And we are back! Like the Backstreet Boyz.
The party of prisoners had just been incarcerated into the foreboding Mount Grimrock, a place from which none escaped!
The prisoners are as follows:
Rakeesh, the mighty Minotaur Warrior! He specializes in axes, and wearing armor the easier for him to plow into his foes and go toe to toe with them, until they are ripped into pieces.
Xin, a mysterious monk from the far East. He chooses to wield no weapon nor wear any armor, for that is because his own body is a living weapon. Introspective to a fault, his training in the Eastern martial arts gives him snake like speed and blows that hit like charging rhinoceros.
Then we have
Crysania, the beautiful and seductive courtesan of the Empire. She had just been inducted into the court to be the Concubine of the Emperor, but the evil Vizier detected that she had within her the taint of a daemon, and declared her to be an assassin plotting to bewitch and kill the Emperor. He did not know how right he was, for
Crysania's family was slaughtered by the Emperors troops many years ago, and she lusts for revenge. Making a pact with a Demon, she was granted power over the element of fire. Now she must escape Grimrock and take revenge for the wrong done to her.
Lastly, the mysterious
Erasmus the Eternal, a powerful Aeromancer with dark arts and darker intentions. The less known about him the better.
After only a few minutes of deliberation, the four prisoners decide to combine their respective talents to increase their chances of survival and escape.
First, they investigate their surroundings, and see that they are in a dank dungeon with only one apparent exit.
As they start to move, Erasmus detects something unusual about the wall near to them. Walking over he presses a cunningly camouflaged button and wall slides open.
A secret trove! Who could have left this pair of quality boots here?
While the others marvel at the craftsmanship of the statue, Xin recogonizes the boots as those worn by the master assassins of the Moth Brotherhood, erstwhile foes and sometimes allies of his order. He tries them on and finds that they fit, muffling all sound he makes yet also providing him with a firm grip on the slick stone slabs of the dungeon floor.
They make their way to the iron grate barring the exit and come across a riddle carved into the stone slabs. Erasmus the Eternal, master of archaic tongues long forgotten translates for the others. Unknown to him, the daemon hidden inside of Crysania too translates the language for her, but she chooses to keep this a secret. For now.
Rakeesh picks up the flickering torch from the sconce, intending to use it not only as a source of light but as a potential weapon should need arise. They then open the grate and cautiously move forward. The chamber gives with to a long passageway, and after a few twists and turns they realize the entire cavernous complex of Mount Grimrock would be similar in fashion. Whichever civilization had carved these tunnels into the underbelly of the mountain was long forgotten, their reasons lost to the mists of time. The place was riddled with side passages, hidden tunnels, and canny motors and undoubtedly traps as well.
Sometime later they came across a grate with a keyhole to the side. It was locked.
After searching in a side passage, Erasmus detected another secret door and within they found a key!
Rakeesh was delighted to find a weapon hidden away in a niche in the wall, and eagerly picked it up, testing the weight. It was a crude stone hammer, and it would serve for now until he got hold of something better. Hopefully a massive 2 handed steel axe!
Returning to the locked grate, they opened it with the key and proceeded onwards. This seemed far easier than they had dared hope! Those hopes however were dashed as they rounded a corner and saw a massive, disgusting slug!
It rushed towards them before they could act, but lucking Rakeesh's battleinstincts took over and the massive minotaur chopped at the creature with his crude stone hammer!
His blow bounced off the creatures shell, which was hard as rock. As it opened it's maw to bite the minotaurs arm off though, Xin switched into a martial arts stance and snapped off a swift and focused palm kick at the creatures jaw, cracking it's head to the side.
The demon blood within Crysania sang a bittersweet song of destruction and ruin, and she quickly traced the outline of a secret and devastatingly powerful rune of fire in the air. There was a whoosh of air as it was sucked from the chests of Rakeesh and Xin and they instinctively ducked as a blast of scorching fire erupted from Crysania's palms and tore into the slug!
It hissed in pain, it's flesh melting and erupting in sores. Erasmus made a quick gesture with a hand and a crackling blot of lightning ripped into the creature and it crashed to the floor, it's corpse twitching as it was devoured by hungry flames.
The four adventurers looked at each other, silently acknowledging each others talents and acknowledging also, that this would be the greatest trial any of them had ever faced. It was doubtful they would get out alive, but they knew they had to give it their all, or perish deep within the bowels of Mount Grimrock!
Metro DarkUnderlord Cosmic Misogynerd Azira Cassidy