A new day, full of opportunities. I’m really excited by the possibilities. I don’t know why I’m in such a good mood, but I’m not going to waste it. I bound down the stairs in joy, falling on my ass and sliding down to the bottom.
I get up and rub my behind. It’s a little sore, but I’m fine otherwise. I sense Neferet the Greed pleading for help.
Right away I cast detect monster. I don’t think I see this Neferet person, but there’s a room filled to the brim with monsters, and a garrison of hill orcs hanging out in another area. The large room has four trolls, a bunch of centaurs, and an assortment of gnomes and orcs.
My optimism takes a hit. I know I can’t kill off of them in one go. What do I do? I decide to start with the hill orcs, I know I can handle them.
I manage to take them all out with my skillful swordsmanship. Well, daggership really. Is that a thing? I chow down on the few bodies that are left behind until I’m satiated. At one point I hear the tones of courtly conversation.
I find another spellbook of protection. Another book I can wipe out, and create something new out of. I cast my mapping spell, and see a strange magic portal in one room, and a fountain in another. I head to the fountain, intent on clearing my new book.
I end up teleporting it to the room, and a flood of monsters comes through the door. I take out a centaur that was leading the pack, while backing up to the closed door in the corner. A troll and centaur are hot on my heels. I manage to open the door, but I’m surrounded before I can make it out. I decide to take the chance, and move to the open doorway.
A hobgoblin cuts deep into my stomach with a knife as I make my way out. At least now I’m in a position to take them on one at a time. The centaur is fast, and makes it there first. The troll is caught in a spider web, but a second troll just walked into the room. I take a breath, and get Magicbane ready for a long fight.
I manage to take out a pair of plains centaurs, and a few hobgoblins before the first troll lumbers over. Here it is, the night of the living corpses, take two. The troll starts by drinking a potion of invisibility. It doesn’t help much, I can still see it. I strike out at it, and it responds by swinging a single-edged polearm at me. Basically a knife on a stick. It cuts deep through my armour, giving me another wide open gash on my stomach. I suck back the bile that rises in my throat, and stab at it with Magicbane.
The troll is relentless in it’s attacks, swinging it’s weapon, hitting me with it’s arms, biting my arms. I sag against the wall, and teleport to the stairs heading up. I need to heal before I can continue this battle.
Once I’ve managed to get back to full health, I head back down. A warehouse runs over and starts to attack me. I pull my last carrot out, and toss it over. This is one of those times when I could really use an ally.
I head down a long hallway, and see a trail of creatures heading toward me. I fire off a blast of missiles, and half of them fall. The troll at the front of the line thrusts his polearm, and hits me from a distance. I send another wave of magic towards it, and it too falls. I rush over, and start to devour the corpse in the hopes that I can finish it before it comes back to life. I see a few gnomes coming close, and I hope that I can finish my meal before they reach me. I succeed, that’s one troll down for good. I send off another spell towards the line of enemies, and smile as half of them drop.
I move closer to the group, and when I cast my next spell, three more die from the magic. I’m starting to get confident, maybe too much. I feel a wave of psychic energy, and part of me shrivels in fear. I’m in the presence of a creature from my nightmares. I look around wildly, trying to see where it’s hiding. I don’t see it, so I cast detect monster. It’s not very close, but having it anywhere near me is too close.
It’s a mind flayer. This creature has the general shape of a human, covered with purple scales rather than skin. Tentacles sprout from around its mouth, and it has three long fingers on each hand. They are telepathic, and love to devour intelligent beings.If they hit me with a tentacle,
the mind flayer will slowly drain all my intelligence. I will become stupid, forget spells, maps, and even the items I’ve already identified will look foreign.
I check my bag of holding. I only have one blank scroll with me. What was I thinking? It’s still enough for my plan, but it will leave me rather at a loss if I need another one later. I pull it out and run for the stairs. I kill a black pudding and troll that try and follow me. I finally make it, and don’t bother waiting for my new friend. He can take care of himself for a few minutes while I take care of business.
I run up, and pull out a magic marker, and try to write a scroll of genocide. It’s too dry to write it, so I grab the other marker. I dip this one into one of my potions of holy water, and try again. This time it works, and I’m left with a blessed scroll of genocide. I read it right away, and chose the class of monster I think mind flayers belong to. I hear a static voice speak beside me.
“Wiped out all hobbits. Wiped out all dwarves. Wiped out all bugbears. Wiped out all dwarf lords. Wiped out all dwarf kings. Wiped out all mind flayers. Wiped out all master mind flayers.”
Well, that worked better than I thought. The dwarves and hobbits seem a bit of overkill, but I’ll take it. I wonder if I should have picked Trolls instead, but I haven’t had much trouble killing them, just trying to keep them dead.
With a shrug, I head back down.
I come across a hill giant, but magic is the end of him. Another troll lumbers down the hall, and I blast it. It pulls out a wand of digging, and zaps it at the floor. He made a hole beneath him, and falls down. Great. That was the only way to get from one side of the level to the other. Why couldn’t that giant have been carrying a boulder? I remember seeing one somewhere else in the level. I’m about to go and get it when I remember that I have a pickaxe. I dig a hole through the wall so I can sidestep the hole. There’s a pile of weapons on top of the hole, mixed together they form a sort of strange metallic cover. I doubt it would hold me, but I chuckle at the thought of a monster being surprised and falling through.
I quickly cast detect monster to see what’s left for me to deal with. The worst of them are dead, and the only thing that looks like it will give me trouble is a troll. I head to the almost empty room to take out the rest of the creatures.
I step into an opulent throne room. I stand in the doorway stunned by the change. Plush royal purple carpet covers the floor. The walls are covered in intricately carved wood, a deep brown, almost black colour. I don’t recognize the type of wood. The stone ceiling is hidden by a layer of pure white plaster. There are chandeliers hanging down providing light. In the middle of one of the walls, between two doors is a solid gold throne. It has a deep red fabric covering part of the seat, and back. Two tiny carved angels sit at the corners, and the legs are carved demons.
I gently step inside the room, regretting that the carpet will soon be soaked with blood. I start with magic, trying to hit as many creatures as possible with each blast before they get close enough to use my weapon. A few gnomes fall to the ground. I face off against a gnome lord, and Magicbane proves to be too much for him. A gnome king fares no better against my superior skill, unfortunately his crown vanishes with his body. I wonder if he was the ruler responsible for this room. The rest of them quickly fall, and there is only a troll left sleeping in the corner.
I step toward it, then fire off a slew of magic missiles, knowing they will bounce off the wall and hit it twice. It wakes up and comes after me. The bugger comes back to life four times before I manage to eat all of it. By then, a centaur is just itching to fight me, so I indulge it, and quickly win the fight.
Now that the fighting is over, I look over the room again. I notice that the blood has soaked through the carpet, but didn’t stain it. For some reason that makes me happy. I see a chest off to the side, and inside I find an amulet of strangulation, a few useless scrolls, worthless glass, and a new spell book. I grab the book and scrolls.
I head over to the throne, a comfortable seat where I can sit and memorize the new spell. I drop down into the plush seat, and feel somehow out of place. The throne vanishes in a puff of logic. Oh. Well, that happened. I drop to the ground and open the book. It’s a spell of healing. Not the most useful spell I could find, but definitely helpful. I remember the extra book I have, and the fact that I never did make it to the fountain. I head over, full of determination.
I get there, and drink from it. Nothing special happens, so I dunk my extra book of protection into the water. Once the ink washes away, I take out my marker. Now it’s time for a solid attack spell. I’m conflicted, wondering if I should go for fire or ice. I decide on ice, there are too many demons and monsters that are immune to fire.
I start writing, keeping ice in mind as I write. The spellbook warps strangely, then turns copper. I read it with growing excitement. I did it again. The right book on my first try. I’m feeling really lucky. I put the book into my bag of holding, and decide to take a look at the odd portal I found earlier.
I’m about to step into it when I remember what happened in the vault. I should have a nap first. I don’t know what’s waiting for me on the other side, and I should be rested before taking it on.
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