And now presenting two new points of view, Brutus and Saharra. Now, as you readers have probably have noticed, this story is kinda fast right now. Well, that's partly because that's how the game went, but mostly because I've decided to make this "part" the prologue to the really interesting stuff, complete with more characters and social interaction, buy now and receive one hour of reading time. (cough) Most likely, from what I've written so far, maybe 10? more chapters til (insert spoiler here). Trust me, you will definitely enjoy it. [th_0v.gif]
Dedicated to SAimNE, you wanted some character development, well here you go ;)
Now, on with the show! (Mature warning: violence with extreme prejudice)
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--{Saharra's point of view}--
'Surprisingly, that little gnome's spell worked just like he said it would.'
As Brutus and Saharra entered the lake, the water moved away from them like an invisible force was pushing it. Which actually was the case.
'Still, I am still slightly appalled a high Magus like myself has to undergo such treatment. I could be relaxing in my home, beating slaves who moved too slow in my gaze, blasting pathetic suitors off the balcony. Instead, my family made me travel with an idiot giant and annoying runt, both better suited for servants than hunters.'
'Still, I can't deny their usefulness and experience. After all, they have successfully dealt with other families in the city for years, having a high success rate and rumored to play a role in the destruction of houses that did not pay. While I am incredulous of the gnome, Brutus obviously could have been involved.'
She gazed at the tall minotaur as they walked further into the lake. While they were together as a group, Valgrim was the only one in the party who could speak to Brutus. While Scald claimed arrogantly it was because only a fool could speak to fools, Saharra was more pragmatic. There were many languages in the world, only a select few were spoken in the caves and tunnels. Most likely, Brutus spoke a surface language, which the elves would not learn out of a mistaken sense of pride.
Being a Magus, Saharra knew that knowledge was power. Unlike a Sorcerer who wielded arcane magic from his blood, or a wizard who wielded magic through study, Magus's had to rely on a healthy mix of both, combined with dangerous experimentation. A Magus stored his/her knowledge in a tome, which could only hold a limited number of spells and had to read each day for the wielder to use the magic. While this limited a Magus magically, it was balanced by an increased martial prowess, more specifically magic swordsmanship.
Powerful Magus, like herself, ruled not only long range combat, but also close range. Their spells weakened their enemies and buffed themselves, becoming powerful juggernauts on the battlefield. Still, they weren't invincible. This was the major reason why she had hired the duo.
Hydras, being of dragon-kin, had hard scales and had resistance to magic. As she specialized in neither, they were a tough opponent for her, especially with the numbers present. Scald probably could take a few on with his summons, but he himself was weak and wouldn't survive after his magic ran out. He also was not a true summoner yet, he had yet to make a formal contract with a demon of significant strength, but he was fast approaching that time.
At this point, the two had made it deep enough into the lake that the ground was leveling off. She estimated the lake itself was a mile to two miles long, and about 100-150 ft deep. It had taken them 20 minutes to reach this point, they had 2 hours and 10 minutes of air left. As she looked around, she felt a finger tapping her shoulder. She turned toward Brutus.
As their air bubbles were not connected, they could not speak to each other, not that they would understand each other in the first place due to the language barrier. Brutus indicated with his hands that they should split up. Saharra agreed. He went left diagonal, she went right diagonal.
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She reached a forest of kelp, and hadn't walked more than 30 ft when the ground dropped down from under her.
--{Brutus's point of view}--
'Hmgh, all this water makes me thirsty'
Brutus was, not sugarcoating it, a barbarian. He had been raised from birth with two rules;
1. Stength is power
2. Knowledge can be strength.
Now, that second rule was atypical of a normal barbarian. But is was to be expected, how else would a cow minotaur attract a dragon mate? His mother had been more insightful and cunning than the average minotaur, and quite beautiful too, by minotaur standards. She had bribed a wizard with gems from a labyrinth to make her some polymorph scrolls, which she used to transform into a dragon.
Unfortunately, her beauty transferred as well and she had the unfortunate opportunity of being seen by a red dragon, who promptly beat her into submission and love. They had stayed together for a while, but then she became pregnant. Because of the polymorph spell, she gave birth to Brutus instead of normal dragon eggs. Angered by her trickery, the dragon chased her and her newly born offspring into an underground labyrinth. That was actually lucky for her, because Minotaurs could not get lost in a labyrinth, it was a skill all were born with. She was able to escape the dragon, but was trapped underground. She raised Brutus until the spell wore off, loving every bit of him, fur and scales. She taught him how to fight, how to think, and how to rage.
Yes, rage was the most important part of being a barbarian. With their rage, they could perform inhuman/monster feats of strength, at a cost of extreme exhaustion after the battle. Most barbarians died young because of this, raging the last of their life away. On his 5th year since birth, he and his mother were attacked by wild beasts. Brutus was still to weak to successfully fight them off, and his mother had lost a lot of her vitality escaping the dragon. She died protecting him, and Brutus was filled with a rage unlike any other. His dragon blood ignited with his minotaur strength, and he slaughtered the beasts with his bare hands, ripping them to shreds and drowning them in their own blood. When he woke up, everything was dead, his hands were buried in his last victim, crushing it's heart. He didn't know what to do, he stayed there for days, eating the remains and burying his mother. The dark elves eventually found him, and enslaved him for their fighting games. Brutus didn't care, fighting was all he knew now.
He remembered this all sadly as he made his way into a kelp forest. 'Wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn't met Valgrim?' he wondered. He chuckled at the thought. After certain events, he had become fast friends with the little gnome who barely reached his knees. They made a good pair, one specializing in brute force, the other in magic and support.
(In case you are wondering, he thinks normally, but has a hard time speaking normally. Vocal cords made for growls, not words)
"Hmph, when job done, drink ale and eat meat." he said happily, taking a swig of ale from one of his 5 jugs. It was good ale, blessed by Valgrim to refill as long as Brutus left a drop at the bottom. Which rarely ever happened, poor gnoem wallet.
As he was sipping his ale, he heard a thump travel through the water. Curious, he made his way toward the sound, and came across a large circular depression in the ground. It looked like someone had carved a 5 ft circle in the middle of the lake, and Brutus could see a large hole in the middle of it. Looking down, he also saw that Saharra had fallen in the whole on her back. Apparently, Valgrim's spell had negated water resistance as well, she had fallen under the full effects of gravity.
Brutus chuckled. Even if he didn't outright hate dark elves, he still took a certain pleasure at seeing them come to misfortune. 'Well, better go help her so we don't lose payment again.' he thought jumping down to her, 'Valgrim would be as pissed as last time."