Chess eased Ashley’s sleeping form down into her lap. Her daughter was purring softly in her sleep and it was so adorable she took extra care while moving her to not break the spell. Chess’s whole right side ached with the effort, and she silently cursed herself for not asking Ash to heal it before she fell asleep. There is no way I’m waking her now, at least not for a bit, she decided, brushing the girl's hair back from her face.
She looked up at her remaining companion. “Now what?” she whispered.
“I join you two until we get warm, then we set this camp up better before we press on with the pool. We need to make it more defensible here. We’ll get Ash to harvest the cat when she wakes, and then to heal our pains,” Lynn reasoned, moving to join Chess and Ashley in the furs, pressing her wet fur into Chess's back.
“You smell and feel like a wet dog. The algae doesn't help your odor one bit,” Chess grumbled, once she had shifted a bit and gotten cozy despite Lynn's damp fur.
“Elven noses are strange,” Lynn responded with a long sniff and a shrug felt against Chess’ back.
“This coming from the girl who can spray a foul odor from her ass,” Chess quipped but smiled.
"You should get some sleep. I'll keep an ear out," Lynn offered as a retort.
"Thanks," Chess said gratefully before shifting again, trying to find a better position on the hard ground. Although with only the thin lion fur as a barrier to its damp cold, she held little hope of succeeding.
Chess drifted in and out of sleep; the exhaustion of the fight, her bruised body, and her earlier labor doing her in despite the discomfort. Sleep wouldn't keep her for more than a wink or two for the first few hours. Memories of the proceeding weeks plagued her dreams with the frustration and impotence of her recent failures before she finally fell into something more restful.
----------------------------------------
A long wet rasping sensation against the back of her neck woke Chess from a deep sleep. She cringed instinctively, pushing forward to escape the feeling but only getting further tangled up with a still-sleeping Ashley.
“Gah!” Chess complained, turning a glare on the kin woman behind her. “Did you just lick me!?” she asked incredulously after a long moment of thought, trying to place the sensation.
“No, I scraped my tongue on your neck,” Lynn responded in a dry tone.
“Freya’s fabulous fanny... Why?” Chess whined, wiping at her neck with her palm before looking at it and wiping it off on their fur covering.
“I always wondered what an elf tasted like. Besides, you smell good,” Lynn said in a mirth-filled tone with a wide grin on her face.
Chess shivered and scooted further forwards and climbed over Ashley’s slumbering form.
“Even with the nasty slime?" she asked with a mock gag, uncontrolled amusement filling her voice as she fought to remain indignant.
Lynn smiled at her.
"Well, how do I taste?" she mocked trying to keep her glare steady.
“Salty and sweet,” Lynn responded in a flat voice.
Chess groaned before losing the fight and bursting into quiet laughter; joined moments later by the kin woman.
“I needed that,” Chess confessed after the laugh died.
“Same,” Lynn said with a smile.
“I’m going back to sleep for another watch. You can have the first real one. Now up, I don't need your moist fur pressed against me anymore,” Chess harrumphed dramatically and pulled Ashley's furnace warmth closer as a barrier between her and a still-grinning Lynn.
Lynn laughed softly again and shook her head before getting out of the covers.
Chess tried to ignore the growing ache in her belly as she resought sleep. First things first. When I wake, berries. Please Freya, no more giant undead for a while, she prayed as the shared warmth lulled her back into a comforting sleep.
----------------------------------------
Chess ground her teeth in frustration as yet another attempt to grow her brambles failed to bear both fruit and the corresponding seeds necessary for a new generation. Hours spent at first growing more light shrooms, as she’d dubbed them, then growing an ever-expanding fruitless bramble had left her with a faint headache and little else.
The plant looked sickly and weak no matter what she changed. She even went so far as to crush parts of the dwarven skeleton and sprinkle them into the soil.
She hit the side of her head with the heel of her hand hoping to dislodge a working idea from her hunger-addled mind to no avail. At this point, her sickly growth took up a large part of one side of the pool's basin while the other was dominated by her improved mushrooms. At least it adds to our defense, she tried to put a positive spin on her continued failure.
She had spent a further bone-weary hour and precious energy lugging water up the hill to lower the pool's level enough to allow Lynn to float up and gain breath anywhere along its length since she woke.
In that at least they had a tentative success, as a faint breeze now ruffled the hitherto still pool of putrid slime the group seemed unable to move past. Small waves now lapped about the morbid statue created by their latest foe where it now filled much of the center of the pool.
Chess still didn't feel comfortable attempting the air above the basin’s lip as she knew that the gasses would mix easily. Meaning that it wasn’t necessarily safe yet even with the breeze now moving through.
Ashley hadn't risen from her deep slumber after the catfight, so Chess was doing her level best to keep quiet and not disturb her.
The blasted brambles weren't making it easy though. More than anything she wanted to scream her frustration at the top of her lungs to echo about the cave. Instead, she settled for sulking against a stalagmite for a few minutes before leveraging herself to her feet and easing her underwear-clad body into the pool so that she could start removing water again to work off her frustration.
Lynn was busy diving in the pool to collect dirt which she spread on the side of the basin between the stalagmites and sifted for loot. So far she’d collected a small pile of odds and ends, mostly small metal and stone, belt buckles and buttons, which they both agreed to inspect in detail later. Very little organic material had survived the water and time.
Lynn would pop up from time to time but not say anything, focused on her task. Chess envied her the fur that kept her warm in the cold as she entered the pool to fill her vault again.
Chess left Lynn to her task with a frown and turned to trudge up and down the hill, this time carrying her shield and mace with her. At first, she’d worn her armor also but the added weight had tired her out too fast and she discarded it despite the hard-earned lesson from earlier.
What I need is real sunlight to start adjusting the brambles with; it’s the only thing I’m lacking down here that makes any sense. But why could I grow them at night on the surface? The moon wasn’t always visible. This magic makes no sense. Come to think of it, mushrooms aren’t plants, right? she shook her head.
Freya! I’m an idiot, she thought, slapping herself on the forehead. The balcony! It even has a constant water source in the spray from the falls.
Having to hold her breath mixed with the chill from the pool quickly sapped her strength again after a dozen trips up the slope. With a minute to scrape the slime from her body, she climbed back in with Ashley to get warm again, doing her best not to jostle her daughter as she got situated.
It’s messed up what a person can get used to. Never thought I’d understand why families of old and in poor countries shared beds with their family, she contemplated ruefully, while the tingling warmth started to return to her aching limbs.
Her exertions had only made the gnawing pit in her belly worse and her a little lightheaded. Forcing herself to leave Ashley’s heat sooner than she’d have liked, she confronted Lynn when she next emerged slick and shining with slime from the pool with a pair of sloshing pails.
“This isn’t working,” Chess admitted when she’d gotten the kin woman’s attention with a nod to her experiments. “I don’t want to push much further with this unless I know it’s gonna work. I’m already getting a headache and the last thing I need down here is mana sickness. I want to take an inventory load of silt and try again at the balcony where there is natural light. The light shrooms aren’t working, I think I can make the adjustment but I need to start with better light,” Chess explained rubbing her face.
“Okay, we should wake Ashley—she's slept far too long already—then get ready,” Lynn agreed readily.
Chess opened her mouth to say she could just run up there alone and not interrupt Lynn’s work but realized that was a stupid idea and shut it, settling for a sigh instead before she turned to gently shake her daughter awake.
“Hmm?” Ashley groaned as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a big yawn.
“Time to wake up sleepyhead. We need to head back to the balcony to grow some food. We are down to the last few biscuits,” Chess explained as she helped the girl to her feet.
Chess tossed most of their gear into her inventory, leaving the rancid furs where they lay before they all climbed back into the pool and made their way back to the other side. Once there they all got reequipped before she half-filled her inventory with marshy soil; using the skull blocks both to block it from escaping and in one corner to elevate the few things she didn’t want to get muddy.
Satisfied they set a quick pace back to the balcony where Chess resumed her experiments after planting Sprig near the short railing. First, she grew a bush willing it to fill with heavy juicy berries without issue, the problems of the deep gone, and the three of them filled their bellies with the sweet orbs and half a remaining biscuit each to finally break their fast.
With something filling her belly, her mind seemed to clear off a mental fog that had snuck up on her, and she let out a pleased sigh, patting her rounded belly as they huddled further back in the tunnel away from the pounding roar of water.
“Eating only berries won't be good for us for more than a week. We’ll need meat and other plants to keep up our exertions,” Lynn tempered. “I wish I could get rid of this thing; I have more than a month's worth of food in my inventory,” she added, pulling at the collar around her neck.
“Shh, don’t mellow my food high,” Chess said with a chuckle, high on a very pronounced sugar rush, but got back to work on her experiment while munching on the fruit.
First, she grew a series of brightly glowing mushroom clusters starting near the balcony and working her way back around the corner and into the darkness of the tunnel beyond. She made a game of it, singing Michael Jackson songs and prancing about, happy to be full and relatively safe for the moment as she spread soil and light; most of the sound of her antics were lost to the roar of the falls.
She returned to the tunnel near the balcony and dumped the remaining soil against the wall, taking one of the new berries from the dark side of the plant and squeezing it to remove a few seeds. These she planted in a dim spot and sang, willing them to take more energy from the mushrooms than the sunlight dappling through the roaring falls but otherwise grow as they will.
“We will need more soil,” Chess said in a near yell to the pair who were busy taking turns filling two pails with the berries from the first growth and about to move onto the second. One was always on guard.
Lynn nodded and dumped her pail into Ashley’s, filling it nearly to the top before indicating Ash should set it behind the bramble and follow as they left.
A few more trips back and forth for soil and a now hoarse Chess had a wide smile plastered on her face. It wasn’t perfect but she had a bramble bush that would grow berries in the light of her mushrooms. The plants had changed over the generations, she’d lost count of how many after fifty sprouting clusters as she filled one side of the tunnel working her way back from the balcony. They had gone from having vibrant green leaves and healthy green and brown stems holding blackberries to short white nearly translucent stems and ashy grey leaves that had traces of blue and yellow radiance moving slowly below the surface holding faintly glowing turquoise berries.
The most baffling thing she found was the new brambles were now fully dependent on the mushrooms. Not just for light but to even start growing and bearing fruit. In fact, the now dwarf brambles grew faster when she grew them in amongst the mushrooms and at the same time. If she separated them more than a dozen steps the brambles wouldn’t germinate. Maybe they are the pollinators for them now. Wait, that doesn’t make sense, none of the others were pollinated normally either. I just willed them to form berries. Chess rubbed her face in confusion for a moment before shrugging and leaving the thought for another time. I’m just happy it worked.
She made a small box from skull block wood, finally leaving two of the skulls fully exposed after it and a few more pails for the berry pickers, which had tiny dividers that she labeled one through twenty and took sample seeds from an equal number of plants starting back at the balcony. She made sure to take more from the first and last before sealing the edge into a lidless block and adding it to her vault. She retrieved Sprig from the ledge where she’d planted it and turned her attention to the others. She’d largely ignored them as she worked as they trained with the spear in-between time spent picking berries and guarding.
Lynn studied Chess’s newest creation intently with a curious look on her face.
“What is it? I know they look strange but I already ate a few almost half an hour ago and nothing bad has happened. I made sure they would remain edible as I worked,” Chess said, worried the kin-woman disapproved of the results.
“It’s not that,” Lynn said, shaking her head. “No, I was just thinking an alchemist would be very interested in this. I’m also curious what their plant identification would tell them about it,” Lynn said, picking a berry and taking a tentative bite. She grimaced but swallowed the fruit.
Ashley matched Lynn, giving the glowing berries a try before grabbing another handful and munching contentedly on them with a small grin for Lynn’s evident distaste.
Chess smiled sheepishly at the look Lynn gave her. “Yeah, they are more than a little sour. I’m not entirely sure why, but I couldn’t change it, and the deeper we got the sourer they became. Edible is edible,” she shrugged in a half-hearted apology.
Chess loaded the half dozen full pails into her vault, and the group set out. After a long detour to the landing pool to refill their waterskins with what Lynn insisted would be clean water—the pools usually formed from natural springs—they arrived back at the helium basin.
Once there Lynn suggested Ashley should use her Harvest Pyth to finally loot the large feline skeleton.
Ashley grinned, eager for the task, and bounded back into the pool almost the moment they reached the small shore again and Chess handed her a bunch of small Pyth bags. There was a quick rush of ambient mana towards Ash and a yellow glow about her hands that faded as fast as it appeared, and the bags puffed up as they filled.
Ashley smiled back at the waiting pair before frowning at the bags in her hands and the pool surrounding her.
Lynn laughed and waded out to her and climbed up halfway motioning Ashley to hand her half of the small bags before they made their way back together.
“Well? What did we get?” Chess asked while wiping slimy water from her body.
Ashley shared the loot window with Chess who gave her a smile of thanks.
Name
Quantity
Rarity
Rot Pyth
12/10
Rare
Strengthen Bone Pyth
10/10
Uncommon
Pounce Pyth
9/10
Common
Gentle Fall Pyth
7/10
Common
Sure-Foot Pyth
5/10
Uncommon
“The cat must’ve been down here for a very long time for it to have developed two undead Pyth, one a rare, and too lose most of its natural Pyth,” Lynn said, still pleased with their takeaway, after the pair gave her the list and she returned the bags to Ashley who stacked them with the rest of the stuff they’d piled near the skull wall.
“The Rot Pyth is one of the best Pyth for sanitation workers,” Lynn added thoughtfully.
The trio worked to clean themselves off before climbing under the furs in a tight bunch to get warm again.
Lynn sighed dramatically after they sat thinking for a bit. “Well, I hesitate to say it but, Ashley, you should consider taking both full measures. As unpalatable as these two are, they both fit you well. Even if I wasn't suppressed, none of these is an improvement for me, and although the Rot Pyth could be used by you Chess—for creating fertilizer for your plants or breaking them down when you need to—I think with Ashley’s class having a Death synergy, it would serve us best with her taking them.
Especially since she will quickly hit level two down here and have to choose a passive. The more she has slotted, the better her choices will be. We can always have unwanted ones removed when we escape or if she finds better. Besides, you can just have her use it for you if needed,” Lynn reasoned.
“How bad are they?” Ashley asked, eyeing the bags with apprehension, her tongue moistening her lips.
“Rot? I have no idea, but it’s likely bad given the name. Strengthen Bone, I hear tastes like what rotten feet smell like, only chalky, and nothing like a good bone,” Lynn said, crinkling her nose in sympathy.
"It can't be that bad." Ashley brought one of the small bags up to her nose and loosened the ties to take a sniff. “It doesn’t smell like anything,” she said dubiously before she licked her finger and stuck it in, getting a light dusting of the crystals on the tip and quickly licking it off.
Ashley gagged hard and coughed, sticking her tongue out before making to spit.
Lynn moved lightning fast, clasping a hand over Ashley’s mouth. Ashley's eyes nearly popped from her skull and she whined through Lynn’s hand.
“Swallow,” Lynn commanded.
“Sorry, but we don’t have any to lose, and that small taste could make the difference,” she added after Ashley visibly swallowed and removed her hand.
“Can we do the butt thing? Anything but eating that?” Ashley asked, shifting in her seat, now eyeing the small bag with loathing. She used the hem of her blouse to scrape at her tongue between sentences.
“No, sorry. I don’t have my kit,” Lynn said with an apologetic look.
“Is it something I can make?” Chess asked, more than a little uncomfortable with making a suppository kit for Ashley, regardless of the reasons. “Wait. If the ass works, can’t she just snort it up her nose? It doesn’t smell like anything, and I’m pretty sure that works in a similar way,” Chess reasoned.
“Snort?” Lynn asked, baffled by the strange idea.
“Yeah, you know,” Chess held a nostril and gave a long sniff, moving her head sideways to demonstrate.
“I’ve never heard of that being tried before. I don’t think it’s a good idea to experiment like that when we might depend on these Pyth’s to survive,” Lynn tempered.
“Wait, I have a full measure of that Snow-Flurry Pyth Caldur gave me that I was gonna sell later. I’ll try it and see if it works,” Chess said, digging out her Pyth box and retrieving the bag.
“Do you have any other full Pyths in there we should consider using?” Lynn said, raising an eyebrow as Chess spread the contents on top of a skull block which she formed a ridge around the perimeter of. Then using a thin wedge of wood she formed a series of lines before creating a wooden straw.
Ashley watched avidly as Chess got prepped.
Chess bent forward to smell the crystals and got a faint whiff of freshly fallen snow before shrugging. This can’t be that hard, movie stars fake it all the time, Chess thought, momentarily unsure, before she bent forwards, put the straw in her nose, and inhaled a line in one quick go.
Shit, shit, shit!! No AHHHH! Fuck, fuck! Chess pounded her legs with each fist and jumped to her feet opening and closing her mouth like a fish, unable to make a coherent sound.
She jumped up and down alternating between holding the sides of her head and shaking her arms in futile motions until the pain finally receded a full minute later and she collapsed onto her side still holding her head.
“Fuuckkk! Holy Freya tits! That sucked! Worst brain freeze ever! At least ten times worse than a Slurpee,” she groaned, massaging her still-tingly cheeks with her fingertips.
“You have 9 more lines,” Lynn observed with an amused smirk and a glint of mischief in her eyes.
Chess groaned again. “I’ll just eat the rest, and if it still works, we will know snorting is an option. I’m sure it’s only a bad idea for a snow Pyth,” Chess reasoned with a pleading look. Yeah, fuck that!
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“Fair enough,” Lynn nodded, conceding the point while still holding in her mirth.
“What’s a Slurpee?” Ashley wondered aloud.
“A Slurpee is a flavored crushed ice drink,” Chess told her daughter. “I’ll have to see if I can hook you up sometime; they’re great.”
“If ‘that’ is a side effect, I'm not sure I want to try it,” Ashley said, miming holding her head and shaking her hands.
Ashley’s flailing finally broke the dam on Lynn’s mirth, and the kin woman burst into soft giggles.
Chess mimicked Ashley by wetting a fingertip and tasting a few of the snow crystals while studiously ignoring the giggling kin woman. But she couldn’t stop a small deprecating smile from forming on her face. Chess let out a relieved breath when it tasted no different than eating unflavored crushed ice. Using her wooden wedge as a spoon Chess ate the rest and was pleased when a window popped up for her.
Snow-Flurry Pyth: Uncommon: Rank 1
Active: Create a localized snow flurry. The maximum area affected: Will (mod) x Rank x 10 yards. [Current 20 yards]. Flurry area can be condensed by Will x Rank x 5 percent, increasing the volume of snow by an equal percentage. [Current 10%] Lasts 5 x Rank x Will (Mod) minutes. [Current 10 minutes]. Can be used Rank x Will (mod) times per day. [Current 2 times].
Passive: Increases cold tolerance by Rank x will (mod)%. [Current 2%]
Chess couldn’t help herself and tried the ability out, filling their small basin with light snow and dropping the already crisp temperature even further. Chess noticed that despite the decreased temperature none of the snow lasted more than a second after landing before turning to water. It creates real snow at least, she noted to herself.
“Luminous’ light, stop that!” Lynn implored with a visible shiver even crouching beneath the furs with the others.
Chess stopped the spell with a sheepish smile. “Well, we know snorting works,” she said quickly, then added, “I could try the Rot Pyth for you since we have extra,” as an aside to Ashley.
Ashley grabbed the small sack from in front of her and shoved it into Chess’ hands with a grateful “please.”
Chess quirked her lips into another small smile and dug her pinky into the powder, giving it a quick taste. She was assaulted with a lip-puckering tartness with undertones of what she could only describe as the smell of rotten wood. It’s not world-shaking bad, and she really liked the sour berries, Chess thought then shrugged. “I think you won’t mind it at all,” she reasoned, repeating the shrug.
Ashley took the bag back with a weary look and tasted it herself, followed by a shrug similar to Chess’. After summoning herself a large mug, Ashley dumped the rest of the bag in and mixed it with water before downing the resulting beverage as quickly as she could. Smiling, Ashley’s eyes unfocused before she waved at the window and it appeared for Chess.
Rot Pyth: Rare: Rank 1
Active: Accelerate the bacterial breakdown and decay of dead organic matter by 5xRankxWill (mod) days. [Current 10 days]. In an area covering up to Rank x Will (mod) yards [Current 2 yards]. Can be used Rank x Will(mod) times a day, [Current 2 times].
Passive: Increased your body’s ability to fight off infections by Rank x Will (mod)%, [Current 2%].
“Now you have to do the other one,” Lynn encouraged picking up the bag and putting it in Ashley’s hands to reinforce the point.
Chess helped Ashley set up the lines on top of the skull block and handed her the straw before leaning back to watch. This feels so wrong, maybe a suppository was a better idea, Chess thought as Ashley snorted the first line, rubbing her nose vigorously so she wouldn’t sneeze.
Ashley coughed and met Chess’s gaze with watery eyes. “I’m not sure it's much better, the taste still clings to the back of my throat,” Ashley complained, with another snort then cough.
“9 more lines,” Lynn aped her previous statement and both Ashley and Chess turned to glare at her. “What? You two are taking forever to take a few Pyth. We have things to do in order to get out of this Luminous forsaken place.”
Ashley sighed. “At least it's not as bad-tasting this way,” she said before taking two of the lines back to back.
It took a good hour for Ashley to finish the disgusting Pyth lines. Meanwhile, the trio got warmer and ventured out of the furs to sort through their stuff and get equipped. Chess stored what she could in her vault, choosing one of the rancid furs to leave behind, and suggested that Ashley use it as an experiment for her new ability when she was done imbibing the new one.
Strengthen Bone Pyth: Uncommon: Rank 1
Passive 1: Increases the break and impact resistance of your bones by 3 x Rank x Con (Mod) percent. [Current 3%]
Passive 2: Increases the flexibility of your bones by 2 x Rank x Con (Mod) percent. [Current 2%]
“Okay, one of us has to check the air up above sooner rather than later,” Lynn said what the group had been avoiding for most of the day since they had succeeded with the berries.
“I’ll go,” Chess grumbled, climbing back to her feet without fanfare and marching up the slope, shield, and mace in a loose grip, until near the top where she fell to her hands and knees, dropping her items and crawled the rest of the way. At the peak of the ridge, she took a half breath then falling on her back, slid down a bit to speak.
“Penguin,” she said and it came out normally so she ventured up further taking another breath a head higher with similar results. Progressively she rose to stand at the top and looked back at her companions.
“It’s good, at least right here,” she said, taking another glance around but not seeing any more than on other trips. Though now that she could breathe she took in more details, marking more than the three possible exits they’d originally noticed and also a few variations on the mushrooms; a few more shades of red, green, and blue but nothing significant.
“Do you think I should take a better look around up here?” Chess offered while eyeing some areas mostly hidden from her view by stalagmites.
“No, we go together,” Lynn said, slapping her thighs and standing while giving Chess a dirty look. She helped Ashley to her feet before picking up her spear and hefting her shield. Lynn looked around their haphazard camp for a minute before continuing. “Come back down here and load these odds and ends into another pail for Ashley to carry,” she said, indicating the small pile of stuff she’d dredged from the bottom of the pool over the last day.
Chess rolled her eyes. “Nothing has come in over a day, and I didn’t mean I would explore any of these tunnels,” she harped as she made her way down to make the pail, stripping another of her skulls of wood in the process.
“Dungeon areas like this like to throw surprises at people. You should bring out your bow and sling your shield on your back,” Lynn suggested as she policed the area one last time to be sure nothing was missed.
“Yes mistress,” Chess quipped but did as she was told.
“Ready?” Lynn asked them both.
“Aye aye, captain.”
“Yes,” Ashley said, bouncing on her toes in impatience with the items in her pail clanking against each other in counterpoint.
“Try not to make too much noise,” Lynn cautioned Ashley.
“Okay,” Ashley said and stopped her rocking, holding the pail steady.
They headed out, Lynn leading with Chess trailing in the rear and a glowing Ashley lighting their way between.
----------------------------------------
The trio moved up and into the nearest tunnel on the left without event. After a few dozen yards the growth of moss and mushrooms tapered off and they were once again in a rough grey stone tunnel. Progress was slowed once again by Lynn’s continued search for traps, though her search was not as thorough as before.
Chess also suggested they chat quietly as they went, to be aware of any rise in helium. Lynn saw it as a perfect excuse to go into detail on trap creation and dismantlement. Followed up by a description of various marine mammals that inhabited some known dungeons.
Some of the descriptions Chess was dubious about, even with what she'd seen since arriving in this world. Like a type of militaristic turtle that lived and organized like ants creating large underwater hives called the Dureus. All Chess could think to say was "sounds cool." Ninja turtle ants? All this was interspersed with education in the delver sign which Lynn used constantly to reinforce the meaning.
----------------------------------------
It wasn’t until after another pool, this one with a head-high air space above it for most of its length and with crystal clear water, that they encountered their next enemy. Lynn started the swim off by diving deep but returned unable to find a bottom before they chose to see where it led without exploring potential underwater tunnels.
Thankfully Lynn had suggested they try swimming with their wooden armor still on and they found the natural buoyancy of the wood didn’t impede them, in fact helping when they didn’t have to submerge for long spans. Ashley’s had no noticeable effect, either way, being innately light.
After climbing atop a roughly yard-wide underwater wall, the trio used Chess’s skull blocks to build themselves stairs and a narrow platform that allowed them to get the rest of the way out of the water for a moment of rest. The water in this pool was noticeably warmer than the slime one, and Chess wondered what heated it as she waited for her arms and legs to recover from the long swim.
She leaned back to study the ceiling, better noticing a hole a handful of feet up from their platform, near the apex of the inverted bowl they were in.
She nudged Lynn and Ashley before pointing it out. Lynn held her finger to her lips and indicated Chess should use the last few blocks to build up the stair.
Chess took it a step further and tied the blocks together by swelling the attaching points and then stringing their cord through a thick loop she pulled from the front of the top block so the works could be pulled up if they could continue further. I should just build a dismantlable ladder, Chess mused, as she gazed at a distant speck of light marking the top of the chute they were aiming for. Would need a lot of wood to get there though.
They encountered their new foe the moment Lynn’s head poked above the lip to look into the tunnel leading off the chute a few feet up. No terror aura gave away its presence thus catching the group underprepared.
A pickaxe point flashed out and down, burying itself deep into the top block of their stairs between Lynn’s feet, bisecting the skull inches in front of Ashley’s face where she waited on the platform.
The blow only missed by the grace of Lynn flinching sideways when the light from Ashley’s armor reflected off the gleaming implement blinding her in one eye. The strike shook the platform throwing the kin woman’s balance off and she took an inadvertent step into empty air to compensate, falling from the narrow stair to belly flop into the pool below with a loud slap.
Ashley fared the best, the wobble not moving her before she launched herself up the short stairs, falling to her knees on the haft of the ax before the enemy could wrestle it free of the block while turning her shield to fend off any new weapons despite the tilting of the stair. No blows fell on Ashley after she thrust at the hole blindly a few times with her spear. Chess watched her take a quick look over the rim of her shield before ducking back again using the barrier to cover her whole form.
“Ghoul!” Ashley hissed through her teeth, her voice tight with her fear and certainty.
A few stones pinged off Ashley’s shield to fall to the water below. Followed by a mix of indecipherable words in a grunting language.
“Fuck!” Chess said and brought up Sprig, drawing back to aim carefully over Ash’s head for the shadowed tunnel entrance.
Lynn came sputtering and cursing to the surface sans her shield and spear and climbed atop the narrow wall behind Chess. She pilfered Chess’s mace from her belt hook and wiped water from her face and shook like a dog before she and Chess did a small dance to switch spots.
The kin woman had a determined look on her face as she quickly peered over Ashley’s shoulder to observe the stalemate. The ghoul seemed reluctant to relinquish the high ground and teased Ashley's spear range by stepping into view bearing a maw of rotten teeth before stepping back to dodge another thrust.
The motion didn’t go unpunished though as Chess released the moment it appeared, removing its sneer and scoring the side of its head with a thin line as it pulled back with an enraged growl. The hit was pure luck as she had been aiming for its chest but she would take what she got.
Chess sighed in relief as she nocked another arrow, the shot had been incredibly risky with the other two in the line of fire but at less than 5 yards she felt she could at least miss her companions. I forgot how hard it was to shoot a traditional bow, I need practice.
The beast let out another line of guttural words in response to the hit, and Lynn sucked in a breath of bitter anger.
“What did it say?” Chess wondered aloud, her arms struggling to keep the arrow drawn and after a few more moments she let Sprig slack but still kept it trained on the opening. I need cams, she noted, surprising herself with the calm thought.
“Later,” Lynn snapped and nudged Ashley’s knee away from the pickaxe so she could draw it out with a sharp tug. She kept it in hand; held near its head in her offhand.
“Now what?” Ashley wondered. “It’s backing up,” she added, shifting her weight back to both knees before rocking back and standing carefully; one foot on the top step, the other with Lynn’s on the second.
“Wish I had my Luminous-forsaken magic,” Lynn muttered before tapping Ashley on the shoulder and adding, “We’ll let it back off a bit more. Jump up there when I say. I'm fairly confident it doesn’t speak any Brastian; that was ancient dwarvish it used, I think,” Lynn reasoned, bending her knees as Ash did the same. “Try not to let it get close,” she cautioned.
“Now!” Lynn said, and Ashley hopped a few feet to the ledge and shuffled forwards a few steps with Lynn hot on her heels.
Chess followed a few breaths later as the pair carefully progressed down the tunnel. A sharp bend loomed ahead and the pair slowed, Lynn stepping back to wait for Chess after flashing some sign at Ashley to pause. Lynn motioned for Chess’s shield, and she reluctantly unslung it from her back and handed it over. Lynn dropped the pickaxe to the side before she strapped it on.
Lynn rejoined Ashley, and the pair lock-stepped around the corner shields held tight and ready,
“Shield,” Ashley said, and the golden glow encompassed them all, muting the heavy blow from the creature's new large hammer to a mild backward shove. Chess stepped around the corner as the others advanced and took aim over Ashley’s short form.
The ghoul yelled more in its rough tongue, throwing its weapon over their heads aiming for Chess before turning and jogging away. Forcing Chess to duck as she let fly and her arrow missed by a handspan. The others kept to their slow advance.
Lynn yelled three dismissive-sounding words at the thing's back in the same strange language it used before switching back to Brastian to reign in Ashley.
“Patience, if it could truly run, it would’ve done so. Ghouls are cowards when outnumbered. It’s buying time,” Lynn reinforced caution in a clipped tone when Ashley took another extra step forward.
Ashley heeded the warning with a muted nod, matching Lynn’s step again.
Fuck it, I can’t be embarrassed about it forever, Chess thought in disgust at herself.
Slinging Sprig over her shoulder she summoned her guitar and embraced the Fascinate spell before blasting out Billie Jean at the top of her lungs. The song reverberated off the tunnel and she turned Thump on too, adding volume to the beat she was slapping out on the guitar and to the stomp of her feet as she danced behind the others. She willed the ghoul to focus on the song and ignore all else giving its retreating back a glance to be sure it was still near. She snarled out the words when she felt active resistance to her spell for the first time, closing her eyes in concentration.
The resistance fell with a rude abruptness, and Chess had to make herself open her eyes again to watch the end of the fight play out. Ashley’s spear had transfixed the creature's right kidney from behind, and Chess watched as her daughter yanked her weapon free and drew back for another strike. The song fell from her mind and lips with a sigh as the blade sunk into the back of the ghoul’s neck and it slumped forwards to its knees.
Lynn made sure of their enemy by pulverizing its skull with the mace with three overhead, body-bending blows.
She spat ichor from her mouth before rounding on Chess. “By Luminous light! What was that!?” she demanded.
“Charm? I’m pretty sure I mentioned it to you,” Chess said, scratching the back of her head.
Lynn frowned. “No, you said Charm music,” she said carefully, spitting again.
“Wait, that's something different?” Chess asked, intrigued.
“I thought wood manipulation was your second ability. You are always tapping your foot or fidgeting when you work it. I thought you were hiding the music reliance,” Lynn said.
I am? Huh, I guess I do fidget a bit. Though I'm not sure what to say about her misinterpretation, Chess thought.
Lynn sighed, rubbing her face with the crook of her arm and spitting again and again, “Fuck, no, now's not the time to have this discussion. Let's clear this place first,” she said, turning back to face their foe and pulling out her waterskin to fill her mouth. Ashley approached to lean over the ghoul reaching out to touch it.
“Don’t!” Lynn said, spitting the water out and dropping her waterskin to pull Ashley back a step. “Let the miasma disperse first, the last thing we need is two of us getting Ghoul-Rot,” she cautioned indicating the slight green glow that was now slowly seeping from the corpse. “I got some bits in my mouth already, and you can only use your spell so much a day,” she added, and Chess could hear the worry in her voice.
“Okay,” Ashley said contritely before taking a few steps back.
“If you want to speed it up, using your new Rot Pyth might be a good idea once we know if there are more,” she added, bending to retrieve her skin and taking a swish of what remained to clean her mouth further before discarding it to the side and hefting the gore-covered mace.
“Keep that spell ready,” Lynn told Chess over her shoulder before she and Ashley filled the tunnel again and resumed their slow advance after they’d all skirted around the ghoul’s body.
Lynn and Ashley led them unerringly through a few switchbacks until the end of the tunnel opened on a small curved cavern. The walls of the small enclave had clear signs of tool marks that hadn’t been smoothed away by water and time. But that wasn’t the first thing Chess noticed as they drew close and entered. No, the place reeked of death, old and new, and the trio was coughing through watery eyes before they’d fully entered the place.
Chess lost her lunch the moment she saw what the cave held, spewing blue and black fluid to the side of the tunnel before retching again. “Let's get out of here! There is nothing here worth this,” she said between heaves.
Lynn shook her head firmly, her eyes darting about taking in the crumpled forms and bones Chess was trying not to notice. “No, use your Rot Pyth Ashley, we can’t have these rising now that the ghoul is dead. It will soften the tissue and hopefully help with the smell,” she commanded, being the only one to retain her lunch.
Ashley who had joined Chess in heaving her berry lunch nodded, fumbling through the activation of her ability the two times she could do in a day. The smell only got moderately better. Still gagging and after some prodding from Lynn, the trio started removing half-rotten skulls from the dozens of dead and decaying forms the ghoul had collected in the cave; creating a pile near the entrance. Chess heaved every time her dagger squelched through a rotten neck and it wasn’t long before she was heaving on an empty belly.
She knew she’d have night terrors about this cave for years to come.
“Freya!” Ashley cursed, stumbling back a few steps, the large bowie tight in her fist.
“It...it's breathing!” she choked out when the others looked over from their gruesome tasks.
Lynn came over and stepped in front of Ashley before going to her knee by the crumpled form Ash indicated while Chess hung back.
Lynn threw some debris and offal from atop the furry body. She added anything that could be used as a weapon and carefully searched the form, her rondel dagger hovering over its chest, before waving Ashley forwards to assist her.
“Rat-kin, like some of these others, were I believe,” Lynn pronounced indicating the bodies they’d been decapitating.
“Feel,” Lynn said to Ashley, using the back of her hand to feel the creature's forehead and indicating Ash should do the same.
“Fever?” Ashley wondered aloud.
Lynn nodded. “Help me move him into the tunnel,” she said after prodding the body for a minute.
“Is this safe?” Chess asked, stepping forward to take a closer look. She put an arrow to Sprig's string and stood guard for a second before dropping her hands.
“Rat-kin is one of the acknowledged self-aware species. They’re generally less violent than even tribal cats. Besides, he may know the way out of here,” Lynn explained as she searched the ratkin for more wounds, removing his collection of belts and pouches in the process; handing them off to Ashley.
Ashley nodded in agreement with Lynn. “There were a few Rat-kin families in Reaverpass. His tail isn’t the same though. I’ve never seen one like that before,” Ashley observed pointing out the thin, round, and scale-covered appendage.
“Good, I noticed that too. Time may have been faster here, and they adjusted to fit the environment,” Lynn said.
“Evolved,” Chess supplied thoughtfully. Are dungeons how so many species that can still interbreed came about? She did say time was different in them. It’s something to ask about, she noted to herself.
“Wait,” Chess added with another cough when the others bent to lift the body. She knelt, taking her shield back from Lynn and laying it tight beside the humanoid rat. “Roll him onto his back here, the less he’s jostled the less damage we add,” she instructed, and they did so, revealing how small the kin truly was—a little less than 4 feet—as only his heels protruded past the point of her kite shield.
Chess formed handles from the sides of the shield, and Lynn and she hefted the creature, returning to the chute's edge before putting their new burden down. A thought was tickling the back of her mind at seeing the tail as they walked, but she couldn’t nail it down.
“A knock to his head and these long gashes in his side, aside from the fever. I fear it may be ghoul rot though,” Lynn determined after she and Ashley spent a while inspecting their patient.
“Should I use Lay on Hands?” Ashley offered her hands out ready to cast.
“No, not yet, we don’t know when he last ate. We should at least try to get some water into him,” Lynn said.
With some effort the trio got the prone form to swallow some water and crushed berries before Lynn allowed Ashley to use her ability.
Once Ashely was done applying sap and using lay on hands, Lynn pronounced his fever broken, and after tying him securely hand and foot, they moved him to the side of the tunnel and set camp, and cleaned up using water from the pool below. The fresh air pulled in through the chute and slowly stripped the remaining foul smell from them.
“I don’t think it was the rot,” Lynn said, relieved after another investigation of the rat-kin’s body.
“The nest is too large for one ghoul,” Lynn said with a worried frown once they’d settled down.
“My question is how did it get up here with all these bodies? There were no other entrances,” Chess said, poking her head out of the tunnel, and looking up the long chimney. The light above had disappeared. Huh, nighttime?
“Jump Pyth?” Ashley asked.
Chess looked back and caught Lynn’s nod and a shrug of agreement.
“I have an idea,” Chess said, jumping down to the skull stair and throwing the cord up to Ashley. Together they hauled the mess up and Chess stacked the blocks to close off the entrance of the tunnel leaving a foot or so of air gap at the top. She made all the skulls face the chute with a devious grin before she flowed the wood so it was jammed tight against the walls, securing it in place.
“There!” she said with a smile before flopping on her butt with her back to the new wall. “None shall approach our evil lair!” she crowed.
“All I know is, that was horrible. Fleshless skeletons are a lot less gross,” Ashley proclaimed, spitting the taste from her mouth and indicating back towards the grizzly cavern.
“The glory of being a Delver,” Lynn said with a sigh. “You two should get some sleep if you can. We have to finish what we started back there eventually, maybe another couple castings of your Pyth will help,” she added with a yawn of her own.
Once Chess had secured the entrance with her blocks, Lynn double-checked their captive’s bonds, adding a muzzle before she asked Ashley to use her spell on her to be sure she didn’t have the rot.
“If I have the rot your spell will speed its development before helping me fight it,” Lynn explained. “If I can fight it,” Chess heard her add with a muttered breath.
Thankfully nothing happened, and Lynn let out a deep relieved breath.
Chess pulled out the rancid greenwood lion’s fur and got comfortable. Soon joined by her daughter, she gave the Rat-kin one more look before closing her eyes to try and catch some shuteye.
Instead, she was greeted by a now-familiar message.
A week in Review
Experience:
For defeating enemies in a dungeon with a group numbering less than five. Experience earned: 1000
For challenging a dungeon 2 ranks above your own with a group numbering less than five. Experience earned: 4000
For living for 7 days in a rampant dungeon. Experience earned: 3500
For escaping a stronger enemy without being seen. Experience earned: 500
For successfully evacuating an unresponsive companion from a dangerous situation. Experience earned: 500
For treating an injured sentient creature. Experience earned: 300
For performing music to comfort another, 2. Experience earned: 100
For playing music to inspire others, 2. Experience earned: 200
For playing music to the satisfaction of others, 8. Experience earned: 160
For helping manage the trauma of others, 1. Experience earned: 250
For your group defeating 6 skeletons under level 5. Experience earned: 900
For your group defeating 8 skeletons between levels 6 and 10. Experience earned: 6,000
For your group defeating 11 skeletons between levels 11 and 15. Experience earned: 16,500
For your group defeating 5 skeletons between levels 16 and 20. Experience earned: 10,000
For defeating 1 Greater skeleton over level 20 with less than five people under level 15. Experience earned: 10,000
For defeating a level 13 Abyssal Ghoul with less than five people under level 15. Experience earned: 2,000
For respecting the traditions of others 29, by preserving and storing their heads. Experience earned: 4,350
For crafting 41 basic items. Experience earned: 574
For crafting 32 masterwork Arrows. Experience earned: 448
For crafting 7 superb weapons. Experience earned: 700
For crafting 10 superb pieces of armor. Experience earned: 1000
For crafting 5 detailed masterwork pieces of armor. 2500
For crafting 3 superb tools. Experience earned: 300
For repairing 2 ancient enchanted items. Experience earned: 100
For improving 2 ancient enchanted items. Experience earned: 200
For crafting in a combat situation. Experience earned: 500
For innovative use of the dungeon environment to bypass an obstacle. Experience earned: 2000
For innovative use of the dungeon environment to slow and trap an enemy. Experience earned: 1000
For furthering the evolution of one plant (bramble bush) and adaptation to a new environment. Experience earned: 1000
For creating a working beneficial relationship between two organisms. Experience earned: 1500
For caring for and successfully furthering the mental training of a youth. Experience earned: 500
For adding 1 Snow-Flurry Pyth to your abilities. Experience earned: 100
Total: 72,682
Skill Gains: +1 stealth, +1 spying, +2 swimming, +2 Identify traps, +2 Delver sign language, +5 sculpting, +5 woodworking, +1 first-aid, +2 survival, +1 perform, +2 shields, +2 maces, +1 archery, +1 weaving, +1 mana vision, +4 herbology, +1 guitar, +1 dancing, +1 singing, +2 hunting/gathering, +2 instrument percussion, +2 dodge, +1 medium armor.
Congratulations you have advanced to Low Journeyman in the Bard profession. Bonus skill gains for profession-related skills of your apprentices. Profession toggle now available in your status window.
Congratulations you have advanced to Low Journeymen in the Construction profession. Bonus skill gains for profession-related skills of your apprentices. Toggle ‘show’ in your status to display your ability for all.
Congratulations level up! Level 3, 5 skill points awarded.
Congratulations level up! Level 4, 5 skill points awarded.
“Fuck, that’s a piss-off,” Chess groused. Less than a thousand experience to level 5.
Chess finished pursuing her updated status when it finally came to her and she slapped her forehead, “Muskrat!” she proclaimed.