Poll of the Day > PotD Fantasy Dungeon Death Battle -- Official Post

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yeay im still alive
And bumpy
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I also still alive... no thanks to wwinterj25...
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I'll bump today.
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Thank you, all. Almost there! The big reason for this delay is that I have been invited to be Dungeon Master for a group of my friends (because one of them tried to be DM and decided that it was too big a commitment for him), and prepping for that has been eating my free time this week. Post will be up tonight, though.
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Apologies. Hard drive decided that it needed to be defragmented yesterday, but I have overcome that, so ... here it goes.

Level 1
The Well / Tunnels

Several entrances to the Pit of Periphetes had been documented by the surveyors of Rostik after the first incident at Vikenti and the early expeditions into the dungeon, and all the years of the Contest had resulted in the creation of a number of new entrances by adventurers trying different methods of avoiding the deaths of their predecessors.

Link had discovered one of those entrances. In the remnants of a house, he noticed a square pit, large enough to admit a single person, that had been excavated in a space that might have once been a pantry. Looking into the pit revealed that handholds and footholds had been carved into one side of the shaft, leading down to uncertain depth. Link nodded once to himself before sheathing his short sword and returning his shield to his back to free up his hands, but he noticed footfalls approaching the house.

"Hold, Elf." Rhona stood at the entrance of the house, her empty hands raised, though her dark eyes gauged the distance separating them. "Looks like you and I picked the same lot. I'm willing to let you go first. No foul play." She had no reason to expect the High Elf to attempt to kill her in cold blood. His people had a code of honor, after all -- unlike her, but one did not deal death unless it best served the goal at hand.

Link raised one hand as a show of agreement before climbing down into the pit, his Elf eyes allowing him to see in the darkness for a short distance. By his count, the shaft descended for roughly ten meters before his feet contacted ground again, showing him tunnels heading off in several different directions. He listened for Rhona, and she arrived in less than a minute, pausing only to light up a small lantern on her belt.

"All right," she said, cracking her knuckles and smiling, "you pick a tunnel, I pick a tunnel, and there we part. Agreed?" He nodded, and she disappeared through one of the openings to his right. "See you down below, Elf. Don't let the Undead bite."

She might have had a small laugh at that, but Link faced the possibility of the Undead with a stone-faced certainty, his short sword and shield returning to his hands.

Above him, in front of a small hill facing the Ruins, Whiskey looked down at the map that he had acquired from Melon, and he squinted at a pile of dead brush at the foot of the hill, noticing a crack in the dirt wide enough to admit him if he turned his body sideways and sucked in his breath. Winter walked up to stand next to him, smoothing his black robes, but he seemed to be in no hurry to hurl a spell at his fellow Dark Elf.

"I can cut the brush, friend, or you can burn it," Whiskey said, not looking up from the map. "Up to you. Might be able to save a little time here." He narrowed his eyes, smiling, but still not looking up. "Or you can try to blow me up, but I'd save that spell for another time, if I were you. Lots of nasty things still between us and the bottom."

Winter returned the grin. "I can spare a little flame. Child's play, really." One quick gesture, and the brush caught fire, burning up so quickly that nothing remained but smoke and a little ash. "After you, then." He made a deep, exaggerated bow.

"You're too kind." Whiskey shook his head. He had no doubt in his mind that Winter was willing to kill him, but both Dark Elves had patience to spare, as well as other enemies that took priority. He offered Winter a mock salute before squeezing through the crack and finding himself in a crude tunnel sloping sharply downwards.

(Cont.)
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As Winter followed Whiskey through the crack he had discovered from the map, Key explored a building that had been a storehouse, tapping his Keyblade against sections of flooring in search of a hollow sound that might lead him to another entrance. It did not take long for him to find the right section, tapping it once to allow the magic of the Keyblade to open it up and reveal what he sought: a ladder descending into a round pit. He made his way down that ladder, using his feet to test each rung and avoid a fall. At the bottom, roughly the same ten meters that Link had descended, he cast a minor spell to make a small flame appear at the tip of the Keyblade to provide light.

The light revealed Fox standing in one of the passages, and Key immediately raised his weapon, but the Orc said, shaking his head, "Don't be so jumpy. It's a maze down here. Too many people digging in too many directions. Lost track of my companion after we went down the well." He snorted. "So it looks like you're going to be her replacement, at least for now. Haven't seen anything moving, but there's a first time for everything."

"All right," Key replied, not taking his eyes off the two saw-bladed scimitars the Orc had in his hands. He had a sick feeling about the entire enterprise, but the chance to use his Keyblade to unlock one of the great secrets of the realm managed to keep him moving.

Archmage had entered the tunnels through a door he had discovered in a wine cellar attached to the ruins of a tavern, a small mote of light hovering next to his head to illuminate his surroundings. Ahead, he glimpsed a hulking silhouette, but it carried a torch, meaning that he faced another adventurer, not one of the Undead.

Game Lord noticed Archmage, nodded once, and disappeared down another passage. He had also entered through the well, choosing to methodically explore the tunnels while the Sun still hovered above the Ruins overhead. He guessed that the Undead might not be active -- or, at least, not as active -- during the day, and he had to make good use of the limited time available before they started to actively stalk him.

Archmage let the barbarian go, but he approached the tunnels with the same basic idea: explore, make good use of time, then prepare for the inevitable onslaught of Undead ... and a possible second face-to-face encounter with the might of Wukong.

Back at the well, Koga looked down into the darkness. He had noticed several of the others choosing that path, the one best known, and he had decided to pace himself and not be caught by surprise. That Darico had betrayed him so easily bothered him, so he resolved to be less nave, and he had waited for the coast to clear before he emerged from the shadows and tested the rope leading down into the well. He had been keeping count of the others, and he though he had accounted for almost all of them.

But 'almost all of them' did not mean 'all of them'. He only noticed Tomo approaching the well when she was almost upon him, her steps calm and measured.

"Oh! Um, hello! I --" Koga did not have a chance to finish his sentence.

"Hinin," Tomo said, her katana flashing as she decapitated him in a single motion, his head bouncing along the ground for a fair distance as his body collapsed, twitching, to the ground. Hinin. The term her people used for a non-person ... like a thief. Thieves had no honor, and could be killed by any samurai without fear of punishment. Koga, unfortunately, had talked loudly of being a thief at the bar the night before.

Tomo casually flicked the blood from her blade before resheathing it and climbing down the rope into the darkness, leaving the remains of Koga to lie next to the well.

(Cont.)
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Mead had entered the tunnels through a hole that he originally thought might have belonged to one burrowing animal or another, only to find Parrot waiting for him on the other side, his hands already glowing as his flames filled them. No advantage there, leading Mead to lower his axe and smile, trusting that his true nature -- and the bloodlust it contained -- did not show in his eyes. He had to let his Dwarf side show instead, using his sense of earth and stone to guide him through the tunnels as Parrot followed at a discreet distance, his fire magic always ready at his fingertips.

In a different section of tunnels, Wukong followed the thief Darico for the same reason that Parrot followed Mead, except that Wukong kept his presence concealed, lest the Dwarf try to trick him. Not that anyone dared to trick the Monkey King, since he had entered the tunnels in the first place by using his fist to smash a hole through the ground at his feet. Effortless. He feared nothing from any mortal dungeon.

The cemetery behind the remains of the village church had nothing but open graves in it, and one of those had been deep enough to lead into the tunnels. Belicia had used a spell to levitate herself down through that entrance, and the mist that she noticed there reincorporated itself into Guy almost as soon as she guessed at his presence.

The Druid leaned against one of the walls, holding his side. He thought that Mead had only grazed him, but the injury had already started to burn, suggesting that the edge of the axe had been poisoned. A fever had already blossomed in his head, and the incantations he murmured under his breath did almost nothing to keep it at bay, suggesting one of several unpleasant possibilities that he had to face.

"Be healed, friend," Belicia said, her fingertips brushing his forehead as her white magic lifted the worst of his pain. "I've no quarrel with you." She ignored the pain in her ribs. Her goddess granted her the ability to heal others, but did not give her the means to heal herself -- a price she had hoped never to pay, but she had been sent to the Pit on what basically amounted to a suicide mission by the High Elf Elders. She had resolved to save her complaints for the afterlife, though the pain still lingered in her side.

"Thank ... you," Guy replied, blinking his eyes, the haze partially lifting from his mind. She had not been able to cure him, not completely. Perhaps it had not been a poison? Perhaps it had been -- ? He dreaded to consider the possibility. Best to collect himself and continue on his mission. As a Druid, he had a duty to keep the corruption of the Pit from spreading, and many other Druids had died attempting the same thing.

If he had thought about that instead of his pain, he might have realized that he and Belicia had similar causes, but the High Elf had already continued on her way.

A short distance from that exchange, Fiske pressed his back to the wall, clenching his teeth, wishing that the Cleric had noticed him first. He had managed to remove the knife from his back, and he had used his expertise to at least stop the bleeding, but Rhona had true aim, and he suspected that she might have injured -- or punctured -- his right lung. And to think that he had been puttering in his laboratory only days before, hardly a thought in his head of the Pit and his secrets ... until he had discovered that book.

Fiske kept thoughts of that book to himself, though, as he noticed Grillga heading down one of the adjoining passages. He did not distrust the Orc, but he thought it best to not take any chances. He only had so much time and so much blood, after all.

(Cont.)
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Cyborg had used the entrance that Wukong had made, and Adamec had followed him at a safe distance, not eager to risk the scenario of a normal man pitting himself against a demigod. Not that he had expected to see a being like that in his lifetime. Three months ago, he had only been a soldier coming home to his village after five years defending the frontiers of the realm, but he had come home to famine and disease. His journey to the Pit had been one of desperation. The wealth the Contestpromised could feed his family, his neighbors, everyone. As far as he was concerned, the risks he faced were worth the possibility of protecting everything he held near to his heart.

Cyborg, for his part, had full awareness of Adamec behind him, but he did not see the need to kill him at that point in time, as the human did not pose a real threat to him.

Larry and Jen had both gone down the well, though Larry had only managed that feat through Jen helping him every step of the way. The reality of his situation still had yet to reach his brain through the haze of alcohol from the night before (and from the flask he continued to use for sipping). Until then, Jen could at least make use of him as a distraction, and to keep both her hands free by carrying a lantern and a supply of oil.

Matthea and Game Lord had used the same entrance to the dungeon, but they had then gone in opposite directions. She had felt a little regret, but only a little. One did not reach the heights of magecraft by feeling sorrow. One got there by being wary, and her sixth sense told her that danger approached, prompting her to turn quickly as Haganamas emerged from the darkness next to her, one of his swords cutting her across the back of the hand before she raised a barrier to catch his other blade and bounce him backwards into the shadows. For a long moment, silence. Then, nothing.

She had not been the easy prey Haganamas had envisioned, perhaps. He might have hoped to kill her in a single blow. Having not done that, it suited him to fade back into the darkness. As it stood, though, he had injured one of the hands she needed to cast her spells, and compensating for that could cost her in the long run. She cursed under her breath, but ... nothing to be done for it. She had only to press onwards.

1. Archmage007 -- Human Wizard [Archmage] [- 1]
2. Ha21nagamas -- Half-Dragon Ranger [Hanagamas] [- 1]
3. LinkPizza -- Elf Bard [Link] [- 1]
4. Stupid Pirate Guy -- Human Druid [Guy] [- 1]
5. Melon_Master -- Half-Dragon Bard [Melon] ... Killed By # 7 [Level 0]
6. Greenfox111 -- Orc Ranger [Fox]
7. WhiskeyDisk -- Dark Elf Rogue [Whiskey]
8. KogaSteelfang -- Human Thief [Koga] ... Killed By # 25 [Level 1]
9. Mead -- Dwarf Barbarian [Mead]
10. SunWuKong420 -- Demigod Monk [Wukong]
11. Jen0125 -- Elf Assassin [Jen]
12. LaggnFragnLarry -- Human Gigolo [Larry]
13. keyblader1985 -- Human Swashbuckler [Key]
14. ss4parrothair -- Human Pyromancer [Parrot]
15. trodi_911 -- Orc Fighter [Grillga]
16. wwinterj25 -- Dark Elf Sorcerer [Winter] [- 1]
17. GameLord113 -- Human Barbarian [Game Lord]
18. TheCyborgNinja -- (Former) Human Assassin [Cyborg]
19. [NPC] Adamec -- Human Fighter
20. [NPC] Darico -- Dwarf Rogue
21. [NPC] Fiske -- Human Alchemist [- 2]
22. [NPC] Belicia -- Elf Cleric [- 1]
23. [NPC] Matthea -- Human Sorceress [- 1]
24. [NPC] Rhona -- Half-Elf Rogue
25. [NPC] Tomo -- Human Samurai

23 Adventurers Remain
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And here I thought thieves would be stealthy and agile. I literally just got pushed through a roof and killed off trying to say hi. lol
It's fitting I guess.
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KogaSteelfang posted...

It's fitting I guess.

Experienced thieves are stealthy and agile. Maybe you were one of the ones who was not quite ready for prime time? More on that when I do the next Night Before post (Monday, most likely).
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I am loving this. Also glad I'm still alive.
And love the Link vibe, too. The whole silent thing. It fits.
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Still alive, for now anyway. Should get interesting when the undead come out to play.

I like this
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Hm. No action yet, but my big moment is coming
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I'm very much breathless with anticipation as to what comes next......
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I have the rolls for the next level done (but not posted to Pastebin yet), so I can share a bit. Too many people to quote, so --

Link: I figured I might as well have this Link live up to your user name. So far, the numbers have been good to him.

Archmage: The Undead start happening at the next level. I have plans for them.

Parrot: So far, for a guy who throws fire at people, the rolls have made you very bro to the others. I find that funny.

Fox: And you, the Orc with the cool weapons, is double bro. Also funny.

Cyborg: Shit gets real for you on the next level. I can tell you that much.
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Nice update. Looking forward to actually succeed ;)
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Blomp.
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Don't mess with me!
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SunWuKung420 posted...

Don't mess with me!

You do seem pretty op so far.
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I admit that it is fun to have Sunny do stuff that would not normally be admissible in your average D&D tabletop game.
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My axe is all kinds of poisonous

I rubbed it on a kobolds undercarriage
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Sounds toxic. Make sure you don't nick yourself with it, lol.

I_Abibde posted...

I admit that it is fun to have Sunny do stuff that would not normally be admissible in your average D&D tabletop game.

Well, I'm just doing it for fun. I'd probably give it up at some point and go home.
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I actually own this.


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All right, the next Night Before post should be happening tonight or tomorrow, followed by the next level of the dungeon on Sunday or Monday. I have also updated the Pastebin for the next level.
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Bump.
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I_Abibde posted...

I have the rolls for the next level done (but not posted to Pastebin yet), so I can share a bit. Too many people to quote, so --

Cyborg: Shit gets real for you on the next level. I can tell you that much.

Oh, fudge! That's unsettling!
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Errata: I get points off for misspelling Hanagamas in the last big post. And more points for basic grammar goofs. *shakes head* Got to work on that.

The Night Before (2)

"A real thief doesn't let himself be intimidated by stories," Koga said, holding up his tankard for P.O. to refill. "That's what the boss at the guild told me. If you're looking for treasure, real treasure, you can't let anything get in your way. You've got to find out the truth, and then you've got to take it back with you. So --" He took a deep breath to steady himself as the alcohol made him see double. "-- I thought, what the heck, why not? I'll go for the biggest treasure there is, and in the biggest dungeon! The boss didn't try to stop me, either. He just smiled, shook his head, and wished me luck. That's it."

Darico replied, slurring his words, "Thieving's the easy part, boy. Anybody can pick something up and take it. If you're talking dungeons, thieving's the very last thing you'll be doing. You've got to get through the traps, the monsters, all of that, and all without getting lost." He sniffed loudly. "All right, then. Tell me what you've got, then. Ever been to a dungeon before? Even once? Is that why you're so confident about this one?"

"Nothing this big," Koga admitted, "but the boss hired me out for a party that went into the Goblin Caves of Al Godra. Eight of us. Leader thought the whole place'd been mapped, but wanted to make sure." He blinked his eyes, trying to clear the bleariness. "Found a false wall. Knocked it open. Figured we'd find what the Goblins had buried down there." He tightened his grip on his tankard. "Turns out it was a demon's tomb. I mean, we got out, and we brought back some loot like the boss had never seen, but only three of us made it back. Guess I'm lucky one of 'em was me, huh?"

"Funny," Darico said, wiping his nose on his sleeve, "I heard about that party. Didn't think one of 'em was you. That was, what, three or four years ago? You're still young now. You'd've been a kid back then, huh? That couldn't've been easy for you." He sighed. "Still, don't you think this is just ... a bit bigger than Al Godra? A bit?"

"Hey," Koga replied, resting his chin in his hands, "after the stuff I saw down there, I'm ... not afraid to die. Really. I saw our Cleric get torn to pieces by mummified hellspawn." He closed his eyes. "High Elf. Prettiest girl in the world. That's what I thought at the time. And they ripped her apart. She wasn't even dead yet when they --" He choked up. "I haven't been the same since then. I just keep taking bigger and bigger risks. I don't care how I die. I just hope it's not like that, screaming for help while everybody else just ... cuts and runs." He shook his head. "I didn't go back and help her. Probably would've died if I had. I did the smart thing." A sigh. "Still doesn't feel like the right thing."

"Thief shouldn't have a conscience, boy," Darico grumbled. "That's how you get killed. You did the smart thing. If you wanna live, you'd better keep doing the smart thing. Don't worry about the right thing. When you're an adventurer, there isn't one. You've got to step on as many people as it takes to --" But Koga had fallen asleep, his head on the bar. "Damn it, kid, I'm trying to give you good advice here." He finished off his ale. "Ah, well. You do what you think you have to do. Things go the way I think they will, you've got a good, clean death coming long before you see what's really down there."

Next to him, Koga saw the Cleric dying in his nightmares, as he always did.
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Did Tomo not see that I had a pure heart? Even years later I regretted not doing the right thing. My adventures were running from a goblin cave, getting punched through a roof, and killed trying to greet someone.

I kind of expected to be made some sort of scumbag because of her reaction. lol
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Cool Koga backstory

Next level should be posted tonight or tomorrow, all things willing.
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I_Abibde posted...

Next level should be posted tonight or tomorrow, all things willing.

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Bump.
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All things are not willing, apparently. Looking more like tomorrow or Friday. x_X My apologies.
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Perhaps one of our more magically inclined players could cast Haste upon our host?
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WhiskeyDisk posted...

Perhaps one of our more magically inclined players could cast Haste upon our host?

Someone should hit him with some Bad Breath.
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(How I hope things go in level 3... Please, RNG gods?)
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LaggnFragnLarry posted...

clark can fuck one of my bitches when im passed out drunk

You're a gentleman, ok?
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Level 2
Deep Tunnels

Life begets mana -- one of the first lessons the instructors at all of the academies imparted to all students of magic. Mana begets magic -- the second lesson. A spell is the shaping of magic into a specific form -- the third lesson. Life, then, is the source of magic, implying that the absence of life is the absence of magic, but those lessons do not tell the whole story. The existence of a positive necessitates the existence of a negative. Death, then, is not the absence of life. Death is a force unto itself. If life gives rise to magic, then death must do the same. Death is the source of black magic, the source of necromancy, and necromancy is the origin of all things Undead.

The black stone that created the Pit of Periphetes had long been rumored to be the single strongest source of black magic to exist. Several scholars suggested that it might be the source of all black magic, and that the Undead did not exist in the world of mortals before the opening of the Pit. That theory had been disputed since its inception, but there had never been a doubt that the Pit had always been full of the Undead.

Guy and Mead encountered them first. Zombies, not yet decomposed, most of them lepers from the encampment above that had been tossed into the Pit after dying, had started to emerge into the tunnels, shuffling their feet, their long-nailed hands reaching for any flesh they could touch, their eyes empty, though also filled by a supernatural spark that made them seem almost focused. Guy had to summon up a ball of fire to keep them at bay, and he had to keep his attention on them at all times despite the fever that had started to burn inside him. He had no time for Mead, and the Dwarf used his axe to knock the zombies aside as he continued his descent into the tunnels.

Jen, staying close to Larry, thought that she spotted Belicia, but the Cleric had nothing to fear from the Undead, since the same white magic that she used for healing also kept the zombies a safe distance from her at all times. Jen, unfortunately, had to resort to brandishing her lantern as she herded Larry through the tunnels. He had his uses, perhaps, but he had already started to feel like a liquor-scented burden to her.

Adamec had been tracking Grillga as soon as he had noticed the Orc in his section of the tunnels. He had managed to avoid Cyborg, but he suspected that he might be able to handle a single Orc. After all, in his days as a soldier, putting Orcs to the sword had been his business, and he had been good enough at it to survive multiple raids. It helped that the zombies had started showing up, and the noise they made concealed his movements as he approached Grillga in the darkness, his broad sword ready.

He reasoned that the tunnels might be too cramped for the Orc to swing her flamberge, and she seemed to be handling the zombies by using the flat of the weapon to beat them backwards. He doubted that she could react to his presence quickly enough to put him down if he attacked her, and he did not hesitate. One quick movement -- she turned her body, and that saved her life, but Adamec still managed to stab her in the abdomen, and blood dripped from his blade as he ducked back into the darkness, leaving her for the zombies. If she had been human, he might have questioned his methods, but Orcs, in his experience, did not deserve the same mercy as humans.

(Cont.)
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Grillga pushed the pain down into herself, as she had been taught. She had to stop the blood, had to bandage herself up, but she had to evade the Undead first. If any of the zombies touched her, she risked infection, risked becoming one of them. She had to fight through them in order to survive and gain the space she needed to help herself. To that end, she continued to brandish her flamberge and force her way through them.

In a different tunnel, Cyborg turned a corner to find himself confronted by Wukong. Neither of them had any reason to fear the zombies. Cyborg had no issues cutting them to pieces, and Wukong could hit any one of them hard enough to make their limbs fly off. Each had noticed the ability of the other, and they squared up against each other. Silence, then. No need to speak. Wukong had a clear advantage in terms of strength, but Cyborg had speed, and he did not hesitate to use it, striking at Wukong as soon as he perceived a possible opening, his blade flashing as it whistled through the air.

In that instant, Wukong showed that he also counted speed among his abilities. The blade missed his neck by a space so small that it almost seemed not to miss at all, but it left Cyborg open to a single balled fist. Boom! That fist put Cyborg through a wall, causing a rain of dirt and small rocks that left him covered by a mass of debris. No movement. Wukong sniffed once and shrugged his shoulders before leaving.

He did see a single hand emerge, shaking, from the debris. Cyborg had endurance that a normal human could not match. He had been damaged, but he had not been killed.

The sound of the impact did not go unnoticed. Parrot, having burned a path through a number of zombies, had been considering employing his flames against Winter, since he had glimpsed the Dark Elf a short distance down the tunnel from him, but he had decided to conserve the strongest of his spells until he had a chance to catch the other magic-user by surprise ... or to catch Wukong by surprise and destroy the demigod once and for all. No sense taking a pot shot and wasting a good fireball.

Fox, accompanied by Key, had the good fortune to notice the lurking Hanagamas before the half-Dragon noticed him, and he said to him, his Orc face split in a broad smile, "Bad cut on the face, friend. Here." He tossed him one of the flasks from his belt. "Puts a little fire in your belly, takes some of the pain away. Dying on your feet's better than gangrene." Hanagamas accepted the gift and nodded once before vanishing.

Key said, under his breath, "If you keep doing nice things for people, there's a good chance it's going to get you killed, you know. Doesn't matter if you're an Orc."

To that, Fox replied, still grinning, "Even Orcs like to face death with a clear conscience, you know. Besides --" His eyes gleamed in the dimness. "-- in time, the gloves will have to come off. I'll keep playing nice until that time comes, but trust me, it will come."

As Key and Fox set to clearing the next knot of zombies from the tunnel ahead of them, Rhona noticed Darico appearing from the shadows next to her, and she said, shaking her head, "Was it really necessary to do that to the boy? He had a hard enough time --" A gasp interrupted her lecture as the Dwarf knifed her once in the ribs, blood spurting from between her fingers as she quickly covered the injury and dropped to one knee.

(Cont.)
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One wall was a light jab! He's lucky.
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Geez; how do I keep forgetting about this??
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"Not as necessary as that, lass," Darico snapped, keeping one eye open for the High Elf who had accompanied Rhona into the Pit. "I would think a half-Elf like you would be smart enough to live out your days on the surface, but I guess you're just too greedy." He winked as he faded back into the shadows. "Pity to make you bleed. I'd rather make like old times and take you to bed after another good heist. Until next time, Rhona."

Rhona acted quickly and efficiently to treat herself as Link caught up to her, bandaging up her side as she downed a potion from one of the pouches on her belt, but Darico had his reputation for a reason, and she suspected that he had punctured a lung. No time to worry. She had to let the potion keep her pain at bay and sharpen her concentration so that the zombies did not lay hands on her. A single scratch might mean the end of her, and she had no intention of joining the ranks of the Undead.

Jen and Larry noticed Matthea, and Larry grinned at her like a dying man grinned at the sight of water in the desert as he said, "I'd remember those tits anywhere! Tell you what, girl: My offer still stands. Become a part of my business, and you'll make a lot of my dreams come true." He blinked, catching himself. "I mean, I'll make a lot of your dreams come true. That's what I said there. It just didn't sound like it. Haha."

Larry did not notice that Jen had a stiletto in the palm of her hand. Neither did Matthea, but she at least suspected it as she replied, stepping back and disappearing from sight, "I'll remember your kind offer, Sir Larry." She had managed to bind the injury on her hand, and she only needed the smallest spells to keep the zombies from getting too close, but she still had to take care around any of the other adventurers there.

Link and Rhona then inadvertently surprised Key and Fox, prompting Link to act on his reflexes and throw a boomerang from his belt that snuffed the flame Key had at the tip of his Keyblade, making Key stumble backwards into a wall, knocking the breath from him, though Fox quickly helped him up as Link and Rhona pushed past both of them.

Ahead, Whiskey noticed that he had already almost reached the end of the map he had acquired from the corpse of Melon, and he also noticed Archmage blasting zombies a short distance ahead of him. As long as the zombies continued to focus their attention on the magic-user, Whiskey had a good chance to continue his exploration unmolested, so he paused to offer a mock salute that Archmage had no chance of seeing.

Fiske spotted Tomo before the samurai could draw her blade, and he tossed a flask of liquid fire at her, but he underestimated her speed, and she used her scabbard to knock it back at him, though he managed to dive to the floor and crawl off to safety, avoiding the worst of the resulting explosion. Between that and the injury that Rhona had inflicted upon him, though, he sensed that he had already almost reached his limits.

Game Lord then reached the end of the tunnels first, discovering a wall of earth that looked like it might have been a hasty attempt to conceal a crack in the rocks. Perhaps it had been left by adventurers from a previous Contest? No matter. He decapitated the last of the zombies to block his path, taking a moment to chop off its arms and legs in order to keep it from continuing to track him before he started hacking at the earth. More of it collapsed than he expected, half-burying him, though he forced his way through it, noticing that the passage before had the look of carved stone, not the dirt and loose rock that had composed the tunnels above his head ....

(Cont.)
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1. Archmage007 -- Human Wizard [Archmage] [- 1]
2. Ha21nagamas -- Half-Dragon Ranger [Hanagamas]
3. LinkPizza -- Elf Bard [Link] [- 1]
4. Stupid Pirate Guy -- Human Druid [Guy] [- 1]
5. Melon_Master -- Half-Dragon Bard [Melon] ... Killed By # 7 [Level 0]
6. Greenfox111 -- Orc Ranger [Fox]
7. WhiskeyDisk -- Dark Elf Rogue [Whiskey]
8. KogaSteelfang -- Human Thief [Koga] ... Killed By # 25 [Level 1]
9. Mead -- Dwarf Barbarian [Mead]
10. SunWuKong420 -- Demigod Monk [Wukong]
11. Jen0125 -- Elf Assassin [Jen]
12. LaggnFragnLarry -- Human Gigolo [Larry]
13. keyblader1985 -- Human Swashbuckler [Key]
14. ss4parrothair -- Human Pyromancer [Parrot]
15. trodi_911 -- Orc Fighter [Grillga] [- 3]
16. wwinterj25 -- Dark Elf Sorcerer [Winter] [- 1]
17. GameLord113 -- Human Barbarian [Game Lord] [- 1]
18. TheCyborgNinja -- (Former) Human Assassin [Cyborg] [- 3]
19. [NPC] Adamec -- Human Fighter
20. [NPC] Darico -- Dwarf Rogue
21. [NPC] Fiske -- Human Alchemist [- 3]
22. [NPC] Belicia -- Elf Cleric [- 1]
23. [NPC] Matthea -- Human Sorceress
24. [NPC] Rhona -- Half-Elf Rogue [- 3]
25. [NPC] Tomo -- Human Samurai

23 Adventurers Remain

keyblader1985 posted...

Geez; how do I keep forgetting about this??

I apologize. This update took a lot longer than I planned, and I will try to keep that from happening as things move forward. No deaths this time, but several people are in pretty dire straits.
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Another great update, with zombie action too. Just wondering- do you plan on having one person survive who is the winner, or is there a chance everyone might die eventually?

Archmage007 posted...

Another great update, with zombie action too. Just wondering- do you plan on having one person survive who is the winner, or is there a chance everyone might die eventually?

I was wondering this, too. I figured that multiple people could make it out on everyone could die depending on the dice roll. But I also thought that is might be possible that only one might make it out... That would really be the only reason for certain kills...
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SunWuKung420 posted...

One wall was a light jab! He's lucky.

I'm just glad MG Rex didn't step on me. That was close.
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TheCyborgNinja posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

One wall was a light jab! He's lucky.

I'm just glad MG Rex didn't step on me. That was close.

I'm not trying to kill anyone. Clearly, we have a serious undead problem happening, that no one person can defeat. Except for me.
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