Post #2815534 in The Gala-Dor Expedition, a roleplay on RPG

Through it all, Lio shivered against the slick stone walls, eye occasionally twitching. It was remarkable just how much paler the man could grow. And just how short he looked now that he was hunkered down with that green beast hovering over their heads. His brows perked up as the party began to trudge away, suddenly looking alert despite the… dark, glazed over pupils taking over his entire eyeballs.

“What? Yeah? Follow the green giant? Wait, didn’t we blow it up?” He blinked a few times, shook out the sweats, then grimaced. “Ohhhhh, Flame forsake me, aha, ha... I’ve dabbled in the ol’ alch of mey myself but this, this, they’ve been mixing something strange in this. I think I felt bones when I held it.” His voice raised to a wheeze as he lumbered behind. “I’m fine. I’mmm fine.” Then in a mutter, “I’m going to kill that ring when I find her.”

With Orcimedes leading the way, the group ventured forth. Down ancient stone steps and through rusted iron grates, into the bowels of the sewers. The walls seemed greener the deeper they went, layered with centuries’ worth of grime and filth, left to fester and spread. Rats scurried away from the party’s approach. The further they went, the more rats they found. Even with their great numbers, Orcimedes’ booming stomps staved off any hostile intent. They retreated, into the cracks and crevices which beset the sewers.

Eventually, they came upon the end of the path. A great chasm laid ahead, thirty meters wide and pitch-black with no bottom to be seen. Surrounding the edge of the chasm was the heart of the Red Hatchet’s operations. A rickety fort of scaffolds and spikes, built into the walls and shrouded in patches of tarp.

On the highest peaks of the scaffolds were the Hatchets’ archers, three on one side, and three on the other, their fire-tipped arrows already trained upon the party. Eight more gathered to greet them, with axes and spears and sneering faces painted with blood. They stood there, hunched over into battle stances, and remained.

Thud.

The sound rang behind the scaffolds. A shadowy form emerged, its head a fang-filled, growling maw.

The Red Hatchets thumped their spears on to the ground, in tune with the encroaching steps.

Thud, thud, thud!

“Georgina! Georgina! Georgina! GEORGINA!” They chanted and chanted, the sound swiftly filling up the arena.

Heavy paws. Scraping metal. Nine metres from the head to the base of the tail. A giant beast, shrouded in damp and frayed grey fur, with a face that was somewhere between a rat and a direwolf. A moist, lolling tongue licked over its rotten, crooked fangs, and the reins of chains bolted onto its cheek armour. Its eyes were bloodshot red and unfocused, its body barded by layers and segments of rusted, blue-grey iron fastened by leather. It emerged to face the party, and upon its back was the largest, most heavily armoured bandit in the room. Their leader.

The Bandit Lord was dressed in armour that matched his mount; one that bore the scars of a hundred blades and the dents of a hundred hammers. Blood-red paint was slathered over the left side of his cuirass. A crooked, bucket-shaped helmet shrouded his face. He held Georgina’s chains in his left hand, while his right wielded an overlong, razor-sharp bardiche, rested upon his shoulder.

The Bandit Lord raised his left hand, and his men were silenced in an instance. He stared down the group, towering even Orcimedes atop his mount. “Well, well, well,” he spoke. “You’re the ones who’d given my men a lot of trouble.” His voice was low and deep, yet it lacked the other bandits’ manic intonations or their lowborn accents. He cocked his head, letting out a raspy chuckle as he observed the party.

“You don’t look like Sacred Flame...” He stopped at Maria. “...Most of you, that is. What brings you here, to this trash heap at the ass-end of Beaucourt?” He glanced towards Orcimedes and Esther, his voice rumbling into a purr. “The sewers are not exactly tourist traps, hehehe.”

Snippet #2815534

located in Zoltia, a part of The Gala-Dor Expedition, one of the many universes on RPG.

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