Wail

DemonRose

Hey! Hey!

 You might have been wondering were I'd gotten to. I just wasn't feeling very motivated to do much of anything the past few weeks and writing was on the top of that list. Anyway, I came within a hair of dropping the story altogether and maybe starting something new, but I talked myself out of it, and you'll be getting more chapters. For a little while anyway.

Lighting a lantern, we go and investigate the noise coming from the deeper recesses of the cave.  

Not far from the campsite, we find two people bound and gagged. There's a cat-girl and a Wood Sprite. According to Detect, the Sprite is an NPC, but the Felinoid is a player. No one else is around, so I suspect they must have been prisoners of the gang we just killed.

Astra whispers to us before we approach them, "Lets not be stupid. Just because they're the enemy of those highwaymen doesn't mean they'll be friendly toward us."

When we un-gag the cat-girl, she spits and sputters for a second to clear her mouth before begging, "Please! Untie me!"

"In a minute," Astra says. "We need some information first. What are you doing here?"

"They kidnapped me. I had barely joined the game when those brutes jumped me and brought me here." She jerks her head to the other prisoner. "She was already here. They said they were going to ransom me. But like hell if I know anyone who would pay my ransom. I came into Feronia alone, hoping to team up with some folks at a guild." She struggles against her ropes and she seems about to ask us to untie her again, when Bronte poses another question.

"What's your class and level?"

"I'm a level 1 Fleshomancer," she says with embarrassment.

"Fleshomancer!?!" Bronte exclaims. "What the hell!?!"

"The AI offered me a special class but wouldn't let me know what it was until I agreed to take it. It really isn't that bad. Mostly." She looks down. The girl is pretty cute. Her hair is a silvery black and the fur on her ears match. Her face is round and she has dimples that show even when she frowns. She glances up again before continuing. "It's sort of an elemental system, but instead of fire or water or whatever, it affects flesh."

Astra says with exaggerated curiosity, "I have to ask: what spells do you have?"

Now, she stops looking at us altogether, "Something called The Flesh is Weak and Frrrerermmm." Her voice trails off into a mumble. Astra pushes her to repeat herself. And when it's no clearer, she demands to know more forcefully. The poor cat-girl finally says, "It's flesh-missiles."

"What!?!" Morgan asks. "That sounds like you fire magic dicks at people."

From the mortified look on her face, I'm guessing that's exactly what it's like.

Astra begins to loosen the knots. "At level 1, she doesn't pose much of a threat even if she does attack us."

Vladimir gets into the cat-girls face and says, "But no throwing dicks at us. I really don't want that."

The poor girl seems about to break into tears.

I ask, "What do we do about the Sprite?"

"Find out more about them, and what they'll do if we release them," Astra calls out.

I pull their gag down, but before I can ask any questions, they say, "Thank you! I am but an unfortunate merchants assistant desperate to get home to my people. Those awful men only wanted gold, but if you free me, I have something else to reward you with."

I look at my other party members, questioning what they want to do.

Bronte says, "Something else to reward us with. It's probably sex. No thank you!"

Kerda replies to her, "Now, let's not be hasty."

I shake my head in frustration. "I'm untying her. She doesn't seem like a threat, and it's not like we need to accept her reward."

When I've freed her, she stands rubbing warmth back into her limbs until she recovers. Instead of offering me sex, she presses something into my palm and thanks me profusely, adding, "This will always guide you to what you seek." Then, she heads straight out of the cave without hesitation.

My hand holds a tiny compass. It looks like a cheap children's toy, and doesn't have any markings on it, just a wobbly red needle. I'm not sure if this is some kind of joke or not.

"Come on," Bronte says. "Lets get a move on. The entrance to the tunnels must be back here somewhere."

The Felinoid asks hopefully, "Tunnels? Are you folks looking for a dungeon? Can I join you?"

"No way! We're not dragging a level 1 along with us." Morgan crosses their arms. The pose is defiant but undercut by her being such a small delicate girl.

"We've dragged you're sorry ass this far," Bronte replies to them.

"We're the same level."

"Doesn't make your ass any less sorry. I say we bring her." 

We have another vote and except for Morgan, no one feels very strongly about her not joining us. I suppose it helps that our reward is going to come from our patron and not only from the loot we split.

Morgan continues to object even after their's out voted. "It's not good for anyone. She'll probably get killed in no time, and she brings nothing to the table."

Kerda quickly counters, "Magic dicks. She brings magic dicks."

Astra steps in, "We voted, it's done." Then, to the new member, "What's your name anyhow?"

"Lynesse."

"Well, Lynesse, keep to the back of the pack and try not to get in our way." Astra's tone is stern but not hostile. "Also, you should know, we've only agreed to stay a party until we've cleared this dungeon and gotten our reward back in town."

Lynesse nods. And picks up a dried up old branch from the ground. Although once she has it, I realize it must be her staff. Along with this, she's equipped with a black velvet robe that barely covers her butt and a pair of matching slipper-like shoes. She's larger than any of the rest of us and full foot taller than me. 

We search for the entrance to the caves, but the cavern grows more narrow the farther we go into it, until we can only go forward if we start to crawl.

"This is no good," Astra says. "We must have passed it somehow."

I tell them to wait a second and pull out my new compass. The dial just spins around. I try and concentrate on the dungeon entrance and the needle slows to a stop, pointing behind us. I lead the way back, keeping an eye on it. Eventually, it swings to my left. But it doesn't make sense because there's only solid rock.

"It should be here," I say. "Or this stupid thing doesn't actually do anything."

Vladimir pushes past me, "Here. Let me check." He runs his hand over the surface of the stone. "Yes! There's a door here. I can open it if I just find... There!" He presses what looks like a chink in the rock and a panel opens inward with a deep grinding noise.

Since I'm right in front of it, I lean in to see what we're facing, but my eyes can't penetrate the darkness even with the light of the lantern shining in.

I relay the information.

Bronte asks, "What the fuck are Orb Spiders?"

No one knows, and we all seem to do a system search for the information at the same time.

Orb Spider: These level 8 monsters prefer dark spaces and frequently inhabit caves. Shy and defensive they rarely attack outright but instead incapacitate prey with magical energy orbs they suspend in their webs. Those who touch one of these orbs must make an Intellect based saving-throw greater than 12 or lose motor-control of their body and suffer hallucinations. Once incapacitated, the Orb Spider will leave its lair and feast on the soft organs of their victim. Orb Spiders are solitary creatures and never appear in numbers. However, due to their selective eating habits and the leftover carcasses of their prey, they attract a large number of scavengers. 

"Damn!" Bronte says. "These sound fucking delightful."

Astra tries to sound positive. "Dungeons are meant to be a challenge. If you didn't want to fight, you should have stayed back in town. Now, it's only one spider. And it sounds like it will stay hidden if we don't touch those orbs. Let's just cut through the scavengers and get to the crypt." With that, she steps boldly into the darkness, and we all follow.