Ch5 - Spelunking (Patreon)

Everything was in order. We’d agreed on the game plan, we were well rested and as prepared as we could be. We shared a final look, loaded with meaning, but didn’t talk any more. There was no need.

I walked out front, twenty meters ahead of Lyle, and the key word of the moment was caution. I was likely exaggerating it a bit, moving forward as silently as possible, checking cautiously for signs of movements, tracks or, well, basically anything to be wary of. The tunnel itself was spacious, at least three meters wide and twice that tall, quite nicely illuminated by some sort of mineral deposit inside the walls. Calcite, according to Lyle. It was a pretty material, sure, and seemed to do a lot to help the light from above ground reach deeper into the tunnel. It was, however, also difficult to properly extract, and abundant enough that it wasn’t worth much.

We delved deeper – but not too deep this time. The tunnel was a mere hundred meters in length, and as we descended, a rank stench rose up to meet us. At the end, the tunnel widened into a scene of beauty and horror combined.

Perhaps horror wasn’t the right word. Devastation was more like it. A short glance was enough to show how the place had received its name – the Moonsong Cave. The walls of the large, circular grotto were adorned on all sides with multicolored stones – calcite and others I had no knowledge of – but the roof was open to the elements. In better days, I could almost imagine watching the moonlight descend from above, the light reflecting from the gems in all the hues of the rainbow while condensation slowly dripped from the stone walls into the natural pools of the cave. These were not better days, however. The small pools were muddied and littered with detritus and the cave itself was covered in broken rock, bones and unidentifiable remains.

As for the aforementioned horror, it was perched in the center of the floor, resting on a pile of debris and the moment I spotted it, I froze, and began to slowly inch away, infinitesimally slow. When I reached Lyle, we moved together back up the tunnel until we reached open skies again and could breathe once more – me in silent relief, and Lyle in perplexity.

I remained silent for a bit, pondering the ground, trying to manage the stream of half-formed plans and ideas that formed in mind and failing. Exhaling noisily, I addressed Lyle, “Sooo – good news or bad news first?”

“Erm. Good?”

“All right. Well, the good news is that there’s no large pile of vipers down there. Also, the room is closed – we know exactly what we’re facing.”

He grimaced. “That’s the…never mind. So, the bad news is what we are facing, I guess.”

“Yup.”

“…Intend to tell me?”

“It’s the mother. The mother to all these snakes, and from the size of it, the mother of all snakes.” And the name tag above the aptly named “Razor-tailed Clutch Mother” was orange, meaning it’d be a dangerous challenge for us. If we had brought Darya along, I might have given it a shot - she was a mean shot, and with the terrain as it was, we could probably set up a good ambush. As it was…we weren’t the perfect combo. One failed stun from either of us, and Lyle would be left trying to handle an oversized meat grinder that easily had the size to wrap around him and give him a blender hug. Additionally, the cooldown of my Stun Blast was thirty seconds - way too much time for the scary creature to play slice’n’dice with us.

“Oh. Hm. I guess, if it’s much larger than the others, my mace wouldn’t be much more than a toothpick - so we’re not taking it head on?” He actually looked - disappointed? Geez. My attempt to instil caution into his mindset really wasn’t taking.

“Pits, no. Also, Naevys never mentioned anything about taking care of any gargantuan mother snake - only to get the eggs for her. Any ideas? My mind keeps just picturing the sheer size of the cursed thing.” I actually had issues trying to figure out just how huge it was - piled up as it’d been, it was hard to see beginning and end of the monster. 

Lyle sat down on a nearby boulder, and looked up at me with a serious attitude. “Ok, closed chamber, huge viper. Is there anything else you can tell me?” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Something useful, I mean.”

I glared at him for a bit before relenting. Somebody was getting way too cocky for their own good. "It's an almost circular stone chamber. Floor's littered with broken rock and all sorts of refuse - bones and who-knows-what. The snake is perched in the back of the room - sleeping, it looks like. I'd wager the eggs are right underneath the beast, waiting to be hatched. Oh, and there's no roof to the cavern - light spills down from just above."

He mulled this over in silence. "And the walls of the cavern? Are they rough or slippery? Do they slope inwards or outwards?"

"I'm...not sure what you're asking. There are pools on the cavern floor, and the weather's cold and foggy, so I guess the walls would be pretty wet and slippery.  And..." I smacked my forehead lightly. "Sorry, I guess I'm being a bit slow today. You're asking if the walls can be climbed?"

He just arched an eyebrow and smiled. Runt.

"I guess they could. I'm definitely neither agile nor strong enough to do it myself, but from what little I saw, the rock did look pretty broken and uneven and not too steep." I paused, letting my mind catch up to my mouth. "So...if you wait on top, I'll enter from the front, and then I'll try to enchant the viper and lead it away. We could probably find a spot not too far from here, where I'd have a decent shot at getting away from the snake for when I'm unable to maintain the spell any longer. Oh, and if the snake resists my spell, I'll run as far away as possible, and you should still be able to."

My musings were interrupted by a snort from Lyle. He was clearly hiding a huge smirk behind his hand, and avoiding my eyes.

"What?" I demanded.

"Or." He said, mirth evident in his voice. "We could do this the clever way and avoid your violent death?"

Fifteen minutes later, we'd backtracked the entire way through the quarry and followed the western edge of the gorge all the way to where the tunnel entrance lay, maybe ten meters below. The opening to the cavern was, as Lyle had properly guessed, right nearby, and moments later we were standing next to the opening, staring down at the reclined form of the Clutch Mother.

Lyle let out a low whistle. "Mother of all snakes indeed." 

I looked at him impatiently. “So, what’s your brilliant plan?”

He moved a bit closer to the edge with a devil-may-care attitude, calmly took off his backpack and started rummaging inside, soon producing, with an annoying little flourish - a rope.

I could practically feel the grin coming into being on my face. “Why, you sly, well-prepared dog, you. This just got interesting.”

He grinned back at me, wiggling his eyebrows while he secured the rope to an outcropping beside the hole. 

Walking over to him, I looked down at the dozing animal and asked, “How about we try waking it up to check if the eggs are there?” Before he could do anything to stop me, I hooked one foot around a large rock and pushed it over the edge. I dove to the ground, pulling Lyle down as well, all the while grinning like a loon at the look of shock on his face.

Beyond the edge, I could hear the racket of the falling rock waking up the beast. Cautiously, I peered down to see the giant snake slithering around the cave, looking around, hissing and turning any which way, attempting to locate what had caused the noise. A minute later, it  gave up and returned to its resting position. Encouraged, I turned back to Lyle and patted his arm, “All right - I think we’re on. The ground below the snake’s just sand or earth or something, but I’m pretty sure I spotted an egg extruding from the ground. Any ideas on how to handle the situation, or should I just shoot a spell at the beast to kick it into gear? Then, once it comes thundering up the cliff, we climb down the rope, rob the nest and waltz off laughing?”

Lyle nodded along, "Sure that'd work. But...I'd feel a whole lot better if we tried to take it down first - or at least hurt it enough that it'd regret trying to invade our quarry and destroy our livelihoods and all.”

I padded his back in commiseration and spent a moment surveying our surroundings - a feat easily completed. The plateau near the hole was a weather-beaten place. A few scraggly bushes and the remnants of an old pine that had at some point been split by lightning were the only signs that we were still practically in the middle of a forest. Apart from this, there were just rocks and mud. A whole lot of - rocks. “Lyle. Here’s what we’ll try…”

Five minutes later, we were ready, standing near the brink and looking down at the nesting Clutch Mother. We’d each lined up a pile of large rocks within easy reach and spent a while trying to decide the perfect size for ourselves. Fortunately, we wouldn’t have to toss the rocks too far or hard - gravity would do all the work for us. I reiterated, “Remember, we’ll get about four seconds if the stun settles, so you had better start tossing the rocks the moment I start playing. If it survives, however, we just leave it be - the important thing for us is to get away safely with the eggs."

He nodded, eyes boring down on the scaled intruder. "Don't worry - we'll take it down."

One final glance at Lyle and a shared look, then I raised my violin, aiming to introduce the sleeping beast, likely for the first time in its life, to a liberal dose of violin-carried rock and roll. Emphasis on the rock.

They say that one of the greatest gifts that has been bestowed upon humanity is the ability to empathize. We imagine ourselves in the place of other people, animals and even things - regardless of whether the other part has the capacity to feel or think like we do. It was only too easy to imagine oneself in the position of the scaly creature below. First the rest, blissfully unaware of the outside world. Next, a series of unfamiliar, yet intriguing, notes from above, lifting your massive head to the sky and flicking out your tongue to get a taste of what was going on. Finally, you're struck by a wave of energy, that caused your entire body to freeze up, and you are left to stare at the sky above, as it is partially obscured by a series of large rocks that rain down upon your supine body.

These thoughts, of course, didn't arrive until way later. For the time being, I felt the impact as the Sonic Wave raced outwards from my violin, and instantly put down the instrument, grabbing for the nearest rock to toss it at the huge form below. The next few seconds were frantic confusion, broken only by our grunting and wheezing as we lobbed heaps of pain down from above. The moment I could hear the beast stirring below, I dropped to my knees, staring at the health bar, gazing intently as the snake lifted its huge head into the air and fixed its cold stare on us. The health bar was still at about thirty percent - too much to risk anything. "So - damn - close," I groaned out loud, trying to get my head around the fact that we'd failed. Below, the snake let out a screeching hiss, before turning towards the cave exit.

My sense of annoyance was rapidly replaced by dread as Lyle's voice rose beside me, "Not on my watch. For Grant's Crossing and liberty!” That last part he shouted out loud, as he hefted his weapons and jumped straight over the edge. I could only watch in horror as my chivalrous companion decided that a ten meter jump attack was a completely feasible choice. Frozen, I could feel the sweat breaking out all over, as his shouting form plummeted like a falling rock straight down onto the moving form of the snake below. Unsuspecting, the beast had started to slither away at great speed, but froze at the swiftly-approaching racket, before its outwardly ungainly body performed a half-turn at amazing speed to see what was going on. This, unfortunately, was really bad news for Lyle. He did manage to throw his weight around midair, delivering a devastating blow to the snake’s mid-section, but the rest of his body barely hit the side of the snake before continuing downwards to the stone floor where he hit awkwardly with a heavy thud.

That sound finally brought me out of my reverie. I grabbed my violin and immediately cast Entrance Animals. With any luck, I’d be able to spellbind the viper while it was stunned from Lyle’s blow and keep it like that until Lyle could get to a safe distance. No such luck to be had - the spell fizzled, and I was left hesitant on the edge of the hole before I decided I might as well join Lyle in his stupidity and launched myself over the edge. 

Now, this might seem dumber than it was, with my weak physical stats. I had a plan though. Well, a smidgen of a plan. A theory, at least. The thing is, from my perch at the edge of the grotto, I’d basically only be able to use my Sonic Missile, for fear of hitting Lyle, and I needed to get down to be able to use my AOE (Area Of Effect) spells and maybe take the heat off Lyle. Crashing towards the ground and my premature respawn, I tucked the violin into my embrace and concentrated - I needed to get the timing just right for this. Halfway down, I started casting a Sonic Push from below myself, angling the sound wave upwards and slightly forward. I almost panicked, as the increasing wind force caused my hair to  whip around my face, obscuring my vision, but forced through regardless, hoping for the timing to be right. Then the sound wave force hit me, arresting my fall and pushing me forward in the vain hope that I would avoid any injuries. That was the theory, at least. In practice, I lost all sense of direction, hit the ground painfully and tumbled head-over-heels over the ground, finally skidding to a stop face-down in one of the pools. I groaned and spat out brackish water, as I forced my hurting body to comply and stand up, demanding my aching arms lift the violin I’d been embracing. 

When I got to my feet, my vision was swimming and my balance way off - I’d definitely been hit by some sort of debuff, but had no time to investigate. The viper was in motion on the other side of the chamber, but it took me a couple of seconds to see what was happening, and by then, it was already too late. Lyle sat awkwardly with his left leg sticking out at an unhealthy angle, trying to defend himself with just his shield - his weapon was nowhere to be seen. The viper’s massive body was coiled in tension, and as I watched, helplessly, it struck, mouth opening wide to finish him off. Desperately, I fired off a Sonic Missile to catch its attention, but the animal didn’t even flinch. In fact - was it swallowing him? 

I was still far enough away that I couldn’t see anything clearly, but started casting Stun Blast in the hope that I’d make it closer and do - something. I interrupted the casting halfway, as the animal was backing away, weaving back and forth erratically. It performed a half circle, and I prepared to defend myself, but the beast ignored me, continuing the motion while tossing its head back and forth like crazy. Not one to let an opportunity get away, I started casting a Sonic Wave, angling it so there was no risk of hitting Lyle, and followed up with a Stun Blast. The beast was still ignoring me, even though its health was diminishing, and it had taken to banging its head against the cave wall, but the Stun Blast interrupted whatever it was doing, and it settled on the ground again, twitching.

With my damage spells on cooldown again, I took the opportunity to yell out, “Lyle! You okay?” A pained groan was my only response, but I took that as confirmation. I maintained full focus on the snake and, the moment I could, cast another Sonic Missile. So damn close - just another ten percent health. 

The beast came around, raised its head, and promptly smashed it into the wall again, causing pebbles to tumble down from above. Finally, I spotted what the hell was going on: apparently, the viper had tried to swallow Lyle’s shield whole and managed to get the entire thing stuck sideways inside its throat. The digestive troubles of the viper were a Godsend to Lyle and me though, because it looked like it wouldn’t be able to dislodge the shield before I’d be able to finally turn the thing into the largest purse on Aeyon.

Unfortunately, the viper had the brains to do the math - if barely - and come to the same conclusion, because it stopped its masochistic undertakings. The huge head swiveled around, and its tongue flickered it and out, assessing. At this point I thought we might just make it - I could probably take a single hit or two, and as long as I didn't fail my casts...my internal monologue stopped as the viper started slithering shakily towards me - and then veered off towards Lyle, where he had gotten himself propped up against the wall.

Panicking, I yelled, "No! Go for me, you bastard!" and shot off a Sonic Wave, clipping off a bit less than half the remaining health. Again, it ignored me, and slithered right up alongside Lyle, hiding him from my view, but allowing the entire, razor-tipped length of the viper's body to crush him against the cavern wall. I sprinted closer to the head of the animal - I needed do some serious damage instantly, or Lyle would bleed out. Taking a deep breath, I watched the cooldown for Sonic Missile disappear and instantly shot off another one. I watched in anxiety, as the missile shot straight for the snout of the creature, visibly impacting - and leaving it alive with just a few slivers of health remaining.

That's when I snapped. Yelling with fury, I ran straight at the monster's head, equipping my flimsy spear as I went. The viper turned towards me and opened its mouth at the sight of yet another morsel bearing down upon it. A last-second impulse made me cast Sonic Push straight at my own back, propelling me forwards even faster. At the sight of the huge mouth agape before me, oversized fangs dripping with saliva, I couldn't even begin to focus on how to attack properly, but just clutched the spear with both hands, while a piece of advice from an old book kept repeating itself in my head, "Stick 'em with the pointy end."

The sudden burst of speed from my spell must've taken the viper by surprise, because suddenly I was hanging half-way inside the mouth and stabbing, stabbing, stabbing at anything and everything within reach. Moments later, pain engulfed me, as the animal's jaws closed around my waist, and I found myself closed off from the world, deprived of light and sound and hurting. So, yeah, that's when I really panicked. I flailed left and right, yelled incoherently and generally just lost it. I'm certain it was only a matter of seconds, but it felt like longer, and that memory is definitely going to stay with me for a while. Fortunately, my panicked squirming soon led to me being able to tear myself out from between the jaws and stare wide-eyed at the monster which was finally lying blessedly, clearly dead.

I forced my battered body to dig down into its reserves one last time, and got up, scanning around for any sign of Lyle. Luckily, the snake had veered slightly away from the wall in its attempt to eat me whole, and I was able to make it along the wall to locate him. When I did find him Lyle was a mess. He was sporting so many cuts along his arms and body, that the first impression was something from out of a slasher fic.  I got out my last set of bandages, but didn’t even know where to start, he had so many cuts.

His eyes flickered over at me, fear visible in his eyes, and a soft sob escaped from his lips. “I’m…I’m sorry. I was so certain.”

Relieved, I waved off his concerns, “We’ll talk about it later. I’m just glad you’re ok.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, I decided to attend to some of the deeper cuts that had gotten past his arms and were liberally divided along his upper legs and torso. After a - possibly overzealous - application of bandages, I could finally breathe out in relief, as his bleeding status disappeared and his hit points stabilized with just 15 remaining. We divided the work fairly between us - I searched the cave for loot and crafting materials while Lyle promised to take care of not dying.

I gave the viper a wide berth while I searched the rest of the cave. Even in death, the beast was intimidating and looked like something that might start slithering again at any time. The tour of the cave was quickly over and done with - I found no hidden exits, side rooms or treasures. As much as I kept pestering Lyle, he kept insisting that the various pretty stones embedded in the walls were basically valueless - good thing I didn’t choose the Miner profession.” That left two possible sources of loot - and I promptly got to work searching the debris-filled floor for anything of use. After fifteen minutes, I could conclude two things: first, that the vipers  had been major slobs and ought to be ashamed of themselves and second, that they’d enjoyed a varied diet. The floor was littered with bones from different species, none of which I could identify due to everything being all mixed up. There was one exception, though. In one of the pools, partially buried in silt, I found the remnants of a humanoid skeleton, severed at the waist. The abuse the person’s remains had taken was severe, and only rotten rags remained of the clothes - yet all the jewelry was still intact. I pocketed a nonmagical Ornate Silver Ring to sell later and managed to identify a simple Tin Ring of Strength with a +1 modifier, which Lyle got to equip right away. My major find, however, came from the pool right next to the skull, as a glint revealed an unidentified Earring - a length of tiny chain links forged of varying materials which was to be attached by means of three studs. I couldn’t wait to have it identified - even though I’d never worn an earring, the right stats might just start my belated teenage rebellion. Hell - it was fancy enough I might just equip it anyhow.

As for the Clutch Mother, it didn’t disappoint. First off were a handful of Large Hardened Viper Scales, which Lyle was enthusiastic about taking to Sourpuss to see if he could process them into snake leather armor. Next were two saber-sized Large Viper Fangs. I couldn’t tell whether you’d actually be able to use them for a weapon or the like, but did feel a pressing need to have them mounted above my bed. Then came a huge pile of Viper meat, eight Bone Protrusions - the wicked sharp ridges from the monster’s side, and the final one, a rare Poison Gland.

The way back to the village was long and arduous, with Lyle using my shoulder for a crutch the entire time. With the excitement of the battle at a distance, I used the time wisely to give Lyle the scolding of his life. I'd been convinced that I would have to present the news of his untimely death to his father, and I let him know in no uncertain terms how I felt about that. Add in the shock of his reckless stunt - yeah, I didn't hold back. In the end, while he did nod, mumbled "yes" at all the right times and seemed sincerely penitent, I wasn't sure I got through to him at all. Especially when I checked the development in our skills and noticed that he'd received a brand new achievement to match his two-week Broken Leg debuff:

Valor of Blackrock Spire

Odds mean nothing to you. You have proved that you are willing to risk your life for the things that matter the most to you - be they honor, family or a cheap thrill. Thus, when your life is at stake, you are strengthened.

When you face overwhelming odds, you receive a +10 bonus to endurance and +10% pain resistance.

Duration: 3 minutes.

That really didn't bode well for his good behavior. Ah, well. I decided to put it out of my head and leave it for his dad to talk some sense into him. I checked out my own progression from battling all the vipers and whistled. First off, both Sonic Missile and Sonic Wave had gained two levels, and had finally crossed the threshold to Apprentice rank. I checked out the pop-up:

Congratulations.

Your spell Sonic Missile has reached Apprentice rank. In addition to existing effects, the spell now has a small chance to disorient living targets for 1,5 seconds.

Sonic Wave had gained the exact same effect - wonderful. An extra bit of CC (Crowd Control) was always welcome. My spells were generally coming along nicely. Stun Blast and Entrance Animals had gained two levels and Sonic Push one. Sonic Spells gained two, reaching nine - I couldn’t wait to see what I’d get once I hit apprentice rank.

Apart from that, I’d gained skills in Unarmored Dodge, Spot, Leadership and Concentration. Even Acrobatics had gained a point, from jumping off a damn cliff I assumed. Oh - and I’d gained two new skills - Piercing Weapons and Throwing - which I promptly minimized again. I couldn’t see myself using those any time soon.

We finally got back to the village, and I left Lyle on the porch of the smithy and wandered off quickly to avoid the parental fallout. I couldn’t help chuckling when I heard the yelling begin in the background. Right now, it was time for me to cash in on the completed quest. Sweet, sweet quest rewards awaited and life was good.