A Deeper Dive
The collection of broken men and women wander forward, being part of the third foray into the Darkest Dungeon. The supernaturally dark dungeon seems to gape like an open maw as they stand at the entrance. The constant fanged ring opens, showing off the sign of the Ancient. The ancestor had done his homework, as we found out in his most recent memoirs, before his suicide. The longer this war goes on, the more information seems to come in. Some new information contradicts the old, but the newer always trumps previous experiences. It's... odd. The heir proclaims that reality itself is trying to gaslight all of them, including himself. The man had been getting loopy for a while, but after that proclamation he was finally convinced not to join the adventurers again for a while. The different people present looked at eachother, not speaking a word. They do not know eachother, having kept their distance ever since they were gathered up for the purpose of delving into the most horrid place in a location already fraught with horrors from beyond the veil of reality. There are unlikely to return, they already know this. The previous groups did not return, torn to shreds as the heir only barely managed to flee. This is the first time he does not join them, torches affixed to the back of the Plague Doctor. She was a member of the Order of the Blighted Beak, but was expelled after she was found dissecting one of her professors. She did not mind the change of local, for what better laboratory than the blood-soaked battlefields?
Alibert did not much care for her, even though she was as much of a veteran as he was. She is a fine companion in battle, but after all this time they don't know their names. The other two people present are capable fighters, likely on the same level as Alibert and the doctor. Doesn't mean they socialized much. The other woman was a self-admitted bandit chief, and she keeps her face hidden begins a collection of bandages. There were claims that she wasn't disfigured, but wished to remain unrecognized. The only thing visible is blonde hairs, in just that shade that made Alibert ache for a time that must be centuries away.
She was familiar in a lot of ways, but considering the fact that she was human she couldn't possibly be who she is similar to.
The last man is an odd knight. Claimed to be part of the crusader order, but his markings and armor are all wrong. He nearly came to blows with Reynauld over it, but this is no place for infighting.
Entering the lair of the beast was nervewracking by itself, and it didn't take long before they find their first wretch. The familiar sight of a cultist, armed with two claws on each fist and the classic skull and ring mask. Seems ordinary, at first glance, but his flesh is... wrong. His arms move in a manner that seems to imply that his muscles are shaped wrong, like putty slapped over a skeleton. Right behind him are two new appearances. Two people, male and female, both of them naked and on their knees, their face wrought into a horrifying grin as they chewed off their lips. What musculature is visible shows that they are still grinning like madmen. Their flesh is dotted with black, crowlike eyes, blinking and staring. Once upon a time, it would have shocked the adventurers.
As they battled the clawed mass of flesh that was once a common brawler, they remained stoic and capable. They quickly took down the cultists as the gnawing of their own flesh healed the wounds upon the brawler. The terror falls just in short while later, snapping back into a human shape as the flesh cracks and splits from the force. They move on, after taking care of the bleeding wounds they suffered. The strikes did not hurt much, but the bleeding was far worse. Still, the plague doctor was fast and efficient, using some slight magic and a needle and thread.
Similar battled fell upon the adventurers, but they weren't stopped or hardly even slowed. They set up camp where they found the gnawed remains of the first scout, the place where the heir told them to set up camp. It's just before their goal, a creature guarding important relics, needed to make the rest of the dungeon accessible. This is where the last few parties fell, weakened from their assault through the twisted corridors and mindnumbing insanity. The adventurers weathered that storm with dignity, if not grace. The plague doctor was quick to fix up the wounds, sharing unique concoctions and stitching up what would not clot properly. Her mask was ripped off by a particularly dangerous creature, wreathed in robes and capable of unleashing long, spear-like claws from underneath. The wound was small, but her mask was torn beyond repair. Her face was homely, at best, but her eyes carried a fierce energy to them that made her appealing to look at. Alibert felt reminded of his old love. She was a miller's daughter, and they had a child together. The fire took them both, and Alibert found solace in adopting a peculiar little drider. He wondered where she was, and if she was safe.
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Somehow, he doubted it.
The gates opened, and the warriors got together. Speaking for the first time, they discussed their strategies. What they planned. And their last will. Whoever escapes will remember the last will of each. The doctor asked that her research notes be given to the Blighted Beak, under a pseudonym. The knight asked that somebody would bring news to his daughter. The bandit queen declined to make a will, claiming that wills are for people that will die. Cocky. Her voice was all too similar to Sydney, but Alibert was too far gone to care. His request was simple. When they bury him, symbolically or no, send word out to Sydney. She would want to be there.
With breaths gathered, they stepped through the portcullis into the abbattoir of the corrupted Shambler.
The shamblers were not a new phenomenon to them, but this one had been overtaken by the eternally watching and undulating flesh of the Gestating God. How a creature between worlds could have been caught by the more physical is unknown, but unleashed upon the material world it has grown ever more powerful. The fight begins as the creature unleashes scythes of bone and metal, grinding away at anything that gets in the way. The knight takes the brunt of the force, his armor bends, but does not break. The weaker parts of this grinding force break off, and splinter towards the other fighters. The bandit vaults, using her quarterstaff, and avoid any of the shards flying low to the ground. She uses her momentum to crash down upon the creature, using the sharpened ends to rake away several eyes before hopping back. The bounty hunter, the most experienced of the four, stood ready at where the creature's spittle and bile landed. Horrifying flowers of flesh began to bloom, but before they grew impossible to stop the bounty hunter brought his axe crashing down against the tumors of reality. The plague doctor followed his example, spraying a bile so toxic even these creatures will suffer from it. The knight even manages a counterattack before the Shambler screams, and reality seems to... collapse.
Suddenly, the fragile plague doctor stood in front of the gaping maw, the knight is at the back, the bandit standing right beside Alibert. The witch doctor barely had time to scream before the shuffling horror unleased a torrent of flesh from its maw, launching her through the air and against a wall, the bile sticking to her and growing yet more "flowers". She screamed in pain and horror, but the bounty hunter was quick to react. Throwing a small bomb made of flashpowder and with a particular mix introduced to him by the antiquarian, there is a blinding flash of light against the doctor. The flowers, with it's dozen eyes, is at least disturbed by it. It sloughs off the wall, taking the sticky bile with it and giving the plague doctor the ability to reach for her kris. Her research proved accurate enough, sending the flowers bleeding and shriveling with just a few price nicks of her dagger.
The fight continues on for a while. It never gets easier, but people are more prepared for the reality reshuffles. The flowers are taken care of before they form too much of a problem, other than a nasty hit against the former bandit queen. Finally, the creature is finally starting to fail. The blood and poison is proving too much for it, and with a final roar, it shuffles everything for the last time.
Again, the plague doctor is in front of it. This time, the gaping maw shoots forward, beginning to devour her as she screams in agony.
Alibert wasn't entirely sure how fast he was running, but he knows that his legs didn't hurt this much before he arrived. He hauled the full weight of the doctor over his shoulders, removing her from the rows and rows of teeth and spikes. She screamed again, more hoarse this time. The creature begins to shake, and finally explodes outright. Teeth and meat start flying, and from beneath the earth come unearthly screams.
The dash back was harrowing. The bandit queen looked scared, for the first time, as an unstoppable tide of meat, bone and rage chased the adventurers out of the darkest dungeon. They kept closing in, and the hallways only grew darker, yet darker. The torches had gone out, nothing but touch and sound could guide them back to reality. The weight of the doctor kept the bounty hunter grounded, it was all he could think of. Her blood staining his clothes, her ragged breaths, her shaking hands. The flesh tide was close, blood was pooling nearly up to the ankles of the survivors. Suddenly, the knight stopped. He yelled to remember him, as he turned to face the tide. Only the queen saw the impact, but his efforts succeeded. The tide slowed for just a moment as it cracked open the knight's armor, and devoured him. The light was blinding when they came outside, but the tide stopped. As if burned by the light, it retreated, giving a last inhuman howl of rage before slinking back entirely.
Victory. Such as it is.
Later, they found curious trinkets in their backpack. They did not remember picking them up. Strange, glittering torches, let with a black flame that gives no light or heat. Alibert did not care for it. He helped take care of the doctor, trying to get lost in those fierce eyes once more.
For the first time since he arrived, people were free to see him without a helmet. For the first time since he arrived, he actually smiled.
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Also of note: if you succeed in gaining control, the death clock will rewind by at least two steps.
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Topic: Web of Life: A Drider's Adventure (Ended) (Read 189736 times)