Walk of a Phantasm

[Dis Lexic]

You head up to the front of the room where the green skinned person was sat. As you approach, one of their long, batlike ears twitches and they look up to reveal a wide face with high cheekbones, a wide mouth and large, green eyes with green tinted whites, made even larger by the magnification of their goggles. The shift also reveals her figure, which is small, but undoubtedly female. At the sight of you, her lips thin and she pushes up her goggles.

"What do you want mutt?" she asks in a tone just shy of hostile.

You pause, a little taken aback by the unexpected hostility.

"Um, nothing, I just wanted to try and get to know my party members," you say.

The green woman snorts and turns back to her project.

"Names Charlie Redscale, Machinist," she said, "Thats all you need to know, so fuck off."

She ignores you as her long fingers return to their work and quickly reassemble the parts on the table into a large, steampunk style gun with a massive barrel and an equally large rotating drum that she quickly and effectively fills with bullets the size of your thumb, before snapping it shut and nodding.

"That...is a very big gun," you say.

Charlie gives a slightly evil grin in response.

"Oh yeah, Theresa here is more than powerful enough to blow any oversized bug to bits," she says, stroking the massive barrel with the air of someone just a little bit to into their weapon, "Along with any idiot who decides to annoy me."

She shoots a glare your way and you decide to take the hint and back away. You turn back to the room at large and glance at the clock. Judging from the time, you have time to talk to one more group before you have to leave.

Talk to the Holy Warriors.

Try to talk to the still glaring Templars.

And before anyone asks, no, we cant get a gun. The only people who can make any that are reasonably usable by Adventures are the Goblins, who really, REALLY don't like outsiders unless they fly a Jolly Roger and even then, it would take some serious work to get one to trust an outsider enough to actually teach them how to be a Machinist.

 

[Dis Lexic]

Deciding that the men who were looking at you like you were an especially disgusting worm they'd just found under a rock probably won't be very friendly, you instead make your way over to where the two Holy Warriors were sat. Before you can say anything however, the woman looks up and smiles.

"Don't take her attitude to personally young one," she says, "Goblins have not had the best time in recent years and, as a result, are understandably wary of outsiders, especially Humans. I suspect that she may have been more willing to talk to you, but those three being here have likely put her on edge."

She indicates to the Templars.

"I see," you say, "I do think that threatening to shoot me was a bit much though."

"Perhaps, but Charlotte is a skilled and trustworthy person to have on your side in a fight," says the woman, "Despite her foul mouth and worse attitude."

A balled up piece of paper bounces off the back of her head.

"SCREW YOU RAVEN BITCH!"

The woman completely ignores the Goblin as her companion chuckles softly.

"But where are my manners," she says, "I am Angela, a Witch in the service of the Eyes of Heaven, Mugen and this is my protector and partner, the Paladin Jackson."

"Charmed," says Jackson with a slight bow.

"I'm Alex," you say, "I'm...sort of new."

"Oh, that much is obvious," says Angela, fixing you with a rather strange look, "My Lords presence has only barely brushed you. I sincerely hope that you do not know his touch for a very long time to come."

"Um, thank you?" You say, not entirely sure if thats a good thing or not.

"If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask," says Angela, "We have a little more time."

You hesitate for a moment. On one hand, you are rather interested in the history that made the Goblins so hostile, but on the other, you know practically nothing about the Clergy of this world or how it all works.

Ask for more details on the Goblins recent plight.

Ask for more details about the Clergy.

 

[Dis Lexic]

Well that was a decidedly lukewarm reaction. Oh whatever, I'm mostly doing this for fun anyway. Lets see if we can get more reactions from an actual story post, eh? I'll go with the previous choice since, well, thats what really stumped me last time. Turns out, figuring out how to translate the ideas of a fictional religion to text is harder than it looks. Anyway, enough of that, lets go.

"I haven't met anyone from the Church before," you say, "I'm curious as to what sets you guys apart from other Adventurers."

"Ah, a good question," said Angela, "The simple answer is that we channel the powers of our patron Deity through prayer and rituals. The process is simpler than Magic as it simply requires one to memorise scripture, but it takes a lot of mental strength to withstand the after effects."

"After effects?" you ask.

She smiles a little thinly.

"I'm sure that you've noticed that Jackson and I don't exactly look...normal, yes?" she asks, "Mortals are not meant to touch the power of the Divine and doing so has a tendency to change the user. The exact effect depends on the Deity, the person and how and how much they use their powers. Those who can withstand the Divinity flowing through them will retain their Human form and faculties, while those who cannot..."

She trails off with a grim look on her face.

"Death is considered a mercy for them," says Jackson, "Fortunately, such individuals are rare and usually only occur when someone is foolish enough to dabble in the Priestly Arts without supervision and training."

For a moment, the two remain silent, heads bowed, before Angela sighs and looks up again.

"But enough about our fallen comrades, you wish to know more about our orders, correct?"

Ask for more details.

Excuse yourself and take a seat to wait for the briefing to begin.

 

[Dis Lexic]

"If at all possible," you say.

"Well, its not exactly a secret," says Angela, "Hmm, I don't think we have time for a full lecture on the Gods and their roles, so I guess I should just cover the basics."

She clears her throat and sits up straighter with the air of a teacher preparing to give a lecture.

"At its core, the Clergy is split into four broad categories," she begins, "Priests and Paladins serve as the representations of their Deities benevolent side, offering healing, protection and divine aid to those in need. Witches and Dreadnoughts serve the Deities more...dark inclinations. While they still act for the good of others, they are more direct, removing threats directly, placing curses and dealing out Divine justice. Each Gods will have different ratios of followers, with the Healer having more Priests, while the Crawling One has more Witches and so on. Most serve the temples directly, so its fairly rare for a member of the Clergy to be involved in a Guild quest unless they requested it, but the Watcher is Patron of Travellers, which includes Adventures, so our order are permitted to join the Guild to assist Adventurers."

"Huh, interesting set up," you say, "So Witches and Priests are Magic focused, while Paladins and Dreadnoughts are melee?"

"More martial than melee," says Angela, "Some orders have a focus on archers than knights."

You are about to question her further, but before you can, Sam steps up to the front of the room where a chalk board is set up and clears his throat.

"Alright, now that everyones here and we're all set, we can get started," he says.

You quickly take a seat as the others present all turn their attention forwards.

"Alright, the mine where the spiders are infesting is located in the hills just outside the town," he says, "We're not entirely sure where the spiders have come from, although the miners that reported it mentioned breaking into something underground, so keep an eye out. The spiders themselves shouldn't be to dangerous, but they do have a nasty bite, so we'll be providing antidotes and our Clerics can remove it if needed. That said, please don't get bitten if you can help it."

He pauses and picks up a stick of chalk and starts drawing.

"We'll split into groups, with melee fighters up front and our ranged fighters supporting from the back. I'll leave which group you go with up to you since you all know your strengths best."

He puts down the chalk and turns back to the room.

"Finally, I probably don't need to say this, but keep your eyes peeled and guards up. This is a D rank Quest, so we're not expecting much in the way of threats, but experience has taught me to expect the unexpected. There is a chance that something much bigger and nastier is lurking in those mines. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I've got one," says one of the sneering knights, getting to his feet, "Why is a newt like you in charge? And why are you letting scum like that join us?"

He jabs a finger at Charlie, who turns and fixes the Human with a glare.

"You trying to pick a fight Lambbrain?" she sneers.

The Knights friends grab him and try to stop him, but he shrugs them off and takes a step forwards, a hand going to his sword.

"Try it greenskin," he snarls, "I'll put you back where you belong!"

Charlie's cheeks darken as she scowls and goes for her gun. However, before things can escalate, Sam steps between them, a thunderous look on his face.

"ENOUGH!" he thunders in a voice loud enough to shake the windows, "This is not the time or place to start fighting! Charlie, put that away."

Charlie scowls, but does as she is told as Sam turns to the knights.

"And you, stand down and keep your mouth shut," he says, "You took this mission knowing full well that you'd likely be working with non-Humans and the Guildmaster accepted your request. You don't have to like or approve of anyone here, but you will keep your thoughts to yourself and work with us, understand?"

The knight glowers for a moment, before relenting and sheathing his sword. Sam glares at him for a moment longer, then turns back to the room at large.

"Alright, now that thats out of the way, lets get going," he says, "Melee fighters with me, range with Angela."

The Witch waves and the party starts sorting itself out. After a moments thought, you decide to join...

Sam. Now is a good chance to get some experience with your sword.

Angela. Practice with Magic is always a good thing.

 

[Dis Lexic]

Once the party was done sorting itself out, you head out, making your way through town until you reach the hill where the mine was located. A small group of soldiers are stationed outside the mine, armed with long spears and not looking entirely pleased at their posting. A few dead spiders the size of large dogs are piled nearby, which Charlie and Angela immediately headed over to while Sam approached the apparent leader of the detachment. They exchanged a few words, before the leader of the party rejoins the group and clears his throat.

"Alright, according to Captain Philips, the top level of the mine is mostly clear, but they don't know what its like further down," he says, "Apparently, there are a few miners unaccounted for, so keep an eye open. Its doubtful we'll find them alive, but we can still try to retrieve the bodies."

He turns to the Witch and Machinist as they rejoin the group as well.

"Do you two have anything?"

"Theres something a bit odd about these spiders," says Charlie, "Giant spiders like these aren't usually to fond of the surface and tend to be reluctant to leave their lairs when theres plenty of things to eat underground. Normally, once any intruders escape, they are happy to let them go and certainly wouldn't chase them into the sunlight, doubly so if there was a genuine threat outside. These spiders however have been throwing themselves at the guards. Its like something is forcing them out."

Sam groans and rubs his eyes.

"Oh fabulous," he grumbles, "Well, to late to back down now and I doubt its anything to powerful."

He sighs and draws his sword, which seems to be made of some kind of bone.

"Alright people, lets move," he calls and leads the way into the mines.

Once inside, the party quickly sorts itself into the planned formation. Jackson, Cassie and one of the knights took point with their shields, with you and Sam behind them with your swords at the ready and Wyld acting as a scout. A short distance behind, the ranged fighters follow with their weapons at the ready. For the first floor, nothing much happens and everything seems normal, but almost as soon as you make your way down to the next level, you are attacked by spiders larger than the ones outside. They don't pose much of a threat, with the swords of the vanguard making short work of the oversized arachnids, but their suicide attack seems to worry the more experienced party members. The worry only increases as you continue into the mine and the walls are quickly covered in spider webs and more of the webs occupants start attacking.

Eventually, you reach a large chamber that seems to be set up as a rest stop of sorts, complete with tables, benches, storage chests of food and tools and even some beds. The place is covered in cobwebs, but Sam decides to take the opportunity to rest and eat before continuing. After reminding everyone to keep their eyes peeled, the party splits up and starts either looking around or sitting down to rest. After accepting some hard bread from Cassie, you decide to...

Search some of the footlockers at the foot of the bed.

Take a look through some of the storage boxes near the surface entrance of the chamber.

Take some time to rest.

 

[Dis Lexic]

You wonder over to the piled up crates close to the entrance of the chamber and start rummaging through them. Most of them contain nothing more than ore from the mine, mixed with some rarer things that had been found. However, one of the boxes contains a number of old artefacts, most of which had a spider theme or motif. Among them is a dagger with a guard shaped like a spider with a large ruby set into it that glowed faintly and gave off a rather sickly smell.

"Hey boss, we might have a problem!" calls Charlie from where she was snooping around the sleeping area.

"Whats wrong?" asks Sam as he joins the short goblin.

The green woman holds up the book she is holding.

"I found the foremans journal," she says, "It looks like they stumbled on something while they were digging, an abandoned Temple of some sort buried deep underground."

"A temple?" asks Sam, sounding rather surprised, "What kind of temple?"

"The Widow," says Charlie grimly.

"Dark Elves, shit," growls Sam, "Well, that explains where the spiders came from at least."

"Yeah, but it doesn't look like the temples in use," says Charlie.

"Well thats something," says Sam, "Alright, give me the book and lets have a look."

He takes the journal and moves off to the side while the rest of the party goes back to what they were doing, now with an air of nervousness that wasn't there before and with weapons close at hand. Cassie looks up at you from where she is sat at the table nearby.

"You look confused," she says, "I'm guessing you don't know much about Dark Elves?"

"Not really," you say, a little embarrassed.

"I'm not that surprised really," says Cassie, "They aren't exactly the friendliest species out there and tend to spend all their time deep underground and those who do live on the surface tend to live entirely in the darkness, working as thieves and assassins. They also have a nasty habit of delving into Magics best left buried. If the miners here stumbled on one of their Temples, even an abandoned one, it spells trouble since theirs sure to be some nasty stuff hidden inside."

"So, what happens now?" you ask, "This doesn't exactly seem like the mission we signed up for."

"Well, no, but if the temple really is abandoned, the risk won't increase that much, not with two Clerics and Sam here," she says, "There might be something more dangerous than standard spiders down there, but its unlikely to be much stronger than a Spider Mother, so we can handle it. It really depends on whether or not Sams willing to take the risk."

As if on cue, the lizard-man opens his eyes and clears his throat, getting attention from the party.

"Alright people, you all heard Charlie," he says, "This mission just got a little more complicated. I can't find any indication in the journal that theres anything to dangerous down here, but there is a risk that we'll run into something nasty. If you want to turn back now, I won't blame you and nows the time."

He looks around the chamber as the party shifts a little. You swallow a little and think carefully. On one hand, this sounded a little more dangerous than you were expecting. On the other, this was an excellent chance to get some real experience and exploring ruins had a high chance of yielding all sorts of interesting treasures. Plus, falling back would mean you don't get payed.

Push forwards.

Fall back.

 

[Dis Lexic]

After a moments pause, Sam nods.

"Not that I expected anything different, but thank you," he says, "Alright, we'll be moving out in five. Check your weapons and get ready for potential sneak attacks. Dark Elves are a lot sneakier than spiders are."

The party once again starts moving around the cavern, this time with far more focus and speed. You move to join them in double checking your equipment, but before you can, the light reflecting off the spider dagger catches your eye again and you hesitate. On one hand, it sounds like the Dark Elves are not the type to create benign artefacts and the thing is rather creepy, on the other, it probably has some interesting properties and could be useful later since it has the look of a ritual dagger of some kind.

Take the dagger. It could be very useful later.

Leave it where it is. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Dis Lexic]

After a moments thought, you turn away from the crate and call Sam over.

"Whats up Alex?" he asks as he approaches.

"I found this in one of the crates," you say, pointing at the dagger.

Sam frowns as he eyes that spidery weapon.

"Thats...interesting," he says, "I can tell its enchanted, but I can't tell with what."

He turns and catches Angela's eye, indicating for the Witch to come over. She did so and her eyes widened the moment she saw the dagger.

"Oh my, that is a rare find," she says, picking up the weapon and examining it closely, "An Athame of the Widow."

"A ritual knife?" asks Sam.

"Of a sort," says Angela, "Weapons like this are used by the members of the Widows Death Cult, basically a religious order of assassins. They carry a curse that makes them able to bypass almost any form of defence and act as a key of sorts to allow the Cult member to locate and enter safe houses."

She frowns.

"They also have a nasty habit of showing up and being found by people who need them. No ones entirely sure how that particular trick works, but the Widow is the sister of the Weaver, so perhaps the Lady of Fate has something to do with it."

She thinks for a moment, then hands the dagger to you.

"Take it or leave it, the choice is yours," she says, "The knife itself is safe, but fair warning. If the Weaver or whatever force guided you to the dagger, theres a good chance that it will lead you nowhere good. It will be an interesting destination, but its doubtful that you'll enjoy it much, even if you end up much better for it."

She grins.

"Oh, and the Widow Cultists tend to react badly to people outside their order holding the daggers, so keep that in mind."

You stare at the dagger, feeling for all the world like something is leaning over your shoulder, watching you closely. On one hand, the weapons sounds like a very useful tool, on the other, it comes with a laundry list of potential problems.

Take the Athame. Adventures thrive on adversity and it would be incredibly useful in the future.

Leave it where it is. You'll have plenty of adversity without inviting more.

Oh, and before I forget, due to its status as an already enchanted bit of gear AND one connected to a Deity, we cant apply the crystal to the dagger.

 

[Dis Lexic]

With no sheath available, you are forced to wrap the Athame in part of a bedsheet to safely stow it in your bag, doing your best to ignore the smug smile Angela was directing your way in the process. With that out of the way, the party regathers and continues deeper into the mines. Almost immediately, it becomes clear the the spiders are intent on completely claiming the mines for their own as the walls are covered in webs and more than once you have to cut your way through walls of the sticky substance that had been spun across the tunnel. Occasionally, someone finds a dead body of one of the unlucky sods who hadn't managed to escape wrapped up in the web, mostly desiccated and dried out with massive fang marks on their chests, but a few appeared to have exploded from the inside out while still alive if the looks on their faces were anything to go by.

It is difficult to truly keep time underground, not helped in the slightest by the increasingly frequent and vicious attacks, but after what feels like hours, the party eventually reach the deepest parts of the mines where part of the wall had collapsed, revealing what appeared to be a brick wall composed of shiny black stone, which had also been broken down. A chamber had been excavated around the hole in the wall, clearly intended for use as a base camp for those exploring the newly uncovered structure, and had held a number of crates similar to the ones up above, but they were now all broken and covered in yet more cobwebs.

However, something is different about this room. You are unsure as to what it is, but your nose itches and your hackles are rising as every one of the instincts you have, both old and new, are screaming at you that something is very wrong. Apparently, you are not alone in this feeling as Wyld is growling faintly from where she is practically clinging to Sams back, Charlie is muttering to herself in a language you dont recognise and holding her gun a lot tighter than she had been and the two Clerics are as tense as bowstrings. The three normal Humans in the group seem less effected, but still clearly uncomfortable.

"Somethings not right here," says Sam, "It feels almost like a Sanctified Temple, but I've never felt anything like this."

"Your right, this place isn't Sanctified," says Jackson, "Its Desecrated. Something happened here, something horrific that went against everything the Gods stand for."

"Like what?" asks Cassie.

"A Falling," says Angela, tightening her grip on her staff, "One of the Clerics who served the Widow here turned their backs on their God and used the power of the Temple to perform a ritual most vile. Something truly evil happened here, something that cannot be allowed to escape."

As if on cue and against all logic and reason, a gust of wind blew out of the hole, carrying the stench of decay and poison, causing the party to recoil. Sam curses and shakes his head.

"Damn it, I should have known something like this would happen," he growls, "Well, we can't very well turn back now. Lets get this over with."

He squares his shoulders and walks through the hole, quickly followed by the rest of the party.

On the other side of the wall, you find yourself in a large hall full of shelves and podiums, most of which held all manner of artefacts that even your untrained eye can tell have great significance. Some of the shelves and podiums are empty, their continence loaded into yet more crates ready to be transported out.

"Looks like they managed to break into the main treasure room of the temple," says Charlie, "That was lucky."

"Indeed," says Angela, "And they managed to disarm whatever security was here. Interesting..."

She walks over to the massive double doors at one side of the room and starts examining them. The rest of the Party follows her, but you notice that the three rude Templars linger at the back and, when it appears no one is watching, split off and duck into the stacks, quickly disappearing from view. You pause and glance at the rest of the party, who don't seem to have noticed. You hesitate for a moment. On one hand, this was an interesting place and Sam hadn't said to stick together just yet, so they could just be curious or even just looking for treasure. On the other, the way they were acting was extremely suspicious. That said, interrupting Sam and Angela at the moment seemed to be a rather bad idea.

Ignore the Templars. They're rude, but theres no need to suspect them of foul play because of that and being a little shifty.

Go after them. They are acting very strangely and you don't trust them at all.

Tell Sam. A bit childish, but this situation isn't exactly the sort of one where you should be going off on your own.

 

[Dis Lexic]

"Ah, Sam, a word," you say.

"Whats up?" asks the white lizardman.

"Those three templars just went off on their own," you say, pointing in the direction the three knights had gone.

Sam turns with a frown.

"Oh for...thats all we need," he grumbles, "Angela?"

"This will take a while," says the Witch, not looking up from the door, "Temple Treasuries always have a lot of security and this is especially nasty."

"Right, in that case, I'll leave you to it," says Sam, "Charlie, Alex, come with me, the rest of you, stay put."

"Is that really necessary?" asks Charlie, "Its not like they'd come after us if we went missing."

"True, but we're currently a party and that means we don't leave anyone behind," says Sam.

The sharpshooter scowls, but follows Sam as he leads the two of you in the direction the Templars had vanished in.

The Treasury wasn't actually that large, although the way it was constructed and laid out meant that sound was absorbed fairly well. However, despite that, it didnt take long before you got close enough to be able to hear the three men. Sam leads the way to the end of the shelf and stops, pressing a finger to his lips as you and Charlie stop behind him and settles in to listen to the conversation.

"...this it?" one of them is saying.

"I think so," says a second.

"Finally, I'm not sure how much longer I could take taking orders from that scaled freak," growled the third, "Hey Richter, any chance we can deal with those freaks? We could have some fun with the bitches to."

"You my friend have a problem," says the first voice, "I dont know how you can possibly find those animals attractive. Then again, that traitor bitch is rather easy on the eyes. Maybe we could grab her and take her home? She'd make a great addition to the pleasure house, once shes been broken in a little."

"Quiet, both of you," growls the apparent leader, "We dont want to get caught."

"Aww, whats the problem Richter?" asks the first man, "They're just a bunch of pathetic Adventurers, we can take em!"

"You really don't pay attention to the briefings, do you?" growls Richter, now sounding really annoyed, "Our 'glorious leader' is the White Dragon! Hes an A ranked Adventurer and a fucking Dragon Phantasm! We can't beat him without an entire platoon and even then, he'd probably flatten us!"

The other twos exclamations of surprise were cut off as Sam apparently got tired of listening and stepped around the corner.

"Well, I guess my reputation proceeds me," he says as the Templars spin around, drawing their weapons.

"You!" hisses Richter.

"Me," says Sam, "I should have known something was off about you three from the start. Templars of the Ram don't just randomly show up and offer to help with Guild Quests, especially when the leader is a Beastman."

He smiles a cold smile.

"So, what are you after?" he asks, "A Magical item? Or some kind of lost Magic? Just what Dark Elf treasure is your magpie of a Master after this time?"

"Don't talk about Lord Peter like that scum!" snarls one of the two minions.

"I'll talk about him however I want," says Sam, "Tell me, is he still limping or have you idiots managed to heal the scars I gave him yet?"

Richter grabs his subordinates before they can pounce at the squad leader, although its clear that hes just as angry as them.

"Strong words for a coward who stabbed him in the back," sneers Richter.

"Is that what he told you happened?" asks Sam, looking like hes enjoying himself, "Guess I'll have to enlighten you as you as to what really happened. But first..."

His amusement vanishes as he draws his sword, the bone white blade lighting up with a faint glow that crackles slightly like lightning.

"Hand over whatever it is you've taken."

Richter scowls and reaches into his tabard.

"Go to hell Beastman!" he snarls as he whips something out and smashes it on the floor.

Intently, the entire room is filled with a black fog that completely blocks your vision and fills your nostrils with a foul smell. You hear Sam and Charlie collapse, choking on the smoke. However, aren't as badly effected and, while you cant see or smell anything, you can hear the three Templars sprint away in the direction you are pretty sure is the hole in the wall. You are fairly sure you can track them by sound, although exactly how much you'll be able to do without being able to see. That said, once you got out of the smoke, you would be able to stop them. On the other hand, fighting three well trained soldiers alone is probably a bad idea, so it may be better to stay put until you can see again.

Try to go after the Templars.

Stay put.