[Cerek the Barbaric]

Chateau Irenicus - Part 2

After killing the duergar guarding the portal, I thought long and hard about going on to the next level - but I just didn't like the idea of leaving so many of the dwarven devils behind me, so I went back to "clean up" the ones I had avoided earlier. A few more encounters was all it took to convince me that I would be at the task forever. I could defeat them, but I used up all of my spells in each battle - so I would have to rest to regain them. Then even more of these dark dwarves would show up and the whole sequence would start over again. I also had collected far more robes off the dwarven wizards than I could ever hope to carry out on my own - so I decided it was time to move onward and upward.

I went through the portal - a very disorienting experience to say the least - and found myself facing an exotic looking fellow carrying a bow and a katana (a rather unusual sword, but one I fancy for myself also). His features suggested he was from the land of Kara-Tur (or at least regions thereabouts). He introduced himself as Yoshimo, a bounty hunter. I was cautious of his presence and intent, but he managed to allay most of my fears. He told me the door of our room opened into a large room filled with more mephits (by the gods, I hate those hell-spawned vermin). I briefly considered allowing Yoshimo to travel with me through the rest of the dungeon, but I had sent off other comrades that I knew far better than this fellow, so I decided not to be lulled into a false sense of security. Still, I felt that he could be useful for a task I needed done, so I allowed him to join me. We then re-entered the portal and I led him to the Sewage Room. The still-rotting corpse of the Neo Otyugh nearly overwhelmed our senses, but I didn't plan to stay long. I handed the 2-handed sword the djinni had given me to my new ally and I also showed him the large pile of duergar wizard robes I had collected. We carefully folded them and stuffed them into his backpack. I then gave him a couple of other trinkets I had found but didn't want to carry and told him it would be best if we split up now. I told him to find his way to the surface and wait for me to join him there. I would look for him at one of the inns when I managed to escape this place.

Now that I didn't have to worry about watching my back anymore, I headed back through the portal a 3rd time (and began to get accustomed to the disorientation). Back in the room where I met Yoshimo, I found a chest with a scroll of Fireball in it. You can never have too many of those on hand. I drank a potion of Extra-Healing to mend the wounds I had suffered fighting the duergar, then a potion of Speed. Yoshimo had told me that the mephits appeared through 4 portal in the next room and we had decided the best way to destroy the mephits was to destroy the portals.

With the magical potion speeding my reflexes, I charged into the next room and began smashing away at the portals with that wonderful club Ilyich had given me (well, actually I pried it from his cold dead hand - but he didn't seem to need it anymore). I ignored the attacks of the various mephits (and there were FAR more than I had anticipated). They attacked with fire, ice, color sprays and other spells. By the time I destroyed the last portal, I was singed, frozen and bleeding from several wounds. Time for another healing potion. Aaahhh - that felt much better. Now I had a chance to look around the room. There were several chest, barrels and racks full of various items - but only a few of any real interest. I also saw a large torture rack with dead body on it. The corpse had been horribly disfigured, but he still looked oddly familiar. I have a nagging feeling that I should have known the person, but I just couldn't remember who it was or where I might of have known them from. Maybe the memory will come to me later. I couldn't do anything for them anyway, so it was time to move on.

I saw two doors on the opposite side of the room and could hear faint sounds of battle behind both of them. I decided to look behind the door where the sounds seem closest and found a stranger fighting yet another of those damnable mephits. I decided to offer my aid and shot the nasty beast out of the air with my arrows. But rather than thanking me for my aid, the stranger then turned and attacked ME. Talk about gratitude!. Well, I was still magically enhanced from my Potion of Speed, so I landed two hard blows with my club before the ingrate ever had a chance to raise his sword against me. He fell in a crumpled heap. I decided to investigate a bit further down the hallway and found yet another mephit. (did I mention how much I hate those things?). I shot him with two arrows, but then he disappeared. I could hear his wings flapping closer to me, so I grabbed my club. Sure enough, the little hellspawn appeared right in front of me and breathed on me with his fetid breath. Even with my enhanced speed, the beast was hard to hit. He flitted around in the air so quickly that I had trouble landing effective blows with my club. I did serious damage to him when I DID hit, but he still managed to avoid many of my attacks. By the time I finished him off, I was very weary - but I remembered the sounds of battle from the other door in the previous room. I decided to backtrack and make sure no enemies were left behind me before advance any further. I entered a room with more tubes similar to those on the first level. There was an especially large tube in the middle of the room and I could see a man on the other side fighting some unseen enemy. He wore the same type of clothes as the fellow that attacked me in the hallway, so I decided he would get no help from me this time. I crept forward slowly and saw that he was fighting a female mage. She was badly hurt with several open wounds, but she seemed to get a burst of energy and attacked the man with renewed vigor. He apparantly was unprepared for the sudden offensive attack and fell quickly before her onslaught. Then she spotted me and started yelling something about me being her master and that I wanted her to be like HER, but she would never be her (or something to that effect - it really made no sense at all to me). Then she started casting a spell. Now THAT was something I could understand and I quickly cast a spell of my own. One Fireball later, the rambling lady was nothing more than a charred corpse. I searched the room (including her body and that of her attackers). I found an odd-looking key on her body - very similar to several others I had found. No doubt they will serve some purpose before I am done with this dungeon - so I realized I had better hold on to this one.

After all these battles, my spells were depleted once again and I realized I was going to have to rest. Since I had cleared the immediate area, it seemed safe enough to go ahead and lay down here - but I have no doubt that I will awake to find two more of those damned duergars somewhere close by. I swear to the gods they must be part bloodhound. I can't close my eyes for more than a few moments without at least two of them showing up.

Well, that's all for now. Time to sleep, rest, and recover spells.