Liam - Level 0

Aethon Island - Mothau Crypt

Liam blinked, taking in the scene that lay before his eyes. He stood in the foyer of a massive underground crypt. When he drew in his first breath, Liam was forcibly assaulted by the smell. Dust and moist earth fought with the overpowering stench of old decay. Along with this, a sensation of cold pervaded everything, like the aura of death, had chilled the very air. When he let out the breath it fogged the space before him. Liam looked right then left slowly. Large standing sconces blazed equal distance, each filled with a putrid green flame. In between each brazier was the roughly hewn statue of a skeletal human. Most had been broken or vandalized throughout the ages. The disfigured shapes threw dancing shadows across the walls. About fifteen feet in front of him a stone railing separated the landing from a plummet into darkness.

Laughter behind Liam broke into his reverie. A small huddle of people had just come into the dungeon. The mixed group of armor and clothes was something straight out of fantasy. Four males and one female were all looking at him.

"Holy shit this was so worth it," A warrior said bending over double. The man wore chain-mail with a shield across his back. At his waist, a longsword dangled. Liam had no idea what they thought was so funny but he suspected it was him. He started to close down, his emotions locking themselves up tight in preparation. A leather wearing female fell to the ground clutching her sides. Decayed and brittle bones were crushed as she rolled around laughing. A large well-muscled man wearing half-plate pointed at Liam. His head was thrown back as he laughed like a barking hyena.

"What the fuck is so funny?" Liam asked finally. Instead of his usual voice, it came out so low it sounded like a mountain rock slide. This only caused them to launch into yet another fit of hysterical laughter. A second person joined the woman on the ground.

"Oh god, the best part." The warrior wheezed. "The best part is we didn't even have to pay for his ass." He managed to get out between raucous laughter. Together they gestured towards a large basin near the entrance. Filled with anger and embarrassment, Liam went to look. In the scummy still water he saw a hideous face looking back at him. His skin was greenish yellow with brown splotches. His mouth was massive with lips the size of sausages. From within his lower lips a set of long tusks protruded. He opened his mouth revealing jagged shark-like teeth. A large clownish nose dominated the center of his face. One eye— his left possibly— was three times the size of the other. It made his whole face appear freakishly lopsided. Each ear was malformed but pointed. The final insult was the balding blond hair that barely covered his head in a bad comb over.

"Doug, oh man, you outdid yourself." The plate wearing warrior said.

"What is he?" One of them asked. The man speaking wore blue robes which hid most of the face in shadow.

"I made him a half-orc and ran him over here. You should have seen the aggro train he drew." The girl on the ground said. Finally, she stood brushing the bone dust from her clothes. So that was Doug.

"What did it matter the character was messed up?" Liam thought to himself.

"Are you done?" He asked in that deep bass.

"Almost," The male said still kicking and flailing on the ground.

"Yeah, we only have four hours." Doug reminded them.

"Fine," The man said getting up.

"So what happens now?" Liam asked his voice still a sonorous boom.

"We…" An armored fighter began gesturing to the party, "are going to kill some zombies. You can fuck off."

Liam thought it might have been Cole, but he didn't recognize any of them. "You said you needed a sixth," He said.

"I lied, besides we don't need a commoner." The warrior replied. Collectively the group of adventurers turned away from Liam. They drew their weapons, checked gear, and prepared to assault the dungeon. Having missed the tutorial, Liam had no idea how to do anything. He wanted off this game, out of this club, and back home. Yet he didn't even know how to log out. His hands were empty, and he appeared to be wearing just a set of starter clothes.

The five adventurers formed a small cluster of weapons as they proceeded forward. The three in front were warriors followed by a thief and mage. At least he thought the last man was a spell caster. Liam watched them start across the first bridge to the rest of the level. Quickly they entered combat with the first undead creature on the far side. Their wild cries were ringing out in the distance. Resigned Liam walked across the stone bridge after them. Halfway over he looked down into the depths. Eddies of dark mist swirled below; just barely visible humanoid shapes shambled back and forth. There were easily five levels within sight, and he admired the dungeon design. A blossom of flame attracted his attention across the bridge. A small jet of fire was setting a distant zombie ablaze. The assholes that brought him here were already leaving him behind.

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Liam finished crossing the bridge discovering the first destroyed skeleton. He knelt examining the corpse. The undead creature was barely more than a collection of broken bones. Most of its clothes had rotted away except some rusty leggings. One of the warriors had cut off its skeletal arm at the shoulder. The severed appendage lay several feet away still clutching a splintered club. Nothing happened after poking the bones, so Liam stood glancing around. Cole and the ass-hats were nowhere in sight. Still, it wasn't hard to follow them. The wake of remains was like a morbid trail of bread crumbs. At the last landing towards the back of the crypt, a set of stairs descended. Several steps down a blackened corpse lay. A helmet sat carelessly discarded next to the broken body. Liam kicked it sending the object over the edge and into the darkness below. A few seconds later the metal clanged as it hit bottom. Dozens of green pinpricks of light appeared as if he'd flipped a switch. He realized that they were eyes turning to look up at him. Liam felt a shock of cold fear run up his spine, which it left the hairs at the back of his neck standing on end. He turned, skipping down the stairs two and three at a time. He hated to admit it, but he was afraid.

On the landing below was where the crypt truly began. Small rooms split off at right angles every thirty feet or so. Carved alcoves lined the walls containing the linen wrapped bodies of countless dead. In the middle of the room, a brazier burned with its dark green flame. He'd managed to catch up to Cole and the group. They were in a preparation chamber hacking at two skeletal warriors. Doug ‘the girl' had two daggers out and was trying to flank the undead. She launched herself slashing at the neck of the enemy. Its head came away with a clatter making both body and skull hit the ground at the same time. Liam concentrated his focus on the remaining creature. A name floated into existence above the skeleton reading [Restless Dead] in bright red blazing letters. He sensed that if he tried attacking any of these monsters, they'd probably kill him. A flame shot from the group consuming the second undead. Quickly they rummaged through the bodies before moving on.

An hour passed like this as Liam trailed behind. He refused to show himself, so he followed after the group in the dark. They made it down another floor before being forced to slow their progress. The further they got the more undead appeared in each encounter. The thief would attract the attention of one or two luring it into an ambush. On the next floor down all the lights disappeared. The braziers became scarce, and far apart; of course the ass-hats had torches. Liam though waited in the darkness watching as they searched another corpse. At first, he was scared to death something would attack him from behind. In the dark, his only guide was the dim glow of the party's lights. This left everything else in nearly complete darkness. The group often skipped side passages plunging recklessly forward. Plenty of monsters were still wandering about. Liam passed a long hallway, and in the dark, a pair of green glowing eyes turned his direction. Slowly it started towards him, and he raced after the group of adventurers.

"How long had it been?" he wondered following after Cole. Liam wished he had a watch or could access the system menu. He hoped it was getting close to four hours so he'd be able to get out soon. The party was nearing the end of the dungeon. The final stone stairway descended to the bottom floor. Fearful of falling Liam was forced to slide down one step at a time. He sat on the cold stone stairs and slid from one to the next. On the ground floor, he stood rubbing his injured rump. Greenish fire light could just be discerned high above. Cole and his troops were some hundred feet away. Liam lurked well outside the torch-light watching the adventuring group huddle. They conversed in hushed whispers next to a set of massive double doors. On each side half of a skull was carved, the relief joined in the center to form a nearly perfect seam. The little half-time huddle broke apart as each took out a red colored potion. All five drank the red liquid and threw the bottles to the side.

Liam tisked softy, "Litterbugs," he muttered.