Chapter 5 – Same Thing We Do Every Night
“Come Pinky, let’s go hunting. I’m sure you don’t mind killing a rival queen do you.” I said to my new summons while I mentally ordered my undead spider to go on ahead and scout for me.
Pinkoria’s eyes seemed to sparkle at the idea of killing a rival queen. “Yessss! Let usss... kill them all! From their carcasses shall give rise to a new brood that will sweep across the land and claim it for you master!”
‘What?!’ I frantically thought while doing my best to keep my thoughts to myself and keep a straight face.
It was at this point my undead minions encountered more cave spiders.
“One step at a time Pinky, one step at a time. It appears my undead minion has encountered some of your brethren.” I told Pinkoria.
“Yes, let us go devour that lesser brood!” Pinkoria said excitedly.
As she was about to take off to join the battle I spoke up. “Hold on Pinky. I want to see how the skeletons do against these spiders.”
“Awe! I wanted to kill them, no fair!” Pinkoria complained.
“Here let me share what I am seeing with you.” I said as I mentally focused on granting her access to what my undead could see.
It was a kind of out of body experience. It was like my mind could ride the tether connecting me to my undead and rather than just see through their eyes I could witness it from a 3rd person top-down view. It truly was like a third person video game.
My skeletons were bashing the spiders as the spiders attempted to bite and inject their venom. Sad thing for the spiders is poison has little impact on undead and my skeletons capitalized on that fact. Catching the spiders off guard they would bash or scratch at the spiders’ eyes to blind them. Being able to control my minions and not just observe had added benefits too.
I had my skeletons aim for the leg joints to disable or incapacitate their foes. My undead spider would drop down on top of a spider and help bind it, making it easier for the skeletons to strike without taking much damage. My undead squad made short work of the three cave spiders they encountered.
When Pinky and I arrived, my minions had separated the ones to feed to my spider queen. It took me a few minutes to be able to walk and actively control my minions but once I got the hang of it, I was able to visualize it as mini map in my mind while I moved, similar to several video games a played.
‘Man, I don’t think anyone, but a gamer could play this class effectively, not without lots of practice.’ I mentally distracted myself as I watched Pinky rip and devour the two spiders I had set aside.
The third spider had suffered minimal structural damage, so it was prime for my Raise Dead ability. After Triggering my ability, it was a matter of a few seconds, and the spider was a part of my growing army.
SLURP
SLURP
To continue to distract myself from the slurping sounds of Pinky going to town on her food I summoned another four skeletons. We were at a fork in the tunnel, so I ordered each squad to scout out ahead. Sadly, that did not take as long as I’d hoped.
Pinkoria, seeing the squads move out looked up from her gruesome meal and saw me waiting.
“Sorry... Did...SLURP... want some...SLURP... Master?” she asked as she held up one of the corpses she had skewered with her front leg.
The innocence of her question and the genuine concern that she might have overstepped in her haste to eat was juxtaposed with the horror of the scene. I tried my best to remind myself it was her nature, and she was just eating, but that didn’t help much.
Swallowing the bile that had come up I did my best to reply, “No... I’m... good.”
That was all the approval she needed to go back and finish her meal.
It was at this point one of my squads came upon a decent sized cavern. They could sense movement and hear skittering.
How skeletons hear I have no idea but somehow, they gained senses through the magic.
I ordered my squad to pull back to remain hidden in the tunnel instead of exposing themselves out in the open of the giant cavern. They were ordered to attack anything that came their way. Switching to my other squad, they had come up on a set of double doors. I thought warranted an investigation.
“Pinky, bring whatever is left of your meal with you. One of the squads found a set of double doors I want to investigate.” I ordered as I started walking towards my squad.
It did not take us long to get there as my minions had not gone very far. The doors were made of carved stone with an intricate scene of a giant spider being prayed to by what looked to be elves in supplication. I imagined they were Drow from what I knew of their lore. I was not sure the lore was accurate but by the looks of it what I knew was not too far off.
As I was about to push open the doors my ‘spidey senses’ were tingling, pun intended. My eyes landed on a small thread that could be made from spider’s silk. Continuing to focus on it caused a prompt to appear in my vision.
Warning! You have detected a trap! Ancient Spiders Silk Trap.
Description: This trap was set by ancient cultists to protect their sacred artifacts. When this spider’s silk is snapped it will notify the Guardian Cave Spiders to dispose of the intruders.
“Hmmm, hey Pinky what can you tell me about the Guardian Cave Spider variant?” I asked as I turned to Pinkoria.
“Guardian Cave Spiders are protectors to the queen and her prized territories. Usually, you find them by the queen or protecting the egg chambers. Some queens use them to guard the entrances to their territory but those are the ones that have assimilated another hive into her brood.” Pinkoria explained.
“That’s smart. Use the other brood’s guardians as front-line defenses. That way if they die it is no great loss for the queen.” I commented.
“Master, are you sure you do not have cave spider in you? You have a very astute understanding of how to run a brood.” Pinkoria replied impressed.
I answered, “My people did something similar in our history. Any suggestions on this trap?”
“I could fuse my own spider’s silk onto the line it would extend the line and allow you to open the doors without it snapping.” Pinkoria offered.
“Ingenious idea Pinky. Make it so number one.” I replied.
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Pinkoria immediately began spraying her spider silk around the area and watched as it merged with the trap. The line of spider’s silk grew thicker and thicker.
“It should be good to open now master.” Pinkoria said as she stepped back after a few moments.
I checked on my other undead squad near the cavern. I slowly open one of the doors and send the undead squad guarding us slowly into the room. The whole time I split my attention between what was happening in front of me while watching the cavern through my other undead squad. Finding no action or any concerns I move into the room.
It was a rather ornate room with various altars, tombs, and artwork on the walls. Towards the back of the room was a larger altar on a raised dais. The carvings on the tombs and altars seemed to be paying homage to some kind of spider god.
As Pinkoria entered behind me she commented. “The previous owners had good taste.”
“Of course, you would say that Pinky, the room is all about spiders. Be on high alert. I doubt that door trap was the only trap we will encounter.” I retorted.
I received her mental equivalent of a head nod as we both continued to cautiously look around.
Studying some of the artwork more closely it seemed to be telling a story through both images and some written language.
“Wait a minute? How the heck do I know how to read this language?” I blurted out in shock.
Pinkoria replied, “Master? Why would you not know what it says? It is a form of ancient Drow. Master is half Drow.”
“I only know English, Italian, and some broken Spanish. I do know some Cantonese and Vietnamese when I was on my only dating Asian women phase. That phase ended when I met this gorgeous redhead, I realized I love women of all shapes and sizes.
Anyway, back to my statement, I do not recall learning some ancient dark elf language.” I rambled on getting distracted there for a moment as the memories of some of my past relationships popped into my head unbidden.
“I did not understand any of that Master.” Pinkoria said.
My cheeks reddened realizing I had just rambled on a bit about my previous life. “I’m just saying I don’t recall learning an ancient version of Drow.”
I decided to check my status sheet again to see if there was anything I was missing. Sure enough, when I focused hard more details were revealed. There was an achievement section that he could mentally flip to.
Achievements & Boons
Traveler’s Gift
Darkness Within
Cold Hearted Boon
I focused on each one to pull up the description for each.
Traveler’s Gift
The Mysterious Traveler has foretold of your passing in the Sea of Chaos and has granted you a boon based on your love of languages, or at least, your love of the women who speak the languages. Automatically learn written and spoken languages from those you encounter or form contracts with. Note: This knowledge can be shared with those you summon or contract with.
Darkness Within
Due to past tragedies, you have turned away from the Light. This has left you vulnerable to the Dark. Your inner rage is converted to Destructive power. All Dark and damage type magic increased by 100%.
Cold Hearted Boon
You have received a boon from a Winter Court Fey. Logic and cold hard facts are the way of Winter. Your chance to accept cold hard facts and truths are increased. Mental Resistance increased by 50%. Air and Water magic increased by 100%.
“Mysterious Traveler foretold my arrival? That doesn’t sound ominous at all. Well, either way, thank you Mysterious Traveler. It would have royally sucked not being able to know the languages spoken. How he knew I had a diverse love for women is beyond me, but I guess that goes with the whole foretelling thing. Well Pinky, that explains why you know the languages I do.” I commented after reading my boons.
Without missing a beat, Pinkoria says, “Master, I thought you already knew that. I mean I looked over your status sheet when you first formed the contract. I figured one with a boon for destruction would lead to lots of yummy food options.”
“Of course, you would say that.” I said before changing the subject back to what I started reading on the walls. “Now as I was saying, the murals on the walls tell the story of elves who left the surface world and came to live underground. Some of them worshipped a spider god. She granted them the ability to adapt to the ways of the underground and prosper in the dark.”
“Smart elves, we spiders are superior and should be worshipped.” Pinkoria stated.
“I know several women and some men back home that would not only absolutely disagree with you but would demand your immediate extinction.” I replied.
“Why would they do such a thing?” Pinkoria said in shock.
‘She really has no idea how terrified people can be of spiders.’ I thought before continuing reading the murals. “Don’t worry about it, Pinky, those people live in a whole other world. Now back to the story I was reading.”
“Yes, please continue Master. This story is very interesting. Tell me more about these enlightened elves.” Pinkoria answered.
Shaking my head, I continued reading out loud. “It says here, that the people began to grow tired of the constant blood sacrifices and wars that ensued. They originally fled to the underground to avoid political and religious persecution. They had believed the spider god was just guiding them to safety. Instead, their society became prisoners to the whims of this spider god. Eventually they rebelled.”
“Dumb elves. Do they not know once you are in a spiderweb you cannot escape.” Pinkoria commented.
I continued, “As the people who rebelled fought and died, they changed their tactics. They learned and adapted to the game of subtlety and intrigue. In secret and through carefully planning and assassinations, they took out key spider god cultists. It was a blood bath. Oddly enough the spider god was still pleased.”
“Of course, she was. A queen does not care how the blood flows, only that it does.” Pinkoria chimed in.
I kept reading. “It appears the coup was successful, and the religion fell out of favor with the people. Politics and conflict, both overt war and subtle assassinations, are still part of the culture.”
“Stupid elves.” Pinkoria pouted.
I just continued. “The spider cult was not eradicated but instead was practiced quietly, only the most fanatic practiced the old rituals. These fanatics came here to worship their spider god and prepare for an eventual uprising of their own. The spider god gave them a prophecy that one would come in the cold darkness, and he would use the power of death and command spiders to wreak havoc on the unfaithful.”
“That kind of sounds like you master.” Pinkoria once again chimed in.
A chill ran down my spine. You know the feeling, as if someone walked over your grave. “Sadly, I must agree with you Pinky. One could see this describe my powers. There is more here. Apparently, the spider god helped them form this dungeon with something called a magic core if I’m interpreting this right.”
Pinkoria moved closer to the part of the mural I was reading. “Yes, that is a magic core. Their existence is knowledge that is part of the genetic knowledge passed down to queens. They are ancient relics containing great magical power that can be used to form a dungeon core or many other powerful things. It would be a boon to you master if you can obtain this relic for yourself.”
“Your race has genetic memory?!” I asked in surprise. ‘Such a boon depending on what knowledge is passed down.
Pinkoria stated very matter-of-factly, “Pretty much all sentient races have genetic memory. For most races genetic memory never leaves their subconscious, so they don’t realize how much it influences their lives until they consciously take control of it. We spiders do not have that limitation. A queen can choose what knowledge to pass down to her progeny. That is except for when a queen is born, they automatically gain all their mother’s knowledge. It makes us formidable.”
Surprised I said, “I have never heard you speak so eloquently or be so knowledgeable about a subject that wasn’t killing.”
“First off killing is how we eat and grow strong so of course we should focus on that as much as often. Second, it is this flaw in most races that we exploit to make them food.” Pinkoria explained.
“There it is!” Chuckling at my inner Charlie moment before I continued, “of course, it is still about hunting and killing. To be expected.”
“Then why did you ask Master?” Pinkoria asked.
“I... I...” I began to reply as I realized there was no winning this logical train of thought. “Never mind that! Let me finish reading this.” I said, turning back to the mural.
I was towards the end and wanted to finish the story. It had nothing to do with the fact I was yet again reminded my companion’s moral compass was always firmly pointed to ‘kill them all’. ‘Eh, I have a feeling I’m going to have to point my compass in that direction at times based on how shady these dark elves seem.’ I thought before turning my attention back to finish the story.
“The last bit talks about how the cultists grew impatient waiting for their vengeance so they brought in a Queen Cave Spider in the hopes they could combine it with the dungeon core to produce an army of their own, but both the queen and the dungeon core did not take kindly to being tampered with. The dungeon core and the queen turned on the cultists that remained in the dungeon. The cultists that were not killed were turned into hybrid abominations...”
A thought struck me mid-read and I voiced it to Pinky. “Wait, if the cultists were all killed how the heck did someone finish this story.”
It was at that point the door slammed shut and I heard two distinct guttural voices speak, each pause an overlay of the other voice. “Be-cause... we... wrote it as... a reminder... of our curse... Now we hungerrr!”