VotS: The Gift of Fire

[Jim Roberts]

[Feb 6 -- The Waterworks]

> But then, lighting shone in the Holy Man’s eyes, and began to shoot
> forth from every part of his body. Within moments, the entire tunnel
> system in front of the Away Team defenders was filled with a thick
> barrage of lightning, and a dull report of thunder suggested that the
> lightning storm was extending into the underground ant warren,
> destroying far more than “just” the ants that the defenders could see.

And in the ensuing silence that oddly seemed just as loud as what had
fallen a moment before, after the lightning storm had passed there was
not a living ant to be seen… or heard. Only the Abbot, still in the
middle of the corridor, wincing as he moved his arms, still glad they
were in their sockets, despite the ants’ best efforts. He had a series
of new and painful ant bites… but otherwise, he was fine.

An herbal poultice and some simple healing orisons from Jeyshann took
care of the Abbot’s ant bites. Jeyshann, too, had not emerged unscathed,
but all the ant mayhem had inflicted upon her was exactly matched by the
earlier extra health imparted by the Abbot’s signature Heroes’ Feast
that had begun the morning.

This led to a simple calculation. They were, if the map was to be
believed, not that many minutes away from the probable spot for Ecru…
assuming that the spider they’d dispatched the previous day hadn’t
actually BEEN Ecru herself. So the short term and even medium term buffs
from the Temple of the Troglodtyes were even now fading away. But any
longer term buffs from the fight with Dhulokk and his minions, as well
as any cast NOW expected to last for a dozen minutes or so or more,
would probably be still in effect when they came to where Ecru might be
found. And after the Dhulokk battle, nobody wanted to be underprepared.

So all of the spell casters began to unleash a litany of protective
magics. In Finfin’s case, his were simple and direct. Once again the
powdered lime and carbon came out, and with Lomi’s agreement, the elf
cast a simple enhancement over a fat quiver of the scout’s arrows.
These, Lomi and Finfin could share from the back ranks, should anything
need shooting. He then cast a repeat of a simple basic protective spell
he’d used the day before, and an instant later eight more images of
himself sprang into being, the false images along with the “real” Finfin
interleaving together like a mad card sharper’s trick. A few other
protections, and he was done. Likewise, Laurelin and Laquendi finished
their protections in fairly short order, the silver haired elf most of all.

Elsewhere, other defensive spellcasting was happening in parallel. One
of the Abbot’s choices was a widespread Aid spell that replaced the
temporary health everyone had gained from the morning’s Heroes’ Feast,
and most had subsequently lost, either due to Flame Strikes, Giant Ants,
or other misadventures. And the litany of defensive spell after spell
continued, with both Jeyshann and especially the Abbot casting spell
after spell… after spell, one of which transformed him back into the
winged Angelic Aspect that had earned him the tactical “call sign” of
“Ugly Angel”.

After a while, as the Divine spell series continued, Finfin idly
remarked, “Empty the Arsenals!” Just who he was quoting remained
obscure, but in Tramma’s bardic imagination, she thought that properly,
the elven officer’s cloak should now be billowing out behind him. But
eventually, the spellcasting extravaganza was complete; nobody could
complain that the Away Team was underbuffed now. Underprepared, if they
found a NEW foe outside of their time window, yes, but not underbuffed
for the immediate future.

With the clock running, the Away Team continued along the tunnel as it
twisted first north and then west again. They were not running, but
moving at a deliberate pace, not letting any time waste. And soon, they
were coming towards the end of the east-west passage where an alleged
Ecru might be found, pushing ever westward.

And then, up in the vanguard, Laurelin called a halt. Just at the far
edge of her Celestial Brilliance, she could see a glittering reflection
twinkling back at her some 120 feet away. All of the elves peered
intently forward, and quickly agreed to what they were seeing – the
floor ahead was festooned with webs, no doubt in a crude “sticky trap”
designed to catch and snare the unwary.

Laquendi snorted, not at all impressed by the trickery of spiders. “A
Fire Elemental could clear the webs quickly," the silver-haired Drow
observed as she watched the ceiling.

“Might be some sort of trap door spider,” the Abbot warned.

Laquendi gave an indifferent shrug. "Fire will clear that as well."

“What is it with witch doctors and fire?” Jeyshann grumbled

“In this instance,” Laquendi replied, “it is a proper tool.”

After lighting a small candle, the silver haired elf began to chant,
moving the tiny flame about in a complex pattern that left a series of
glowing red and yellow lines hanging in midair. And a moment later, the
elf’s figure seemed to burst into flame. Or rather, quite unlike the
more familiar fire shield, Laquendi seemed to become flame. Where the
elf once stood was now the figure of a medium sized fire elemental,
though one that curiously still seemed to remind spectators of the dusky
elf.

Most of the other spellcasters began to cast spells of their own,
Laurelin casting a Divine Prayer that saw her more than double in size,
while Finfin treated the entire team to the last of his famous Hastes of
the day. Tramma, meanwhile, seemed enchanted by Laquendi’s
transformation, and began to croon the words to a new song, once again
infusing her words with Bardic Power.

You've been living like a little girl
In the middle of your little world
And your mind, your tiny mind
You know you've really been so blind
Now's your time, burn your mind
You're falling far, too far behind

She then held the final wordless croon in a long, lingering wordless
expression of passion, fully expecting that the encounter’s musical and
thematic climax was only a few bars away.

Ooooo – oooo!

The Fire Elemental Laquendi surged forward, with Laurelin and Ben not
too far behind. But Hasted Fire Elementals were faster than Hasted
humans or elves, and Laquendi pulled ahead. The advancing light soon
illuminated the very end of the corridor, including the very LARGE
spider occupying the top half of the corridor’s end, its red eyes
staring back balefully.

Laquendi was still not impressed. In fluent and native Drow, she
intoned, “Hello, cousin of all of my kind. You are the lamb. *I* am the
slaughter.”

Like a visiting demigod out of myth, Laquendi was here to deliver the
Gift of Fire, and stopped short of the sticky web trap on the floor,
looking forward to seeing them consumed in a cleansing flame.

But they stubbornly refused to so much as singe. Or even smoulder.

The monstrous spider, however, did not like its creations being
threatened by fire, and swarmed forward, its huge bulk crawling on the
ceiling. A volley of arrows lofted overhead, provoking an annoyed
chittering from the giant Spider, but it bore down with fixed
determination on its prey.

When it was directly overhead, it shot down a webline onto the fiery
quasi-elemental. And like their ground based peers, these webs also
refused to burn.

In the blink of an eye, Laquendi was ensnared, just as the Abbot had
been against the previous day's spider. Unlike yesterday, however, THIS
spider seemed to be showing a fiendish glee in its work. With a quick
tug, it had the entangled Laquendi suspended a few feet off the ground,
the other end of the webline attached to the ceiling.

Its red eyes all focused on its next meal below, it paid no heed to the
oncoming arrows or other adventurers. A slight additional tug signalled
to Laquendi that within moments, the spider would be pulling her upwards
towards its terrible maw, and even worse stinger. It was clearly well
pleased with the efficiency of this newest food delivery service.

The Drow quickly found herself stuck - a dangerous position to be in
with as a Demonic spider reeled her in on its web strand. Her mind
rolled down her list of options, noting that for some reason option
three's words "fireball everything in sight" and was struck through. She
chose "Escape".

"Physical, mental, or spell?"

"Spell."

"teleport or dimension door?"

Now there was a choice. She had a long list of teleport points
memorised, only two of which were anywhere near her current location;
she didn't want to have to explain to the Kobold Foreman what happened
to her, and dropping back to the point outside of Gnarkill's kitchen
would take too long to return to have any effect on the battle.

"Dimension door, negative zero point one zero four nine radians,
nine-five point five-two radius."

"WARNING: Additional load will cause damage. Continue? y/N?"

"Beats being eaten. Yes."

Whether this actual dialog had taken place or not might have been a fine
discussion topic for several Arcanists. Or therapists. But the end
result was the same; Laquendi spat out the simple words for a Dimension
Door spell. And the dialog’s concern was a valid one. Laquendi could
easily pop herself and a modest load a fair distance away. But heaps of
webs AND the attached monstrously sized spider was beyond any stretch of
the word “modest”.

Laquendi could have simply allowed the spell to fail, its parameters
exceeded. But she was a determined elf, fully willing to risk any and
all damage that overriding the safety limits of a dimensional spell
could and WOULD inflict. Any result was better than being eaten… by a
spider.

In the normal course of events, Laquendi would have vanished after the
first syllable – “Dim”, and appeared at her destination before the
second syllable could be articulated – “Door.” But now, she was caught,
both in between syllables, but more terribly, in a terrible stretching
of what should have taken no time at all. Time and space itself warped
around Laquendi, and those on the outside saw the fire elemental’s form
twist and warp in a way that even bodies made out of flame ought not.

The pain was excruciating, but Laquendi refused to let go, pushing
harder and harder for the overtaxed spell – and her equally overtaxed
body – to continue its struggle. Eventually, something HAD to give… and
it did. A section of the webline holding Laquendi upside down to the
spider above snapped. NOW the spell was suddenly within its parameters,
and the webbed and distorted image of Laqundi vanished, only to arrive
in a shower of sparks at roughly her intended location back down the
hallway, not far from the rearguard where Lomi and Finfin both were
preparing to launch more arrows downrange.

Laquendi had been, what teleport mages called in obscure slang,
“squinched”, her very form traumatised by the stresses of a
malfunctioning dimensional transport. Fortunately not too badly, all
things considered. Had the webs been stronger, what landed by the
rearguard could have been a gory pile of discombobulated organic goo.
Even as it was, she was positively glowing from what certain mystics
would term her chakra – crown, feet, hands, arms, brow, shoulders,
throat, waist, heart, and soul.

That she was still webbed and upside down, a foot or two above the
ground and no longer suspended, was the least of Laquendi’s concerns.
"Yebat!" Laquendi swore as she landed on her head, somewhat worse for
the wear and still covered in webs. She was not sure where she'd learned
that phrase, nor, to be quite honest, was she completely sure she knew
what it meant. But there was no denying that the expletive felt ENTIRELY
appropriate.

Not far away, both Lomi and Finfin were continuing to pull arrows from a
shared quiver. "I take it," the tall scout mused as she pulled another
arrow, "that if Sister Erin were here, we'd be seeing her ruler?"

Finfin nodded, fetching another arrow for himself. "Entirely possible."

Lomi then asked, "Is she...?"

Jeyshann finished the sentence. "Fluorescing."

"From the inside.” Lomi agreed. “I think that's her bones glowing.
That's gotta hurt, and the smoke coming outta her ears is a nice touch."

"Why are you looking at me like that?” Laquendi snarled. ‘I am not a fan
dancer!"