A vast darkness stretched across Orcus’s field of vision.

He wasn’t exactly certain where he was, only that his body felt light and his head particularly dizzy.

“Where…” He began to murmur, but even the act of speaking caused a weariness in him unlike any he had ever felt before. In the blink of an eye, the thought had left him entirely, and the Prince of Demons was suspended in the blackened void of that place once more.

“Closer…”

Orcus’s eyes rolled open groggily, but this time the darkness was not all-encompassing. From where he lay, he could see that there were outlines—the silhouette of a cavernous wall on either side of him became apparent. Was he in a narrow tunnel?

Steadily shifting his weight, the Prince of Demons rose to his feet. He brushed himself off and regarded his surroundings momentarily. As far as he could tell, there were two paths available to him: one before him, and one behind. Though neither offered an inkling as to where he was nor in which direction it might be more prudent to go. Resigning himself to not think about it too much, Orcus simply picked one and began to walk.

It didn’t take much longer for him to realize that he was without his armaments. In fact, he didn’t seem to be in possession of anything at all, spare but the naked homunculus body in which his soul resided. Furthermore, none of his party members were present, not even Terminus. He could have sworn something important had just happened. But he couldn’t remember exactly… what?

There was a flash of green, some sort of doorway… yes, there it was. Slowly, pieces of his party’s fight with Nizsahsal came flooding back to him. He recalled having been struck by something hard, and then being forced through the portal gate. Was he in the delve after all?

Suddenly, Orcus had a curious thought and thus tried to invoke some magic.

“Negate Essance.” He murmured, but nothing happened. There was no flow of arcanum whatsoever.

Orcus furrowed his brow. Wherever he was, he didn’t seem to have any reasonable control over his normal facilities, which was concerning to say the least.

“Very well…” Orcus simply groaned to himself, and proceeded onward through the quiet, darkened tunnel.

Time didn’t seem to matter much in that place. And after a while, the Prince of Demons couldn’t be sure how long he’d even been walking, only that it felt like a lifetime ago since he’d opened his eyes. There were no changes or deviations in the tunnel at all, and not even a single rock that looked different or out of place. The only way forward was thus so, and it was painfully unvarying.

However, there came a point when something did change. Just as Orcus thought he couldn’t bear the journey any longer, something caught his attention along the cavernous walls.

Being that he wasn’t blinded in the dark, Orcus noticed a steady stream of little black flecks streaking across the tunnel walls. Upon further inspection, he noted that it was in fact several lines of tiny spiders all traveling together in the same direction that he was.

He winced disgustedly, reeling back to the center of the tunnel.

The Prince of Demons had no love for arachnids, and had been trying not to think about it since the party’s discovery a few days ago. He especially despised those that dwelt in the lowest depths of Erebus, the deep abyss. They were hideous, grotesque things that clambered around on their gangly limbs seeking not but to terrorize. Ominous of all were the Brood Mothers, spinners of fate and fell-tidings. Orcus might have been the master of deathly forces, but even he did not dare tempt the machinations of the Goddess Morta’s first children.

Nevertheless, Orcus had little choice but to venture on.

After another unspecified period of time, Orcus seemed to have reached the end of the narrow tunnel, which opened into a wide chasm of sorts. The tiny spiders shifted their way down below, where the ancient husks of many dilapidated structures sat dormant in some vast ruin, as well as one large temple-like structure toward the far end.

“Closer…”

A voice whispered; suddenly very familiar to Orcus as the one he’d been hearing since first arriving at the delve proper.

“Closer to… this place?” He murmured with a squint, but he couldn’t discern much from his current position. Orcus was not so inclined to listen to the voice, but he didn’t see that he had much to lose by doing so. Relenting somewhat, he proceeded down the gradual, rocky path toward the ruin.

Passing through empty streets and decrepit buildings, Orcus eventually came into the center of a circular courtyard, sat just before a wide berth of steps leading up to the temple. The first thing that caught his attention were the worn bass reliefs still etched into the crumbling stone columns and surrounding walls. It was hard to make out any great details, but ever-present on them was the iconography of sprawling webs.

Ahead of him, the wide, a relatively short set of stairs led up to a tall archway, within which a double set of doors stood slightly ajar. This appeared to have similar architecture as the entrance to the delve did. Furthermore, the faint glow of some bright, jade green light source bloomed from the silted opening. Seeing no reason not to enter, the Prince of Demons stepped up the stairs and pushed through the creaky doors.

“Closer, Your Exalted Eminence…”

The echoing whispers continued, as Orcus made his way inside.

Before him, a great hall was covered in layers of webs; from the floor, crawling up the columns, and cascading across the vaulted ceiling. The source of the light came from a massive ball of clustered webs on the far side of the nave—spanning a hundred feet in diameter or more—the insides of which glowed deep green. There appeared to be stained glass on the walls directly adjacent to the webbed, spherical construct, refracting light in odd ways against the deep pockets of shadow that otherwise clung to the decaying hall.

“Do I know you, creature?” Orcus replied calmly, approaching with a steady pace. He was not oblivious to the hundreds—no, thousands of eyes glued to him from every corner of the chamber, but he chose to ignore the hellish sight as best he could.

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“I should like to hope so…”

Orcus grumbled, replying, “Then I do not seem to recall… what do you want?”

The ball of webbed light rose to a slightly greater luminosity for a moment.

“My cluster grows weak, Your Highness. The power of this domain… is fading.”

Orcus looked around him curiously, replying, “Yes, well, I do not see why that is of any concern to me.”

“Do not be snide, Prince of Demons. For the moment you set foot upon my grand design, was the moment I drank my fill of your intentions. My Glimmering Caves have awaited your arrival, after all.”

“Mmm…” Orcus groaned irritably, “Am I supposed to be impressed? Just who are you, anyway?”

“I am called Qheshuxheth.” The voice replied slowly, “And all that you see within this delve… is mine to bear. Many ages ago, I was cast here by servants of the Gods Above.”

“Qheshuxheth?” Orcus murmured curiously, and his eyes widened, “I know that name… but from where?”

“I am relieved to hear that.” Qheshuxheth replied calmly, “I remember serving your father like it was only but a moment ago. Tell me, what happened to him? I can only know that the war was lost, for here I remain. But from within this place I cannot peer beyond a very short distance into the world outside.”

“My—father?” Orcus said blankly, stammering somewhat as he said, “He… died a long time ago.”

“I see…” Qheshuxheth wistfully, “I have a limited capacity to sense the presence of nearby adventurers from outside my domain, and to assess their record data. Given the abnormal condition of my charge, I was able to channel certain magic to bypass the system, which was until recently forbidden from me. When I felt your presence and read from your record, I knew that fate had willed it so.”

“And are you responsible for this mess?” Orcus asked concernedly.

“No… there was another.” Qheshuxheth replied coldly, “They came to my domain in secret, disguised among the others. They poisoned the mind of my champion. Now, he greedily feeds upon the ley lines which once sustained him naturally. He wishes to be free, Your Highness, and they will see it done.”

“…As do you, no doubt.” Orcus murmured.

“My desires burned away many ages past.” Qheshuxheth said, “But this… the Heroes of yore made it my prison, but it has since become a home for my children. I will not see it diminished by the filthy hands of an outsider!”

A rumble beset the temple momentarily as the light grew hotter, and Orcus had to grab a nearby pew just to steady himself.

Ever since the priestess and Terminus mentioned the delve and its spidery contents, Orcus couldn’t help but to wonder what kind of creature dwelt within. He wasn’t familiar with delves, or even the Akashic System in general, but this was still a lot to take in. Heroes from the old days had trapped her here? Forced to sustain a delve for the sole purpose of training future generations of heroes? It was wildly grotesque, if true.

And they call the di Inferi monsters. Orcus thought amusedly to himself.

“What would you ask of me, brood mother?” Orcus demanded, “I need to find my party. But if it is within my power to grant, I shall aid you for services rendered to my father.”

“There are yet mortals trapped in my tunnels. Your party members among them, but they are safe… for now. I will send you back to them.”

Orcus furrowed his brow, “And what about my missing adventurers?”

“I cannot say for certain.” Qheshuxheth said angrily, “All I know, is they are the ones who brought fell magic with them, twisting my champion into a wicked thing. It is they who prevent me from resetting the delve. The rest, I’m afraid, were trapped here by no choice of their own. There are sparse few adventures among them, but they are much too weak to fight my champion. I… cannot help them from this side.”

Orcus thought back to his conversation with mayor Neivin momentarily.

He’d suggested that the adventurers were using the Glimmering Caves as a hideout. Qheshuxheth was now suggesting that maybe someone among the missing adventurer group was in on it? It possibly lined up with something Nizsahsal had said about having people on the inside.

However, Orcus was starting to think that Drecari was blindsided. The mage arrived at the delve only after the system had alerted the guild to odd behavior, but by then things had already been set in motion. He also said Nizsahsal had an intimate knowledge of ley lines. But what if that was incorrect? What if the one who possessed all the knowledge, was in fact the one sent into the delve prior to the augurs’ arrival? What if that person really was hiding in plain sight… say, in Zagadan’s group?

“I understand.” Orcus nodded, “But can’t you recall the rest of your, eh… children? If the delve no longer has any threats, then things would go much smoother for me.”

“The delve’s power has been sustained for far too long, yet unable to replenish itself within the natural ley lines of the world. My champion has taken it upon himself to subdue the others, whilst maintaining his own force by breeding with the lesser of his siblings.”

Orcus winced disgustedly, saying, “In any case, if I can destroy your champion, then we can put all of this to rest. However, my intentions remain crystal clear regarding this delve. What are you going to offer me, brood mother? This is no small favor you ask of me.”

A low humming noise echoed and swelled from the ball of web momentarily, and the skittering of thousands of spiders resounded shortly thereafter as they fled in every which way.

“Riches at the highest possible value, and as much record experience as is within my means to give. And of course… a rare item of your choosing, on top of all the other rewards you will claim of your own volition.”

Orcus thought to himself curiously. It wasn’t a bad deal, assuming he could manage the effort it would take to clear the hellish place.

“You can promise me all that?” Orcus furrowed his brow.

“Slay my champion, clear my delve of sinister intent, and I will give you all that you seek and more, for it is my wish to see you succeed on your journey. Until then, I will be waiting. But hurry, Your Highness. Time is running thin…”

In a flash of green light, Orcus’s body was consumed entirely.

----------------------------------------

The Prince of Demons suddenly bolted upright in a cold sweat, heavy breath escaping his lungs.

“Easy now—Easy now!” The priestess’s voice echoed faintly, muffled somewhat, “Seku, grab his waterskin!”

“Right away, miss Arlette!” Seku’s voice replied.

“Your Highness!” Terminus’s voice seconded, “Thank the Gods, or—oh, what the hell, just thank you!”

“Not half bad, boss man.” Oriax’s voice added to the mix eagerly, and Orcus felt a calloused hand clasp onto his shoulder.

“Ugh…” Orcus groaned, his entire body in a spot of severe pain as he shifted his weight. Nevertheless, he rubbed his eyes and looked around.

He was sitting on top of his bedroll; a makeshift camp had seemingly been set up in some secluded cave somewhere. His entire party was flustering around him, and the noise was mildly grating. Furthermore, a strange prickling sensation lingered on the back of his neck.

He couldn’t get the image of that temple out of his mind, nor all of those spiders!

“Your Highness?” Terminus’s voice poked through his innermost thoughts, “Are you alright? You gave us quite the scare. When your body came flying through the portal, I thought you were done for!”

Glancing at the bird, Orcus shook his head, “Do not fret, bird. I am quite well. Better than well, actually.”

Orcus watched as the rest of his party looked at him with peculiar, if not suspicious expressions. Seku trotted over and handed him his waterskin, and he simply looked into the flames of the tiny fire nearby.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head too hard?” Arlette asked worriedly, “I can cast another spell, if need be?”

“Hm.” Orcus smirked, “Save your magic, priestess. We’re going to need it. After all, we have adventurers to find.”

The Prince of Demons hated spiders, but hell if he didn’t love a good bargain.