“Sorry about that!” Arlette huffed, as the party hurried toward the cave tunnel, “The delay on those chain-reaction cantrips wasn’t easy to pull off. Luckily, they seem to have stirred up quite a fuss!”
“Nizsahsal appears to have already seen through your antics, and she won’t wait around for long.” Orcus replied, running alongside the priestess, as he asked, “What did you find?”
“Plenty. But most importantly, that you made a decent call.” Arlette grunted amusingly, shaking her head in disbelief, “Those prisoners aren’t just any old mages, you know, they’re Delve Augurs. Though I’ll let him explain everything once we get farther inside. I couldn’t help the others, they were much too weak, but we’re going to need this one at a bare minimum.”
“Delve Augurs?” Terminus squawked unexpectedly, “Now… it makes sense. That woman’s been screwing around with the delve magic, hasn’t she?!”
The captive mage nodded frantically.
“The nerve of some people…” Terminus cawed, “We need to be extra careful, Your Highness. An unstable delve is about the last place you want things to go wrong.”
Orcus nodded, not entirely sure what Terminus was talking about.
Cutting loose from her gag and ripping the rope from her arms, Seku said, “There’s still one more warrior up ahead!”
“Then hit him with everything we’ve got!” Orcus growled, as he urged his party forward, “Leave him in the dust—maximum effort!”
With a hefty groan, Oriax charged ahead of the party, swinging his maul up and over his head as he barreled forward. The armored warrior was evidently alarmed by the sudden arrival of His Highness’s First Legion, for it reacted far too slowly.
--- Target condition set to surprised ---
“Hyahhh—! Huagh!”
[Oriax's Target] --- Takes 9 points of bludgeoning damage ---
Oriax’s maul rattled off the warrior’s helmet with a sickening clang, just as Orcus tossed Seku her weapons belt. She then swiftly followed Oriax up with a flurry of dagger attacks. Sliding down between the warrior’s legs, she sliced up its padded calf and then across its lower thigh, coming out the other side unscathed.
[Seku's Target] --- Takes 6 points of slashing damage from main hand, 2 points of sneak attack damage, 3 points of slashing damage from offhand, bonus to damage not applied ---
Slinging his shield into his left hand, Orcus lifted his mace off its rung. However, a sudden idea came to mind, and he chose instead to ram into the warrior at full speed!
[Orcus's Target] --- Hit! Target condition set to prone ---
The warrior was flat on its back in a split second. And if that wasn’t enough, a streak of golden fire curled past Orcus and peppered the warrior in a sudden burst.
[Arlette's Target] --- Takes 5 points of radiant damage ---
Thus, before the prone warrior had a chance to figure out what was going on, the party was leaping and pushing its way past, bolting straight down the cave tunnel.
Orcus regarded Arlette out of the corner of his eye, who waived her staff through the air with a wink, the captive mage close on her tail. However, as he turned his head even further, he also noticed several winged shapes rising into the night sky from way back at the center of camp. Recognizing the silhouettes as that of the spined devils, Orcus groaned, figuring they wouldn't have more than a few minutes head start.
The camp horn resounded again, and if the cultists didn’t know something was off before, they certainly did now.
“No time to waste. Keep your wits about you!” Orcus directed, turning back ahead as he rushed onward after the rest of his party.
“Lumen!” Arlette’s voice lifted into the air with an echo, and a pale, bluish glow affixed to the top of her staff abruptly illuminated the path ahead.
“The starting zone is a little ways farther in, Your Highness.” Terminus said with an eager tone of voice, flying overhead the rest of the party, “My proximity sensors indicate that the Delve is in fact active. It seems there are people inside, after all.”
“Very good.” Orcus said aloud, at the very least glad that their journey wasn’t for nothing… yet. Though they weren’t out of danger yet, and the entire camp would be closing in behind them soon enough.
The path ahead twisted and turned, and every fifty feet or so two wall sconces on either side of the tunnel lit up, but they couldn’t seem to hold their power. Instead, they flickered for several seconds, before growing dark again, offering an ominous atmosphere to the entire area.
“Oriax, can you get these golden bindings of this man?” Arlette said through heavy breaths, “The metal is suppressing his magical abilities. We’re going to need them.”
With a simple grunt and a nod, Oriax fell to the back of the party order. Even without a special system prompt, it wouldn’t have taken long for him to break the golden chains, and the man’s mouth was freed at last.
“—Ahh,” He huffed wearily, barely able to keep the pace of the party, “Thank you. I would have met the same fate—as my companions, were it not for you, priestess.”
“Yeah, yeah, tell it to him.” Arlette shooed him off her, pointing her thumb in Orcus's direction, “It’s coming out of his coinpurse.”
“Who are you?” Orcus asked hastily, “Were you apart of the adventuring group that’s been held up here?”
“I’m Drecari.” He said in a raspy voice, panting all the while, “And no, I didn’t know about the trapped adventurers until after we arrived. But by then it was too late.”
“Explain yourself.” Orcus ordered.
Drecari nodded, “My companions and I… we were captured on the road from Mistlecross a little over a week ago. I knew things were bad in the valley, but the Guild received an alert that the Glimmering Caves delve was heavily compromised. We were the only augurs in a hundred miles, so we didn’t have a choice but to make the journey! It was either that or let the delve reach a critical threshold. Of course, we walked straight into a trap.”
“Nizsahsal?” Orcus pressed the issue, “She’s been exploiting your talents?”
“We’ve been forced to sustain a deviating ley line, aye. The delve, it…” Drecari paused, catching his breath, “It hasn’t been replenished in weeks. We’ve been siphoning mana away from the replenishment chamber on a daily basis, just as she wished. It’s been just enough to prevent critical failure, but enough to activate the delve’s low power state. In other words, we're keeping alive, but only just.”
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“Why would she do something like this?” Terminus asked warily, “It doesn’t make any sense. She’s not even an adventurer!”
“She wants to artificially make it seem like we’ve been fixing the problem.” Drecari explained, “In reality, it’s been getting worse. Those adventurers can’t have it easy in there.”
“I thought the delve reset every single week?” Orcus asked curiously, “But you’re saying the adventurers are truly trapped in there?”
“It does, or—it did.” Drecari shook his head, “I—I didn’t think something like this was possible! I don’t know how it got to be this way, but someone or something on the inside must have caused a drastic change in the delve-system mana channels. If there really are still adventures alive in there, I can only imagine it can’t be good for them. All I know, is that we’ve been allowed to feed it just enough power to prevent things from going critical.”
“Critical failure in a delve?” Terminus cawed, “If it’s running on reserve magical power, that would mean it wouldn’t have enough resources for anyone already inside to be teleported out again. The only way out would be to clear the 'Elite' boss enemy…”
“Correct.” Drecari nodded, “I believe she’s been biding her time for that reason. At first, she threw bodies at the problem. When nothing came of it, she looked elsewhere. Believe it or not, that woman has a much more intimate knowledge of ley lines than I imagined. But she’s no augur…”
Resigning to silence for the rest of their journey, the party soon exited the tunnel on the other side into a large, cavernous chamber. By the faint light of Arlette’s staff, they could see down upon the face of a magnificent temple cut into a distant rock face. A circular courtyard sat at the base of a long stair, which passed beyond into a series of three columns and towards a massive bronze archway.
“Onward.” Orcus commanded, knowing they didn’t have much time to spare gawk, and the faint sounds of furious wings beating behind them in the tunnel could be heard.
As the party made its way down the switchback stairs, a low rumbling noise reverberated along the ground, sending slight tremors through the cavern. A few chunks of rock fell from the far ceiling, narrowly avoiding several among the party. But nevertheless, they proceeded into the courtyard.
A small fountain sat in its center, within which a slender, hourglass shaped object sat idly. It stood roughly five feet tall, and held within its core a dull blue crystal of sorts, although it was cold and lifeless.
“The wayshrine is completely dead.” Terminus confirmed, “You weren’t kidding, there’s absolutely no magical energy in this place right now!”
“…Closer…Closer…Closer…”
A whispering returned to Orcus’s mind, but this time it wasn’t just one, but much more like dozens of tiny voices rattling inside his head. It was a faint sound, but clear enough to tell what was being said. In fact, it was as if the tiny voices were drawing him toward the archway up the far side of the temple exterior.
“Closer to what…” Orcus mumbled, but shook his head clear. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.
“You asked me what she was working toward?” Drecari said abruptly, “I only have a working theory, but my guess is that she’s trying to find a way to bring the ‘Elite’ boss enemy in this delve onto the surface.”
“Is that even possible?” Terminus gasped, “I mean—this is a delve, we’re talking about. It's supposed to exist in a liminal space within the Akashic system's configuration. Just who is that woman?”
“It doesn’t matter right now.” Orcus growled. Turning toward Drecari, he said, “Mage, can we still enter the delve safely? And if so, how can we stop this madness?”
“Stop it?” Drecari scratched his beard, pondering aloud, “The only way to stop something like this is to clear the delve outright. And she’s made it abundantly clear that she’d rather everyone die in there than let that happen. She won’t risk losing what I think she’s after. So long as the delve doesn’t reset, I suppose anything can happen. We’re entering unchartered territory here!”
“…Then it’s up to us.” Orcus nodded, addressing the rest of his party, “Our quest was to capture this delve. As far as I’m concerned, nothing about that goal has changed. So, can I count on my party?”
“Yeah… I’ve got your back, hands.” Oriax nodded, “You know that.”
“Mm, me too.” Seku replied, a spark of solemn determination in her eyes.
“As per our contract,” Arlette sighed, “I don’t really have a choice, do I? I’m in...”
Spikey projectiles skittered off the stonework from the darkness suddenly, way off in the direction of the cave tunnel. It appeared that the spined devils had breached the interior of the delve.
“Then let us proceed.” Orcus nodded, gesturing for them to start toward the temple doors. Turning to Drecari, he added, “Mage, tell us what we need to do.”
“There’s a difficult piece of enchantment magic we inlayed on the entrance to prevent anyone from going in.” Drecari said, as they hurried up the stairs towards the columns, “I should be able to remove it, but you’ll need to buy me a little bit of time. A minute or two is all I should need.”
“It will be done.” Orcus replied.
“I’ve been pondering a failsafe mechanism for the last several days.” Drecari added, “The power crunch in there is going to make the ‘Elite’ boss enemy much more difficult, since it’s drawing on all reserves to fulfill its primary directive: defend. However, if you could find a way to coordinate an attack against both ‘Minor’ boss enemies at the same time as the ‘Elite’ boss enemy, then you would theoretically have a good chance at clearing the delve. The energy disparagement should theoretically create a window of opportunity. Although, at this point who can really say.”
“The other adventurers…” Orcus murmured.
“Spot on.” Drecari snapped his finger, “If they’re still alive in there, you’re going to need each other to make it out alive.”
Stepping past the large columns, Drecari quickly approached the massive archway, which held between it a bronze door with no visible means of entry. It was inlayed with a series of bass reliefs, and yet the most notable piece was the large, intractably connected web of magic sprawled across its face. A deep gray color sparkled faintly, otherwise preventing any access to the delve within.
“This shouldn’t take too long!” Drecari called out over his shoulder, “I’ll begin stripping the magic bare immediately.”
Assessing their likely field of battle, Orcus moved to quickly devise a defensive strategy.
There were roughly fifty feet between the edge of the columns and the delve entrance, and the flat surface between them spanned roughly one-hundred-thirty feet wide. However, the only way through were the two gaps between the three columns, which spanned roughly twenty-five feet each. If they were careful, they could create chokepoints, while also using the columns as cover. It would be messy, and not entirely foolproof, but it was something.
“Priestess, protect the mage and provide us with covering support from as close to the entrance as you can manage.” Orcus commanded, “Seku, take up a ranged position on that far side, but use your mobility to dart in and behind the columns as needed, they can be used as environmental protection from the spined devils or other ranged threats. Oriax and I will fight among the columns and stairs, preventing as many grounded threats from slipping past as we can. We will hold this line until the end!”
There was a whoop of excitable energy, but also anxiousness from the rest of the party. Even still, they had no choice but to fight. And roughly a minute later, that's exactly what they'd get.
[Seku's Target] --- Takes 6 points of piercing damage, halved to 3 points from piercing damage resistance ---
Back in the party, Seku’s first shot sunk into a spined devil’s face through the darkness, as at it crossed the threshold of the columns. Immediately thereafter, the attack was followed-up by one from the priestess, who had snuffed out her light spell moments before.
“Sanctus ignis!” She invoked, and a similar ball of golden fire erupted from the end of her staff, streaking toward the spined devil with pace.
However, thanks to the fiend’s Magic Resistance, it easily shrugged off the attack, which otherwise burst across the temple ceiling beyond where it flew.
Orcus glanced above him momentarily, but held firm in his position behind the central column, the sounds of footsteps hastily rushing up the stairs nearby.
“Hey, hands?” Oriax murmured faintly, who was standing back-to-back with Orcus on the central column.
“What?” Orcus replied bluntly.
Oriax grunted amused, “…Stay out of my way, alright?”
“Uh—” The Prince of Demons gapped, suddenly recalling their very first encounter with one another over a week ago. It felt like it had been ages since they faced down those manes together, and yet Oriax was as reliable in a fight as ever. He was shaping up to be a fine retainer. Smirking slightly, Orcus said, “You will pay for your insolence… mongrel.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Oriax shrugged, brandishing his maul, and adding more sarcastically, “Why don’t you just shut up and kill something for once? You're falling behind again.”
“It’s unwise to mock death, Oriax.” Orcus replied, tightening his own grip around both mace and shield, “You never know when it might come biting back at you.”
“Heh!” Oriax groaned, a crimson aura building around him as his eyes flashed with rage, “How about today then!”
The footsteps were so close now that Orcus could hear the haggard breaths of the first line of cultists, desperate in their chase. The Prince of Demons couldn’t say if the cultists were truly as vile as their leaders. He didn’t believe so, but he didn't really care. There was only one color in a battle, and it didn’t matter in the least whose shade of red it was.
The maul-wielding maniac had a point, today was as good a day as any for death to come knocking.