The dock laborers do not respond, whispering quietly to each other. Neither do they come forward or act aggressively. Before you can push the action further, a deep voice cries out in terrific agony. Looking back inside the inn, Ullar and Arkady see that Forte had just gotten Manus out of the hole when he was snatched back once again.
Forte loses his grip as the green arm leaps out of the hole, ripping Manus away with amazing strength, dragging him back down into the hole. This time you suspect that Manus was not so able to defend himself, as the thing below is not screaming any more, but Manus continues to, pitch gaining, as Forte hears sickening rending noises, popping and ripping, as if the Irish warrior were being torn apart.
Forte leaps down into the hole, hoping to save Manus and defeat the beast. As he attacks with the unfamiliar long sword, he shouts to the others, "We could use some light down here! And some help!"
"Torch already going, ol' fearless." Pietro walks to the hole, using the torch to light the situation for the men down there. Pietro looks at the best way to provide the lights, if it is needed, he will jump down in the hole himself.
He is able to provide some light immediately by standing near the hole. For the moment, he is unable to jump down and help because of the others rushing to do so. Unfortunately, the light comes a moment too late for Forte to see that the edge of the floor where he approached was rotted as well. Rather than leaping in heroically, he falls in gracelessly, twisting his ankle somewhat in the process. And thus he can do nothing but attempt to rise as he sees a monstrous green-skinned humanoid ripping one of Manus' legs completely off. It tosses both leg and man away from it as a child might throw a rag doll, turning to face the new threat.
Spinning at the shrieks, Arkady swears violently and charges. With both blades out the mad Slav leaps after Manus down the hole. He strikes at the green armed thing.
This proves equally dangerous to the Russian as it did to the Italian. Arkady lands hard on his right leg, sending a shooting pain through it, and looks up as Forte engages the monster with the smaller blade. The thing is not only inhumanly strong, but amazingly fast. It wears no clothing, but it's green hide is covered with warts. It's long fingers end in nasty sharp claws, and it's teeth are pointed and drip a nasty saliva that hisses when it strikes the ground.
"CHRIST JESUS!!!" Arkady howls as he lands stumbling. Shaking off the pain he turns to fight.
The thing appears to enjoy drumsticks, as it's first move is to snap at Forte's right leg. He manages to dodge one of it's nasty claws, but the other grips him by the ankle, sinking it's fangs into the fleshy part of his thigh. Such pain! Forte howls in outright agony, striking at the creature with the unfamiliar blade to be rid of it. However, his strike is awkward, and rebounds from the monster's scaly skin.
Tag his chainmail glittering in the lantern light, hears Forte's call and responds. "Venetzia, Venetzia!" Rapier in the right and lantern in the left hand, Tag goes into the tavern and tries to get close enough to the creature to make it into shish-kebab calamari.
More careful than his warrior friends, Taglio lands lightly on his feet and attempts to enter the combat with the creature. Arkady has already done so, but the thing is faster than he or Forte. It lunges maniacally at Forte once again. This time it goes for broke, lashing out at his face and neck. And once again Forte cannot dodge in time. The thing slashes his face with it's thumb while narrowly missing ripping out his throat with it's teeth. Blood begins to pour out of some artery opened by the glancing contact, and within seconds Forte's armor is drenched with it. He appears to be weakening by the second.
His strike reflect this, as it's awkward, clumsy, and weak. Indeed, the blade drops from his fingers as he recoils, attempting to stop the flow of his very life out onto the floor of a shabby tavern cellar. Arkady rushes in to give him such an opportunity. Looking down, he sees the open staring eyes of Manus glitter in Pietro's torchlight from above. He is not moving.
"We will avenge you Erinmanse." Arkady mutters as he attacks.
Lashing out with the sylmar blade, he sees he has not used enough force to cut through the creature's hide. However, the blade seems to push of it's own accord toward the opponent, adjusting his strike just enough to penetrate it (Arkady knows now that the sword has a combat bonus to hit). It's a small wound across the monster's disgusting abdomen, but it's something.
He stares in surprise at the blade a moment before returning to the fray.
Cursing the fact that either Manus had no chance to come above before the creature struck again, or lingered without companions while below, Giovani Caboto did his best to move through the crowd struggling at the opening. The chaos reminded him of the panic aboard ship during terrible storms. Somehow Rhees managed to push Caboto into the room. Thanking his good fortune, he realized that the mass of people might prevent him from getting quickly down in time to fight with Manus. "Sweet blessed virgin" he gasped, catching glimpses of some sort of green creature below. Dodging the wild Russian Arkady as he blindly hurled himself down, the Florentine mentally prepared himself to cast his two magic missile spells, while ever advancing towards Manus.
Suffering the same fate as the warriors due to his recklessness, Caboto falls heavily on his right leg as well, stumbling and unable to help immediately. However, Taglio and Arkady are pressing the attack as Forte seems to have tied something about his neck to stop the bleeding.
As it lunges toward you, the thing trips over the disconnected leg of Manus it dropped on the ground and misses in it's attack. A fitting final stroke from the Irishman. Feinting with the sylmar sword, Arkady reverses and strikes the thing in the leg with his main-gauche. The wound is merely a scratch, however, and at close range Arkady can see that the abdominal wound he inflicted is beginning to fade, it's edges now closing and the green blood already evaporating. Taglio's rapier strike misses by some distance, marveling at this creature's abilities.
"Holy Mother!!! It's wounds are healing!!!" Arkady cries out raspily as he swirls around the creature.
Seeing that it is useless to jump in as well, Ullar lights a torch and throws it down to provide Forte with some light. He looks around to see if there are any other ways to get down to the level were the fighting is commencing.
Eyes dancing through the fracas below, Caboto cast his magic bolts at the thing beleaguering Manus in succession as it came in and out of view.
As the torch is dropped, the green thing comes clearly into view, it's long nose, horrid fangs and terrifically ugly visage staring at you. It shrieks something almost intelligible and launches itself at you again before Caboto even is able to fire off a spell.
However, it appears to be thrown off by the light on the situation, and it is only able to scratch Arkady's cheek with one of it's claws. He feels a sting, as if the nails were infected with something. Nonetheless, he presses the attack. As he does so, Caboto's magical energy bolt comes flying past him and strikes the thing full in the chest. It must not have been very powerful, as the monster ignores it. However, it does serve enough of a distraction so that Arkady and Taglio are able to take advantage, and so they do.
Arkady plunges the sylmar blade completely through the monster, surely a mortal wound, and is gratified to see it groan and cry out in agony, it's putrid internal organs exposed by the terrific wound. However, not trusting that to be enough, he slashes the thing's throat with his main-gauche, but is not able to cause much havoc with this small blade. Taglio strike is also true, taking the thing in the eye, surely ending it's life.
"Ah ah!! Fall back to Hell, Demon!!" Arkady laughs. But the laugh dies on his lips as he see the thing still moving.
Howling horribly, the thing pulls away with Taglio's blade still stuck in it's skull. It lunges toward the back part of the small room, reaching the edge of a small opening above it. As it pulls itself upward, Arkady and Taglio rushing to finish the job, Caboto erupts with another energy bolt, which again does not seem to faze it.
Arkady hacks at the creature. He begins to jabber in rage at it.
Carefully not to end up as the others, Ullar tries to descend without falling to the ground. His platemail making him aware that he is very, very heavy, he examines the floor for any rotten spots and tries to glide down.
As soon as he reaches the ground, the warrior tries to move to the front, shielding the others, and especially Forte and Manus from any other attacks. His greatsword ready, he slowly approaches the thing, kicking the torch towards it.
Ullar's veins are swollen, in utter concentration he examines his opponent, remembering that it's quick and self-healing. While approaching it, Ullar tries to position himself in such a way that the 'thing' is cornered.
Ullar advances, but sees that the room no longer contains the monster. He sees a narrow opening leading up in the corner of the room, which several members of the party saw him climb up into. Judging from where you are, the opening must emerge into one of the other rooms on the ground floor, where only Plebius and Rhees are now.
Caboto fights panic, shocked that his bolts had little effect, and feeling horribly vulnerable. He is unarmored and reckons the green creature could rend him to bits with his long arms. Steeling himself despite the sudden longing for the known dangers of a sea voyage, Caboto draws his dagger, setting it between his teeth, looking for a way to pull Manus, or what's left of the Irishman, clear without disrupting Taglio, Ullar, Arkady and Forte.
Even from a distance, Pietro can see the empty eyes of Manus. He responds quickly though. "Here, hold this, and use the torch to give me light," Pietro gives the torch to the first person who is standing next to him, and jumps down in the hole. The elf has an unreadable expression on his face, his eyes a stark black at the moment. He moves over to Manus, checking for pulse and breathing.
Only silent Plebius stands by the hole now, as Rhees is near the door and the rest of the group has crossed down into the cellar. And so he takes the torch from Pietro, mutely observing the carnage.
Pietro's face takes on an unreadable mask, black stark eyes shining. He gives his torch to the first person standing next to him. "Use the torch to give me light." The elf jumps down in the hole, immediately looking at Manus. As he feels the pulse of the big man, he looks at the broken body of the man.
Caboto hesitates in horror as Manus is clearly dead and in several pieces.
Pietro feels no pulse in the large fellow's neck, which is not surprising considering the amount of blood he has lost onto the floor. His right leg lies some distance away from the rest of his body, and he bears several other grievous wounds. He is beyond the cleric's ability to save.
Hearing Manus being dragged down a second time, Rhees tries to head in. Stopped by the traffic jam at the door, he waits lest he accidentally push someone else in. The pause gives him a chance to restrain initial impulses. Biting his lower lip with worry, Rhees returns to the guard post by the door. To one of those staying up top he says, "Let me know if I'm needed; in the mean time, someone needs to keep an eye on those stevedores and see if that spy is returning."
The laborers clearly must hear the screaming and howling from inside, but they neither move nor speak. They retain their position, though now they hold the boathooks openly in their hands and have abandoned any pretense of work.
Rhees finds his fears coming true, as the stevedores begin to smile. Looking down toward the alley that the spy fled down, he sees a large party approaching from there. At their head are a tall yellow-robed man and an equally tall woman. Alongside them are two silent shaven-headed Hounds and a massive fellow in chain mail. Behind them are a half-score of men, about half of whom are typical thugs, the other half of whom look much like the rat-looking fellow who you have seen several times spying on you.
However, what is most problematic is that the thugs are dragging two figures along with them, one a slight female elf and the other only half the size of the elf, bearded. Rhune and Amibar! They are approaching the Crossed Swords tavern even now, with the green monster still lurking inside, and almost the entire party down in the rotted cellar!
The thought of their opponent escaping gives the voices full power. Arkady sheathes his maine gauche and snatches the nearest torch. He Climbs after the green demon, cackling and babbling in incoherent rage.
"It's going UP!" shouts Ullar a warning to the rest, finding his way to follow the green monster.
Ullar feels his heart pounding, the veins in his neck pulsating on every beat of his heart. His normally wide open eyes have their lids now only barely open; focusing on the part where Ullar expects the danger to come from.
"Ullar, don't!" shouts Forte. "You'll never be able to swing that huge sword in such a small tunnel."
Plebius keeps an eye open for the foul beast. "There's more trouble up here. Bad guys..... lots of em. Good news though... they have delivered Rhune and Amibar to us."
Attempting to put all his weight on his good leg, Forte looks around at the others and says, "Quick! Let me help you up so you can save Rhune and Amibar!"
After hearing this news, Ullar moves backwards towards Forte, aiming to climb up as soon as possible, shielding all wounded party members from any attack.
"Don't worry about us down here. Get to Rhune and Amibar!" Forte drops his sword to help Ullar out of the cellar.
Caboto responds quickly, readying his rope coil. "Once up top I'll secure this where I can, to help the heavy and armored out more quickly."
Pietro closes the eyes of the warrior. For a second, the elf stares into nothing. "Farewell my friend." His head suddenly moves up. "Give me twenty seconds, I can't leave him like this." He sits cross legged behind Manus, putting his hands on the man's forehead. "Hermes, Traveler of Travelers, Messenger of Messengers, Judge of Judges! Please hear me, your faithful servant Pietro Paolo Virdis. Manus Mac Tadhg of Tyrconnell fought the same fight we are still fighting. He died for the reason I am here for. Please guide his soul safely to the place where it belongs." For a few seconds, a blue nimbus surrounds the hands of Pietro and the head of Manus. "Please let him rest in peace." With that, he closes his eyes, as the nimbus slowly fades. Pietro stands up, "I'm ready! Let's get moving. With that, he rushes behind the rest.
All except Arkady climb up and join Plebius up top, while Rhees shakes his head at the approaching enemy. Heading out to the door, you hear a mad Slavic howl coming from one of the doors inside the tavern, followed by a squeal of pain in the same tone. However, the responding crazed scream is nothing human. You hear a door slam open and the mad chuckling of Arkady. Seems the crazed Russian is faring well.
Forte quickly picks up the long sword he dropped a few moments before. He also quickly checks Manus' body--or what's left of it--for anything important before he clambers up out of the cellar.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Manus has anything left of value. His sparth axe was left at the gate, and his horse and possessions on the horse have been gone for some time. He has his chain shirt, cap, and a long sword. Forte has no time to take the armor, though.
(For Arkady): Climbing up the open trap door, Arkady emerges to see the horrible green beast hiding in the corner, his wounds regenerating at an amazing rate. With a fateful gaze, Arkady rushes at him. The thing rakes at his heel feebly, but still with that horrible strength, and Arkady feels the pain. But more he feels the urge to kill this foul creature. With the spirits in full possession, Arkady swings about like a dervish, knifing the creature with his main-gauche and then with a swift turnaround, he cuts the thing completely in half. Surely it is done for now!
But sure enough, the thing is not dead yet. It rolls toward the back door, madly scrambling with it's arms, it's legs left behind oozing pea-green puss all over the rotted floorboards. It's still fast, though, and it's bottom half begins to regrow from it's abdomen as it swings the door open, smashing it against the outside wall. Arkady sees that the door leads to yet another room, containing who knows what.
Howling with a gleeful rage, Arkady chases the beast hacking at it.
Arkady slams his main-gauche into the thing's back, momentarily pinning it to the floorboard. It seems the thing is just not willing to die, though, as the beginnings of legs are starting to sprout from it's rapidly regenerating lower torso. Now it flails about wildly, pulling away from Arkady's smaller weapon as it continues to drag itself through the room, which appears to be some sort of storage room, unused for months or years. There is another door at the rear that the thing is crawling towards.
It rolls madly toward the door as Arkady continues his attacks, but misses in his rage. As it reaches the door, it opens it, blocking Arkady's attack with it, and pulls itself out the back door of the tavern, now pulling itself up unto it's half-legs, getting ready to dash down an alley. Arkady notes that he hears somebody yelling out in front of the tavern, but this alley does not lead that way. Continuing to chase the monster, he sees that he could either race around the building and see what's what out front, or he can continue with this beast. Hacking wildly at it, he smashes the silmar blade into it's head, cleaving it in half and felling the thing completely.
Arkady chortles and cavorts as the voices sate themselves in violence.
Looking down, though, he sees it's head coming back together as it's calves begin growing along it's legs! What will it take to kill this thing!?!
The laughter dies on his lips as he sees this. Reason hammers against the red visions swirling before him. With sudden lucidity he slams the door shut and fumbles for a latch or bolt.
Outside in the main room, the group gathers as the party outside advances to within parlay distance. The yellow-robed mage, Golthar he must be, speaks, "Your companions will live if you throw down your weapons now. I don't want you. I only want the map. Give it to me and I'll let your friends live. If not I'll kill both of them and then kill you and take the map anyway. Your decision."
"Map?" Forte looks confused. "What map?"
"Map?" whispers Ullar. "Ah, so Rhune told them we still have the map. Perhaps it's the map leading towards that Golden Valley, and not the tube. Yes, I'm sure that's what he is gaining at. Shit, we have a bad situation here; very bad indeed. Is there anyone who can do something from a distance against the Golthar guy and his sidekick? Missile weapons, spells?"
"I think I have that map, and I'm going to hide it someplace here" says Ullar, while looking around to see if there are any good spots to hide something from view; not necessarily cabinets or drawers.