Re: Incarnation

Ariagoria wasn't sure what to expect when entering the fourth floor of the tower. She was familiar with the work of the poet Dante but not with Creatures and Catacombs. All she knew about the seventh circle is what her father had told her. That it was ruled by Belphegor the Slothful, Lord of Languor. But in Dante's Divine Comedy, sloth doesn't appear in hell but rather in purgatory. So the only one that truly knew what to expect was Racknar who had memorized the books of the game Creatures and Catacombs in his previous life.

When they got to the floor the group found themselves in what looked like a prison with cells surrounding a room with a balcony from an upper floor with more cells. From there they could see hallways with even more prison cells. However, unlike a normal prison, there were chains hanging everywhere. Barbed chains and hanging chains with hooks on the end of them. That's when they saw them, the bodies hanging from the high ceiling, some above the balcony and some not far above their heads, hanging from hooks like meat at the butcher shop.

Mari put her hand over her mouth in horror, then the horror turned to absolute despair when she saw one of the bodies move. “Oh god, some of them are still alive.” Racknar did a slow spin with his hands stretched out “Welcome to a replica of Judecca, the prison of The Nine Hells. As a society with strict adherence to their own laws twisted as those might be, it's only natural that the realm has its own prison. Demons that break the laws of Hell are punished there by the warden Belphegor the Slothful, Lord of Languor. Often considered the second most powerful of the demon lords.”

Davy looked up at the moving bodies on hooks. “Then are these prisoners?” Racknar shook his head “Those are the guards. If they were intended to be the prisoners, don't you think they would be inside the cells?” Davy’s eyes widened “If those are the guards, what in God's name do they do to the prisoners?” Racknar laughed nervously “Maybe it's best we not get into that now. Let's focus on clearing this floor so we can move on. We still have one more floor after this.”

Ariagoria looked around and didn't see any doors to other areas like before “okay, so how do we do that?” Racknar shrugged “let's look around.” The group starts walking down hallways, looking into empty prison cells. As they walk, they hear the rattling of chains. When it gets close, they duck around a corner at a crossroads hallway. A humanoid figure, dressed in rags wrapped in barbed chains that dangle from their body shambles through the hall. It turns the way they are hiding and walks right past them. It stops for a moment, looks right at them with its dead demonic eyes, then returns to its patrol.

Mari watched as it walked away. “Why didn't it attack us? Every other demon we've met has tried to kill us on sight. Charity said the reason you and here were focused on is because demons are extremely territorial.” Racknar hummed before responding “I'm not sure. Maybe they don't see us as a threat for some reason. I haven't spotted any prisoners yet. There's an awful lot of chain demons here for there to not be any prisoners." The group then walks into an open area like the one they started in. Ariagoria groans “Did we go in a circle somehow or do all these rooms look the same?”

Racknar looked around then pointed out one of the cells. “Over there, there's a guy in that one.” inside the cell was a muscular human male dressed in rags, his feet and ankles bound in rusted iron cuffs connected but barbed chains. The group walked over the cell with Racknar being the first to address the man. “Who are you, why are you here, and what do you know of this tower?

The man looked up then shot up to be standing quickly. “Holy crap, reinforcements? I wasn't expecting the church to send a second team in here so quickly. Wait… there's only five of you and only the next of you bears the holy symbol. You're adventurers, aren't you?” Racknar nodded “Although the church did give us this quest. I found it strange they didn't send in any of their men to assist, more so now knowing they already have. They had over two dozen people outside the tower killing any demons that came out.”

The man walked over to the cell and grabbed the bars. “My squad had more than that and we were completely overwhelmed as soon as we got to this floor. I've been here over a month now.” Racknar rubbed his chin. “We had to beat the warlocks of the lower floors to get here, so if you made it this far, why did we have to kill them?” The man looked confused himself “I… I don't know. We definitely killed the warlocks on our way up.” Racknar then asked “Who sent your squad in here?”

The man looked confused as to why Racknar would ask that. “Archbishop Frederick.” Racknar crossed his arms “Describe him for me.” The man tilted his head “Slightly above average height, kinda skinny, but pale, dark hair and blue eyes, looks kinda creepy, and he's always giving perverse looks at non-human females.” Racknar looked over to Ariagoria who nodded “I've met him, he was at the camp when we got here.”

Racknar grumbled “So unlike the warlock on the first floor you know what's going on outside the tower or rather your knowledge is more current.” The man opened his mouth to say something but shut it and stepped away from the bars taking his hands off them. A chain demon shambles past the party with a lot of rattling. “Why aren't the guards attacking you?” Ariagoria shrugged “Not sure. It seems as long as we don't do anything to set them off they just go about like nothing is happening.”

Racknar crossed his arms “I don't… I don't think they know this tower is on a world in Mortalus. As far as they know this is Judecca. Unlike the near mindless shades, chain demons are somewhat intelligent and follow orders. Since they've not received any orders outside guarding prisoners they won't act unless provoked. I'm guessing they've also been ordered to keep prisoners alive. I'd bet my swords the paladins and clerics attacked the demons on site. This caused them to act like you were attempting a prison break. Their orders would likely be to take you alive and put you in holding while waiting for someone higher up to question you.”

The prisoner sits hard on the bench and rubs his head in frustration “We're trained to kill demons on site, I've never once questioned it. If we knew we could have just walked through here uncontested we would have saved our efforts for the Warlocks. Once the final Warlock dies the tower falls and all the demons in it go back to where they came from. There's just one thing I still don't get. If no civilians have been killed, why are their adventurers here? It's not standard procedure for the church to go to the guild. Normally they just throw more and stronger people at a problem. The guild is involved if the problem starts affecting civilians, because the civilians themselves put in the request.”

Racknar shrugged “I asked that myself. Apparently the Pope himself requested me personally. I know I'm locally famous but I didn't think the Pope would know who I am.” The man looked even more confused. “Who are you anyway?” Racknar replied simply “I'm the black knight of Riverside, the Da Vinci of blades, Racknar Aradae.” The man slumped a bit “I see.” Racknar noticed the change of posture “You don't seem exactly thrilled about it.”

The man looked back up at Racknar “Nothing personal but despite being young for someone of your rank in the guild you are still too low a rank to clear this tower. I suspect that was the idea. The Pope probably wouldn't know who you are, but the Archbishop does. I wouldn't put it past him to embellish an order as being from the Pope. I think he wants you dead.” Racknar was a bit confused “I've never met the guy myself, I didn't even notice him at the campsite. Why would he want me dead?”

The man let out a loud sigh “You’ve become one of the most well known adventurers very quickly, you aren't affiliated with the church… By the Nine Hells, you're not even human. Yet you of all people are the “Da Vinci of Swordsmen”, it has the potential to make the church and official knighthood look bad by comparison. To put it simply, you're way too good at your job for someone so young. If you were a human or a paladin he'd put you on a pedestal. Unfortunately, you were born as some animal. Because you wear that get up no one even knows what kind. I've got my money on some sort of short snouted reptilian.”

Racknar shook his head. “Nope, not a reptile. Anyways, we unfortunately have to leave you in the cell. It's honestly the safest spot for you. If we tried to open this cell the chain demons would pounce.” The man nodded “I mean the food isn't great but I'm in no immediate danger. Goodluck. If you see any other survivors from my squad, you can just keep walking.” Racknar nodded and the party continued to walk.

Davey eventually lets out a groan. “We've been walking forever~~ I'd almost prefer a combat encounter. What are we even supposed to do?” Racknar shrugged “I don't see any obvious doors. Hell, I don't even think I've seen a set of stairs to get to the upper floor.” Racknar stopped walking. “spoke too soon.” He then turned to a door that led to stairs that went to the second floor. Once there the group kept walking, stopping at a balcony over one of the square rooms to look down.

Racknar hummed as he did so, then looked around. “I think I figured it out. How to progress that is. I started testing it after we encountered the prisoner. Has anyone been keeping track of my turns since then?” Davy did a hand wave “Wee took a left, we took a right, we went straight for three intersections then we turned around for some reason. Then we found the stairs.” Racknar nodded “Now what if I told you that if we were to retrace our steps from here back to the steps, they wouldn't be there.” Ariagoria knitted her brow “You mean like the rooms are moving or something?” Racknar shook his head “No, it's more like space is bent. However that bend is constant. Once you figure out the trick, it's not that hard to navigate.”

Davy scratched his head “I don't get it.” Racknar then explained “When I went straight for three intersections that time, that was actually the same exact intersection all three times. We went straight but somehow in a circle. I marked a corner to be sure of it. Then when we turned around we found the stairs that definitely weren't there before. This place operates under dream logic, just like the library. It's a non linear logic maze.”

Davy gave a confused look “You lost me.” Then after a pause his eyes light up. “Oh! I get it now. Ernie explained it to me.” Mari shifted around “I'm still lost.” Racknar let out a grunting sigh “Don't worry about it, I'll just lead us to the warden's office.” Racknar then starts walking and leads the group “Just make sure you don't lose sight of the person next to you, keep your eyes on them.” After a while the group finds a second stairway up that leads to a square hallway on a third floor. There are doors that lead to storage rooms or offices but eventually Racknar leads them to a door marked “Warden” and reaches for it.

Once opened the group is transported to a large office room much like what happened on the first floor, only this time the room is decorated with nick-nacks and law books. There is even a Newton's cradle in stasis sitting on the desk. The office chair has been replaced with a modern looking recliner that was reclined back with a man in gray pajamas and a sleeping blindfold dozing off in the chair. He was kinda short but otherwise nothing stood out about him.

Mari looked at the guy, then Racknar “Should we just… kill him in his sleep? I mean it feels wrong but this tower will be a problem if we don't do something.” Racknar shook his head “He's not actually sleeping, he's faking it.” The man pulled off the sleeping blindfold and folded the chair. “Damn, can't blame a guy for trying. Welcome to my office. I don't suppose you're here to talk about visitation.” Racknar lets out a loud sigh “We are here to bring down this tower before you bring hell on earth. Or whatever this world is called.”

The man snapped his finger causing the chair and desk to vanish “Unfortunately to do that you have to clear the last floor. Unfortunately that means going through me. As much as I'd love to just let you through and take a nap, this tower has rules. It's nothing personal, but I'll have to kill you.” The man brought up his hand to cast a spell with both Racknar and Mari trying to attack him before he could get the spell off. A wave of blue rippled through the room from the mage's hand and suddenly everyone but the slothful mage was moving slower.

Racknar recognized the spell as “slow”. It halved speed, removed reactions, and resulted in the target having to choose between an action or bonus action. It reduced AC and dex saves because it was harder to dodge while slowed, and even made casting many spells more difficult. Racknar and Mari tried to attack the mage but the mage was easily able to dodge them as well as the slowed bolts from Ariagoria. “That's definitely doing more than the slow spell can in the books.” Racknar thought to himself.

Then Davy and Krys stepped in, moving at normal speed. Krys shot three arrows and Davy fired his purple bolt of energy. All the hits landing caused the mage to lose concentration on his spell. He grumbled before tossing a small marble from his pocket at the floor. Once it hit there was a loud bang that shook the party and caused their ears to ring. “Son of a bitch, I think he just thunderclaped us!” Racknar shouted.

Mari leaped into action, trying to attack the mage from behind but he managed to dodge her. Then when Racknar came in with the chainsaw swords and his normal swords the man continued to dodge with relative ease. “You caught me by surprise before, but it won't happen again.” Ariagoria and Davy both miss their attacks as well. Krys actually managed to land an arrow into the man's shoulder. The mage then did his best to create distance so he could cast a spell.

The man mutters a bit then finishes the spell just before Mari could get to them. They took glancing blows as they dodged. The spell that he cast was a summoning spell that caused five demons to appear in the room with them. The pale gray looking shades have some amount of what looked like barbed wire bracelets and anklets on but otherwise they looked like normal shades. Racknar quickly cuts down one by sinking four attacks into it.

Ariagoria then lit up her mace with holy energy and blasts off the shoulder of one of the shades, taking the arm off in the process. Davy then finishes the demon off with a bolt of energy. Krys takes out a third with a volley of arrows. The last two shades go straight for Racknar and claw at him with the mage casting a spell that results in five small balls of force to bend around obstacles and smack Racknar in various places of the body. Racknar actually lets out a ground of pain after they hit.

Racknar’s blood red flames manifest and he cuts down the two shades needing two attacks each to do so. Marionette makes another go at the mage with no luck. Davy and Ariagoria are both similarly unlucky. Krys lands two hits in the mage's legs. The mage runs at Racknar and gets into melee range and slaps Racknar's chest with an open palm strike that definitely doesn't have the force to do anything. However, as soon as the strike impacts magic bursts from the mage's hand.

There is a strange crackling sound followed by Racknar screaming out in pain as he takes a step back. A section of his chitin crumbles off revealing the muscle underneath that is now showing signs of necrosis with magics crawling in the wound. “You little shit!” Racknar shouted before slapping the wound with a grunt and burning himself a bit to kill the maggots and stop the progression of necrosis. In the same motion his upper left hand swings the now activated and flaming chainsaw sword right at the mage.

The sword makes contact, or it would have, if not for the mage casting a magic barrier last second. Although he's not chopped to bits, he is sent sliding away. Mari uses the potential opening to attack the mage, making a few slashes. One cuts off the mage's right arm, the second leaves a gash on theages side, and the third is dodged. Ariagoria noticed more bits of chitin on Racknar chip away as the maggots continued to try and eat him alive.

She looked at him, and he gave her a nod. She casts hellish retribution on Racknar, burning him and killing the maggots. Racknar than downs a health potion. Krys and Davy are unable to land a solid hit on the mage. Racknar scolds Davy “For fucks sake stop using Eldritch Blast and cast Magic Missile!” The mage sees as Racknar intentionally takes an attack to stop the maggots. “Are you insane?! Who in their right mind would resort to friendly fire?!” He then fires a bolt of lightning, striking Racknar in the chest.

Racknar is pushed back but rushes the mage “Someone who's willing to risk it all to put an end to this hellish tower and protect the people!” He then makes a series of five attacks at the mage with the first three being dodged. The last two hit him at the same time and although he's able to bring up a barrier in time he's still sent across the room. It seems this time Racknar made his attacks knowing that, as the mage is sent sliding straight at Mari who comes at him with her dragonbone shears. She makes a swift snip motion and takes off the mage's head in a single move.

The party flopped to the ground and sat for a moment taking some time to recover a bit. Then Racknar grabbed a set of keys and what looked like a badge from the mage. “Before we go, let's set the prisoners free and send them to join the camp. With this badge I should be able to issue a single order to the chain demons. If I tried for two they might catch on. I'll order them to give all the prisoners their stuff and let them free. Then we can move on.” The rest of the party nodded in agreement. Racknar then did exactly as he said, shaking the hand of the paladin they encountered earlier before sending them off. With that done the party goes back to the door and progresses to the next and final floor.