The
corridor ahead of them was packed on all sides with tangles of debris. Its
ceiling began to slope downwards towards what appeared to be a dead end a few
feet ahead of Varien and Erwen. Erwen’s
sharp eyes picked out what appeared to be a pressure plate on the floor ahead
of him. “That stone
looks fishy,” he said.
“Fishy how?” Varien asked. “There are fish bones scattered all over the place.” Erwen
pressed the stone. The false stone retracted a few inches, and then there was a
terrible grinding noise from above them.
“Erwen, what did you-” Varien had time to throw up his shield as a gargantuan
ship’s anchor, rusted and covered in long-calcified barnacles, fell on them
with a resounding gong. “Dammit,
Erwen!” Varien said as he disentangled himself from the trap. His ears were
ringing from the glancing blow. “Told you it
was fishy,” Erwen said weakly. Suddenly
there was a twanging sound and a hail of crossbow bolts peppered the room,
seemingly from beyond the corridor’s dead end. Varien winced as a bolt found a
weak point in his armor, and then felt a second bolt strike home, this one
making him feel dizzy and cold. “Poison?”
Varien said through clenched teeth. “That’s not cricket.” “I’ll help!”
Alec shouted from behind them. He rushed at the wall, shoulder extended and braced
as he prepared to bash down the barrier. Instead, he ran right through the wall
and disappeared. “What?”
Varien exclaimed. Alec
stumbled to a halt as he found himself in the midst of a party of Halflings,
most of them armed with crossbows. Further up the corridor was a Halfling who
held out a weird sort of cuttlefish totem. Beside him was a rough-looking sort
with a hook and chain weapon. “This is
the worst children’s birthday party I’ve ever been invited to!” Alec shouted as
he swung the Trevelyan greatsword at the nearest target. Erwen wildshaped
into the form of an ankylosaurus, a quadrupedal thunder lizard with bony armor
plates and a spiked club-like tail that swung like a mace or morning star. He
galloped towards the wall and rushed right through it. “What?”
Varien exclaimed again. Lizard-wen swung
his tail at the first Halfling he could see, braining it and sending the corpse
spinning to strike the wall of the tunnel before it collapsed in a bloody heap. The Halfling
who held the hook-and-chain’s eyes flashed with arcane knowledge. “Ah, beastie,
I think it best if ye go for a swim!” he shouted as he cast suggestion
on the wildshaped Druid. Lizard-wen
shrugged off the magic. “Meow,” he said through his beaked maw. The
assassin caught flat-footed before Alec disengaged and backpedaled up the
hallway, firing off a shot from his crossbow that struck the barbarian knight.
Alec could feel poison doing its work in his system. Another
Halfling, this one armored and carrying a sword, strode up fearlessly towards
the thunder lizard and stabbed at its armored body, penetrating a weak spot
between armored plates. His second stab bounced harmlessly off the dinosaur’s
spiked armor. The
Halfling holding the cuttlefish totem aimed it at Alec and said in a
magically-augmented voice, “Flee.” Alec
recoiled as he fell under the influence of the enemy’s command spell. He
began to sprint away from the battle, cursing his cowardice at the top of his
lungs. Varien used
his channel divinity ability to counteract the poison coursing through his
system. “Where is Palas!” He shouted to the Halflings. “And call off your men!” Siegfried
sighed and strode through the illusory wall. He then threw Hack at the
Halfling who seemed to be running the show, and then misty stepped behind the
Halfling as he dodged the ranged attack. As Hack thudded into the wall
beside the Halfling, who was in the process of shouting “You missed!”,
Siegfried bashed him with Lightbringer from behind. He used a defensive
flourish to push the stumbling Halfling towards the ankylosaurus. “Unfortunately,”
Siegfried’s voice carried above the din of the melee. “Palas has stolen someone
from me. Now, who wants to help me find him?” Several of the
Halflings shrank back, intimidated by Siegfried’s bearing. The wounded bandit
carrying the cuttlefish was not one of them. “Don’t listen to him!” he rasped
as he tried to catch his breath, on his hands and knees after being bashed by
the half-orc. “Ah, the
one who listens to me is the one who survives,” countered Siegfried. Bob used lesser
restoration to cure the poison afflicting his fleeing brother and then
marched into the fray, grabbing the obstinant Halfling and delivering a deadly shocking
grasp that sent lightning energy up into the sewers of Neverwinter,
rattling manhole covers. Lizard-wen
smashed the Halfling enforcer with two strikes of his knobbly tail. The hook-and-chain
Halfing rushed to the side of his prone companion and cast invisibility .
The pair flickered and vanished. “No, you!”
Bob shouted as he counterspelled the spell. The pair
flickered back into visibility. “Damn,”
Hook-and-Chain muttered. He patted his partner on the shoulder and then
disengaged, beating a hasty retreat up the hallway. A Halfling
assassin shot at Siegfried, who popped a shield spell in order to block
the poisoned bolt. The Halfling shrugged and ran away. The
Halfling Enforceer rounded on Varien, slashing him with a critical strike. The
Halfling holding the cuttlefish struggled to his feet and pointed it at Bob and
Erwen. “May the Bitch Queen take you to the depths in a STORM!” he shouted as
he cast lightning bolt. A five-foot-wide
bolt of lightning zapped in a straight line down the corridor, catching both
Erwen and Bob in dazzling arcs that sent their extremities flailing. “Oh, so he’s
a priest of Umberlee, obviously,” Bob said through chattering teeth. The priest
winked and disengaged. “Enough of
this!” Varien shouted. He expertly disarmed the enforcer with a flick of his
sword hand. The enforcer winced in pain as he dropped his weapon. “Clearly
someone wasn’t listening to my green friend here!” Varien roared as he savagely
bashed the Halfling with his shield, and then, when his target was stumbling
and disoriented, grappled him into a submission hold. Siegfried
gave Varien an admiring nod. “Hold this small man up by his ankles, please.” Varien
obliged. Siegfried
bent over until his head was level with the dangling Halfling. “Hello,” he said
with a smile. “I would like to make you happy in this unhappy situation. What
would make you happy?” “We don’t
want to hurt you,” Varien added, as much for Siegfried’s benefit as for the
Halfling. “What would
make me happy?” The Halfling said. He grinned. “You and your friends turning
tail and leaving our turf would make me happy.” Varien
sighed and bounced the Halfling’s head off the stone floor. Siegfried
smiled even wider, showing teeth. “I’d like to leave you happy and alive ,
in case I wasn’t being clear before. What can you tell me about my lost friend?”
He jerked his head in the direction of the fleeing Halfling pirates. “And no, I
don’t think your friends will be coming back to rescue you.” This time,
the Halfling’s grin was bloody. “Your friend was a fool!” he spat at Siegfried. Siegfried frowned
theatrically. He pulled Hack from the wall and caught one of the
Halfling’s hands up in his, pressing the blade of the axe against the prisoner’s
pinky finger. “Now, now, your answers are not making me happy.” He applied
just enough pressure to sever the Halfing’s finger, which fell to the floor
with a splat. Bob
frowned. “Whoa,
whoa,” Varien said. Lizard-wen
bashed the dangling Halfling like a pinata. The Halfling
laughed and wheezed, delirious with pain. “If you don’t like my answers, then
change your questions!” “Okay,” Siegfried
gave the enforcer’s cheek a patronizing pat. “How many Halflings am I going to
have to murder before I get the answers I desire?” “A lot,”
The enforcer whispered. “Ah, or do
you think Palas might be interested in a trade?” Siegfried said. “Do you think
you’re worth it?” The
Halfling, with as much pride as he could muster given his situation, shook his
head. “I know my role.” “What about
the undead in the waters back there?” Varien asked. The
enforcer chuckled. “They’re there to take care of idiots who come into our
domain the wrong way.” Varien was
aghast. “You’re controlling them?” The enforcer
chuckled again. “There’s no controlling them, just feeding them whatever scraps
fall into our clutches.” Without thinking,
Varien drew Fiendsbane across the Halfling’s waist, spilling his guts onto the
stone floor. The paladin let go and the Halfling fell to the ground in two
pieces. “That
escalated quickly,” Siegfried said. “There’s no
feeding the undead,” Varien said darkly. “There’s just the dead.” “I agree,”
Siegfried said. He used Hack to take the enforcer’s helmeted head off beneath
the chin, and then picked it up, bowling it underhand after the fleeing
pirates. There was a
thud in the darkness and one of the Halflings shouted in pain.
“RUN FASTER!” Siegfried bellowed. He turned to his companions and used his mask
of many faces to assume Hadow’s visage. “This one’s mine,” he said. “Don’t
hurt him. We’re here to save him. All the others are yours for the slaying.” The party
drew their weapons and rushed pell-mell after the Halflings. Varien and
Siegfried rounded a corner and ran straight into an ambush. Siegfried took two
bolts without flinching and picked up the head of the enforcer where it had fallen.
He pitched it into the assassin’s lap. “It’s not
too late to change sides!” he shouted. Bob stepped
up and let loose a fire bolt, which turned the assassin into a pillar of ash
before the half-orc. “Until it
is,” Siegfried finished. Another
heavy stone door blocked their way. Alec stepped up and bashed it open with his
brawny torso. “Somebody
get this man a portable ram!” Siegfried said. “His technique makes me feel
uncomfortable.” Another
group of Halfling pirates had taken up firing positions in the chamber beyond.
Erwen dropped his wildshape and cast wall of fire , which ate up all the available
space in the corridor and splashed against a t-junction, where it split in two
directions, consuming everything in its path. There were
screams within the flames, including a raspy wail that could only have belonged
to the Priest of Umberlee. Two Halfling assassins, their bodies ablaze,
stumbled free of the conflagration. “Things are
heating up in here!” Erwen said, his eyes reflecting the magical fire. The
assassins shot at Erwen with their crossbows. “Ouch!” the Halfling druid
shouted. Varien
rushed up and stabbed the first Halfling assassin, a lithe female. He used his
shield to shove the second Halfling back into the flames. The assassin shrieked
as he burned to a crisp. Siegfried
entered the room and cast charm person on the cowering assassin. “There
there,” he said softly, “there’s no need to be frightened. You’re among
friends, and you’re going to want to help me.” The female
Halfling blinked once in confusion, and then her eyes shone with friendship. Heedless
of her bleeding wounds, she batted her eyelashes and said, “Hi there,” in a
throaty voice. “Hello,
beautiful,” Siegfried said, wiping ash from her face. “What’s your name?” “Belyra,”
she answered. “Well, Belyra,”
Siegfried continued. “My Halfling friend came by here last night. Do you know
where he is?” He winked and gave her the full Half-orc smoulder. “Oh, yes,”
Belyra said dreamily. “He had a purse full of coin, and was asking after a dead
body or something like that. We thought it was pretty funny.” “Ha ha,
hilarious,” Siegfried smiled. “Then what happened?” Belrya jerked
her head towards the magical flames. “Well, Fosco thought it would be funny to take
his money instead of making a trade. Then he hit the fellow over the head and told
us to take him to the Cleaner.” “The Cleaner?”
Siegfried replied. “Who or what is that?” “Oh, I don't
exactly know what it is,” Belrya tittered. “Could be a gelatinous cube, or an
ooze of some kind, all I know is, it eats whatever we feed it!” She laughed
uproariously. “What’s so
funny?” Siegfried asked, barely keeping the steel from his voice. “Fosco
thought it would be extra-funny to take the Halfling to where we’d stashed the
corpse and then feed both of them to the Cleaner!” “Can you
take me to where you took the bodies?” Siegfried asked. Belyra
nodded. “I’ll show you!” Siegfried
turned to Erwen. “Small man, please douse the flames.” Erwen, fire
in his eyes, obeyed. The fires stopped licking at the corridors. “Take your
first left, and then another left, and head south!” Belyra said. “Let’s go!”
Siegfried called to his companions. “There might still be time!”