Guess What Happens Next?

I listened to the crash of the distant waves from the darkness below, and the gurgle of the unconscious Tutso's sucking through his gag. Where was Amiko? Where could she be?? He wouldn't help us.... I could still read the strange script his journal was written in, but it didn't have many clues about her, just that other woman: Nuale'. Quickly leafing through the pages, I read aloud, so the rest could hear his words.

Andrian speculated that maybe Amiko would be sacrificed by Nuale', and I began to despise Tutso even more, if that could be true. Maybe there was some sinister plan for her, and it seemed to me that Amiko could be in Nuale's clutches. We decided that maybe she was taken into the secret tunnels, under the Glassworks, maybe that led to Nuale's base; and that Tutso had to be brought to the jail, which was not far away, to be secured. So Lyk and Brunt escorted him to confinement, and the rest of us would look inside for her, while waiting for them to return.

I got a lot of use out of my Illumination cantrip, a minor spell, to light our way, as Andrian scouted ahead. Carufinwe went last, to guard our backs. We searched, but the place was so quiet and seemed deserted: All so black and dark, with only my little light shining in protest. Inside the main foundry, we were met with a ghastly sight: Lord Longiko Kaijitsu was there, encased completely in glass, like a coccoon or second skin melted onto him. He had the most horrific contorted expression, but he was not burned at all - Like he was frozen in time, although he must surely be dead. This had to be Tutso's doing. All around, there were burned body parts, a sickening smell and near the smoldering fires, spits and spikes upon which the glassworkers were roasted and cooked.


I could not stay in there long, and my thoughts for Amiko became more grim, so we had to continue the search. Eventually, some stairs were discovered, just as Lyk and Brunt returned. So we descended into the close space, until the tunnel split. To the left we followed until it came to the cliff, an old smuggler's hideaway, and so we went back to venture down the other branch. Suddenly, we are attacked by a devil! Well, Andrian was attacked, and the thing hit him hard. I have to give Andrian credit, he almost always scouts ahead to make sure the way is clear for the rest of us. This thing had red skin, it snarled, and it could not be from our world. I moved up to help, since I couldn't see into its lair from my spot in the tunnel, and I force-missiled it, although it barely clawed me as I got into position. Then I spelled it again, but it was determined to get Andrian, who looked worn out and about to fall. He even had to drink a healing potion in the fight and retreat. Then Lyk chopped it again, with his axe, and finished it off. That thing was tough, and it could have killed someone, I think. After it was dead, its flesh seemed to melt, until there was only a fine mist left, which rose and drifted down the corridor. I was still in the hall, so I watched to see which way it went, but we were all too tired to chase it, as much as I wanted to see where it went. I think it was going to warn someone. So we took some time to rest up, and Brunt tended to everyone's wounds.


I didn't like waiting, since who knew how much time Amiko had left; but we needed a rest, in case we had to fight to save her. We followed the way that I saw that mist float, and soon the stonework changed, to a smoother, worked and non-native stone corridor. We came into a small room, and in the center of it, there was a statue of an enraged woman, wearing flowing antique robes in a style no one had ever witnessed before. In her left hand was a book, with the seven-pointed star symbol that I had seen somewhere before, and in her right she gripped a glittering ranseur, covered in precious metals. No one could think of who she could be, or what it meant, but it seemed to me like more devil stuff and the kind of place that Nuale' would hang out. If she hurt Amiko....


Andrian checked out the door in here, and we passed though. After more passageways, we came to another room, with another, similar statue of that woman, but this one was all red stone and much larger in size. Now a choice to make: Through that door or up some stairs. Andrian listened at the door, and he heard more growling beyond, while I peeked up the stairs. I had a feeling about them, and I wanted to see where we could come out, since we were by now far underground. At the top, there was a locked door, and Andrian got us though that.

Inside, there was a room with water rippling down into a pool, lined with blood-smeared skulls. Something rose up from under the water: a bluish-purple skinned man, with tiny horns, a tail, and dead eyes. Andrian hit it and retreated. I think he learned, from that last fight with the red one. That left Lyk standing between it and the rest of us, and they exchanged strikes. I was pretty pumped up, since this was not like anything I had ever seen, and I let my force orb loose. I hit it harder than I could ever cast that spell, like never before!

Brunt stepped up and called on Torag, but the thing just seemed burned by his efforts. We were finally able to defeat it and continued on, after a fruitless search of that pool and chamber. There was another door, more stairs, and yet another door. After more circular stairs, and a lot of time, the passage collapsed from above, so we had to go back, to that room where that second red thing was heard.

We thought of a plan to draw it out, so we could all attack it and kill it, before anyone could be hurt too badly. After throwing the door open, we heard it farther inside, so we had to go in after it. Andrian entered, and I followed with my light, to back him up. I wanted to find Amiko. This was a large room, with cells below, and we entered onto a wooden catwalk. The thing was still snarling, so I went down the stairs to find it, and I did draw it out alright, since it ran straight for me! Andrian flipped around and shot one of his hand crossbow bolts into its neck, but it must have hated my light, since it raged right for me. Usually these things seem to hit you with their claw and then bite you, but this one somehow missed me with its claw, but it still bit me bloody! I guess it had never attacked a halfling before. Brunt was able to get close enough to heal me, and the rest came to my aid as well. Lyk got right up behind me, so I dodged behind him. Since I can attack from a distance with my magic, I moved back up the stairs, to get a better view of the fight. However, I guess the thing shook me more than I want to admit, since I missed with my spells as the rest laid into it. Lyk was taking the pounding from it this time, like Andrian had with the last one. He was hurt bad, and he went up there to help me. If it was me there, instead of him, I would surely be dead by now, but he looked like one more swipe would drop him. So I took a deep breath and cast another force-missile, finally hitting that devil-like thing, felling it. I don't think I hit it that hard, but it was enough, after all the others did, to bring it down. "Hey Lyk, I saved your life!" I smiled, kind of joking, since we all knew that he and Brunt, Carufinwe, and even Andrian had just saved mine.

There were maybe twenty skeletons, one inside each cell, all pulling on the bars trying to escape and attack us. I had just the thing for them. I went around the room, Thunderwaving all of them into pieces. "Sending them back to death." I think that was how Brunt put it. He seemed to approve. I wondered who they were when they were alive, how they came to be here, and what was going on in this place. Lyk suggested that we not go on much further, since our resources were running out. But the way continued beyond, so Andrian went for one more look. They found many torture devices in there and two more doors.

Someone mentioned that we hadn't seen any goblins, so this was probably the wrong way to have come. We decided that we would return to the glassworks and look there more thoroughly. All the while, I had thought Amiko would have been taken to Nuale's base, and if this wasn't it, maybe it was up on that Thistletop hill, where she performed her evil rituals, as mentioned in Tutso's journal.


Back in the Glassworks, we searched all the rooms, until finally discovering Amiko tied up in a closet, gagged, hog-tied and even blindfolded, to add to her terror, too. She looked to have been beaten, but she seemed otherwise alright. I tried to console her, and Andrian gave her a healing potion. She warned us about Tutso, and she feared for her father.

"It's too late." I revealed.

I didn't want to make her panic, but I had to show her. Maybe that would help her to realize how evil Tutso was, and that there was no hope for him to help us. She told us some things about Tutso that we knew from his journal, and also that he wanted her to use her sorcerous powers to help him and Nuale', the woman who had corrupted him with her foul love. With her lies, more like; she was just using him. They don't want to just attack Sand Point, they want to burn it to the ground. Tutso's Journal did say that was the ritual to summon some devil, named, “Malfeshnekor.”

I tried to console Amiko as best I could. I hugged her, and she kissed me, and I kissed her back. She also said that Tutso thought their mother was killed by Longiko Kaijitsu. I thought so too, but I couldn't tell her that now, after all this.

I brought her upstairs to see her father, and poor Amiko broke down again. "He can stay here, forever," I offered, as a way to suggest that he wouldn't have to be really gone.

"That's creepy." Said Andrian.

I guess it was. Maybe all my time with those evil wizards, casting their magic has affected me. I never did summon a devil, so according to them, I didn't really graduate, but I know enough of everything else. Or maybe it was from seeing all those weird things under the glassworks. I thought of the statue of that woman again, and looking at Longiko, it seemed like he was here in his house, and she, whoever she was, waited down there in her abode, below.


I accompanied Amiko back to her father's estate. Carufinwe insisted on guiding us. I watched over Amiko. The elf watched the road. As we slowly walked, with my arm around her, Amiko spoke: "You know your money is now no good at the Rusty Dragon. You and your friends can eat and stay there, for free. Maybe Iris can help me to find my father's safe...."

"Don't worry about that now, Amiko." I said. She was trying to provide for us, even after all she had been through. I felt stupid for not looking in that closest sooner. I think I had passed by it, once. I wished I could have found her sooner, but she would be alright, for now. There was still the matter of Nuale's nefarious designs on Sand Point.


Turns out my granny Iris is more important at the Kaijitsu estate than I had thought. I figured she was a cleaning lady, but she is really in charge of most of the servants there! She helped Amiko to find the safe, and Amiko gave me a huge bag of coins, containing five-hundred gold. It was too much.

"I can't take this, Amiko. You'll need it, to reopen the Glassworks."

She said she had the Inn to provide for her, for now, and all my friends can stay there. She told me I can now live at her estate, in the little room next to Granny's. Amiko is just too nice. I considered not telling the others, but I don't think they will abuse her hospitality.

The next morning, Carufinwe, Amiko and I returned to town and her Inn. There we met Andrian, who was happy to hear that he wouldn't have to live in that old wagon anymore, and Lyk and Brunt were also there. I gave them each the hundred gold portion of Amiko's reward, for us. We talked it over, and discovered the plot: Tutso lied and blackmailed Longiko Kiajitsu, twice. The first was because Longiko had been disposing of people assassinated by the "S___" mafia, and he had been trying to end that arrangement. The second was by smuggling goblins into town, in his glass wagons, filled with sand. That latter was all Tutso's doing alone, but he wanted to ruin his father by pinning it on Longiko. I knew Longiko was rich and liked money, but I had doubted that he would sell out the town, especially since his glass made him so much money.


I had been thinking, that to find Nuale', we should look near where we killed that boar, since we had seen four of the Thistletop tribe there. And it was called Devil's Platter, so I was sure Nuale' would like that. The next morning, as we mounted up and prepared to ride out, Shalalu returned. She said that she found the Thistletop tribe, up to the north, near the sea, on a hill that looks like a skull. I guess Shalalu is more of a scout than a seer. Seems that I had misunderstood a few people in this town. So we agreed to go after Nuale', to cut off the head and scatter the goblin army, and Shalalu would show us the way. I also told her that Tutso's journal mentioned her nemesis, Bruthalsmus, as being in league with Nuale', as well as that goblin chief, Ripnugget.

Then Aldern Foxglove approached, and stuck his nose in our business, asking if we were off to fight goblins. We all said no, trying to get rid of him, in case he is a spy. He said he couldn't go with us, since he is leaving for the big city. We eventually had to tell him - Shalalu kind of let it slip, and we swore him to secrecy. I guess maybe Aldern is alright and an honest merchant, as much as a merchant can be honest. By some chance, that crazy ranger, Daviren Hosk, overheard someone say goblin, and he insisted that he go, too. Andrian refused him, and Lyk also said no. But I thought, why not? This guy has killed more goblins than all of us combined; he must be doing something right. Since we were outnumbered 60 to 1, bringing Daviren could lessen the odds against us. The others thought he would be more of a liability, than a help. He wound up going with us anyway, and we were all seven of us finally underway, riding north out of town.


After a couple of hours, we saw two merchants on the road. One of them had an arrow sticking in him. They said they were taking a prize horse, "Silvermist," to market, when goblins attacked them. They offered a 250 gold reward, if we could recover the horse for them. Then they said, we could even keep the horse, worth a thousand gold, just to save it from the goblins' cruelty. We brought them back to Sand Point, and it was a good thing, since we had forgot to buy more healing potions. I spent all the money Amiko had given me, to get three, but I even had to borrow 5 gold from Lyk, to do that. We got back on the road, headed north again, quickly enough.

After we crossed the Thistle river, Andrian spied six goblins, flanking the road ahead. He quietly alerted Shalalu, who was in the lead, although she didn't see them. She cried aloud, "Goblins!" Like she was calling them to dinner, and maybe she was, unintentionally. They all fired at her, and she was hit by four arrows and toppled from her mount. Lyk charged the three on the left, and I cast the Sleeping spell on the three to the right. However, only the middle one of them succumbed to the sleep. Still, that was one less arrow flying from their side. Andrian took two arrows, from the ones I missed, as he rushed in to aid Lyk, and Carufinwe returned fire with his longbow. Brunt was able to revive Shalalu, and she withdrew next to her son and joined him in an archery contest, of sorts. Meanwhile, Daviren charged the right flank alone, hacking with all his might into the closest goblin. I tried a force-orb, missing my main target, but catching the other two in its blast.

Then after killing his first goblin, Daviren slew the one I had put to sleep. Lyk and Andrian finished off two of theirs, with ax and blade hacking and slicing, and then Andrien intimidated the third one into surrendering, which it did. We won, but Daviren charged past me, wanting to kill that last goblin: the prisoner. I wanted to trip him, since we needed to question that goblin. I would have attacked him, but I only had my wand in hand, and I can't break that, even though I could have hit him. So I yelled at him to stop, but he was in some blind rage. Almost everyone told him to stop. So I backed up, to allow Lyk, Brunt, and Andrian to defend the goblin, and I blasted a force missile into the back of Daviren's head, since he was being so dumb. I tried not to smile, as it was the most potent missile I had ever cast yet. I don't think I could do more with that spell. Maybe he would go after me instead of the goblin, and I could lead him away. They were able to somehow convince him to relax. I don't think he wanted to fight all of us. Someone suggested that he go ahead to scout, and we would follow along later. After Daviren left, we decided that we needed a longer rest.

The next morning, Daviren had still not returned. We all packed up and set out again, heading north, where the thistles this place is named for get larger, like thorns. One even scratched me to bleeding. Shalalu said to beware an ambush, as we were nearing the Briar Maze, although there was still no sign of Daviren. It seemed from his tracks that he had come this way. We reached to where the thorny tunnel was only four feet high, so we had to leave our horses in the clearing outside. I thought about that poor Silvermist horse, getting forced and scratched through here. I wondered if my flaming sphere spell could burn through, to widen the passage, but I had Sleep prepared. I didn't want to burn down the whole forest. We passed a sinkhole some way through the maze, and after that, there was a room, emitting some squeaking sounds. We got the jump on them: four large rats, well that is an understatement - some dire monstrous rat-like creatures waited for us.

This time, most everyone used missile fire. Shalalu was in front of me, but she retreated, leaving me exposed to attack. Luckily Brunt, with his armor, got up to take her place in the ranks to stand in front of me. I got my Sleep spell off quickly, for once, and even though only one fell asleep, two others were slowed down by it. We concentrated all our fire on the unaffected one, killing it. Then we fired at the next one, and I sent a force orb at the rat things. Another one went down! I stepped back out of the way, and I finished one off, with a force-missile. Lyk had entered to melee, but he got hit just as the sleeping one woke up, so he still had one threatening him. Everyone shot at it, but it was my force-missile that finished this one off, too. "Hey Lyk, I saved your life, again!" I joked, since the thing had looked about to attack him. He said yeah, I did, and laughed. Seems like our individual strategies are starting to work better together as a team, and I hope we can have more successful battles, like this one.

The only problem for me now was that casting that Sleep spell took too much out of me to do it again. We took a short rest but not long enough for that. I would like to have it to use against goblins, and I don't know where we can rest safely in here, for that long. At least we weren't weakened too much by those rats. I think it could have been worse.


Out of that rat room, we went right and then left, to a rope bridge suspended over some rocks below. Looking down, we could see crumpled Daviren, bleeding out onto the sharp rocks and reddening a trickling stream. Was he still breathing? Across the bridge were several laughing goblins, resetting some sort of trap, to make the bridge collapse.