Chapter 52
Bilwin and Dolor continue into the storage room, stepping over and around the unkempt and pungent-smelling dwarf sprawled on the floor. Wearing leather armor, the dwarf’s lengthy red beard, pulled together in a single plait braid, moves up and down with the cadence of his loud snoring. Based on the empty bottles surrounding him, the dwarf drank himself into an inebriated slumber.
Peering around the room at the stores, the two companions decide to leave them where they rest on the rickety shelves. The group has enough rations and it’s not worth getting sick, or poisoned for that matter.
Bilwin kneels next to the red-bearded dwarf and shakes him gently in an attempt to rouse him. “Hey, friend! Heeelllllooooo and good morning. At least, I think it’s still morning outside. My internal clock is a bit off lately for some reason. Wakey, wakey, hands off…oh, there you are.”
The drunken dwarf’s eyes slowly begin to open, creased as though peering into bright lights—or battling a major hangover. All of a sudden, surprise grabs hold of him and he tries to jump to his feet, ready to defend himself and his lair. Instead, he remains prone on the floor while lifting his head and rolling over to his side. His eyes open wider and finally focus on Bilwin and Dolor. Seeing them for the first time and realizing they’re not holding their weapons, he slowly rises to a seated position.
“Let’s get you out of this tiny room and back to the others. We can talk there.” Bilwin reaches down to lend him a hand up.
The dwarf grunts a response and then unhurriedly moves to stand up, stumbling to each side several times on his journey to being vertical. He shoves off Bilwin’s offers of assistance. Finally standing, he puts both hands on his hips in a posture of confidence, but his right hand misses and slides off across his buttocks throwing him off balance. He loses his balance and falters to the side, catching himself with a hand on one of the shelves.
“Ach, aye. This is whit I wis lookin’ for! Cannae leave wi’oot some scran, noo can I.” He grabs three wine bottles from the shelf—probably the only unopened bottles that remain.
The three successfully navigate the spinning cylinder to rejoin Gven, Mond, Grindlefoot, and Gustaf. Although, the dwarf appears to use an intoxicated form of tumbling to do so.
Grindlefoot hands the dwarf a flask of water, while silently casting Lesser Restoration that immediately makes him sober.
He notices the change, “Och, nay, we cannae hae that, noo can we!” He grabs one of the wine bottles from his pack and guzzles the contents. Dropping the empty bottle to the floor, he sways a tiny bit. “Aye, loads better.”
Bilwin asks, “What brought you here? And why did you lock yourself in that storeroom?”
“Name’s Thamnoki Grumblebuster, but folks call me Tham. I thocht me group wis lookin’ fur treasure, but the arseholes lied tae me. They were a bunch o’ zealots come tae tak’ the stupid tests. Somethin’ aboot trials tae prove their worth tae The One, whoever the hell that micht be. I thocht tae hing aboot and see if they found anythin’ o’ value, but they went an’ got killed by some huge, armoured beastie. I didnae want any part o’ that shite, so I ran aff and locked masel’ in the first room I could find. Lucky fur me, it hid food an’ drink…plenty o’ drink. That’s ma story. Whaur are you lot aff tae?”
“We’re headed back this way,” Bilwin points to the closed metal door in the hallway headed to the north. “Searching for clues about The One and the war it’s trying to start in Eritz. Join us?”
“Aye, let’s go.”
Making his way to the door, the red-bearded dwarf pushes it open with little effort. Ten feet down the hall, another metal door blocks their way. Without waiting for anyone’s suggestion or approval, Tham moves forward and opens the second door, only to reveal yet another metal door ten feet down the hall. Again, he continues forward and opens the door without hesitation, moving a few steps into a gigantic cavern, larger than any of the previous ones in the temple. They can’t see further than sixty feet in any direction with their darkvision. Based on the curvature of the walls by the entrance, the cavern is round and at least a few hundred feet in diameter.
“Something’s not quite right,” Dolor whispers to the group. “I sense a great body of water, but don’t see any around here.” Looking ahead, the tiefling and group sees a shimmering reflection around the room.
Grindlefoot yells, “HELLO!” Waiting a few seconds, they don’t hear a response, or an echo.
Bilwin makes the decision for the group and follows the pathway forward, straight ahead from the entrance into what they think is the center of the giant cave. The group walks slowly with Bilwin and Tham leading, Mond, Dolor, and Grindlefoot in line behind them, and Gven bringing up the rear. Gustaf remains at the supposed safety of the cave’s entrance. After thirty feet, they feel the temperature rising quickly and sweat begins to appear on their foreheads.
Looking around, Dolor discovers the cause of the shimmering. “We’re inside a huge bubble! Look at the other side, that’s boiling water, which explains the heat. What sort of magic is keeping all that water boiling, not to mention this translucent bubble that’s protecting us from being boiled alive? And why? What sort of elaborate, deadly puzzle is this room?”
They continue walking for another thirty to forty feet and Mond notices the terrain shifting from hardened stone to sand and gravel. The half-elf can barely make out something sticking out of the sand ahead of them, at the edge of his darkvision. Moving closer, the blurred edges come into focus. It’s a greatsword, jutting out of the sand. As they cautiously move closer, they hear a low rumbling and the sand beneath their feet and around the staked sword begins to shake.
A giant crab erupts from the shifting sand and scitters sideways, blocking their path to the sword. It wears a shiny, rune-covered copper band around one of its claws, which, notably, does not prevent it from being used.
Seeing the fifteen foot tall crab move between them and the sword, Gven invokes her rage, draws Tempest Edge from its scabbard across her back, and rushes in to attack. She swings at one of the claws twice, both slicing through the crab’s thick carapace, letting its blood streak out.
Having attuned himself to Whelm before entering the cavern, Bilwin hears the warhammer’s encouragement in his mind. “Aye, lad, let’s pound this damnable beast!” The dwarf turns the hammer upright and slams the handle on the ground, releasing a shockwave that undulates through the gigantic crab and, yet, it seems unaffected.
With Gven’s attack, she’s within easy reach of the crab, who reaches out with a claw and grabs hold of the barbarian. The creature squeezes with such strength that she’s momentarily stunned and unable to respond.
Mond raises both of his hands and concentrates, releasing a bolt of lightning that that crashes into the crab with an ear-splitting crack. It squeals in pain, but continues to hold Gven in its grasp.
Taking advantage of the battle’s distraction, Grindlefoot attempts to sneak around the group to investigate the sword in the sand. The crab notices the halfling’s movements and scuttles to the side, blocking his path.
Tham moves forward forcefully—and seeming sudden sobriety—to punch the crab’s lower shell with a fury of blows that appear to cause some damage.
With Gleaming Blade in his hand, Dolor attacks the cheliped holding Gven. The magical blade cuts through the thick hide, letting more blood flow and obviously hurting the crab. It responds in anger, lifting Gven higher and then forcefully smashing her into the sandy ground. She groans in agony at the mistreatment.
Continuing to grasp Gven in one of its claws, the giant crab shoots out its other claw to slash at Grindlefoot. The exceedingly sharp claw tip cuts through the halfling’s coat, into his thigh and causing him to stumble in excruciating pain.
Bilwin jumps sideways to gain a clear shot at the crab’s body, avoiding Gven and the cheliped holding her prisoner. A bolt of light streams from the cleric’s extended hand, hitting the beast in the center of its mass. Following the spell, Bilwin hurls Whelm at the crab. Attuned to the magical warhammer, it slams against the crab’s carapace with force enough to stun it mommentarily. The weapon reappears in the dwarf’s hand.
Angry at being attacked from so many opponents, the huge crab rears back its arm and hurls Gven. She lands hard in the rocky area of the sand, twenty feet from the crab, and lies still.
With both Gven and Grindlefoot prone on the ground, each in pain, Mond releases another bolt of lightning at the creature. Again, the assault is capped with an ear-splitting thwack and it roars in anger, pain, and now fear.
Recovering slightly from the clawed attack, Grindlefoot climbs to his feet and decides that a direct assault is the best course of action. The halfling sprints to a point directly underneath the giant crab’s body and unleashes a wave of thunderous energy upwards, into its undercarriage. The beast is momentarily lifted fifteen feet into the air from the blast before falling back to the sandy ground, solidly landing on its four feet.
Without a weapon, Tham rushes forward and throws a barrage of punches at the crab’s shell. Each one connects with the creature, but seem to cause little damage.
Dolor takes advantage of the crab’s distraction to attack with Gleaming Blade. He swings the magical sword with all his strength at one of the empty claws, piercing the protective carapace and drawing blood.
Still grasping Tempest Edge in one hand, the barbarian begins to rise from the ground. Her ribs are probably cracked or broken and several cuts on her arms are bleeding from being squeezed by the large, sharp claws. One of her legs is bending awkwardly, hopefully a sprain or sore muscle and not broken. Reaching her feet, she widens her stance and feels the rage bubbling inside of her; senses it moving from the deeper parts, filling her arms and legs with extraordinary strength. Rushing forward, she covers the twenty feet in the blink of an eye, all the while positioning her greatsword for a massive blow. When the enraged barbarian reaches the crab, she swings Tempest Edge with as much force as she can muster. Its downward movement is barely hindered by the stout thickness of the crab’s carapace and the blade slices completely through the beast’s body. Its legs suddenly give out and fold, allowing the body to crash to the sand below. Grindlefoot sees the attack just in time to roll out from underneath and avoid being crushed.
Gven falls to her knees in exhaustion, gulping the hot air and leaning on her cherished blade for support.
Bilwin approaches the barbarian and gently touches her shoulder, at the same height as the dwarf’s. The half-orc immediately feels a rush of health spread through her body and breathes a long sigh of relief, giving a slow nod of gratitude to the cleric.
Ever curious, Dolor walks around the giant crab’s dead body to inspect the sword in the sand. Their eyes played tricks on the companions, because the sword is not stuck in the ground blade first. Rather, a hand extends from the sandy ground holding the sword aloft, pointy side up. Looking closer, the rogue discovers a wooden box half-buried in the sand close to the sword. Wiping away the sediment and gravel, he finds the box to be a large chest. Dolor clears away enough to reveal the chest’s lid and opens it. Apparently, whomever placed the chest there felt the crab was enough protection and the trunk didn’t need a lock.
Opening the plain wooden lid, Dolor sees a jewel-encrusted trident resting inside. He retrieves the weapon and hears a voice in his mind.
“I am Wave.”
While the others battle the giant crab, Gustaf remains inside the passage leading to the entrance. “I think this will be a safe enough spot to update our journey’s log. Surely, they have that situation under control.”
