Ulgrin hated the fact that he’d been told the exact time limit.
Despite everything else, the sheer knowledge was as much a curse as it was a blessing. Giving it a number made it real, tangible. At least before he could have been more secure in his ignorance. Now? He had a defined limit.
He took a deep breath. “Aye. Fuck, aye. Lay it on me.”
[Very well. This facility was taken over in an effort to help study an approaching phenomenon.] Lorekeeper gestured for him to sit and he did, eager to get off his feet. [When the limits of Divination were first discovered, they were thought to be arbitrary. A cutoff. But as the time grew closer to the event in question, it grew clearer and clearer to the diviners of that time.]
“Ah’m guessing they started freaking the hell out?” He replied. “Y’know, this is gonna get real hard to explain. Everyone, come closer!” He called back to the others.
His companions had been watching with much confusion. With little else to do, they approached. Lorekeeper held out her hand and one by one they were all included in whatever psychic link the ghost had created. She was a ghost, right? He wasn’t quite sure, as she was far too grounded to be an elemental.
Lorekeeper waited until the exclamations and shocked murmurs had finished before continuing. [As I was saying, yes. Numerous locations had their facilities taken over and utilized to discover more about the anomalous event.]
Alyss scrunched up her face as she tried to comprehend where the voice was coming from. “This is the oddest thing I’ve ever experienced. And I’ve accidentally been high on potion gas!”
[Try as they might, the researchers could discover no more. Every single attempt to divine past such an event failed.] She gestured towards the bunker around them. [In preparation for future issues, they created places such as these. This one was not sufficiently prepared.]
“Saezz saw they all succumbed to the thirsting. Was there no way to prevent such a thing?”
[An individual who had the capability to repair such things never made it to the bunker. My attempts to teach them the methods required too much time. They died.] An expression of sorrow fell across the child’s face, the first display of emotion they’d seen thus far.
When he thought about it, it must have been miserable. To be able to do nothing but watch as people tore themselves apart. Helpless, in the fact of despair.
[Continuing on, while much of the world prepared for the inevitable there were some who turned their attention towards the Divine.] All of them froze. [Attempts were made to ask the Gods for more information. They refused every single request. No appeasements, no sacrifice, and no amount of begging would work. They remained silent.]
Ulgrin swallowed the knot in his throat. The very Gods wouldn’t even explain?
[Finding no solace in their alms, the might of the world at that time turned to getting answers by force. Every last resource was gathered and put towards one goal. They began construction of the Tower of Babel. A method by which to enter the planes in which they resided and make war.]
That word. Babel. Where did he know it from? Even as he struggled to comprehend a war against the gods themselves, the word stuck out to him.
He remembered now. Though he hadn’t gone through many of his Grandfather’s notes on the Eye of the World, the word ‘Babel’ had appeared regularly. Babel was his ancestors' original home. Whatever civilizations had come together so long ago had built their ‘Tower’ there.
Ulgrin didn’t have much time for introspection as Lorekeeper continued. [When the fighting broke out it rocked the world. People fled to these bunkers, finding most of them ill-prepared for actually keeping people alive. They were all testbeds. Prototypes. The true shelters wouldn’t be built for decades. But this was all they had.]
He imagined that some of these had worked. Their inhabitants had fought and struggled, managing to eke out a living below ground until the world could recover.
[Magic itself began to break down. The vastly destructive weapons of my people clashed against the power of the Gods. It broke the world.] She blinked. [But I suppose not fully. After some point communication broke down. I was left in the dark to watch as the people here died. With nothing to protect, and no information to give, I put myself into stasis after twenty years.]
Raelza looked up. “You spent twenty years alone?”
[Yes. It was not a very happy time. All I knew was the rumbling of the earth and empty corridors.]
Ulgrin gave a firm nod. “Well, you’re not alone now. How do we get you out of here?”
She blinked at that. Lorekeeper looked down at her hands. [I suppose there is no point for me staying here after all. But I’m afraid there is a problem.]
“Saezz can deal with many problems.” The lizard said confidently.
[My activation produced a great deal of aetheric signs. My geological sensors detect a presence directly above this location. It is attempting to dig in and access my power source.] She looked up. [I’m afraid it is very large and likely will breach containment within hours. This place was not designed for such… direct means of access.]
Oh fuck. “Does it look like… a crab?” Ulgrin asked worriedly.
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[It is vaguely crustacean shaped, yes.]
He and his companions abruptly let out angry yells. “Of course the bloody crab would decide to ruin our day!” He shook his head angrily. “Alright. We need to get you out of here before that thing breaks in.”
[The crab is not the only thing that has noticed. Several of the inhabitants are moving towards this location. Quickly.] Lorekeeper cast her gaze towards the entrance. [They are no longer humanoid.]
“Shit,” he growled, standing up and drawing his weapon. “Get ready for a fight!” Immediately, he began layering a concussive empowerment of force on his warhammer. He tucked his helmet back on and turned to face the incoming foe. They wouldn’t fall here. Not when the world needed to know.
Likewise, his companions readied themselves. Thorn was sent under the care of Lorekeeper who looked surprised but not displeased to have a sudden dog in her mostly intangible lap.
The first sign of their enemy was a low howl filling the air. Bestial, animalistic, and most importantly of all, hungry.
“Ghouls!” Raelza called out, her crossbow thunking as she fired it into the darkness at a foe they could not all see. A meaty puncture sound filled the air, but the padding of feet on stone continued.
A ravenous looking undead leapt into the lantern’s light. Despite a thousand years, flesh still hung on the corpse. Gangrenous and green, the ‘Ghoul’ appeared altered to what a corpse should normally look like. Bones had warped and muscle had grown. Flesh had been moved from other areas, giving it an emaciated appearance.
Enlarged shoulders and legs allowed it to perform powerful leaps, practically running on all fours. A mouth full of sharpened teeth glistened with saliva. The eyes were the worst, having rotted almost entirely away. Pinpricks of red stared out in hatred, searching for something to hunt.
Ulgrin watched in horror as five other figures appeared behind it. One of them was a Dunvi, and appeared just as equally twisted. His ancestor appeared the largest of them all, somehow mutating even more. It would have been at least eight feet tall were it not for a hunched back. He channeled magic and hurled a ball of fire towards one of them. It struck true, blasting a hole in the creature and setting it ablaze, falling to the ground. The rest continued their charge.
“Get ready!” Ulgrin called. “Dodge their pounces!”
Alyss lobbed a grenade into their midst, but the shrapnel proved to be of little effect. Hundreds of cuts formed on their bodies, but none were enough to stop the bastards.
He, Saezz, and Wreath moved up to the front to ward off their advance. Still, it wasn’t good odds. Ulgrin barely managed to avoid the first lunge. Just behind it an elven ghoul leapt into the air with incredible speed, clipping him with its claws as it flew past. Inhuman talons scraped against his armor.
Ulgrin watched as Saezz began to duke it out with the dwarven ghoul, managing to avoid incredibly powerful blows and deliver lightning fast cuts in turn. Wreath was likewise occupied, being dogpiled by two of them and lacking the hands to peel them off of his back and tail.
Trusting his fellows to handle the others, Ulgrin focused on the human and elf ghoul. A glance down to his side revealed one of his brigandine plates had been shorn off. These things were deadly.
Calling upon magic, “Flames! Gather! Blast!” A quick emanation of fire distracted the elf, forcing it to back away. He darted towards the human ghoul, raising his warhammer. A clawed hand met his weapon, but the ghoul howled in anger as the force imbuement broke the appendage with a sickening crack.
He whirled the weapon back in time to meet the jaws of the elf. Gnawing teeth chewed on his warhammer’s haft, great strength meeting him. Claws wrestled, trying to pull the warhammer away.
Luckily for him, one didn’t always need fingers to perform magic. Speaking in his native tongue, “Flame! Breath!” He took in a deep breath and exhaled, copying the might of the dragons. While in no way approaching their power, a point-blank spray of fire was still quite damaging.
The ghoul fell back, kicking and screaming on the ground.
Turning to his companions, he saw that Raelza had loosed another shot to get one of the ghouls off her companion. Wreath, free of one distraction, had swung his tail into the ground to crush the other ghoul that had been clinging. Together, they were making short work of the last one.
Alyss came to Saezz’s rescue as well. This time, rather than a bomb, she had lobbed a gaseous potion at the lizardfolk. A strengthening brew, judging by the fact that he and the dwarven ghoul were now matching the other’s strength. Trust the alchemist to lean into the lizard’s goal of wrestling every enemy they fought.
Lacking the time to help, he turned back to the two ghouls he was battling. Despite one arm hanging limp, the human came in after him. A flurry of slashes came for his face, one just barely glancing off his helm. “Watch the beard, you bastard!” He yelled in anger, swinging his warhammer again.
Crunch. The ghoul’s left shoulder was smashed into pieces and it fell back, lacking any arms. Still positively ravenous, it lunged forwards and leapt.
Ulgrin took a step to the side and brought his hammer down on the prone creature’s skull.
He turned just in time to see Saezz suplex the dwarven ghoul and turn its heavy brow into paste. Labored breathing filled the room as their battle ended. “Are y’all alright?” Ulgrin asked, leaning down to pick up a bent piece of bronze.
“Saezz has been cut, but not deep.” The lizard responded, hand going to a pair of slashes on his side.
“One potion, coming right up.” Alyss said, darting over and force-feeding Saezz. “Drink. I know it tastes like ass, but the only other flavor is vomit.”
He complied, scales turning even greener.
Raelza nodded as well, guiding the grunting Wreath over. “Fella took a few hits himself. Not many, but his underbelly isn’t as armored as the rest.” Having a few ghouls crawling over you tended to do that, he surmised. “Your potions work on animals, right? I know some sellers use toxic ingredients that humanoids can swallow.”
Alyss pulled one out. “I’ve been intentionally avoiding those materials. It’s a bit more expensive, but Wreath here is a team player.” She carefully fed the thornshield, smiling. “Only the best for our friend here.” Slowly, the scratches and cuts began to stitch back together and the animal seemed much more at ease.
Ulgrin lamented his stores of magic being so low. If they encountered anything else… Wait. “Lorekeeper, you’ve got all this magicrystal oozing with aetheric energy. Mind if I take a bit?”
[Go ahead. Much of the facility is offline, so the energy is not in use.]
He approached one of the pillars and stared in awe at the sheer energy running through it. Palladium was some serious stuff. He paused. Wait. All this energy was just sitting here, going to waste. A thought sprang to mind. What if they made use of it to kill the Fortress Crab?
Turning back after filling his reserves, he looked down at Lorekeeper. “How attached are you to this room remaining standing? It’s a bit of a stretch, but I think that we could force an aetheric breakdown on the magicrystal. It hurts my soul to give up so much, but with this much it should make one hell of an explosion. Enough to kill that crab.”
Lorekeeper stared at him for a moment. [Ah. I forgot how unorthodox humanoids were. That could certainly be the case. Detonating the crystals would likely be more than enough.] She paused, calculating. [But you will need to distract the creature for some time. It will take at least a minute to prime them.]
Alyss’ eyes widened. “You’re gonna blow it all up?” Stars filled her blue orbs. “Oh, Ulgrin, you don’t have to say anymore! I’m in!”
Saezz grunted. “If you believe it to be worth it, then let the world burn. It will be interesting to fight such a creature, even if only for a short time.”
Raelza closed her eyes. “You’re all crazy. Gods damn it. Insane bastards. Fine. Okay. We’ll blow the crab up.”
Laughing, Ulgrin gestured for them all to get ready. “Right! That’s the plan, then. We’ll stall the Fortress Crab while Lorekeeper sets the crystal to blow. Once that’s done, Alyss, throw one of your sticky bombs at it. Then we run for the corridor and pray we get far enough.
The human let out a little ‘squee’ and began preparing herself. “Right! This is gonna be great.”
“We’ve got a few hours to prepare.” Ulgrin said, gesturing to the room. “Let’s pile as much crap in here as possible to make the environment suit us. Cover, blockages, and difficult terrain should make the fight easier. Not that I suspect such a big creature will be stopped completely, but it should give us time.”
[Please refrain from littering in my Repository. It is very hard to clean.]
“No can do. Besides, we’re blowing the place up. Getting the room dirty is the least of its problems.” Ulgrin grinned and watched their poor new ghost-like friend slumped over in defeat.
We're approaching the climax of this arc and the end of the Writathon. Thank you all for the views. This fic has officially reached 1000 views total and an average of 50 per chapter. That's pretty good, in my books. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Lexicon of Words and Terms Used:
Ghoul - A type of undead characterized by their cannibalistic origins. The act of consuming the flesh of another mortal has harsh effects on one's soul. The remnants left behind become even more malicious, cursing the undead with a hunger so great they begin to change into a superior hunter. Ghouls are ravenous, and will not stop in their efforts to claim another morsel of flesh.