Shaddar hurries his minions along the path. It soon turns and dips, leading further down into the deep. The remains of what look like an aqueduct emerges from one side of the hall and travels down with them, but no liquid flows from it’s broken pipework.
A series of four holes run down one side of the tunnel. The holes look like they at one time accepted some kind of geared device. There are marks and scuffs that were some kind of wheels as well, bordering the holes. Shaddar think that perhaps there used to be a slave-powered trolley to spare those of the race the tedium of walking up and down the lengthy tunnel. Felinxtrath often spoke of his ideas for such devices.
The descent is long and tiring. Too taxing on the slaves than Shaddar can believe as they must stop only partway down in order to allow them and the equally sore, but less vocal about it, hobgoblins to sleep. Shaddar is appalled at the level of sloth the weaker races all share. He orders that the slaves be gagged to quiet their obnoxious cries for food and water.
“We is hungry, too, master,” Kug explains.
Shaddar arches an eyebrow and looks over the exhausted slaves. Yes. A bit of a snack might be nice – and it might also encourage greater speed and fewer complaints if done properly.
“Very well. Take care of your force, General,” Shaddar says, walking over to the slaves. “I will feed myself on the slowest and weakest of these.” Kug stares at him uncomprehendingly. Shaddar fires a focused blast from his mind that only catches the weakest human – one of Jorin’s useless friends. The man sags into a senseless stupor. Shaddar pulls the fellow to his knees by his hair as he addresses the other slaves, “The rest of you may watch to behold your own glorious fate – sustenance for your master and Boss!”
And he feeds…
The hobgoblin’s chatter dies as all of them watch with shock at the sight. The gagged slave begin to scream through their gags and try in vain to scramble away from Shaddar, but the chains keep them from going far from the atrocity happening beside them.
Kug mutters, “Habits?”
When Shaddar is finished he allows the body to slide to the floor. He flicks his tentacles in satisfaction and examines his followers. No one will meet his gaze but Toothsnatcher, Kug, and one of the newest slaves.
Shaddar touches his mind briefly and sees that the sights (and sounds) the human experienced have broken the fellow’s mind; he has been driven completely mad. The human his screaming through his gag and will not – can not in fact – stop.
Shaddar points to the screamer and looks at Kug. “Sleepy-time for this one,” he says with humor.
Kug nods and punches the human in the face, knocking him out and stopping the sounds. The hobgoblin stoops down to examine the dead body. After a moment he stands and shudders a bit.
“Good for you, master, but us hobgoblin’s will stick to mutton.”
Shaddar chuckles and makes a carry-on gesture. Toothsnatcher wanders over to assist the hobgoblins in their cooking.
The night passes without incident.
The next day is quite boring as the downward tilting, spiral tunnel continues without variation. Shaddar is annoyed that there is no more writing, no further clues, and no branches in this passage. It’s all positively dull. Until near the bottom.
That’s when they lose another slave.
The rack of razor-sharp spears stabs across the tunnel and kills the lead slave instantly. Shaddar is pleased to note that it was the insane one that has been periodically screaming all morning.
“That’s a relief, actually,” he thinks coolly. He is not alone in his feelings if the nods and laughter on the part of the hobgoblins are to be believed as they unshackle the body from the line of slaves and push the next human in line into the lead position.
They arrive at the end of the tunnel soon after.
It ends in a large, semi-spherical chamber with the back wall being flat. A huge and intricate archway is outlined in the far wall, but it has been bricked up. Rather sloppily, too.
Shaddar notices that the holes in the ground continue right up to the sealed archway. The tunnel continues behinds this barrier.
“Break this wall down,” Shaddar orders. And the hobgoblins jump to work. Shaddar keeps Toothsnatcher at his side and watches as they break out pickaxes and other tools.
When the first strike is made against the obstruction, Shaddar hears a whispery moan come from behind him and turns to see what made the noise. Toothsnatcher is faster than Shaddar and he has his axe in hand before Shaddar sees the threat.
From three well-hidden alcoves, dusty figures are lurching. They are short. Only about four feet in height, and extremely gaunt. Their limbs end in twisted claws and are wrapped in scraps of filthy linen.
“Mummies!” his thrall bellows, “To arms!”
While the hobgoblins grunt in shock and scrabble for their weapons. The slaves wail in despair and cower in fear, all of them trying to back up against the bricked-up archway to keep away from the dreadful undead.
Shaddar laughs at the mummies as he realizes what they once were. Pygmy illithids with shrunken facial tentacles! The four-inch long tentacles have each been wrapped separately and they wave in menacing gestures that look quite comical to Shaddar.
“What are these abominations? No matter. They shall be a good experience for my army,” he thinks while motioning his hobgoblin forces to handle the foe.
Kug roars a battle cry and leads his troops to close with the shambling and moaning creatures.
“Stop intruders,” one of the mummies moans.
“Kill the living,” another groans.
“Protect the seal,” the last hisses.
Shaddar is concerned to hear them speak and more concerned when he sees a nimbus of magic from around them. These are no mere mummies – they are mummy lords! The hobgoblins will be completely outmatched by such a foe. Shaddar responds to this revelation by mentally commanding Toothsnatcher to enter the battle as well and casts a spell on his thrall to increase his size massively.
Kug and the hobgoblins hoot in excitement as Toothsnatcher pounds the floor with his hooves and leaps into the midst of the group of undead with a bovine roar. His blade cuts deeply into one of the mummies with a blow that would slay a mortal foe, but he doesn’t face one of those this time.
The hobgoblins and Kug move closer to all three of them. Their thoughts reveal that they have only ever heard of such nightmare creatures as stories. There have only ever been skeletons, zombies, and sometimes ghouls inside the city – never anything this powerful!
Two of the mummies slam their arms into Toothsnatcher. The minotaur grunts in pain at the supernatural strength in the scrawny arms that nearly knock him off his feet despite his magically increased bulk.
Toothsnatcher cuts the same mummy again and it looks quite ragged now, with one arm hanging by a few strips of cloth, but it shows no sign of pain or of stopping its attack.
Then the body of the hobgoblin mob reaches the fight! Despite a lot of effort, most of the hobgoblins fail to even hit their targets. One mummy takes a single cut that barely seems to nick it. Another of the warriors slips on some pebbles and falls to the ground, nearly losing grip of his sword. Shaddar is not amused.
Kug hits one of the mummies as well, screaming at the top of his lungs. His attack doesn’t seem to do much damage either and Shaddar is suddenly concerned – only Toothsnatcher seems effective against these foes and he is surrounded and being pounded upon. It will not do to have his most powerful thrall killed in such a trivial battle.
Shaddar uses his mental powers of suggestion on the slaves in order to provide a distraction that will give his thrall time to rally.
“Why don’t you attack these vile undead,” Shaddar plants into the human’s minds, “Since you are all mighty monks with the training needed to destroy them with a single blow!”
The brawler from the Guild is too bright to fall for Shaddar’s mental trick and, when he sees the rest of the slaves running towards the mummies, he grabs onto a stubby stalagmite to try and hold the line away from the conflict.
“Are you mad?!” he screams.
Only the slave on the very end of the chain can reach the mummies and he tries to kick it with his bare feet. The blow is less than effective and the slave can’t figure out what he did wrong.
The mummy that was kicked turns around and backhands the slave. The man’s ribcage is crushed by the mighty blow and he falls to the floor – dead. This event breaks the mental hold Shaddar has over most of the slaves and they run from the conflict screaming.
The other two mummies continue to slam into Toothsnatcher and the thrall takes a beating, despite his new, huge form. At least the slave kept one of the mummies busy for a bit. Shaddar is content that the ruse was partially effective.
Toothsnatcher snarls in pain and cuts one of the mummies that struck him in half with an explosive upward stroke.
The hobgoblins cheer to see one of the mummies fall. They redouble their efforts, but the mummies are far too tough for their near-inept strikes to damage them.
Seeing this, Kug drops his sword and returns to what he feels he’s good at – wrestling. With a holler, he jumps onto one of the mummy’s back and pins the monster’s arms in a full nelson.
The powerful mummy cracks one of it’s own shoulder joints and begins to escape the hold. This makes for a very alarmed Kug! The other mummy slams both fists down onto the body of the hobgoblin that fell prone and pulps him.
Toothsnatcher swings his axe into the hip of the mummy that is reaching for Kug and lands a mighty blow.
Kug steps back from the mummy as it slips completely free of his hold. The other mummy slams into another hobgoblin and breaks the fellow’s arm in several places. His shrill howls of pain add to the madness of the combat.
Kug spits on the floor, feints, and slips behind the mummy again, grabbing it from the rear! He uses both arms in a powerful lock around the creature’s head and still attached shoulder. “I got ‘im! Hit ‘im again! Again!”
The screams of the injured hobgoblin are brutally stopped when the free mummy picks him up and throws his body to the ground. The violent blow kills the hobgoblin instantly.
Toothsnatcher plants his axe in the belly of the mummy that Kug is holding steady, but the fiend is still fighting!
The mummy in Kug’s grip struggles mightily, but Kug gamely holds on. The second mummy comes up behind Toothsnatcher and tries to slam both fists into his lower back. The minotaur hears the mummy’s clumsy lunge and easily side-steps out of the path of the blow. Fragments of the stone floor fly upwards as the powerful blows hit the ground instead.
Toothsnatcher whips his axe into the belly of the mummy Kug is holding again, but this time he twists and jerks the blade’s hook upwards after the blow lands and tears the mummy into pieces. Kug throws the bits to the floor with an enthusiastic laugh.
The last mummy slams into Kug’s back and the hobgoblin’s laugh turns into a cry of pain. The hobgoblin goes to one knee under the force of the blow. The mummy then catches one of the hobgoblins that is rushing to his leader’s aid under the chin and rips the fellow’s head off in a spray of blood.
“That’s failing your test!” Shaddar calls to the rest of the hobgoblins. “If you can not fight it, keep back!” The warrior hobgoblins withdraw obediently.
Kug takes another blow from the mummy, but it’s a glancing one as he rolls away and jumps to his feet, gingerly rolling his injured shoulder.
Toothsnatcher’s axe chops off the top of the mummy’s head, but it is still flailing about, trying to fight. With a disgusted snort, the minotaur reverses his swing and chops the head off at the neck. The mummy is thrown to the ground from the blow and it doesn’t get up.
Shaddar allows the enlargement spell he cast on his thrall to cease and the minotaur shrinks back to his normal size while he pants from the exertion of the conflict. For a moment the only sounds in the chamber are the heavy breathing of the combatants and the quiet sobs of terrified slaves.
The hobgoblins crowd around Kug and Toothsnatcher, congratulating them on their valor and assisting in the bandaging of wounds. Shaddar is pleased with the result as he looks at the three dead warriors and single dead slave. “Cull the weak to instruct the strong,” he thinks, nodding in approval.
The hobgoblins poke the dusty remains of the vanquished mummies and are excited to find bits of jewelry and some gems mixed in with the wrappings. Shaddar is not interested in the wealth and decides to allow them to keep the spoils of their first real battle.
“How interesting that such powerful undead were placed here to guard this location,” Shaddar thinks. “I wonder who put them here and what they were afraid intruders would find?”
Chapter 1 < Chapter 40 Chapter 42 >
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