Zalan struggled under Hatewing’s claw, but the slightest movement sent pain spiraling through his body. His arm was almost certainly broken and he couldn’t move an inch from under the claw.
He looked at his friends to see how they were doing. Rep was staring at hi...
“Rep, can I borrow your sword?” Zalan asked.
Rep immediately handed over his sword, not a moment’s hesitation.
“Any idea you have is much better than my lack of idea or ability. Take everything you need,” Rep said earnestly, watching Hatewing’s eyes for ...
“Run! Run!” Yelsa cried. “I will battle Docrun over taking on an Elemental Dragon! Just get me out of here!”
“What’s an Elemental Dragon?” Zalan asked, backing away from the hulking creature as it embodied the entire chamber and spread its wings. Its blac...
“He’s coming up the stairs!” Zalan hissed urgently.
The others immediately dragged themselves to the edge of the stairs to confirm. They watched in horror. As soon as they reached over the edge, they witnessed Docrun stepping up another stair, then inspe...
Zalan looked up at the newest room they entered. They were at the foot of a giant spiral staircase leading to where the dragon and treasure lay. He was breathing laboriously, rubbing at the throbbing wound in his bruised neck. He looked around at his friends, trying to get a fe...
Zalan could feel Docrun running after him as much as he could hear his thunderous steps. He threw a bolt of lightning behind him without looking and heard Docrun stumble for a moment as Rep’s hand reached out and touched the handle. Rep grasped tightly, then had his face smashe...
The reanimated, Fleshless King Docrun stood numbly, waiting silently. Zalan saw that hanging from his hip was a white, dimly shining object. Half of it was an hourglass, and the other was a skeleton head that the sand would pour into, except there was no san...
The group got to their feet after having had long enough to appreciate the fact they wouldn’t be trapped inside the Chaos Chamber until the end of time.
“I ran too fast and abandoned my arrows. I left about half,” Yelsa noted, looking over her quiver.
...
“This cannot be right,” Fran said, punching the wall furiously. “I just destroyed this stone!”
“The Chaos Chamber repairs itself?” Yelsa asked Rep, terrified.
“I do not know. I was only told they are unpredictable and one should never enter one,” Re...
The five gathered below the yellow artifact, its monochrome yellow hue overpowering any other colors they brought in with them.
“A Chaos Chamber? What is that?” Fran asked Rep.
Rep was staring intently at the ceiling, then looked around them cautiously, his e...
They waited a long while in the room. The wings, shrieks, and door-scratches of the Razortongues soon decrescendoed and dissipated when they could no longer hear the adventurers on the other side of the door. The danger felt like it was over, save for Rep’s injury. Af...
“Rep!” Zalan jumped up and rushed over to him, looking over the wound spilling freely on the floor. “Stop the bleeding! That’s a bad cut!”
Yelsa hopped up and poured water over the wound as Rep bit his lip and winced in pain. Zalan took his sword and cut off th...
Zalan breathed easier once he could see the top of the set of stairs, confirming that there were no more Melders in the large chamber. He waved his friends forward, encouraging them to come up as well, free from any imminent dangers. The next floor greeted them with a lar...
Zalan gripped the armrests of the chair tightly as he stared at the door in front of him. The rational part of his mind knew that something was wrong. He shouldn’t be at the hospital. But his heart was running on all cylinders, crashing against his chest and desp...
The group prowled forward, remaining as quiet and cautious as they could whenever they crossed into a new room. They had traversed three chambers so far, each one growing darker as sunlight dim and sparse. They were searching for an area with stairs, as tha...
The group assessed themselves before continuing into the castle. Yelsa’s foot was still slightly wounded which caused her to lean heavily on her good leg, but she insisted that she was fine to continue, eager to go home as soon as possible. Rep and Fran had no signs of injuries, leaving...
2024-02-14 17:03:15 +0000 UTC View Post
“What… what do I do?” Zalan screamed, raising his sword at the creature.
The new Narg was taking in the scene. The injured Narg with Fran, Gorb, and Rep on one end of the field outside the gate, and Zalan in front of it. The Narg grunted in a deep croak and be...
The Narg looked like a troll with an amphibious frog-face. It wore flattened metals as armor on its body and had spikes protruding from the back of its prodigious head. Its eyes were uncanny, small, round, and on opposite sides of its head like a mix between a spide...
The five travelers left Poppyville in high spirits, carrying an air of excitement from the previous day’s festivities as well as having rested in comfortable beds behind protected walls rather than camping outside. They traveled close to the river, knowing th...
Rep explained to Zalan that the town they were approaching was called Poppyville, named after the flowers that were surrounding it. Zalan couldn’t tell any one flower from another. He accepted that there were probably a lot of poppy flowers amongst the differently colored...
Zalan looked between his four companions in confusion, as they continued to watch him carefully, like something dangerous was creeping from within him. Rep looked like he was trying to calm the others down with his eyes alone. Zalan turned around to make sure that the Boznok ...
The travelers emerged from the forest quickly, the lack of need for breakfast had them on their way immediately after waking up. Zalan was only now coming to terms with just how incredible an Artifact the Satiator was. There was so much time normally put into cooking and eatin...
Zalan wasn’t sure how long he had remained in the brooding, catatonic parts of his mind, but he knew for certain when he was lucid once more. Fran, Rep, Gorb, and Yelsa were looking him over with concern and compassion. He was sitting upright against a tree, cold swea...
The travelers continued their way on the path, the lush grass opening to some sparse trees in a lightly wooded forest. At first, Zalan found this shaded area a welcome improvement until he noticed the way that his companions began watching the trees for ambushes, d...
The light packs felt strange to the weathered travelers. When the food was low, it usually meant they were nearing the end of the journey they had packed for, but now they were just exiting Oriton. They felt a mix of unease and liberation, except for Zalan who wa...
The next few minutes of travel went by in silence, Zalan spending much of his time trying to understand the Artifact simply by staring at it. Fran occasionally sighed in reminiscence, remembering particular attacks during the recent battle and how close to death they all came...
“I’m stronger now,” Zalan determined as the stats faded from his forearm. “And wiser?”
“Wisdom has nothing to do with your wisdom,” Gorb replied.
“Right,” Zalan said, confused.
“Correct, you are still a fool!” Fran said, smiling as she...
Zalan gripped his sword tightly, his arms shaking as the Giant Gargoyle sized up the three fighters. Fran’s sword was bright with flames and attracted the most attention. Zalan had given up trying to imbue his sword with electricity and instead tried to look at both t...
Fran led the way outside the gate, waving off the warnings received by the guards on the walls. She walked with a skip in her step, so much energy that Zalan wondered if she had one of those Indefatigable Iron Artifacts on her person, but quickly dismissed t...
“How much time do you think has passed in my homeworld?” Zalan asked Rep once they were underway. Zalan didn’t like the idea of being in a coma so long as he was in this world. He wondered what Asher was thinking, seeing him sleep for so long after he visited.
...
