Act II: Lut Gohlein
Part A: If It Smells Like A Rat...
"Hey, thanks Warriv!" Duo called, waving at the caravan driver. Warriv waved back, smiling. He could feel hope, real hope, for a safe, happy future because of those adventurers. Perhaps... perhaps they really could defeat Diablo, Mephisto and Baal.
"Hn. Who are we contacting?" Heero asked. Duo pulled out a map scroll. The town Lut Gohlein centered on the map.
From what they could see, Deckard Cain had already made himself comfortable. After a brief discussion with him, they began to explore. They found a nice Inn, though the owner seemed deeply distressed.
Quatre had zeroed in on her, even while the others were gesturing him to come away. He placed a compassionate hand on her shoulder.
"What troubles you, Ma'am?" Quatre asked softly. The woman looked up at him. Her eyes seemed haunted by pain.
"Something evil lives 'neath the city. It feeds on human flesh, and has claimed the lives of many in this city, including my own husband and son. I won't demand you help me, but I will ask you. Please, destroy this evil. You will find the entrance to the sewers in the centre of the city. However, there is another dockside entrance you many prefer. My name is Atma. I will await you here. And pray for your safety."
Sewers... ugh... but anything...
"We will of course help you," Quatre said soothingly. Atma bowed her head, and they brought their things to the Inn. Atma graciously let them stay there for free. While Quatre unpacked his few belongings, Trowa spoke to him.
"Why did you promise such a thing? Our quest is to stop Diablo, not to kill oversized sewer rats!" Trowa said harshly. Quatre stared at him openly.
"Did it occur to you that if Diablo came here, he might, just might, be responsible for the evil creature in the sewers? And if we are not doing this for the people, just who are we doing it for?" Quatre demanded. Trowa remained silent. One of his ravens poked him.
"Stop that..." he muttered to the raven. Quatre returned to his unpacking, hiding a smile. Trowa did not miss the smile. "They agree with you. Are you ready to depart?"
'No.' "Yes, of course." Quatre smiled more openly at Trowa. He shut the drawers of the dresser and walked out of the room.
This is still a waste of time... thought Trowa as he followed Quatre out the door. Duo, Heero and Wufei met them outside. Heero and Duo were standing with Wufei between them, and they were currently not talking to each other. Again.
And we are to defeat Diablo? Quatre asked himself, shaking his head. "Let's go, the dockside entrance sounds better." He strode purposefully past an older man standing on the dock until he reached a set of stairs. He went down until he saw a door that had a rather pungent stench. He looked back at his companions, then opened the door. The scent of dank, stale air reached his nostrils. He tried not to curl his nose as he walked in.
For a sewer, there was a remarkable lack of actual water. The sewer was made of small, tan bricks. There were archways and even burning torches.
"Hey it's even homey! Just a few doilies... some tables, a couple of chairs..." Duo said, voice echoing in the darkness.
"Right or left?" asked Heero, ignoring Duo.
Wufei scouted the area ahead. "Right," he said briefly.
"Right-o," Duo said with a grin, heading off, his undead trailing behind him. Heero muttered something under his breath. When they found him again, he was standing between two more hallways.
"What are you waiting for?" Heero asked. Duo bowed before him, entirely mocking.
"Your esteemed presence of course," he said. Heero rolled his eyes and went left. However, in Heero's haste, he ran straight into a red skeleton. Backing up, he saw it take aim at him. Quickly he struck it, and it shattered into red bits.
"Hostiles ahead," he warned. He heard calls of acknowledgment from the others. Ultimately, going right left them in circles, so they headed back and now went left...
And promptly lost themselves in a myriad of passages, all of which seemed to lead them around in circles, leaving inert corpses in their wake.
At least it's clean, Quatre thought to himself after what seemed like a dozen skirmishes. Finally they found a staircase going down, lit by a pair of low torches that flickers as weak beacons against the darkness. Quatre eyed the stairs warily, but descended. The others followed one by one.
The dank second level was similar to the first. Bats fluttered between the shadows as they began to explore. In one larger area they stumbled upon the bodies of several guards and nude, chained maidens. They shivered and continued on. More red skeletons awaited them around every corner.
In addition, tall tan-skinned creatures also awaited them, wielding two pairs of swords. These creatures, called Invaders, were dangerous and tough. The torches lit their way to the next set of stairs down.
"I am detecting a theme here," Duo muttered. Quatre smiled, and once again they went down the stairs. Once on the third sewer level, they spotted more red skeleton archers and to go with them, red skeleton mages. Duo's own skeleton mages exchanged fireballs until one of them collapsed. Fortunately, it was most often that the enemy fell to red bits.
"Well, I think I can safely state that there are no giant sewer rats in here," Quatre muttered to himself, though the remark was not lost to Trowa. He smiled quietly to himself.
"I can admit that I'm wrong," Trowa said, bowing slightly to the blond sorcerer. Quatre flushed to his roots and continued along the twisted, brick corridors. In those corridors they encountered more red archers and mages, as well as ghouls, hideous creatures wrapped in peeling bandages that had a poisonous touch. When Heero felled one with a strong blow, it released a cloud of noxious poison.
Heero stumbled back, choking, into the range of another ghoul. Trowa's ravens harassed the ghoul until Heero could step far enough away for Trowa to open a fissure under the ghoul, frying it nicely. Another skeleton, a black one wielding an ax charged forward.
"That's new!" Duo said, aiming a bone spear at the skeleton. It died, and as Duo paused for breath, it reanimated, lurching forward again. "Oh-kay, I can see how that would be a tad unsettling," Duo muttered. He aimed another spell at the skeleton and once again it died.
"What's doing that?" Heero demanded, charging forward, to be met with a tall figure, with two great claws that made gestures in the air, raising fallen skeletons. It noticed Heero, some intelligence sparking in it's dark eyes.
"Who steps into the Lair of Radament?" hissed a low, dark voice. Heero blinked and watched bolts of lightning shoot past him and hit Radament. Heero blinked, but did not question it. He hit the creature squarely in the arm. It hissed angrily.
Heero paused, then watched as a bone spear, three fireballs and more electricity hit the creature, then a volcano appeared under it. Heero grinned fiercely. Attacking as a team, they quickly disposed of Radament. Turning, Heero spotted a glowing chest. He gestured the others forward, even as he approached the chest. He opened it, and inside they found a great deal of gold, a few potions and a scroll. Heero looked at it, unable to make sense of it.
They rested and regrouped, then returned to the surface. They returned to Atma, reporting to her the encounter in the sewers. She nodded sadly. She appeared to have a quiet sort of inner strength from which she drew.
"They say the taste of vengeance is bittersweet, but I find it to my liking. You have my eternal gratitude. I have also spoken to the other townsfolk, who have graciously offered to lower their prices. Please remember that because you are the first to come here in many months, we are all desperate to gather funds with which we can trade," Atma said, voice low and even. Duo mouthed something suspiciously like "aha!"
To Be Continued... *insert demonic laughter here*
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Back to Act Ih (not available)
On to Act IIb