only a beginner, Zuglah,” Denton began.

“Hard to believe.” Warwick muttered half under his breath.

“But do you think you can figure out what some of this stuff is?”

“Hmmm.” Zuglah picked up a vial of Hasty Decisions and Identified it. Hasty Decisions, heightened reflexes and increased initiative; cannot be surprised. He held it up to the light and peered at the color. “This appears to have something to do with Initiative, if I had to guess. Speed too, probably.” He picked up a glowing ring with a red aura. It was a second before he could Identify it. Watch Yer Ankles, detect traps within twelve feet. “I’m getting some sort of a detection device. Poison maybe…?” He held up the ring to his eye and peered through the center. No, that was nothing and he looked stupid. He held it to his nose and sniffed. When he touched it to his tongue, he distinctly saw Warwick make a face from the corner of his eye. “Traps. Definitely, it’s Detect Traps.”

This was harder than it looked. There were so many items left. He figured maybe he should start with the most important. He picked up the staff. Horned Staff, extra damage against beasts. “Well the bad news is, you’re going to have to put the horns back on.”

Sternhammer, +2 maul, Radiant Blessing, Bathed In Light, once per short rest.

“That’s amazing. I believe that’s a Group Heal.” Warwick was practically drooling.

There were five arrows with varying effects. Sleet, freezing rain ten foot radius, Bonerobber, make everyone within a six foot radius fall down. Stuck, uncloseable wounds, bleed for an hour. Slow, makes enemy slower. And a good old Fire Arrow, explodes on impact, setting flames in six foot radius. Caldwell had told him that a Wizard did not need to even use a bow or crossbow with these special arrows, but he had not explained what he meant.

There were also three more rings; protection from fire, Infravision, and Protection. The protection ring was by far the most valuable, although both of the Humans expressed their admiration for the Infravision as well.

“I think that we should just give the Ring of Protection to Warwick, since he’s our most valuable asset.” Zuglah said. Pliesson nodded, and both Denton and Warwick looked surprised.

“I… thank you. But it is not necessary.” He held up his left hand where an identical ring resided. It seemed like the ring was a fairly common drop.

Denton said, “If we’re going by need, which I endorse, by the way, then I vote we give Protection to Pliesson. He is our most vulnerable member.” There were no complaints.

“If everyone is agreed, we will loot by need rules. Does everyone know what those are?” Zuglah had no idea, so Denton explained. “It means that priority is given to whomever needs it the most, until the end of the run. Then, everyone puts their loot back on the pile and we roll as usual. The only difference, besides getting to use that crazy maul, would be the arrows and potions. We use them now. Also, this way Randall still gets to roll.” Everyone was on board, agreeing that Randall’s part in their victory deserved to be acknowledged..

Pliesson took the staff, even though he said he preferred his wand, and he put on the ring with effusive thanks to the party. They also gave him two Heals and Watch Yer Ankles.

They gave Warwick the protection from fire ring and the magic bolts, since he was the only person with a crossbow. He loaded up Stuck, and hung it on his back.

Denton took the huge maul, because he was the only one with the strength to wield it. Zuglah thought that he could probably manage the thing, but he had absolutely no skill with such a weapon.

Everybody started clamoring when Zuglah passed on taking any of the Heals, until he showed them the contents of his pouch. They were more than a little flabbergasted, which led him to believe that maybe he had a larger collection than he strictly needed.

Denton uncorked a vial of Hasty Decisions and passed it to Zuglah. Then he uncorked the other and held it up. They clinked vials like they were tankards. “To Bulgo and Sarna. May they meet their fate this day.” Zuglah vaguely wondered who Bulgo and Sarna were as he upended the vial into his belly. He instantly felt the kick.

It was time to meet the Boss.