Spit Happens

(Khundrakar, 22^nd September, 1600)

After a snatched sleep and some food, the party prepared to descend into the depths of the waterfall chasm. Working their way over to the far ledge with the aid of various types of Spider Climb, they examined the iron ladder that disappeared into the darkness with considerable care. Still equipped with the magical ability to cling to walls, Sack began to climb down. There was a moment's pause, as it occurred to people what might happen if the rungs were loose, Spider Climb or no, and he attached a safety rope as well. [What might have happened? Click for illustration!]

[50] At the bottom, the half-orc found himself on a damp, muddy patch of ground, with the thundering waterfall to one side, and a rock wall to the other. In the soft ground near the edge of the plunge pool, he saw what looked like tracks of some sort. Pausing only to wave his blazing sword in the arranged signal that all was well, he went off to examine them before one of his less woods-wise companions disturbed them.

What he found was vaguely familiar. After a bit of thought, he realized that the tracks resembled those left by the small four-legged lizards who lived in the Trakar swamps, near Castle Gorntar. With one major difference. These tracks were bigger across than a strong man's shield....

Alarmed, the party crept around the corner with enormous caution. There, they discovered the underground river again, rushing past at breakneck speed from east to west. Two stone bridges, obviously dwarf-wrought, crossed the river, going to a ledge on the other side from where they were and back again. The first was rock-solid, and was crossed without event. [51] The second was different; at some stage it had been badly damaged. The stone blocks that made it up were shifted, heaved up, almost as if the earth had moved at one or the other end; and the top surface was deeply pitted and eroded, by the look of it by some sort of acid. To the left as they looked across the bridge, the river was fed by a vast underground lake, stretching away into the dimness beyond any of their light sources, and with a ceiling soaring to darkness above.

The band approached this with great caution. Sack hefted a rock the size of a grapefruit and slammed it down with all his might in the middle of the span; the blocks shifted slightly, and Hildraft voiced the opinion that the weight of an armoured man would probably collapse the bridge.

Still equipped with Spider Climb, Sack went over on the ceiling, pitoning a rope into place to hang down over the centre of the bridge. He then secured a horizontal rope across the river over the bridge. With the aid of these, the group crossed, one by one, and the bridge held, though Surya and Hildraft felt the stones move slightly.

[52] About 50' along the ledge, it ended abruptly, only a very few odd stones protruding above the water for 30' or so, and then carried on. Disdaining the stepping stones, Sack attached himself to the wall and began to inch along across the gap.

At that moment he heard an ominous sound; a sort of long, slow splash, from way off across the lake. At the same moment, Kobort, who'd been watching the lake nervously, saw a momentary gleam of unwholesome greenish light from the same direction, perhaps a couple of hundred feet away. Instantly, the half-orc began to make his way hurriedly back towards the ledge he'd started from, and the others pricked their ears. What they heard was confusing; it was almost indistinguishable from the sound of surf on the shore... except that it was steadily getting louder.

Everyone except Sack promptly retreated (to say "fled" would be unkind, but only just!) across the unsteady bridge to the northern ledge. Sack hunkered down as small as possible, raised his shield, and bade the Blade of the Sun be dark.

Kobort grabbed a rock similar to that Sack had thrown at the bridge earlier, and cast Light on it. He then pitched it out into the lake, about 50' east of the bridge. It sank through the murky water, illuminating a 60' sphere, and landed on the bottom at a depth of about 50'. The rushing sound grew nearer.

Sack had a brief glimpse of something huge, rushing past him, and into the lit area. As it entered the light, it broke surface, looming up high above the party in a shower of water, awesome in its' power and size. Black, scaled, armoured, powerful and infinitely evil, a dragon's head the size of a wagon came rushing towards the startled adventurers. As they stood on the ledge, all at once feeling pitifully exposed, they heard a sound instantly familiar to the select few who call themselves Dragonslayers, but which took them a moment to identify. A massive rush of indrawn breath...

Barely did they have time to brace themselves, when with a truly indescribable sound, the dragon blasted a vast gobbet of black acid spit at them. They dodged, ducked, flinched and warded with shields; but the assault was so vast that it filled the entire ledge and there was nowhere to hide. Sizzling, searing acid ate into each man's flesh, in a blaze of pain that for a moment took away all coherent thought. It was too much for poor Vollun. The Dragonfear fell upon him in all its' terror; wailing in fear, he dropped his axe and shield and ran for his life across the first bridge, and disapeared back towards the waterfall. The others were made of sterner stuff, however. Scraping the acid from themselves, they hefted their weapons as the dragon came to a halt just before the bridge. It appeared, perhaps, a little surprised at their surviving the first blast, and was preparing some sort of second assault. The party exploded into action. Hildraft raised his axe and bellowed a Kordish battle-hymn, boosting everyone's morale immediately. Surya reached to his throat, and ripped one of the rubies from his elven necklace. As the dragon's open mouth gaped in front of him, he hurled the glittering gem neatly into the maw. A sullen detonation deep within made the dragon's eyes widen, and it dipped its' head to take a swift drink rather than breathing its' acid again.

Vollun Crusher

Kobort raced through the words and gestures of a spell, and hurled his Lightning across the cave at the mighty beast. The blast crackled and snapped around its' head, but appeared to cause little real damage. Hildraft held out his hand and called on his God; a lance of searing light slashed at the monster, scoring it across the jaw.

Then, in eerie silence, Sack the Half-orc sprinted across the ledge he was on, gulping down a potion of Enlarge as he did so. By the time he reached the water's edge, he was nearly seven feet high; gathering himself, he made a flying leap across the dark waters and landed right on the back of the dragon's neck! Raising the now-blazing Blade of the Sun, he reversed it and stabbed down between his feet with all his strength, driving it deep into the dragon's flesh. The monster screamed!

Hildraft grabbed Surya, ready to cast his Walk on Water spell, allowing the Tellaran to get at the dragon as well. As he did so, however, for a diamond instant, he felt a miniscule corner of Kord's mind touch his, and knew, without knowing how, that he needed to keep his last spell for something else. Ignoring the furious warrior, he released that spell and began another.

Rearing up, the dragon brought its' right foreclaw out of the water. It moved it, just ...so. Too late, Kobort and Hildraft recognized a spell in the casting. Darkness fell, sudden and total, blotting out everything - Darkvision, the Blade of the Sun, everything. Sack continued hacking at his target - no need for vision, he was standing on it after all - but Hildraft, transported by his divine prescience, calmly wove his counterspell, put everything he had into it, and released it. With a soundless shatter, the Darkness broke into a million shards, falling to the floor and the surface of the lake, and sinking into the ground - and the companions could see again.

Encouraged, the heroes set to again. Kobort sent a flight of Magic Missiles to pepper the monster's face, and Surya loosed arrow after arrow, causing significant damage. Sack hacked again at the back of its' neck. Without any warning, the dragon sounded. Nose-first, it started to submerge, taking the still-battling Sack with it, holding his breath.

Hastily jamming Hildraft's ring of Water Breathing onto his hand, Surya flung himself into the lake, arms stretched in front of him, the Sword of the Dead Legions held out like a lance. Almost simultaneously, he struck the top of the dragon's head, as it struck the bottom of the lake with an impact clearly tangible to the two standing on the bank.

Both Sack and Surya, clinging to the dragon's head and fighting to see through the thickening strands of black blood clotting the water, suddenly felt the beast beneath them convulse and turn on its' side. Its' mighty chest heaved, and it coughed up a great gobbet of blood and acid; and died.

Immediately, they realized they were floating in - and in one case breathing - water rapidly increasing in acidity. Releasing their grip, they allowed themselves to be taken away by the river current and pulled towards the bridge.

Spotting this, Kobort grabbed a rope, made it fast to the one they'd used to cross the bridge, cast Light on it, and dangled it into the water. As they tumbled into the river channel, Sack and Surya both managed to grab it. Sack, huge as he now was, and still running Spider Climb, managed to clamber out, but Surya dangled helplessly, his weight on the rope pulling the rickety bridge apart block by block. Suddenly, he found a shower of stone chunks falling on him in the river, but he hung on doggedly, and finally the others pulled him out, a bit bruised but alive.

As they crouched or stood, panting, the realization that they were now Dragonslayers - the first in Alair in thousands of years - dawned on them, along with the thought to wonder where Vollun Crusher had got to...

Suddenly, in a shower of spray, the dragon rose up again, out of the water. Everyone took a step back, but then Surya realized that the Sword of the Dead Legions must have delivered the killing strike. For a few moments they revelled in the idea of having their own dragon-zombie to control, but no-one could really think of a use for it, and so it stood there patiently until its' time was up, the Sword released its' hold, and the dragon crumbled quietly into dust and was swept away into the underground river.