Matt’s Tale Vol. IV
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: Matt's Tale Vol. IV
Author: Madd Matt
Virginia bolted from the cave and, in her exurberance, rode headlong through the winding tunnels. Deeper and deeper into the caverns she rode and, after realizing that she was lost, slowed to a walk. She noticed that her spell of light was waning, but up ahead in a widening of the tunnel she saw a dim glow. As she rode ahead, the tunnel opened into a room from which came loud laughter, strong language and the sounds of combat. She then heard the death cry of a solen.
Pressing on into the room, she came up behind a semi-circle of men that were quite inebriated and raucous. Beyond the group of men lay the corpse of a solen queen. One of the men was sitting on a keg and turned a bearded face towards Virginia.
"You there! Come closer!" the bearded one ordered her. Virginia dismounted and strode towards the gang. "Do you wish to join us in our little game?" he asked, motioning to the room with an extended arm. "If you live, you may claim your loot. If you die... well, you die!" He bellowed a loud laugh that was echoed by the others present. While still laughing, the bearded one plunged his hand into a basket at his feet and withdrew a small piece of wood and read a name that was written on it. "Sir Trevor! You are next!"
A warrior stood up from the group and walked to the center of the room drawing his sword. As the fighter readied himself, the others called out insults, made wagers and gulped more ale. The warrior took his stance and peered into the darkness of the far side of the room. Charging out of the gloom, a solen queen lumbered towards the swordsman. The fighter was lightening fast. He darted in and out on the insect and, when close, would land a grievous blow onto one of the queen's legs. The warrior continued his onslaught to the cheers of those that bet in his favor. When all seemed lost for the solen, the creature suddenly veered wildly and vomited up a gush of acid that completely soaked the brave one. In shock, the man gazed upon his broadsword as it fizzed and popped. His shock turned to horror as he watched the gauntlet that held the sword begin to erode, followed quickly by the flesh of his hand.
The sword fell from boned fingers, and it seemed that the warrior was sinking into the floor of the cave. It was not that he was sinking, but rather that his feet and legs were dissolving out from underneath him. The swordsman emitted a torn scream and collapsed with a splash into the acid pool. It only took a moment for the man's armour and flesh to become indistingiushable in the slurry. The revelers in the circle hooted and gaffawed and slapped each others backs, and great sums of gold were exchanged.
The bearded one motioned again to Virginia. "So, do you wish to play?" he said with a grin. Remembering her pledge to the ambitious queen, Virginia reached into her pack and withdrew a blank rune block. She carved her name in it with her knife, tossed the block into the basket and shrugged. And so the procession went on. Solen queens died, men died, gold was won and lost, and ale was quaffed. "Plain! Virginia Plain! You're next!" the bearded one cried out, holding the wooden block aloft.
Virginia mounted and rode to the center of the room. Behind her she could hear the men snickering and the bearded one say, "Gentlemen, gentlemen! You will have to give me odds! This waif doesn't stand a chance. How about it then, let's say twenty to one?" Virginia hunched her shoulders, lowered her head and began murmuring to herself.
The solen queen erupted from the darkness and dashed towards the girl. Half way to its victim, the giant insect seemed to have been hit with a invisible force that sapped most of its strength. At the same time, a brilliant explosion burst forth under the creature and a jet of searing energy stabbed out from the woman and ripped into the behemoth. Virginia dug her heels into Studebaker and reined him into a tight circle around the solen. As she rode, she yelled out incantations that seemed to draw forces up out of the ground and from the walls of the cave and bring them down upon the hapless solen. The wizards that sat in the group of spectators understood the words she spoke, but they had never before heard the dialect or accent with which Virginia spat them out. Little did they know that not only did Master Spur have access to Lost Lands scrolls, but that the girl mage had done much studying, too. The things that she had learned made short work of the insect queen. The beast crumbled to the cave floor with a final blast of energy rolling it to its back.
Studebaker slowed his gallop and walked back to the semi-circle. Virginia stood erect in the stirrups, her back stiff and her neck muscles strained. Her hands were held away from her sides and her fingers danced as if playing some phantom instrument. Her eyes were rolled back, her eyelids fluttered, and a watery stream of blood flowed from one nostril. Horse and rider walked straight towards the bearded man who fell off his keg backwards in fright. He held up one hand as to halt her approach and pointed towards the solen corpse with the other. "The loot!" he cried and pointed, "please, go claim your loot!"
His yells broke her trance and she sat down hard in the saddle. The color returned to her face, she blinked a few times and roughly wiped the drainage from her nose on her sleeve. She looked over her shoulder at the smoldering solen body, turned back to the bearded man and a wide, childlike grin spread across her face. One of the other warriors collected up the ant's belongings and handed them up to Virginia. The bearded one motioned to her.
"Come. You come and sit here by me!" as he pointed to the ground next to the keg. Virginia lowered herself to the ground and sat cross-legged by the man. "Could you stand an ale for your thurst, Little One?" he asked her.
"Ale?" she replied, "now that wouldn't be very ladylike, now would it?" She paused, "Have you got any hard liquor?" So on into the night, and also into the day, the game went on. The mages present hounded Virginia with questions as to her arcane knowledge and practiced phrases with her. In the end, she had killed five of the queens and the time had come for her to return to the chambers of the ambitious queen.