image [https://i.imgur.com/d06YiDs.jpg]
When we reached another open space, I grew suspicious and used Mineral Communion as a metal detector. The spell rewarded my caution, revealing another covered trench whose dimensions measured 40 feet long and 15 feet wide. I pointed it out to my companions. “Don’t go over there—it’s another trap. I don’t see metalwork on the ground anywhere else.”
Two troglodyte zombies by a giant oak on the far side of the clearing struggled as if shackled to the tree. Their oversized vocal cords huffed at us from a distance.
A constellation of spy weaver eyes watched us from above, their eyes reflecting off our magic light sources. They seemed unalarmed that we approached the center of their universe.
Fabulosa stared at the colossal pair of undead monsters. “I reckon we can barbeque ‘em once we get into spell range, right?”
“Yeah. But let me investigate first. If anything crazy happens, I can Slipstream away.”
Fabulosa rolled her eyes. “Let’s not overthink this.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve got five hardened warriors here, and undead aren’t that tough.”
“Are you saying I overthink things?”
Fabulosa ignored my question, looking around to see everyone’s position. “Hey C-Belle, get your hammer ready. We’re gonna whoop these biggins quick.”
Since our encounter with the troglodyte, Fabulosa held a grudge against them, but the undead trogs posed no immediate threat, looking helpless while handcuffed to the tree.
Charitybelle bounced the head of her siege hammer in her hand and winked. Seeing some pluck in these dismal woods cheered me up.
As I approached the zombie troglodytes, I studied the metalwork wrapping around them. Shackles held them to a tree tinseled with cables and bolts. Tethered to their collars formed a mass of shiny wires like a leash attached to something above the canopy. Instead of hands, their limbs ended in blades and metal clubs.
Name
Galvanized Horror
Level
20
Difficulty
Challenging (yellow)
Health
770/770
I returned to the party and told them what I’d seen. “I doubt electrical attacks like Discharge will work on them. Let’s focus on the same trog and drop it as fast as possible.”
“Hmm. That’s a good point. I won’t be able to Discharge in this fight.” Fabulosa turned to the party. “What’s everyone’s best opening attack?” Everyone answered with Charge maneuvers combined with Imbued Weapons or Thrust.
Thrust empowered piercing attacks like arrows and longswords with Bleed effects. It required a little extra time to perform, but the eventual damage added up as much as a critical hit. Combat often happened too fast, so I hadn’t considered taking the power. Perhaps in combat with larger groups, I would.
My Prismatic Shield would serve me well as a tanking item. “I can off-tank the other if you spot heal me. I can hold a level 20 for quite a while.”
Fabulosa shifted her weight. “Let’s hope so. Things always get crazy once combat starts. We’re not clearing trash monsters anymore.”
Iris curtly nodded. “The weaver probably has some surprises in store.”
I nodded. “I agree. There’s no way they’ll stay chained up like that, right? That means we’ll have them running around.”
Charitybelle looked upwards. “With probably more zombies on the way.”
I pointed to the pit. “And surprises include that big booby trap—I’ll guarantee you. The trogs will have a headbutt or kicking attack, so stay out of alignment with that pit.”
Fabulosa patted me on the chest. “And if things go south, make like a rodeo clown and shimmy up the webs. They have weapons instead of hands, so they can’t climb. If we get high enough, they’ll go like fish in a barrel.”
I grimaced. “Let’s call that Plan B. It could mean bad news if someone gets snagged in the web.”
I scanned the ground to make sure I knew the metalwork trap’s location. As far as Mineral Communion could reveal, the combat area looked clear otherwise.
Fabulosa chewed her lower lip. “If you don’t want to climb the webs, we could kite the trogs while killing stray zombies. These won’t be as fast as the trog chasing us from the iron mine.”
Iris darted Fabulosa a surprised look.
Fletcher’s eyebrows raised in disbelief. “You’ve been chased by trogs before?”
I knew that Fabulosa could have kissed him for asking. She rolled her eyes and casually waved. “Yeah, but that happened many levels ago.”
Impressing the Sternways seemed like a great segue to fire up combat. We re-buffed, and everyone made a thumbs-up gesture to show combat readiness. Those with Imbue Weapon began charging up.
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I approached the fettered troglodytes.
Providence decreed that battle wouldn’t initiate on our schedule. A loud mechanical clacking echoed from the branches above us, and bodies dropped through the canopy to the ground. Because of their dessicated state, some lacked mass and floated to the ground. The strange momentum seemed wrong, and the macabre bombardment felt dreamlike. The fresher zombies landed like sandbags, breaking bones and spilling guts on impact.
The thick bed of brown pine needles covering the ground softened the fall, but my combat log registered falling damage to the zombies. With every burst of clicking sounds, more groups of bodies fell. It rained zombie orcs, goblins, humans, kobolds, a gnoll, and two bugbears—over two dozen in all.
A level 8 gnoll dragged itself toward me on broken legs. When I blocked a barbed hook attached to its arm, I wasted my Imbued Weapon charge on the contact. Zombies righted themselves and charged us from all sides, pushing us further from our game plan.
Again and again, electrical clicks above us sounded, dropping more bodies.
A metallic clink behind the troglodytes followed one such series of clicks. The bolt holding its wrists together held together no more.
Fletcher cried above the clamor toward the oak tree. “Trog loose! Trog loose!”
The goliath shook itself free, and Fabulosa ran toward it like an outfielder after a fly ball. “I got it! I got it.”
The smell of ozone filled the air. The clattering noise sent electrical currents down the wires, melting the bonds holding the undead troglodytes.
Another clattering triggered a puff of smoke behind the second troglodyte. It, too, sprang free of its bonds.
I ran toward it. “I got number two!”
Charitybelle, Iris, and Fletcher fended off the horde. Tangling Roots erupted from the dirt and snagged passing zombies. Golden Rejuvenate ribbons trailed behind Fabulosa and me as we pulled troglodytes away from the mob scene. We needed to buy our companions enough time to wear down the main horde. Unfortunately, everyone needed heals. As a group, we took too much damage.
Iris emitted a golden wave, and my health rose by 30 points. The combat log recorded her casting Rally. Our health pools increased slightly, while the zombies lost as much. A couple of kobolds even toppled over.
The trog zombies remained tethered to wire leashes connected to something above the canopy. Like grim marionettes, they shambled after us—smoke trailing from their empty eye sockets. Electrical charges empowered them through the leashes. Fabulosa’s trog had a Suffusion buff, and when it hit her, an electrical discharge sent her flying ten feet back.
/Fabulosa is hit for 24 (4 resisted).
/Fabulosa is electrocuted for 25 damage (6 resisted).
/Fabulosa is stunned for 5 seconds.
Another electrical clicking noise erupted from above, and the troglodyte chasing me gained the same buff. If it hit me, I, too, would be Stunned.
Charitybelle called her name. “Fab, we need you over here!”
Fabulosa lay on the ground, Stunned, helpless, and unable to reply.
I ran to her troglodyte and critted it from behind. When it turned, I glanced back to ensure the other troglodyte still chased me. It did. Both trogs bore down on me in hot pursuit.
“I can kite them! Go help the others!” I drew them away from the scene.
A powerful series of clicks echoed overhead, and a fireworks display of sparks rained down on us. The clamor produced as much noise as a lightning strike.
The wire mesh covering the trench flew into the air, surrounded by a billowing cloud of dead pine needles. At first, I thought the silhouette sitting up in the ditch revealed another troglodyte, but it had no head and only one triple-jointed arm—an appendage so heavy that it tipped off-balance whenever it moved. The lumpy creature looked like a clay doll formed from a child’s hand, except wrapped in baling wire and iron harnessing.
Name
Carrion Golem
Level
23
Difficulty
Challenging (yellow)
Health
1065/1065
The cage surrounding its guts defined its form, and its joints groaned and scraped as it moved. The metal harness barely contained the stuffing of dead tissue. At last, the creature stood, and it moved so slowly I had enough time to run past it unmolested.
The twin troglodytes chased me, and one blazed with fire.
I sprinted to the far side and climbed the webbing wall. If I could get high enough, I could occupy these trogs while healing my allies. Only until I started climbing did I wonder if the webs stood strong enough to withstand a good yank from troglodytes. I barely heard a clacking sound before a paralyzing pain lanced through my body.
/You are electrocuted for 22 damage (8 resisted).
/You are stunned for 5 seconds.
Of course, the metal webs could shock us. I could not move, although I felt the ground shake against my back. Suffused with more electricity, the two troglodytes raised their weapons to pummel me into pulp. Even paralyzed with a Stun debuff, I could trigger Anticipate, and the magic slid me across the ground out of harm’s way.
As the first trog missed, so missed the second, discharging their Suffusion buffs into the pine needle carpet, setting it ablaze. Spy weavers popped in and out of the flames, smothering them.
The goliath zombies hissed in agitation, lifted their weapons, and closed in for another attack. By the time they reached me, I remained prone on my back as my Stun wore off, so I Slipstreamed to the other end of the combat arena.
I spared a quick glimpse of the battle. After the carrion golem left its trench, I noticed a long chain attached to its arm. My allies busied themselves with a score of zombies—barely any had died since I’d last looked. I dropped a quick Rejuvenate on Iris since she bore the brunt of the horde’s attention.
I took a chance to cast Restore on Fabulosa. It took six seconds to cast, but the troglodytes had yet to build up their momentum to reach my new position, and the carrion golem pursued a separate agenda, producing a whooshing noise above my head.
The chain attached to the golem wasn’t a leash but a weapon—a whip that whirled in sweeping arcs. Dodging the chain would involve diving maneuvers, but rolling around on the ground wasn’t something I could do with the troglodytes after me. I needed to keep running.
The charging trogs forced me to flee to an unoccupied space in a bizarre chase. Another clattering of electricity filled the air, and one of them smoked again with a Suffusion buff.
My friends worked together, shouting coordinated attacks, blocks, and heals. I listened until metallic whistling filled the air, and the golem’s heavy chain lashed down my back and leg. Each link landed like a hammer for a total of 84 damage, a quarter of my health.
The lash indiscriminately off ripped apart pieces from the troglodytes. Could I use these behemoths as meat shields against the carrion golem’s swinging chain?
I dodged the electrified troglodyte only to receive the other’s attack—another 20 points of damage.
The whooshing sound started again as the golem wound up for another swing of its chain. I popped my health potion moments before it struck, and the chain hit both troglodytes and myself for almost 90 points of damage.
So much for using them as meat shields.
The zombies possessed more than double my health, and I doubted healing would come my way soon. My allies had their hands full with the zombie horde—only a few of which had fallen since I’d last looked. Limiting the golem’s attack to just one target gave our side a chance. Eighty points of health totaled more than half of Charitybelle’s total. To keep everyone safe from the golem’s chain, I had to stay out of their healing range.
Clicks of electricity filled the air as the other troglodyte became Suffused through its leash. I needed to move. The chain’s grim whistle started up again as the golem swung its arm. As the sound grew louder, I ran toward the carrion golem. Perhaps I could preoccupy it with melee attacks. Closer to the golem, the chain did only 50 damage. The chasing troglodytes received over 70 damage and discharged their Suffusions.
If I could reach melee range, maybe the golem would abandon its sweeping attacks. My cudgel seemed feckless—even a crit only took away 5 percent of its health, but without options, I attacked anyway.
As the swinging chain wound around the golem’s forelimb, its arms gained mass. By the time it had finished winding, the coils bulged like an oversized mace. As it did so, I hit the golem twice for 55 damage. I could have made a third hit if it weren’t for the oncoming troglodytes.
Each zombie troglodyte hit me for 20-something damage.
The carrion golem’s chain-weighted limb inflicted another 45-point loss.
If this counted as a boss fight, I hadn’t figured out its pattern.