"You' looking to fill the spot?" Brick rises and sticks out his hand. "I'm Brick. This is Tella, Aeona, and Jut."
"Ah yes, Jut. I've heard about you already. You were the one who stormed the city council meeting this morning, right?" He shakes Brick's hand and focuses on me. Then he introduces himself with a courteous bow. "I am Tamos Olbaid Darkmoore. Mage DPS. I humbly request to join your party." He looks at Brick with a semi-serious expression. "It's the least you could do after so rudely scooting my bar stool over the other night."
"Who did what, now?" Aeona asks with a laugh.
"Jut and I wanted to sit together after walking all day when we first got here. I just kind of made room. Hey, I have no problem with you joining, Tamos. If everyone else is cool with it that is."
I look at the girls after Brick finishes. They both just shrug, seemingly alright with Tamos joining. I am more than satisfied with him taking the slot. The sooner we can get into the Tower the better.
"We were already even as I purchased your beer that night," I said as I also stand and shake Tamos' hand. I then wave at the open fifth chair. "Come, join us. It seems like everyone is good with you being our fifth." Tamos doesn't smile. He just sits down.
Tamos asks about the meeting we had crashed. Everyone chips in on the tale as we wait for our food to arrive. The NPC waitress doesn't even question Tamos's move to our table either, she just refills his drink and delivers his food then moves on.
After the Party is full again and we have sated our appetites, the five of us head out. I don't mention to Brick that I notice Moss on the arm of a different tank heading towards the shopping area. I doubt he's the jealous type, but I also don't want him distracted.
Getting to the entrance isn't difficult. It's just really far away. The trek took us hours and hours of walking. Not only is the foot traffic just as bad here as it was by the Southern Comfort, but the path is uphill almost the whole way.
We take an early turn thanks to Brick insisting a particular alley is the right way. We end up backtracking quite a distance once the waymarker starts to get further from away from us. Tella makes an off-color comment about Brick's sense of direction which draws chuckles from everyone, even Brick.
When we finally find the entrance, it's down a flight of brick stairs that are almost flush with the city's western wall. A barred gate blocks our path. When we open it, the mouth of the dungeon looks like a swirling mass of plasma.
We all look at each other. I decide I'll go first and step forward. When my hand makes contact with the plasma, I am sucked in and the only thing I can see is a prompt:
You and your party are being transported to the entrance of 'The Sewers of the Southern Ascension'.
When my vision finally clears, I am standing in a square brick room. A ladder leans to my right, a manhole-sized gap filled with the plasma from the entrance swirls at the top. Pipes are running from the wall behind me along the sides of the room. They continue through the far wall where a door stands. The middle of the room has a half-pipe that cuts across its full length from left to right. Green sludgy water flows just below the edge and a metal bridge spans the ooze.
"Ewe. Why a sewer?" Aeona asks as she approaches the water's edge. Her posture screams 'I don't want to get any on me'.
"Let's just find the key and get out of here." Brick says as he starts across the bridge. He makes it across and goes for the door. The rest of us follow single file. I take up the rear.
When I make it halfway across the bridge, I hear a faint bubbling noise. I look toward the sound but don't see anything strange. No bubbles on the water or unaccounted for movement. I'm just being paranoid. Shaking my head, I finish crossing the bridge.
As soon as Brick tries to twist the doorknob, multiple splashes echo throughout the room and many pillars of water shoot up from its surface. The thumps of solid bodies landing follow.
Before us, four rats the size of German Shepherds shake their bodies, expelling excess water. Their coats are black and greasy. Bright red eyes burn above six-inch teeth:
Sewer Rat
Level 3
Brick rushes forward, drawing his sword and shield. The rest of us regroup behind him. Tella and I step up on either side of Brick facing a single rat each, while Tamos and Aeona stand behind him. Tamos levels his staff and it begins to glow. Aeona pulls out a small bow and knocks an arrow.
I raise my right hand and extend my dagger. "Charge!"
On my shout, everyone advances. Brick holds two of the rats at bay behind his shield. One catches a ball of energy to the face from Tamos's staff and an arrow erupts out of the other's skull.
Tella practically fades away in the low light of the sewer. She then reappears behind the rat she's chosen and plunges both her daggers into its neck. After yanking them out, she disappears again as the rat turns to find her already gone. I'm able to follow her movement this time, but only by the sound of her footfalls. She reappears, striking new spots with her blades only to vanish yet again.
I don't have any tricks to use. I just step in and stab my chosen rat. The rat, to my surprise, raises a paw and attempts to parry my strike with its claws. It's no use as I am faster. My dagger strikes home and pierces the rat's side. The rat rears back in pain and I plunge my dagger into its side repeatedly until it falls to the ground dead.
Before I can look around to check on everyone else, more splashes sound. Water soaks my tunic through as the blast washes over me. Another handful of rats land all around me. I spit out a mouth full of awful and try to reassess the situation.
Three new rats appeared. With the corpses of rats adding to the wall, Tella and I are completely cut off from the group. We only have to worry about it for a moment though. Brick, Aeona, and Tamos make quick work of their two rats and close in on the third who has trapped us. Without hesitation, Tella and I each turn and take out the remaining rats.
After we all collect our loot, a bunch of rat meat, Brick approaches the door again. This time it opens and he leads us through it.
While I'm waiting to move forward, I make eye contact with Tamos who's a few yards away. He has a splatter of rat blood across his face. He just awkwardly waves at me. I wave back and point to my face. He reaches up and touches his cheek in response. Taking away his hand, he cringes when he sees it come away red. He hastily wipes the rest of the rat from his face onto one of his sleeves. I just chuckle and pass through the door.
We step into another room that looks like what you'd expect to see in a sewer. A drainage channel cuts through the floor and leads to the right. To the left, a grate cuts off any hope of going that way.
As we can only go right, we trudge through the water and muck. After following the channel for a while, we are faced with an intersection. Of the three possible ways to go, two are blocked off. This time we have to go left.
We walk and slosh through the tunnels for what feels like hours but has to be much less. At the very first intersection that allows us to pick a direction, we go the wrong way. The tunnel leads to a dead end and we have to go back. We turn a few dozen more times before we find another door. It seems to be the end of the line as well. The tunnel is blocked off ahead.
Along the way, we were attacked a few times by slime monsters that form under our feet. They are small and gelatinous. The gross orb-like monsters didn't have eyes from what I could see and are a poison green color. We dispatch them as quickly as they pop up. Despite being immune to physical damage, Tamos' magic blasts take them out quickly enough. The encounters are far enough apart that Tamos' mana is fully restored before each fight. Each one drops a ball of slime that gets tucked away.
After a few of the slimes died, Tamos and Tella both level up on separate occasions. Everyone cheers each time the light flashes from a party member.
A happy moment crops up when we find a treasure chest. It's hidden just out of sight past the door, nestled in the shadows of the channel.
Unfortunately, the chest only has a few copper coins in it. We evenly distribute the meager loot and make our way through the door.
This room is large and round. I have no idea what this sort of room would be used for in a sewer system but the floor is bowl shape and has a grate in the center. A large cascade of the gross water falls from a large pipe overhead that crashes through the grate. There's also another wooden door on the far side of the room. A single lantern is hung above the waterfall, casting about an eerie, pale glow.
After the last of us pass into the room, the door closes behind us. Thick metal bars shoot down from the top of the door on our side, preventing passage back out of the room. The same happens to the door on the far side.
"Uh oh." Echos from all five of us at once.
In my experience, that happens when a big monster is about to appear. I call it, too. If it wasn't so obvious, I would have kicked myself for jinxing us. After a short rumbling, a giant rat falls from the pipe above.
This rat looks more humanoid as it raises itself on its hind legs. Unlike the dog-sized rats from before, this one is about seven feet tall. Its paws have long jagged claws and its teeth are at least a foot in length. The flesh-colored tail snakes around and lashes out in random directions. This creature's indicator has a crown above it similar to the Goblin Leader's from the fight at George and Betty's.
Mutated Rat
Level 5
The Mutated Rat lets out a wail and lungs at Aeona. She raises her sword to defend herself but Brick is on form. He slips between the boss rat and Aeona, the creature's claws glancing off his shield harmlessly. The blow makes Brick stagger but he keeps his feet.
Aeona steps back and sheaths her blade. She pulls out her bow while reaching for an arrow.
Tamos is concentrating while his staff is glowing brightly. Shadows are cast in front of me as the light grows.
Tella fades into the background as soon as the large rat hits the ground. No doubt she's looking for an opening. The black cloak I bought her seems to be doing its job.
I have my dagger out. If I see a place to stick it, I am ready. My main objective is to be a barrier between Brick and the casters.
That's when I notice it. A small squeaking coming from behind Aeona. She must have heard it too because she turns. There's a dog-sized rat ready to spring on her. I know she isn't going to get her bow drawn fast enough so I throw my blade. It sails through the air awkwardly. I thought for a moment I would miss and strike our healer instead, but the blade seems to correct its trajectory and sinks into the rat's skull.
The force of the blow knocks the rat off of Aeona and it falls to the ground, dead. Aeona reaches down, yanks my blade free and tosses it back to me hilt first.
"Thanks," she shouts quickly then turns her bow onto another rat that is slinking slowly towards her.
I'm about to join Aeona to fight off the little rats attacking her, but Tamos is in more desperate need of help. He was crouching on the ground breathing hard. Every time he's about to finish shooting his magical blast a rat will nip his ankles or legs and break his concentration. This causes the light to fizzle out. He has three of the smaller beasts around him, each taking turns nipping or clawing at him. Four more rats are blasted husks scattered around his feet. I charge over and take out the nearest rat with a few quick stabs. The remaining two back off. I turn to them and lung at each as they continue to go for Tamos' legs. I don't understand why they didn't turn on me.
The rats avoid my blade by jumping backward, but my interference has accomplished its goal. Tamos can finish his attack.
"Brick, roll out of the way for a sec!" I shout.
Brick complies and Tamos yells a battle cry. The silver-haired mage sticks his staff out in front of him and a huge blast of energy erupts from the end, striking the Mutated Rat in the chest. The blast impacts the monster's body, carving out chunks of flesh. In a fit of pain and rage, the rat boss sways into the cascading water. Its health bar is about a quarter gone.
The Mutated Rat screams in rage. The sound pierces me like a nail being driven into my eardrums. I fall to my knees then onto my side, both hands clutched to the sides of my head trying to hold my brain in. My dagger lay forgotten. The room spins as I fight the searing pain.
'You're just going to die here.' 'You're weak and always have been.' 'Useless.' 'Worthless.' These thoughts swirl through my head and I can't move. A flashback plays through my mind.