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| Quote: | Fight for the Undercity
In early 2592, one of the Underlight scouting parties ran into a small group of dorg no'mekhak. The Underlights were able to kill the dorgs, and on one of the corpses they found a crudely drawn map. The tunnels leading to the Undercity were drawn on the map with fairly accurate dimensions. The current leader of the Underlights, the berynkin Marlon Whispertoes, tried to convince the Captain of the Wardens who was stationed in the Undercity construction zone, but the captain didn't believe that the dorg no'mekhak could coordinate with any real threat. Warden Captain Charlleth avoided any reason to stay underground or go deeper.
One of the up-and-comers in the Underlights was a dorg no'meki named Worlg'mekilo. Worlg was a trained assassin who hated his previous life and changed it by joining the Underlights. He was the perfect scout and spy for this mission. Worlg was gone for two months investigating the map that his fellow Underlighter scouts had found.
Worlg returned with disturbing news. The dorg scouts that the Underlights ran into were just a small picket for a horde of creatures from the Underdark and near-surface. The horde was gathering under the leadership of a half-fiend spawn known only as the Lurid Oppugnant and a scion of Kimonictinus. Lurid Oppugnant had recruited an army of kharakuro, adomkuro, black hulks, and other horrors from deep within the Underdark. Lurid Oppugnant called his forces the Aphotic Army - he was known for being a bit overly dramatic and vain.
Worlg informed Marlon about the dangers, and Marlon went to Warden Captain Charlleth. The captain listened with his typical disdain. He didn’t trust what Marlon said, and he trusted what the dorg Worlg said even less. Marlon realized that the Underlights were not going to receive any help from the official guardians of Crosstreams.
Marlon Whispertoes had about a month to either convince the government of Crosstreams that the Aphotic Army was a threat or to find other allies in order to defend the Undercity. Marlon tried the Order of the Golden Rose for assistance in getting the cooperation of the Wardens, but they had no interest in helping. Same with the Pit Vipers. The Underlights didn't have the money to get the attention of the Blue Eagles or Crimson Wolves much less actual military assistance.
Marlon was telling his Aunt Laurelin about the problem. She told Marlon that his cousin, Yoral Quickfists, was a lieutenant slinger in the Confederate Army stationed near Bullwark. Marlon traveled to Bullwark and found his cousin Yoral.
After a rowdy night of right-sized reminiscing, Yoral agreed to help Marlon. The next day, Yoral worked his way up his chain-of-command until he was able to introduce Marlon to Colonel Marcoln Kolston. Marlon showed him the map and Worlg's notes, and the colonel agreed to send Confederate scouts to check it out.
The Confederate scouts lucked out. They caught a picket group snoozing, and they were able to capture one dorg no'meki and kill the other dorgs and akriish without any escaping. The fact that dorg no'mekhak and akriish were working together was enough evidence that something was wrong, but the information that the army was able to get out of the captured dorg was more than enough to achieve full support for the Underlights from the Confederate Army.
Colonel Kolston was able to convince the Bullwark Confederate General to talk to the governors of Bullwark and Crosstreams. The general persuaded the governors to transfer Colonel Kolston from Bullwark to Crosstreams in order replace Warden Captain Charlleth as leader of security for the Undercity. Colonel Kolston knew that he was outnumbered by a mighty and malicious horde. Strong defenses and sound tactics would have to be the great equalizers.
The Confederate Army's corps of engineers was brought in to assist Colonel Kolston. The colonel used the Underlights' extensive knowledge of the surrounding tunnels to help the engineers choose the best locations for an array of deadly traps: spiked pits, dead falls, etc. The engineers also dug parallel tunnels next to the Aphotic's most likely route. The new, parallel tunnels were built to allow the Confederates the use of murder holes, tracks for burning oil, and other nasty surprises.
The Underlights continued to track the movements of the Aphotics using Worlg and other scouts. Colonel Kolston knew that his engineers had less than a week to finish preparations and needed every minute of that time to properly train his soldiers for subterranean combat. A few Ashen and White Order mages were busy making bright light sources and flashing devices that would blind their foes. A group of Blue Order mages were hustling to stockpile scrolls to enchant as many of the soldiers' weapons as they possibly could.
The Church of Hurine had also sent clerics to support the defenses. Nothing would be worse for commerce than to have an army from below pillage the city. One of the engineers, an adherent of Fegall, asked the clerics to bless the spikes in the pit traps for that extra touch. They filled some of the pits with a foot of holy water.
Everyone was nervous the day that the Confederate Army and the Underlights expected to defend the Undercity of Crosstreams from the Lurid Oppugnant and his Aphotic Army. Before battle the waiting is always the worst part - and in this case it was a long part. After biding almost a full day, Marlon noticed Worlg quietly slide back into the main chambers.
"Hey Worlg, what're those degenerates waiting for?"
"Greetings again Marlon. I watched them for most of the day. It was torture. I thought they were stopping to rest or something, but then the big ugly got up and started going on and on about how the traps only killed a few of the weakest ones and barely slowed them down. They'll still crush us and rule all of Negaria and Avlis or something. He rambled with big, boring words the whole time."
Marlon and Worlg chatted for a few more minutes. Then they went back to waiting. Time dragged like a yuan-ti abomination's rear, but the defenders had to stay alert. As the adrenaline wore off the thinking gave rise to worry and fear.
Archers were quietly waiting inside the parallel tunnels along the main tunnel from where the Aphotic Army would come. They would take turns peaking out the murder holes trying to catch a glimpse of a sneaking enemy. Suddenly panic spread among the archers at the ends of the tunnels. The hysteria among the archers spread like a wave down the length of the tunnels from the far ends back towards the Undercity.
Some soldiers were injured as they tried to push each other out of the tunnels. After a few minutes, the panic appeared to pass. The suddenly calm archers looked around in confusion. A few clerics were called up to check on any injuries.
The clerics discovered that the panic was induced by the presence of a powerful evil. The malignant force seemed to move in towards the Undercity, however, no one saw any intruder or possible source of the fear. Extra scouts were dispatched, but they had to take care not to alert the enemy that the Undercity's defenders were prepared and lying in ambush.
One of the scouts sent to investigate was Worlg. He swiftly and silently went the length of the main tunnel between the archers' positions. The tunnel descended at a steep angle for almost half a mile. It ended in a large cavern, and another tunnel exited on the opposite side. The other tunnel sloped back upwards at a similar angle for another half mile making the large cave the low point for over a mile. It was in this cavern that the Confederates expected the Aphotic Army to gather before heading between the archers on their way up to the Undercity. Worlg expected to see the advance forces of the enemy there, but he was surprised to see that the cavern was still empty. The traps must have slowed them more than he thought. Worlg moved slowly and stealthily across the cave while keeping an eye out for enemy scouts.
Worlg made it across the cavern to the far tunnel without any sign of an enemy. He was examining the cave-in trap that the engineers had set to seal the far end of the cave. Worlg was wondering exactly why it had been placed there when he heard one rock grate on another. He ran back towards the center of the cave and scrambled up and behind a natural column.
A small horde of creatures poured into the cavern from the tunnel opposite where Worlg entered. First came a disorganized mob of dorg no'mekhak and akriish. As usual, they were hurling insults and the occasional fists at each other. While Worlg felt a twinge of shame from his people's stereotypical actions, their disarray gave him hope for the coming battle. Following the smaller mass of shock troops came the true denizens of the underdark: a subrace of deep shaahesk known as charrshek, giant cave lizards and deep spiders, groups of kharakuro and adomkuro, and gigantic black hulks known as the lree'chi'kin.
As if those forces weren't enough, they were followed by the stench of decay and a shambling group of skeletons, zombies, ghasts, and wraiths prodded along by their necromancer handlers. In the middle of the group of undead walked an imposing nine-foot-tall figure shrouded in darkness. Worlg could sense the cold, fear-inducing power that emanated from the figure - it had to be the spawn of Kimonictinus, Lurid Oppugnant. Worlg was already in the midst of an internal struggle to keep his wits and not succumb to the fear clawing at the inside of his head and gut. He came within a razor's edge of losing control when the last half-dozen creatures followed Lurid Oppugnant into the cave.
Behind the leader walked the scariest things that Worlg had ever seen. They looked like giant, rotting undead spiders, but sitting on the back of each one was a humanoid skull with precious gemstones for teeth and eyes. Worlg wasn't sure what they were, but wave after wave of chilling dread washed over him. He fought against the irrational fear, but Worlg gave an involuntary whimper. Several charrshek near the column jumped at the sound, pointed at Worlg, and started hissing. The surprise at being spotted was enough to help Worlg swallow his fear. He quickly jumped down and started bowing and scraping like a typical dorg no'meki. He heard a deep voice speak in the common tongue of the underdark, "Bring it to me."
Two charrshek grabbed one of Worlg's arms each and dragged him to face Lurid Oppugnant. Worlg looked up to see a sneering face with curling horns protruding from the brows inside a swirling blackness before he quickly looked back down and continued whimpering.
"Stop your cowardly sniveling you worthless trash!," thundered Lurid Oppugnant, "What were you doing, so that I know why I'm ripping you apart?"
Worlg allowed his fear to continue showing and responded with the usual dorg whine in his voice. A whine that he despised but was his only chance to survive. "S-sorry oh glorious one! I just a lowly scout. I have news but quake at your power."
Lurid Oppugnant leaned back to sit in a bejeweled mithral throne brought up to him by a pair of lree'chi'kin. He clicked his long nails on the right arm while staring at Worlg. "Then report before you lose control of yourself and befoul my presence."
"There s-small group of ganooms ahead. I no think they know of you mighty army, but they are sus-pic-ous. They panic and no know why." Worlg groveled as he finished speaking.
"That idiot Thracticus. His incessant curiosity will undo our plans. A thousand years he's been dead, and he still has no patience." Lurid Oppugnant waved his hand in dismissal. Worlg didn't see the wave since his face was to the ground, but the charrshek grabbed him. Before they could drag him away, Worlg screeched, "I have more oh most powerful!"
Lurid Oppugnant pointed to the ground before him, and the charrshek holding Worlg threw him down to the spot with a little extra force. Worlg bounced but was uninjured. He quickly continued, "I sorry your excellency, but I hear stupid ganooms babbling. They have traps for you. One is th-there." Worlg pointed behind Lurid Oppugnant to the dead-fall trap in the far tunnel.
The dark leader turned to one of the undead spiders with the skull on its back. "Surimon, investigate." A hollow yet powerful voice that made Worlg shiver even harder came from the skull, "Of course oh powerful one." Lurid Oppugnant growled at the obvious sarcasm in the response. The rotting spider turned and carried the skull over to the tunnel.
The dead spider being ridden by a jeweled skull tapped around the site of the trap. As the decomposing arachnid thing turned to come back, the dead-fall triggered and collapsed in a thunderous cloud of dust. The dust-covered, adulterated spider returned, and the skull on its back intoned, "Stupid ganoom trap did not work until it was too late. No casualties."
Lurid Oppugnant continued his nail-tapping. "They must have been discussing its faults." He turned to Worlg, "You may live, worm. Continue to serve me and you continue breathing. You're too small to make a decent zombie warrior."
Before the charrshek could grab him, Worlg scampered away babbling about more scouting. He was able to fight his way through the dorg no'mekhak and akriish mass with only a few minor punches and scratches for his trouble. No one stopped him. As Worlg climbed up the long tunnel and began passing between the murder holes he released a ragged and shivering sigh of relief.
At the top of the inclining tunnel, Worlg passed a group of mages in gray robes who were chanting and drawing on the tunnel floor. He squeezed past and found the lieutenant on duty behind the defenses set up at the top of the tunnel. He told the officer that he had urgent information, and unlike the Wardens, the army officer didn't just ignore the Underlighter. Worlg was taken right away to see Colonel Kolston.
Worlg told Colonel Kolston what happened with a barely perceptible waver in his voice. The colonel called the head Gorethite cleric into the meeting and had Worlg tell her, too. The cleric frowned, "It sounds like a demilich, but I've never heard of one with a spider body."
They discussed it another few minutes before the colonel sent for a messenger. "Tell the Ashen circle that they need to hurry. The Aphotics are in the tank."
"Aye, sir." The messenger ran back towards the tunnel until he approached the mages in gray that Worlg had passed a little while before. "Archmage, Colonel Kolston says that it's time, now, and asks that you hurry."
The oldest man whose skin and long beard were as gray as his robes grumbled something about rushing powerful magic. He then started giving rapid instructions to the other five mages. They raised their voices into a louder chant and began waving their arms in unison making circular motions. A brilliant azure disk began to form. It almost filled the tunnel as it expanded to face downhill.
Marlon was still in the top of one of the archer tunnels. He was watching the blue disk expand, and he could see the two Ashen mages on the downhill side. He noticed that both mages had sad looks of resignation on their faces, but before he could ask anyone about it someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see a stocky, bearded dwerga wearing adamantium plate armor and a gold-trimmed, blue cloak. "Hello Harlst."
"It's time ta put yer block in tha hole, lad." Harlst lifted a block of stone and plugged it into the murder hole that Marlon had been peeking out of. Marlon looked down the side tunnel and saw others plugging all the holes.
"Why are we doing this Harlst? Why do two of the mages look sad?"
"Tha two finger wagglers know that they're about ta die fer tha cause." Harlst grunted as he slid the cut stone into the murder hole. "It's about ta get real wet soon. Just relax 'til it's over."
Marlon could hear the voices of the mages crescendo. Simultaneously, Marlon felt a wave of stomach wrenching fear as he heard one of the mages scream. A split second after the scream, there was the roar of a torrent rumbling down the tunnel. Water began to seep around the stones that plugged the murder holes as Marlon heard yelling rise above the roaring noise.
Marlon ran up the tunnel and around the corner where it exited into the main defensive cave. Harlst was ahead of him and charging back down the main tunnel towards the blue disc with his axe held high. From that area came the roar of torrential water, screams, and a thick sense of doom. When Marlon got close enough to see over the barricades, he saw a crumpled body wearing gray robes, the Ashen archmage casting a spell, and Harlst charging what looked like a pony-sized spider with a white lump in the middle of its back.
The overwhelming dread that came from the spider thing almost made Marlon turn and run away screaming, but he swallowed the fear and moved closer. He saw Harlst swing his axe over his head with both hands while calling upon Gorethar's aid. The spider was facing the mage, and Marlon realized that the lump on its back was a skull with several emeralds for teeth and a pair of ruby eyes. Before Harlst could land his blow, a bright red flare lanced out from one of the skull's eyes and illuminated the archmage. The Ashen archmage screamed. The red light withdrew back into the skull's eye, and as it left the archmage his body collapsed and immediately began to rot into a putrid mass. Then Harlst's axe hit the spider.
The spider tried to leap back, but it was too slow. Harlst's axe cleaved the corrupted spider body just ahead of the skull in a spray of greenish-black gore. The skull flew off and rolled down the tunnel into the silver-flecked azure back side of the disc.
Marlon ran up, and over the roar of water shouted to Harlst, "What was that thing?"
"I've nae idea, but it got away."
"What do you mean? You cut it in half!"
"Nae, lad. That was just its ride. Tha foul wee undead rolled back down tha tunnel."
"What's that noi-." Marlon stopped in mid sentence as the blue disc making the torrential noise suddenly stopped and winked out of existence with a small pop. "Noise."
Harlst finished cleaning his axe. "It was a devilish trap fer tha Aphotics. A portal ta tha Elemental Plane o' Water lettin' loose a flood inta that sealed cave below. Most o' tha Aphotics should be drowned, but nae tha undead uns."
Marlon heard stones grating and saw the sealing blocks being removed from the murder holes on both sides of the central tunnel. There were still small rivulets of water running down the sides and along the floor. He could see that down the main tunnel just past the last murder hole, it was filled with once-pure water turned black by the dirt of the caves. He was hoping that it was over and Harlst was wrong, but then more screaming and shouting started.
Colonel Kolston came running from the command center along with most of the clerics. He began yelling at the lieutenants to pull out the archers. "The only creatures left should be undead, and archers won't be very effective!"
A dwerga crossbow soldier ran out of one of the side tunnels yelling, "Wraiths! Wraiths in the tunnel!"
"Damn, they must've snuck in through the murder holes. Clerics! To the archers' aid!" As Colonel Kolston was directing half the clerics into each side tunnel, things began emerging from the water at the end of the main tunnel - skeletons, zombies, and a few surviving charrshek and lree'chi'kin. Still a dangerous force, but no longer overwhelming.
The clerics were trying to push past fleeing archers as they called upon divine aid to destroy the wraiths in the side tunnels. Most the archers were either trying to get out or having their souls sucked dry by the black wraiths, but a few had the willpower to resist the urge to run and the presence of mind to do their jobs. They released the vats that poured oil into the main tunnel.
The oil splashed along the central tunnel from multiple vats on both sides. It coated the advancing monsters and slowed their approach as they began to slip and fall on the slick slope. A mage wearing the robes of the White Order waited until the oil began to pool on the water below, and then she let fly a small fleck of flame. The flame arced into the middle of the tunnel where it burst into an inferno that ignited the oil. The living creatures screamed in anguish for a brief moment, and undead began to fall into smoldering piles. As more undead came out of the water, they too were coated with flaming oil and began to burn.
Unfortunately, one of the vats wasn't empty as the oil in the tunnel ignited. The fire raced up the oil stream and into the vat itself where it exploded in the left side tunnel. Almost a dozen archers and a couple of clerics were killed instantly, and several more ran around on fire.
More archers and spellcasters stood behind the defenses at the top of the tunnel and picked off anything moving in the flames. After about ten minutes all the flames had died down, the injured had been removed, and the dead counted. Fifty-two archery personnel, seven clerics, and all six Ashen mages were lost. With the enemy apparently defeated, the losses were better than they could've hoped for.
Colonel Kolston had one of the mages send an arcane eye down into the water. It was too dark, so they had to enchant some rocks with light and lob them down first. The eye went underwater and first saw the drowned corpses of many dorg no'mekhak, akriish, kharakuro, and adomkuro. There were also lots of dead charrshek and lree'chi'kin, but as expected no remains of any undead. The eye continued past the mithril throne to the far tunnel leading out of the large cave. The wizard expected to see the cave-in that blocked the exit, but the boulders were pushed out of the way. There was no sign of Lurid Oppugnant nor the undead spider monstrosities.
The colonel and Marlon both sent scouts to look for Lurid Oppugnant, the undead spider-riding demilich skulls, and any other survivors, but none were ever found. The Undercity had survived its first attack. Marlon and the Underlights swore that the Undercity, Crosstreams, and the Confederacy of the Seven Cities would be warned and prepared for any attack from below. |
--Written by IceThorn |
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