Amanita (Chapter 8)
Template:Amanita nav In the tent I shared, everyone was asleep. Waking them with unconscious vocalizing would be rude, so I stuffed a bandage in my mouth and
went out to the world
Anybody there? I am Hi there I'm not Hello again. How's
Yes you are! No, I'm not things in the west?
I'm here, not there
Shut up. Hee hee Oh, really funny Gotcha! Quit being juvenile
The west could
be better I'm here By definition... I said quit!
First, how goes I'm here except
Aranoch? when I'm not I'm in Viz-Jun I'm on the Twin Seas
The Sorcerers I hate sailing
are under attack
Is anybody in Aranoch?
Anybody? I thought Inella
was there? She said she was In a harem, yet
Maybe she's asleep It's a hard life
being in a harem
I'm still on my way
to Aranoch. It's The Sorcerers are
dangerous on the road under attack!
What about Who's attacking? This is bad
the Sorcerers? A Zakarumite army What?
There's Jungle Cats Hordes of zealots That's not good
attacking travelers Dying in droves
in the desert But they keep coming
Holy crap! This is not news
Zakarum's been doing It is news. Why
purges for years now attack Viz-Jun?
Also Raiders, the A lot of Sorcies
funny four-armed guys are getting killed Something is
They're getting bold rotten in Kurast
Attacking Viz-Jun Did someone say
is more than a purge Jungle Cats in
the desert? Netta did My head hurts
I did I've run into Quill
Rats on Lycander That's way out of
They're all over The Amazons sure their range
here in Khanduras don't like them Weird Everything's going
to Hell suddenly
Oh! I came to tell you:
we may have Andarial
the lesser evil Who? You know, Andy-baby
here in Khanduras She of the jeweled
nipple chains.
Is this confirmed? Oh, her Ouch! She likes it
I haven't seen her I'd like Just the big 3
But I may have to confirmation is bad enough! I think so too
go through her Good luck! Try to confirm her,
I hope Inella's OK but try harder to
The lesser may be go around her Not good!
working with the Not good at all
greater again What are we
Damn... going to do?
Try to stay alive We need a plan Here's a plan:
Yeah? Whoever you're after
forget them.
How's that going to help? I'll tell you
We're at war now Right. We're at war
so forget wizards!
A war for the world We're not an army Volunteer in cities
work with locals and
fight off the demons
But we're mage-slayers
Not soldiers We have to change
This is a new threat
It's actually a Right. We kill mages
very old one in league with demons
but now the demons It's not like I'm
are here themselves asking you to
join an army
Sir! No, sir! That's ma'am Ha ha.
I'll keep going
into Aranoch Are we meeting
out there? I'm bound for Kurast
I'm working with the
Rogues, but there's I'll see you in
not many of them left Lut Gholein If she gets there
I'll get there See you soon! Good luck Yeah, good luck
I slept like someone cast a spell on me, and woke in the dark dead silence before dawn. The silence of the Rogue pass was still unsettling -- there should be birds, bugs, mice, something. Deciding which waypoint to use was a problem. The last one I'd found was in the cloisters, so they'd be expecting me to use it. Not using it meant coming in from outside, through the monastery gate. But whichever way I went, I'd have to go through the cloisters, so there was one ambush point I could avoid by doing the predictable thing.
Nobody was waiting in the cloisters. The barracks were empty too. For once, I let my guard down, listening for thoughts, any kind of thoughts. That's dangerous to do around demons; maybe worse with undead. Even if you find a mind, it's guaranteed to be full of the thoughts that leave scars. At first, I felt nothing. No one was near. I opened up wider. Harsh, sharp whispers came from inside the monastery. I immediately pulled back; the contact was like reaching out in the dark and touching razors. Most of them were at ground level, clustered behind a gate at the rear of the barracks: there was the ambush, a big one. I don't think they noticed me, or understood if they did. Fewer thoughts scrabbled under my feet -- there was a basement under the barracks. I had no way of knowing if there was any way through down there, but walking into that ambush would be suicide.
The basement was a jail, probably the only place in the monastery the new owners left the way it was. They even put in some new prisoners -- three Goat demons had been locked in a cell right by the entrance. I got in some target practice. Had they committed some crime even demons disapprove of? Maybe they'd been caught being nice to someone. I didn't ask. The rest of the jail's cells were open, and empty except for skeletons and ghosts. A lot of people died here, and were never taken out. Did the Rogues bother to bury them, or leave them where they were?
Things the Rogues left were everywhere: neatly stacked crates; huge casks of water, wine, or explosives; long tables with chairs. All the torture equipment was recently used. Rogues were tied spread-eagle to tables, and disemboweled for an audience of chairs. Some tables had two legs knocked off so the ones in the back could enjoy too. In every room there were Rogues, decapitated, burned, ripped in half, torn to pieces, or broken on wheels. All were naked, but unmolested. Most likely, stripping them was purely psychological. Documents were lying around on tables or desks, probably neatly detailing punishments and the ends of many lives. I imagine most people would have a hard time with the bloody bits scattered on the floor. My problem was the papers. Seeing that much documentation, and leaving it all where it was, was probably the hardest thing I've ever done.
The Rogue jails went deep, three levels of cells and torture rooms. What the hell were they doing with so much of that stuff? Whatever the reason, the jails saw a lot of use, judging from how many dead people they had to raise. There were some demons there -- the Goats, some Misshapen in a side hall, but all the rest were undead. Why would people like Charsi have so much torture equipment? Maybe it didn't belong to the Rogues, maybe the demons somehow brought it in. Or maybe it was all old, from times when a woman like the Countess could be a Rogue leader. The modern Rogues seemed more interested in using their jail for storage.
The deepest part of the jail hid a few surprises. There were two hidden rooms the demons hadn't found, combination treasuries and armories. Kashya recognized the gear I recovered, and actually smiled. Quality weapons seem to bring her great joy. I also found two banners in the treasures: one matched the Countess', and the other I didn't recognize. I was a good girl, and didn't ask about them.
Another surprise was a centrally located hall, with tables, chairs, and long shelves of books. Some people think criminals are forced into crime by a lack of education, and want libraries in prisons so they can better themselves. As far as I know, none of these people approve of torture. Seeing a library and torture chambers in the same complex was very odd.
The biggest surprise was guarding the northern jails, near a stairway going up. On top of two pillars, stone statues of dragon or snake heads sprayed explosive balls of fire at me as I came through. They were obviously an imitation of Hydras, fire creatures mages summon to lay traps and scout dangerous areas. A success with the pyrotechnic experiments, perhaps? They worked fine, except that they didn't attack the undead. Maybe those old bones were "local" in the stone Hydras' rudimentary minds.
The stairway took me back to the surface, coming out under a covered walkway above a green lawn. Above, the sun glowed feebly though a thick layer of gray cloud, hardly giving any light at all. Down on the grass, two Rogues were desperately shooting at me, not even taking time to aim. The first shot I didn't dodge plinked off the armor; after that, I didn't bother to dodge. The lawn had a waypoint, which I was glad to see. Then, there was the cathedral, a gray stripped skeleton of holiness towering over me. That, I wasn't glad to see at all. I wanted to be on the other side of the monastery, not in its heart. I didn't like the looks of the place. My shields were up as strong as I could make them, but just looking at it, I felt spikes laced with vinegar pricking me.
I thought of leaving, of going around. Sure, the cathedral was probably in the middle of an open courtyard, with no cover. A good run might make it across. Then, if I found the other side, I might get through the gate and escape. I'd have to travel across the biggest desert in the world without any water or food. Maybe Andarial (if this is her) would only send half her demons after me. Crap... it would be easier to just go in there and kill her.