Mists of Winter: Chapter Three

[kintire]

Kat pauses

"Wait, this thing LIVES in the water! Do we really want to fight it while swimming? And look at the water! Its rising fast!"

She stares into the water, rapier levelled at the shape, sunrod extended as she tries to keep track of it

[steveflam]

"I agree. Vut chance dove haff of beating it here? None of us can breath water unless you are hiding this talent from us, of course. I am a passable svimmer at best."

He pauses. "If the rain stopped, den de vater vould recede, ja? Ve haff better chance den I think."

[ewancummins]

Kat pauses

"Wait, this thing LIVES in the water! Do we really want to fight it while swimming? And look at the water! Its rising fast!"

She stares into the water, rapier levelled at the shape, sunrod extended as she tries to keep track of it

The shape disappears.
Kat sees green-lit water--rising inch by inch-- but no swimming thing.

[alhoon]

Raen exclaims "I doubt our invisibility loving enemy will wait for us to return after the water resides. At least, we killed her pet man-eating giant. I find it peculiar how many times she can use that power of invisibility." He turns to Dorgio and asks "I can't see invisible creatures. Do you have such a power gifted by your faith?"

[Adam]

Bennedict hooks his arms under Vlad's, preparing to drag him out.

"I suggest we withdraw," he says, "She wins this round. We shall see who is still standing at the end of the day."

[ewancummins]

Galandel (who has remained above the hatch , at the top of the ramp) shouts down-

"Benn, Dorgio, you'd better get out of there--now! You're no match for the beast in the water!"

[kintire]

Kat curses as the thing vanishes.

"Okay that's it, I'm baling!"

She pauses and glances at the rising waters

"I mean fleeing!"

She moves swiftly up the ramp, scabbarding her rapier and grabbing Vlad's feet, making rapidly for the long tunnel to the exit!

[steveflam]

Bennedict hooks his arms under Vlad's, preparing to drag him out.

"I suggest we withdraw," he says, "She wins this round. We shall see who is still standing at the end of the day."

Franz sheathes his blades and helps Benn.

[alhoon]

Raen sighs, shakes his head and shouts "You may have won THIS round, but it's not over witch!"
He takes out a piece of parchment, writes something on it and rolls it up.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

"That is what I am thinking, Galandel." The last thing Dorgio wants is to be dragged under the water, not with his armor on. And so he begins withdrawing, but he does so with a tight grin. In his mind, a plan is forming...

[ewancummins]

GOLITHOS'S DEATH CHAMBER

Benn, Kat, and Franz garb Vlad and splash onto the map, boots scraping the wet stone as they hurtle up and out of the lower passage.

Raen finishes his brief incantation, folds the paper, and staggers up after his fleeing comrades.
Sara rushes to join the others, her pistol and lifted high over the splashing water to keep the powder dry.

Dorgio covers the others’ flight, wading backwards with his spear raised, his eyes scanning the rising flood of muddy water. He feels the hard slanted ramp under his feet.

Step.


Step.


Step.

DORGIO'S POV*

Without Kat’s bright yellow sun rod

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, the green glow of the tunnel changes to a dimmer blue, lit from the floor near the ramp.
Dorgio looks down from the top of the ramp, but he sees no swimming thing. No enemy. Only the rising waters.
SPLASH!
A great surging wave rolls down the tunnel and slaps the ramp, spraying water in the priest’s eyes. Blinking through the mud, he spots a pale face, dull blue eyes, long dark hair—the young man his friend’s killed at the door to the Chamber of the Eyes. The dead man floats under the hatch for a second, and then the current—or something else—snatches him and carries him out of sight down the lower passage, away from the open hatch.

Now the water swirls a hand span under the open hatch. Splinters and broken tree branches float in the muddy square.

Dorgio’s fleeing comrades hustle through the double door.


Wood and stone overhead groan.

A little water spills on Dorgio…from the ceiling.

...




THE FLIGHT THROUGH THE DUNGEON

The elf hunter leads the way, his mud-spattered cloak streaming at his back.
Vlad groans, twisting and shouting feverish curses as Benn, Kat, and Franz bear him through the double doors, over the broken glass and busted shelves of the eye-room, and down the long exit hall after the elf.
Munchen races along near Franz, barking and leaping about in a frenzy.

Raen and Sara hustle near the back of the escaping party, unable to get round the tangle of moving bodies ahead of him, stuck moving a little slower than his full stride.

Dorgio moves in the back, armor clanking, boots echoing down the stone hall.

...





















FRESH AIR AGAIN

Gal reaches the ascending steps, taking them two at a time, and leaps up and out into the rainstorm.
He lands in the mud, skids a few feet, and regains his balance.
Hard rain falls. Streams of dead brush and mud swirl down the low slope of the ground, headed into the river.
Squinting through the shreds of fog, Gal sees that a large part of the bank has fallen away, or else the waters have flooded over it.

Franz, helping up Vlad by holding his right arm, crawls out from the open trap door.
In a moment, Benn and the others have joined him on the surface.



* Read if you like, guys. there really isn't a big spoiler here. But nobody sees it this way except Dorgio. Everyone else is looking in other directions/running the heck away/busy.

[alhoon]

Raen steps out and helps Sara climb out, in the rain. He moves without speaking a couple of steps away and rubs his robe down using the rainwater. He seems to be ... alert and focused, as if expecting to listen for something.

[ewancummins]

RAEN

Raen steps out and helps Sara climb out, in the rain. He moves without speaking a couple of steps away and rubs his robe down using the rainwater. He seems to be ... alert and focused, as if expecting to listen for something.

Raen hears the rain and wind, the river, his own hard breathing.
But

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not the sound he hopes for.

[Adam]

Huddling with the group in the rain, Bennedict stands with his shoulders hunched, bitterly regretting the loss of his hat at some point in the confusion.

He looks around at the grim faces, and makes an effort to put on a more positive expression.

"I know that felt like a defeat," he says, "But be of good heart. This Golithos creature is dispatched. Jenny will likely be flushed from her lair at this point. And, none of us are permanently injured." He shrugs. "I have been on forays that have ended much worse than this."

He points. "I suggest we do what we can to board this place up, and speak to the dockworkers that brought us here and any contacts we have to warn them of the threat by the riverside. It may be we can save some lives while we prepare our next move."

[RocEter]

The heavy rain doesn't seem to bother the elf hunter in the slightest, even the water filling his boots from the puddles doesn't seem to bother the elf. He stands facing away from Benn, Dorgio and their party, scanning the patches of fog and surrounding area for any signs of danger.


"There is a trap door and some brush to conceal it, it was hidden enough well enough even from me." He says. "There is an estate, not far from here. The human who lives there and his servants were part of my hunting party, they can be of some small help. I need to check on them to make sure they are safe and uninjured."

Turning to face the others, Galandel looks at Vlad. "He will be able to rest and recover from his wounds as well."