As I held my breath, my muscles went rigid. My mind worked furiously with what to do if I had just been discovered. Nothing happened for long moments, no sound came from ahead. My imagination had me seeing a dwarf head poke around to catch me frozen like a statue. Thankfully, my panic receded when no cry of alarm was shouted out. Finally able to breathe again, I exhaled slowly. My heart was still racing so I took a few seconds to simply breathe in and out as the azure light cooled my prickling skin.
There was no way of knowing if whoever made the noise was alone. My mind attempted to form a picture of a darkened figure in a ready stance with his weapon poised to strike. No, stop that, I told myself. It could have easily been him moving to find a more comfortable position. With my heart no longer pounding in my ears, I shifted my balance forward and took a step closer.
When a soft nasally sound escaped from around the corner I wasn’t frozen with inaction this time. There was no aggression in the noise. Trying to place the sound, comprehension dawned when an additional, much louder, guttural snort belched out. It sounded exactly like someone struggling to get air… while they slept.
Xaz: If I didn’t know better, I’d say something’s snoring.
Stella: A lookout perhaps?
Xaz: If they are, their doing a shit job at it. Though, potentially a good thing for us. Having someone watch the intersection seems a good idea, though the lamp post gives it away. Why put it there in the first place?
Stella didn’t respond right away, deep in thought as she was. An idea sparked in my mind the moment I considered switching back to my normal vision to see how the surrounding area looked. The notion of vision had me thinking of an interesting pair of gloves stored away in my inventory.
Xaz: Is there a different type of vision that relies on sensing body heat?
I suspected there were many different ways creatures and people in this world could see, though my thoughts were considering predators in film that could see in the infrared spectrum.
Stella: Yes, along with many other types, some quite bizarre. Your Darkvision enables your eyes to pick up the most minute amount of light in an area, and magnify it, thus allowing you to see in near-total darkness. The ability to see body heat, basically infrared wavelengths everything living gives off, is called Infravision. Usually, only subterranean races have it though, It’s quite rare.
Xaz: Remember my old Frigid Gloves of the Predator we got back when we fought the gnolls?
Stella: Yes?
Xaz: Now, think about where we are. We’re in a blisteringly hot tunnel that’s probably surrounded by untold tons of molten magma running. Something with Infravision would be hard-pressed to see the warmth from anything moving around.
Opening my inventory screen, I withdrew the gloves into my hand. They were cold to the touch, more so than the light generated by the nearby lamp. The gloves felt soft and supple, its blue leather dark bordered on being midnight black. Back in the darkness of the gnoll warren, I recalled the icy sensation rushing into my hands when I equipped them. While sequestered solely to my hands at the time, the gloves did have an interesting magical effect that would prove useful to enemies reliant on seeing infrared.
{Frigid Gloves of the Predator}. Quality: Well-crafted. Rarity: Uncommon. Type: Cloth. Slot: Hands. Durability: 500/500. Armor: 4 Effect(s): The wearer of these gloves, upon command, is able to magically cloak all of their body heat, thus rendering them invisible to creatures relying on heat-based vision to find prey. Duration: 30 minutes. Cool down: 2 hours.
Storing the gloves back in my inventory, I met Stella’s gaze. This time with an understanding of the purpose of the glowing streetlamps.
Xaz: So, if you have a hard time spotting prey, what better way to enhance your sight than to cool down the air in these magma tunnels? Instead of our body heat blending into the background, we would instead light up like a torch.
Stella: You’re one to something. This cooling tower would indeed make us easily spotted by someone with Infravision. Thankfully, the dumb nut seems to have gone complacent and fell asleep at their post. If they hadn’t, our body heat from standing nearby may already have given us away. We shouldn’t tarry much longer.
Agreeing with her, I contemplated using the gloves to ensure whoever was up ahead couldn’t see me, but I quickly dismissed the thought. The gloves had an incredibly long cool down, two full hours, so if this was indeed only a lone lookout, they would be better used later on.
Xaz: I’m going to hold off on the gloves for now. I’m hoping we can either capture or dispatch this sentry quietly without them in case we need the glove's special properties later on.
Stella nodded her head beside me. Hopefully, it was indeed only a single sentry. Nothing in the seconds it took for us to communicate indicated otherwise. My gut told me they likely had the means to send an alarm or warning out far and wide. Nothing else was nearby, so it wouldn’t make sense to leave a lookout without a means to signal something dangerous was about.
This meant we would need to take him out quickly, ensuring he couldn’t warn his friends. If that happened, there was no clue as to how many of his backups would show up. My gaze fell upon Lowki, who was crouched beside me and waiting patiently for me to decide our plan of action. Based on the untiring sneer on his face, it was obvious how he wanted to handle the guard.
The hard part was we didn’t know anything about whoever was down here, other than they may have killed Corm. For all we knew, he had been killed as retaliation for injuring one of their kind, though I doubted it. If we killed this watchman, we could very well be killing an innocent. I thought it unlikely, however, that they would be amicable at our presence in their tunnels.
A part of me examined the morality of simply taking the life of whoever or whatever was ahead. There were too many unknowns, and I couldn’t, in good conscience, kill this person without good cause. We would have to go for non-lethal options if at all possible. Now, how in the blazes was I going to communicate this with Lowki? While I was no thoughtless, careless killer, Lowki’s fierce expression made his opinion on the matter clear.
Lowki was highly intelligent, so I was confident he would understand my intent. Lightly tapping his side, I caught his attention, his feline eyes probing mine as we locked gazes. I held one finger up to my lips, trying to communicate the need for silence, before pointing towards the sleeping sentry. I repeated the call for stealth. Finally, I shook my head from side to side slowly while running a finger across my throat.
Lowki’s eyes register understanding, he knew what I needed from him. Motioning him to stay still, I inched forward to peek around the jagged stone wall. Hoping to go unnoticed, if the person was indeed sleeping, I wanted to see what was around the corner before acting.
Resting on a wooden chair sat a heavily armored person with silvery skin, his feet stretched languidly out on the footstool. A coarse brown beard with streaks of gray rested down atop his bulging stomach. His beard was braided, complete with a metallic cap at its tip, and rested close to a large belt buckle glinting of silver. The short humanoid was stoutly built, with thick biceps that rested comfortably across his chest. Guessing he was four to five feet tall, the dozing man had broad shoulders, wide hips, and short stubby legs. He likely weighed three times as much as me. His eyes were closed with his head tilted slightly backward as he snoozed.
The man’s armor was something to behold with how magnificent it appeared. Made from the same silver metal as his belt buckle, a sparkling chain shirt poked beneath a solid metal breastplate, leaving little room for a weapon to touch his skin. He wore thick leather pants, and his boots wide enough that I could likely put both of my feet inside with room to spare.
The staggering strength hinted at by his muscular body screamed a warning. This was a foe capable of crushing bones with his bare hands. Worse yet, a massive war hammer rested nearby, leaning against the small alcove he rested in. The weapon was so large, that I doubt even Ripley with her enhanced strength could bear its weight.
The sleeping dwarf was in a small recess that was perhaps ten feet by ten feet, enough for at least a pair of sentries. Thankfully, only one was present. As I gazed upon the stout fellow, he snorted another choked rattle, nearly waking him with how bad the bout was. He reminded me of someone with a bad case of sleep apnea.
Probing the System, I inspected the man as a thought occurred to me. In the air was not so much as a whiff of unpleasant body odor. With my keen senses, I should have been able to detect anything horrible with my sensitive nose. Yet, if anything, all I could detect was a metallic tang, nearly identical to silvern ore. It was as if it was being exuded through its pores.
Subversive Silvern Dwarf (Level 27)
Ancient descendants of the surface-dwellers, the Silvern Dwarven society resides solely within the lightless depths. Rarely seen, these people do have a favorite pastime of besieging and raiding settlements which generally leaves few survivors. Horrid tales are left in their destructive wake, many survivors lamenting it is preferable to die in battle against these malevolent antagonists than to allow oneself to be taken prisoner. Silvern dwarves are known far and wide for their abhorrent methods of torturing any unfortunately to be caught by their cruel hands. It’s not information they seek, but the simple pleasure of extracting as much pain from their victims.
Centuries of living underground have permanently transformed the Silvern Dwarf. Most pronounced is their ability to see in the Infrared spectrum. Covered in their namesake metal, a Silvern Dwarf is a foe not to take lightly. Through a yet unknown process, these dwarves have discovered the manner to allow silvern ore to become as strong as elven Mithril. While such forging destroys the ability of the silvern ore to assist in magical transportation, its durability is significantly enhanced. Only the mightiest of weapons can pierce silvern armor.
Many would-be Hunters have sought the precious metal, yet known have found a way to bypass the toxic properties. While normally harmful upon contact, Silvern Dwarves have long since developed a type of symbiosis with the mineral. The exact beneficial properties of this partnership are not yet fully known.
While often residing near dense deposits of their most precious ore, more than one Hunter over the ages has fallen to a powerful Subversive Silvern Dwarven raiding party. Be wary of their burning red eyes in the lightless tunnels of the Underdark.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
My previous apprehension of killing the man evaporated like free-standing water close to a magma flow. The System description of this loathsome race entirely dispelled any notion they were here with purely friendly intentions. They were here for the silvern ore deposit. My gut warned me they wouldn’t stop there. The city itself was threatened by their presence. With the talk of torture, my way forward became crystal clear.
The Silvern Dwarves were villains. Their presence, even a hundred miles away from the city meant little as they could utilize the fast travel node to cross that distance in an instant. Corm had simply been the first causality. His life ended to keep the Silvern Dwarf approach secret as long as possible. The city of Mammoth, and probably the capital city of Allerton, would need to potentially mobilize against this threat. Unfortunately, there was no way to warn either as long as the node network was recharging.
For the time being, we would recon the dwarven force for what was undoubtedly an upcoming surface raid. Before moving another step, I sent a quick message to Stella, asking her to remind me when the silvern fast travel was an hour from becoming ready for use.
I gripped Frostrend tightly. Taking a silent step forward, I worked out an attack strategy. If I could take the dwarf out without much damage to his body, I could bring him back from death with my recently specialized undeath spell. The possible advantages of having him could help tremendously as we ventured deeper into their tunnels.
Closing the small distance, an image of hunting cats from Earth formed in my mind. Such predators could clamp down on a prey’s windpipe, stealing their breath and their life in short order. Looking at my displacer beast friend, I quickly motioned what I wanted him to do. Lowki’s eyes narrowed as they returned to the sleeping dwarf. He understood exactly what I meant for him to do.
Gripping my axe handle tightly, I signaled for Lowki to strike.
The displacer cat padded softly to the side as the dwarf’s eyes remained peacefully shut. Lowki’s jaw clamped down, closing with unyielding strength, crushing the dwarf’s windpipe in seconds. tight against the man’s windpipe with the beard doing little to fend off the sudden attack. The dwarf struggled wildly at first, his fingers attempting to tear away the panther’s maw, but to no avail. When his pounding first couldn’t dislodge his assailant, his eyes went wide in panic and understanding when he found himself unable to draw breath. He was slowly suffocating.
When his hand dove for a belt pouch, I acted, anticipating such a move. Grabbing the powerful man’s wrist with both of my hands, I was able to halt his effort to retrieve what I assumed to be an alarm of some kind. Jerking wildly, the man could do nothing more as Lowki held him in a vice. The last thing the dwarf saw was blackness as dark as Lowki’s fine coat descending in his vision. His movements stilled forever as his life faded away.
Quest Update – “Mystery in the Mines.”
Objective One: Secure the release of Mage Marrek. COMPLETED.
Objective Two: Investigate the local silver mine and identify the cause of villager Corm’s demise. COMPLETED
Objective Three: Eliminate the Subversive Silvern Dwarf threat posed to strike against the citizens of Mammoth. 1 of ???.
Objective Four: HIDDEN
Rewards: Variable. Experience, at least one rare magical item, and a significant increase in reputation.
With the dwarf’s demise, my quest updated itself. If I needed any more assurance we were on the right path, the System message swayed any discomfort from reappearing. We were doing the right thing.
With the sentry neutralized, I cast my eyes around to see if anything else noteworthy was around. The small alcove was mostly empty, aside from the chair, stool, and warhammer. A dark green leather pack rested against the side of the dwarf’s wooden chair. Wait. No, that wasn’t quite right, I thought as I inspected the wood.
Even in the blue lamp light, it was obvious the chair wasn’t made from lumber given it was devoid of wood grain. While firm, the chair’s substance had a slight give to it. It had what looked to be tiny gills along its entirety. If I didn’t know any better, it looked to have been made from a giant mushroom. The footstool was made of the same spongey material. I stored both in my inventory
Tallos and Ripley approached, taking in the scene of the deceased dwarf watchman in an instant. Lowki prowled in a tight circle next to the body. Seeing no other threat, both moved to the edge of the alcove to keep watch. With them watching our backs, I continued to investigate the small alcove. Within the leather pack was some kind of travel ration, along with several opaque glass bottles. Most likely wine or brandy by the smell of it.
“They see with Infravision, our body heat,” I whispered to Tallos’ back so he would be aware of what we were up against. “These dwarves, called Subversive Silvern Dwarves, are responsible for Corm’s death and, unless I am entirely off base, intend to invade the silver mine and into the city above.”
“I’ve heard of Infravision,” Tallos responded with a turn of his head. “It explains this unusual blue light, though it’s hard to miss for anyone coming this way. I’ve never heard of a silvern dwarf, but I have heard rumors of subterranean societies being generally hostile to anyone from the surface.”
“We have enough evidence to warn the city, but we still have close to five hours before we can teleport back,” I added as I inspected the large war hammer resting against the cave wall.
{Silvern Heavy War Maul}. A weapon designed to pulverize anything unfortunate enough to be in its path. Enhanced by hardened silvern, this heavy weapon requires a great deal of strength to hold, let alone use. Quality: Superb. Rarity: Epic. Type: Bludgeon, Two-handed. Slot: Primary. Durability: 10,000/10,000. Speed: Very Slow. Effect(s): Adds 40 to 50 damage per attack. Melee attacks and skills with this weapon have a small chance of causing the target to be blasted away a short distance. Strength Requirement: 100.
Notice! You do not possess the Strength requirement to wield this weapon.
Notice! Silvern metal is highly toxic to both living and undead creatures. Prolonged contact will cause substantial ongoing damage.
The maul was extremely heavy. Having nowhere near the required strength, I could barely lift it off the cold stone floor. Pulling my hand back, I dropped the weapon as it felt like I had just touched acid. My hand was burned, but my natural regeneration was quickly healing the wound.
Reminded me of forged Damascus steel, intricate patterns, and swirls from the crisscrossing silvern metal that ran the length of the weapon from its stocky, slightly oblong shaft to the heavy hammer head. Looking much like a sledgehammer on one side, and a spear-like point on the other, the devastation caused by using such a weapon must be unbelievable. Sadly, no one in the party could wield it, not even Ripley. Inquiring with Stella, I found out that simply holding the silvern weapon caused a magic-based toxin to eat away at flesh, bones, and even the mystic membrane holding Ripley’s bones together. Seeing no other use for it, the war maul went into my inventory.
The same was true for his silvery breastplate and chainmail shirt. Even the belt buckle on his belt was useless to us due to the extreme toxicity of the hardened material. With the tips of my fingers burning from even the slightest touch of the silvern pieces, I was forced to store everything away with a quick touch of a fingernail. Our inability to use the gear was unfortunate, as the weapon and armor would have been a wonderful upgrade for Ripley. At some point, maybe we could find some way to neutralize the harmful side effects.
Beyond his weapon and armor, the only other item of note was an embossed disk the size and color of a silver dollar. It had been contained within the belt pouch the dwarf had reached upon realizing he wasn’t going to escape Lowki’s death grip. While I couldn’t make out the stamped words on either side of the coin, one side had a profile shot of a noble dwarf complete with an intricate silver crown.
Attempting to inspect the item only brought up an unhelpful prompt identifying calling it an ‘unknown device.’ “Stella, any idea why I can’t identify this?” I asked. “It’s called a device, not a coin which it appears to be.”
Stella hovered close to the coin as I turned it over in my hand. It had some heft to it, weighing close to half a pound if I were to guess. Whatever the material was, it was dense. Thankfully, it didn’t burn like other silvern did, though we had no way of knowing why.
“Usually, the system allows you to quickly identify most items, especially if it is widely known,” Stella answered as she peered intently at the dark doubloon, touching a claw to its metallic surface. “My guess is that it’s been magically enchanted. It likely has a secret property known only to the dwarves who cast the coin.”
“He was grabbing for it, there at the end, so it probably triggers an alarm of some kind,” I said, thinking back on the dwarf’s desperate attempt to retrieve the coin. “For now, I’m going to store it away so I don’t accidentally set it off.”
“See anything?” I asked as I moved close to Tallos at the edge of the alcove.
“All clear so far,” he responded in a soft whisper. “My only concern is we don’t know the limits to how far these dwarfs can see with their Infravision. Even hiding behind this wall, we could be spotted at the other end for all we know.”
“Hmm,” I said when an idea struck me. “Let’s have Ripley stand guard alone. She doesn’t have any body heat so would be the perfect person to keep watch.”
“Good idea,” Tallos said before moving deeper into the narrow recess with me.
“One second,” Stella said as Ripley began to move forward. “Just in case, Ripley I would like you to still stand near the edge of the wall. We don’t know for certain they can’t see the visible light spectrum, so don’t want you to give yourself way out in the open.”
Tallos came close to the dwarf’s body and his face crinkled in disgust as he looked upon the slain warrior. Moving beside him, I looked upon our fallen foe.
“I’m going to use my upgraded undeath spell on his body,” I said, tilting my head toward the unmoving form. “Having him could give us an advantage like we had when we approached the Minotaur fort.”
Words sounding antithetical to life growled from my lips as I cast my only average-tier spell. My fingers moved in a delicate dance as I stirred the magic of my core in the particular pattern necessary for this casting. Each word was guttural, sounding to come from deep within my chest. Called forth, a sanguine pulse of energy formed between my palms as my fingers vibrated as if my hands had cramped into claws. Pushing the power downwards, a red glow moved to encapsulate the dwarf’s body. Pushing out the last diametrically opposed arcane syllables, the vibrant energy morphed to a decayed gray color above his flesh, before streaming into the dwarf’s eyes, mouth, and the pores of his skin.
As it crashed into the body, all visible light was momentarily stolen in the room for an instant as if death itself had descended. When the soft glow of the azure lamps returned, the eyes of the dwarf popped open. Yet, no breath escaped his full lips. Sitting upwards from his prone position, the minion locked gazes with mine, awaiting my commands.
“Ah crap,” I said as my eyes roamed over his nearly naked body. Only his underclothes remained, everything else having been looted by me. “Here,” I said as I pulled out each piece of armor and his heavy war maul. “Equip each. You will defend only me and the individual you see around us. Move two paces down the left tunnel and await further instructions.”
The reanimated undead minion complied with my orders, though the normal jerking movements I had to come to expect from the spell were absent. Instead, as the dwarf reequipped his gear, his movements were fluid and appeared natural. Upgraded spell indeed, I mused internally. Other than the fact he no longer drew breath, I couldn’t any sign he was an undead imposter.
I motioned for Tallos and Stella to come close. “Here’s what I’m thinking, we continue down this main tunnel, but we keep our undead minion in front. Hopefully, his presence allows us an element of surprise when we come upon more dwarves.”
“Let’s be sure he doesn’t get too far ahead, we want to know what we’re walking into,” Stella said after a brief moment as she considered my words.
Tallos stroked his narrow chin, “You said Ripley doesn’t give off any heat, right? Why doesn’t she stand a bit directly behind the dwarf, shield leading, with us following along in single file? That way, we will block at least some of our body heat.”
“Good idea,” Stella and I replied at the same time, eliciting a quick smile from the tiny poodle.
Giving a few instructions to the dwarf, our party departed the friendly glow from the artificial lamps, heading deeper into the unknown. The hot air was rife with sulfur and hydrogen sulfide. At first, we attempted to move in stealth but quickly found our efforts wasted with the cacophony created by the hardened silvern metal that comprised my minion’s dwarven armor. A stealthy approach was utterly ruined. He had the subtly of a rolling erratic boulder.
What stuck in my mind as we continued onward, a mountain of stone and rock hanging over our heads was the red glow emanating from the undead dwarf’s eyes. While at first unnerving, Stella assured me it was the creature’s Infravision at work. “At least one of his kind won’t mistake him for being blind,” I had said optimistically before my gaze fell upon Ripley. I recalled the comment with Tallos earlier about her lack of body heat.
A great sigh escaped my lips as I realized my new minion would disappear from other dwarven eyes as soon as his body heat fully dissipated. While it could take a while, considering the return of the oppressive heat in the tunnel, it left an awful lot to chance.
With nothing we could do about it, my minion remained our point man. Only time would tell if it was a good idea or not.