32 KiB
26/7/2025 - Seeking a Big D
Reality bent, then shattered in an instant, time and space broken down to their most fundamental elements; then, just as suddenly, they emerged from the portal.
Disoriented, they made a study of their new environment; gone was the dank dungeon, now replaced by a warmly lit and richly appointed office.
Newly materialised feet sank down into plush carpets as they gazed at the shelves bedecked with first editions and curios, panning around to a large mahogany desk that dominated the space.
A large devil in a tailored business suit reclined at ease in an oversized, leather clad chair, inspecting the newcomers with a mixture of disdain and malevolent curiosity.
Partially obscured by his unsettling bulk, was the open doorway to a balcony; from the lack of a horizon, they got the sense that they must be very high up.
So imposing was this figure, that the party barely noticed the five lesser devils arrayed around the periphery; closer to men in size, silent and tense like trained hounds against a master’s leash.
They were similarly attired, although their powerful necks and arms were also draped in chains, marking them as bodyguards.
One of their number had a dimmer cast and thick, dark, bushy eyebrows, almost grown together, and he possessed a fine silver badge with the mark of The Tower pinned to his lapel.
He must have failed upwards.
Breaking the brief silence, the large devil confirmed with the thugs, in a curt and businesslike tone, that they were the ones he’d wanted and had been teleported direct from the bottom of the tower.
Frowning, he stabbed a clawed finger at the party, indicating Stevie, and announced that they had his prototype, before snapping his fingers. A pair of guards roughly seized him, dragging him back through the portal to be returned to his restraints in the dungeon.
Before anyone could react, his eyes then settled on Bubba and he barked a command, causing another pair of his guards to move to seize him as well.
Prideful, he attempted to resist the descending clawed hands, successfully knocking one pair away, only to be roughly clubbed by the other, almost braining him with their strength.
Brutally tight chains encapsulated him, preventing all but the smallest of movements as he helplessly looked up at the approach of the remaining tough.
His head was dragged back and his mouth forcibly opened, as the newcomer held up what appeared to be a writhing, mechanical snake.
As it was brandished closer to his face, it reared up with a hiss, before suddenly lunging forward and plunging down his throat, vanishing.
With that he was roughly released and Joffrey was the first to recover from the shock of the sight of this manifest nightmare.
“What is the meaning of this !? Who are you? You’re damaging my property!” He snapped at the greater demon.
The entity explained that they were trespassing in his tower, and they were now his tools to do with as he will.
He alluded to the snake being a tool for scrying and espionage, and it would be unwise to reveal it’s presence to the dragon queen, lest she destroy Bubba, and perhaps the rest of the party.
Further recovering his faculties, Joffrey began to negotiate to keep all that they had collected in The Tower, as compensation for the injuries and inconvenience they’d suffered.
He was told that their grief might be worth, at most, one platinum rod, but what leverage could he possibly have to bargain with a being as grand as this devil.
Tiefstein advised that they could go along with this scheme and gather intelligence on the dragon’s faction.
The devil scoffed and said that was hardly of any value, he already knew all and saw all, he didn’t need tidbits from a mortal.
Joffrey shrewdly pointed out that he wouldn’t have gone to the effort of capturing them and implanting a scrying device in bubba if they already knew everything and didn’t need them.
The devil’s self assured mask cracked and he was taken aback, not expecting a mortal to be so perceptive.
In the momentary pause in conversation, they could see bright lights streaking past the balcony, descending towards the ground in the distance.
The landscape around the town as far as the eye could see was being bombarded; it was odd that they couldn’t feel the tremors from the colossal impacts, perhaps an artefact of The Tower’s magic.
Returning to the task at hand, Tiefstein announced that he had little love for the dragons and suggested he may wish to kill Solkanaar; better yet if the residents of the Tower could assist.
The large fiend had no concerns with killing the whelp but didn’t go so far as to offer assistance, he was of no consequence to them.
He offered a threat instead, they could gather intelligence on the dragons and agree to his terms, or they could exit via the balcony and plummet to the cobblestones.
Joffrey briefly calculated this proposal, giving a Autismus a questioning glance regarding the scroll of Fly he had collected, but the lunatic only shook his head, it would only protect one person.
In the end he continued to press and negotiated to keep all that they had collected, in addition to the lighthouse, in exchange for information moving forwards.
With a clap of his hand, the devil re opened the portal, straight to the foyer, and the group exited The Tower mostly intact.
In the street, Autismus and Joffrey halted Bubba and attempted to get a magical reading on his new passenger, but both were baffled when neither could sense any magic inside his body.
They were roused from their arcane sciences by the ground shaking as more meteors continued to land closer to the town, and they began to rush to the lighthouse under a sense of impending doom.
It became abruptly clear that where once there were halflings infesting the town, now there was nought but oozes; the resident's bodies had continued to devolve under the Tower’s influence.
Realising this may be their final chance to gather any resources they may require before leaving for good, they split up and charged in different directions. Autismus made for the nearest opium den and gathered a lifetime supply of Old Toby and a pipe from their now unguarded stores. Bubba made for the town blacksmith and raided a fine grappling hook to further augment his fishing rod.
Joffrey, somewhat more prudently, arranged the lighthouse staff to load as much food, dry goods and water into the Lighthouse as they could manage in preparation for a long voyage.
Reconvening inside Tiefstein’s Tower, they found the hamsters had radically altered the basement; the Spelljammer throne had been heavily augmented with all manner of mechanical marvels beyond recognition.
There was now a tremendous variety of glowing objects, pipes and hoses, buttons and other control schemes, as well as the beginnings of vast machinery and tanks on either side of the room.
Bubba spoke to them in Hamsterese and relayed their request for additional materials to complete their great work to convert the lighthouse into a Spelljammer.
They would require seven platinum rods and twelve powered gems to finish the construction and get the structure at least semi capable of flight. Joffrey blanched and felt faint, reeling at the monumental cost as he realised he didn’t have enough infused gems to make this work, and considered the need to sacrifice a living being to fill more.
Thankfully, both Autismus and Bubba had secreted a couple more and they were able to meet the required quantity, setting the hamsters to work as they rested and made ready to leave.
They made another pass of the town for anything else that they may need, and Joffrey ransacked a high-end music store, acquiring an extravagant set of heavily engraved, enchanted bagpipes.
Blowing into them experimentally, jets of flame shot from the various pipes as he played a rowdy tune; he was ecstatic.
The retrofit of the lighthouse was likely to take a day or so more to complete and things around the town seemed fairly stable for the time being, so they opted to visit The Queen.
Leaving town and making their way towards The Outlet, there was the familiar sound of annoying wings overhead as Solkanaar intercepted them.
Aggravating whelp that he was, he demanded an update on their mission into The Tower and wanted to know if they’d collected any information of value. Joffrey took the lead and, in broad strokes, went over their escapades, alluding to them failing to either stop The Tower, or collect much information on its magic. He did, however, mention that they’d run into a certain gnome and took great pleasure in recounting how he’d claimed to have lain with Solkanaar’s mother. Tactfully, he omitted the cyborg starfish, their encounter with the devils, Bubba’s current condition or their new directive.
Bubba began to ask if they should tell him about the snake and Joffrey shushed him, leading to him being slapped by Bubba. Outraged, he began to admonish him and was slapped again, before he finally held out a glowing hand to his chest and suggested he’d cast Heat Metal on his little friend if he did that again.
The argument fizzled out as a frustrated dragon complained about their lack of progress, announcing he had a new task for them, and would be sequestering Squelch for something else.
They were to locate his younger brother, “Big D” who worked in a secret lab somewhere isolated; he talked in cryptic terms about how he was smaller than him and gave vague directions.
They needed to track him down, take him to a lab and secure important materials that would need to be brought back; No harm was to come to Big D as he was quite fond of him.
Previously, an exploratory expedition had been sent to this lab and none of the goblins had returned, something had gone terribly wrong.
Joffrey cut in with a joke of how “Big D” sounded like he must be Hoover’s bastard child and the group began to laugh. Bubba said he was probably small because he was only half dragon and would be a gnomish Dragonborn and they all doubled over, tears in their eyes.
Solkanaar seethed and spluttered, furious and embarrassed as he grabbed Squelch and said they had to be off for him to issue commands to the goblin army; he left the party gasping for air in their mirth.
Gathering themselves after a few minutes of further remarks of this brother’s dubious heritage, the three set off into the wilderness. Tiefstein wheeled his new bagpipes from his back with practiced ease and laid on a bolstering rendition of “Crazy Train”, the beat punctuated by gouts of fire.
They made good progress, but soon left the beaten path and Autismus decided to look for signs of other travellers.
Scrabbling on the ground through some litter like an animal, he produced a cigarette butt and made a grand study of its construction, sniffing it to see if he could determine where it came from.
He screwed up his face and concentrated for a brief second, then the moment passed and he decided he couldn’t tell, lighting it and taking a puff anyway.
Even while disgusted and distracted by this behaviour, Bubba was able to find a game trail and got them moving again.
Tiefstein investigated some foreign tracks, deducing that a band of goblins had definitely passed through here not that long ago, and they set off to follow them.
Von Autingler cast around with his magical senses and felt a disturbance in the ether; focusing on the area, he was able to find a single set of large tracks that went off into the nearby bushes.
Bubba studied them meticulously, finding a second set of smaller tracks obscured in the disturbed soil; It appeared that something like a large bear was pursuing a smaller creature wearing shoes, that may have been limping.
Cautiously, they followed them into the undergrowth and soon came to a small clearing, across which they spied an enormous owlbear scratching at the base of a tree, looking into the canopy.
In the branches was a small, hooded figure that began to scream for help at the sight of them, clinging to the bark for dear life as it was rattled by the creature.
Bravely, Joffrey moved behind the others, taking careful aim with his crossbow and quietly shooting the animal in the back.
The bolt was robbed of almost all momentum by the thick, white fur and feathers, barely doing more than announcing their presence, causing the beast to turn towards them.
It roared its challenge and charged across the short distance.
Getting a whiff of Autismus upwind, it cringed and barrelled into Bubba instead, snapping and rending with beak and claws.
As Bubba traded blows with it, the deviant went into a rage and rushed to close, bonking it with his staff, causing eruptions of sparks as electricity pulsed into it.
The conflict was a brief but brutal affair, with Joffrey’s Thunderwave knocking it back after bubba was wounded further, and Autismus violently hammered it with magic missiles.
With little reverence for the newly departed, Bubba set to tearing it’s claws out and Joffrey, after some debate on whether they even had feathers, plucked some from it’s head.
Descending from his refuge, they finally got a clear look at their damsel in distress, a halfling sized Dragonborn who introduced himself as “Dyson”.
The trio could see Hoover’s likeness in the lad and had another small laugh among themselves, when questioned, explaining he just reminded them of his father.
Joffrey asked if he had any powerful magic like his sire, but he replied that he didn’t follow in his footsteps; instead he was an inventor and had a passion for machinery and contraptions.
Very casually, they asked him if he knew anything about mechanical snakes, and while fascinated by the idea, he admitted he did not.
Dyson advised that they had to find his courier, a goblin that he’d lost track of in the struggle earlier, that was carrying important wares.
In short order, they located a small, pasty figure shambling around, with chains attached to his neck that Dyson seized to lead him by.
The smiling goblin was a truly gruesome sight, horrifically ugly, undead and in an advanced state of decay, with an impossible combination of both dry and gelatinous skin sloughing off it.
Dyson introduced it as “Rob Zomblin” and chuckled to himself at some small joke before elaborating that he was the perfect candidate to carry hazardous goods without concern.
Autismus approached to talk to this oddity and Joffrey hissed at him to stay away from it, getting the sense from its friendly countenance that it would never shut up.
The deviant paid him no heed and greeted the corpse, causing it to perk up and begin rambling, querying if they had heard of “world zombie appreciation day” and other inanities.
Grinding the heels of his hands into his eyes, Joffrey groaned and suggested that Autismus should hold his chain and keep and eye on him as he motioned for the others to walk ahead.
Unbothered, the simpletons squared began to chat, with Von Autingler proffering him some tobacco, which he enthusiastically took, puffing away, smoke escaping from rotted holes in his chest and neck.
What was left of the goblin gleefully showcased the elaborate breastplate, dagger and ring that he was wearing, to his new, and only friend.
Dyson noticed this exchange and absently called back that they shouldn’t touch anything that the zombie possessed, it was all horribly cursed.
Autismus pointed out the ring and Roblin simply tore off his decayed finger, generously offering it to the primitive with an easy smile.
Despite the warning of curses, the madman toyed with the severed finger, conflicted about picking it up, prodding it around on the rotted hand.
Ultimately he managed to control himself and took his hand away, but suddenly Bubba appeared and snatched up the ring, sliding it immediately on to his finger, admiring it. Dyson began to get flustered and explained the functions of the ring, that it would likely kill him under the right circumstances and suggested they get it to his lab immediately.
As they quickly marched behind the dragonborn, Autismus held Roblin’s chain with the cheery goblin walking beside him, disgusting hand draped on his shoulder, leaving all manner of debris and fluids behind.
After travelling for some time, they arrived at a cliff-face in a mountain range with a natural cave opening, wherein was embedded a finely cut stone wall. In the centre of the wall was a gargantuan, round, stone door with a square tablet to one side of it, flanked by a series of wall sconces.
Dyson approached without concern and placed his clawed hand on the tablet, causing the sconces to burst alight and the door to begin to sink into the wall, before rolling to one side.
Through the massive portal, they could see what once was a grand and well appointed entryway, now littered with desiccated goblin corpses and broken glass.
“Woops, wrong floor” he said, fiddling with the device again as the door cycled closed, then re-opened to reveal a different room with a pristine foyer.
The walls were polished steel with a couple of doors to the right and one on the left; there was a lush red carpet down the centre with a glass partition visible at the far end.
The short dragonborn entered and immediately went through the first door on the right, as the others milled about, glancing around the foyer.
After a few seconds they suddenly heard some muffled sounds from the room that Dyson had gone in to, and quickly followed to see what was happening.
They entered what appeared to be small workspace with a couple of desks covered in writing materials, books and scrolls and in one corner, they could see a knot of quivering tentacles.
In the midst of this nightmare was their new companion, mostly encompassed by the writhing mass and they wasted no time in trying to help.
Joffrey cried out and asked if he was ok but got no coherent response, just a series of muffled noises, he didn’t seem able to communicate.
A torrent of magic missiles hammered into the creature and Joffrey raised his crossbow to fire, before an alarmed Dyson was released and shouted for them to stop.
He explained that this slimy mutant was his work colleague, “Flapjack” and he was just excited to see him, giving him an embrace.
Autismus apologised and expressed that he would like to attempt to heal him to make amends, but it was explained that Flapjack’s people fed on emotions and didn’t need potions or other conventional medicines.
Unprompted, the disgusting creature floated forwards and began wrapping its tentacles around him, and the lunatic could feel a presence in his mind, shuffling through this emotions.
Although somewhat abhorred by what it found, there were plenty of strong emotions for it to feed upon and in short order, it was feeling better.
Tiefstein’s eyes narrowed and his mouth began to turn down in contempt of this monster; what sort of foul spawn fed on emotions ?
After this initial tumult had settled, Dyson asked the sentient spaghetti where his research notes were as they needed to get his controller to get the facility functional. Wobbling around one of the desks, the levitating lunch snaked a tendril into a drawer and handed the reptilian an item.
Armed with the necessary device, Dyson advised that they could now fire up the laboratory, he explained it was a “collider” of sorts and it could forge new magical items.
In particular, their research focused on the creation of “Ioun Stones”, with the contraption taking sources of magical energy, cursed or otherwise, and compressing them into the desired form.
The two doors opposite each other, further down the main foyer, lead to loading bays at opposite ends of the machine; simply place two magical items in, shut the door and activate the collider.
Autistically rambling, as he had a tendency to do, he mentioned that the last time they had tried a comparable experiment, something had gone wrong, but he felt confident it would work this time.
Joffrey suspiciously asked him what had happened last time, and he nonchalantly spoke of there being a tear in reality, the original machine not being ready yet, and everyone dying.
When questioned further about how Flapjack survived this event, he explained that the pulsating pasta didn’t have a soul and thus, could not be drawn into the resulting rift. He’d been employed primarily as a test pilot, among other things, and was one of the finest pilots the dragonborn knew.
In addition to this revision of the machine being more refined, it was also smaller than the “alpha collider” and should be safer.
Tiefstein opined that this entity sounded like an empty vessel, not having a soul, and would probably be susceptible to possession; he didn’t trust, or like him.
Suddenly, he felt a presence in his mind, the monster was expressing that it was offended by his remarks. “Good.” thought the outraged businessman, and attempted to fortify his thoughts.
Not noticing this exchange, the neurodivergent engineer produced a small magical object and said that if they could provide more magical sources, they could operate the collider. He re-iterated that two items would be required per Ioun Stone, and alternatively, he could accept empowered gems if they had any; they did not.
Joffrey asked if he could safely remove the cursed ring from Bubba’s finger now that they had gotten him back to his lab, but the dragonborn evasively said he’d never promised he could do that.
There was only one option open to them, they would have to cut off Bubba’s finger to free him from the ring…
Bubba strangely wasn’t resistant to this idea and said that he would rather do it himself and remove his finger with acid.
They were all somewhat dumbfounded by this and protested, but the halfling moved off down the tunnel and, true to his resolve, melted off his finger with acid.
The ring fell to the metal floor-plates with a clear pinging noise that curiously tugged on the mind, beginning to roll unnaturally- before it was unceremoniously tossed into the collider on the tip of Bubba’s fishing knife.
He closed the heavy steel door and sealed it, gripping the lever with his now mutilated hand, twisting it into position with no small effort.
Autismus rummaged around in his grubby robes before drawing forth a basic magical sword, saying he would insert that in the other loading bay as he headed down the corridor. He hadn’t gone far before he ran into something in the dark; a soft and pliable wall that was warm and somewhat… gelatinous.
Crying out, he sprang backwards just as he was beginning to feel himself being drawn into this mass, that now started to jiggle and wriggle it’s way down the narrow passage towards him.
He turned and ran back the way he had came, ducking as a pseudopod formed on the undulating surface and struck at his head, narrowly missing.
Bursting back into the control room, he met quizzical stares with deranged ramblings about a “big suck cube down the hallway.”
Joffrey asked him if he’d been smoking weed again and Autismus tersely corrected him that it was “Old Toby” and no, he hadn’t been.
His snarky remark punctuated by by the release of a firebolt through the entrance, sizzling as it met the gooey substance now squeezing its way through the portal.
With a wet “Schlock” it tore itself free of the passage and flopped forwards, colliding with Roblin and Autismus; the former being sucked inside, while the latter managed to prise his gummed limbs free before it completely took hold.
As the zombie sank inside the interior of the cube, it left a film of sloughed off skin and other debris on its outer surface, a simple smile on its face as it accepted the embrace of its new friend.
Springing into action, Bubba began slashing at it as it was engulfed in fire from Autismus, igniting it like a massive lump of candle wax. The flames were split by a bright streak too quick for the eye to follow, that plunged inside the cube, striking Roblin in the head, slowly rocking it back in the viscous material.
Blinking away the afterimage, they could now see a bolt protruding from his eye socket with “Bunker Buster” emblazoned on the shaft. Glancing toward the source, they saw Joffrey down on one knee, lowering his now spent crossbow, pumping his fist in open satisfaction.
Writhing and twisting, the primitive shape squeezed it’s occupant, it’s acid having a visible effect as the last of his artificial life force fled him.
Roblin gazed out through the cloudy mess in confusion and said “Mr Autingler, I don’t feel so good…” before he melted away, his form losing cohesion, leaving only a nebula of fragments suspended in the goop.
The lunatic, given a moments pause by this scene, hastily ducked as a newly formed tentacle lashed the air by his head like a whip.
The halfling and half-minded attacked with renewed vigour, hooks tearing and fire burning, while Joffrey half-heartedly twanged another bolt into it, his target now gone.
With a final plop, the goo rolled forwards onto Autismus, encasing him in acidic slime that began to burn his flesh. Two pinpricks of light began to glow inside it and it violently exploded, painting the walls of the control room and revealing the madman’s blazing eyes, having summoned the superior powers of a tiefling.
Dyson, having done nothing throughout this drama, commented that Roblin was gone; “oh no, anyway” said the businessman, already summoning his mage hand to collect the cursed dagger.
There was a brief, confused exchange as Autismus wanted to put the cursed breastplate in, and Joffrey stood down the let him have his fun. He strode off down the passage the cube had emerged from, arriving at a dumb-waiter style receptacle with “insert item here” painted on it, and deposited it.
Once the breastplate had joined The Ring at the opposite end of the machine, Dyson fiddle with the controls and threw a large lever.
Everyone’s hair stood on end as there was a massive build up of energy throughout the structure; gauges approached the redline and klaxons began blaring as the contraption approached critical.
Finally there was a colossal thump followed by a rushing sound, as the floor vibrated, as though they stood at the foot of a waterfall, and just as suddenly, there was silence. “Ding!” A drawer, with a now-glowing green gem on the front, slid open from under the control panel and the dragonborn stooped to reach inside. As he straightened, a strange stone levitated out at his touch and began to orbit his head and he appeared to be ecstatic, proclaiming his success.
Giddy at seeing his construct operate, the small engineer danced from foot to foot, encouraging them to load more materials and do it again. The sorcerer drew a simple magic short sword from under his robes, enthusiastically obedient, and the fisherman hooked the dagger from the floor, dangling it along the opposite corridor.
Reloaded, Dyson triggered the device again and once more there was a tremendous accumulation and discharge of energy, although the reverberations felt more violent.
Joffrey’s eyes narrowed as they felt a series of what seemed like distant tremors or explosions throughout the facility, as the dragonborn removed another fresh Ioun Stone.
Like a toddler with his favourite rattle, the lizard drunkenly giggled and asked for more items, oblivious to any potential danger.
Tiefstein confirmed that they didn’t have any more disposable magic items, and in any case, triggering the machine again might be too dangerous, something seemed wrong.
He herded him away from the controls, back to his workroom and suggested he study the stones they’d produced already, to determine their functions.
Thirty or so minutes of idling around later, more rumbling shook the underground structure and there seemed to be an earthquake in process.
Joffrey grabbed Dyson by the arm and forced him to listen to his reasoning, explaining that if they didn’t leave immediately, all this research would likely be lost, along with their lives.
His honeyed words burrowed into the small man’s mind, compelling them to obey, as he whipped open his Bag of Holding and deftly swept the contents of their desk into it.
Gathering the party, they started to rush towards the large round entrance to the facility, but Joffrey halted them and frowned when he noticed the many limbed creature floating along with them.
He asked if Flapjack should be coming with them, and Autismus defensively stepped in front of the monster, pleading his nonsensical case with a glint of deviance in his eyes, saying he should be allowed as he has tentacles.
The rumbling resumed and intensified making them unsteady on their feet, and the matter was quickly deemed unimportant as they rushed outside.
No longer under threat of being trapped in a cave-in, they began their long trek back towards the town, tremors coming intermittently. As the sun dipped below the horizon, they chose to settle down for the evening to rest, except for Dyson, who spent the night immersed in his studies.
With the coming of dawn they roused themselves and began to break camp, however they noticed something strange in the distance; large vines could be seen visibly growing into the sky in all directions.
Disturbed by this development, they resumed their march with haste, quickly arriving at a region on the outskirts of the town where there were now large rents in the earth where vines continued to sprout.
They found that where a particularly large specimen had erupted, it’s low-hanging, massive leaves created a relatively safe path that they could climb across and they charged over.
Coming to the other side, they heard something behind them and turned just in time to see five plant-like humanoids emerging from the trunk, seeming hostile.
Bubba attacked with blinding speed, his dart and hooks tearing one of them apart and he smirked, looking at Joffrey “your turn” he said.
Not breaking eye contact, the immortal bard nonchalantly raised one of his hands, palm outward toward the organic orangutans, and with a peal of thunder, three of them were bowled over, careening down the crevasse.
With a smug look, Tiefstein moved his eyes to Autismus and repeated the phrase “your turn”, thumbing over his shoulder at the final haggard looking survivor.
Chattering dementedly with glee, the sorcerer enveloped the final plant in flames, reducing it to ashes, and they all turned to walk away.
There was an agitated rustling as three more individuals melted out of the verdant stalk and once more Bubba lashed out, this time failing to kill his target, and again, Joffrey blasted the trio from the vines.
Near immediately, three more emerged and fire erupted from the madman, injuring and igniting them but they kept coming and the situation began to look more serious.
Hooks, sinkers and crossbow bolts assailed them, felling one but still, they advanced and reached the bard, seizing him by the throat, immobilising him as he was choked.
Magic missiles peppered the leaved low-life but it refused to relinquish its grasp, beginning to collapse its prey’s windpipe, his previous self-assured gaze becoming one of desperation.
The rest of the party began to retreat, defensively arrayed in front of their guests, as new sprouts began to burst from the hard packed earth, lashing and writhing around their ankles.
Snagged and nearly caught, Bubba and Autismus yanked their feet free and sprinted back from the forming snarl, Joffrey’s now panicked gurgles wafting across the battlefield as he watched his dependants abandon him.
With a final, desperate surge of strength, the bard managed to throw off his attacker and madly dashed through the now knee-high growth, deftly darting between them as he rummaged in his coat.
Pulling forth a pot of oil, he starting flinging it behind him as he ran and yelled at the sorcerer, wildly gesturing at the slick.
The lunatic furrowed his brow in incomprehension, then took a final drag on his joint, flicking it towards his comrade in a rare glimmer of understanding, igniting the substance.
The oily vines were virtually natural wicks, the flames hungrily rising up their length, forming a wall of fire that halted the pursuit of their attackers as the group made their escape.
Cresting the final rise, they arrived at the outskirts of the Sieg-Hell and from their vantage could see the mayhem unfolding below.
Many buildings had been levelled by the earthquakes and others were being crushed by colossal coiling creepers, or swallowed by the widening rifts plaguing the landscape.
In the far centre of town, the Ivory Tower was visible, now far larger than before, trembling and visibly glowing with crackling energies.
Struggling to come to terms with what they were seeing, the party stood in awe on the ridge watching their home being destroyed, and all Joffrey’s thoughts were of his livelihood tumbling into an abyss.
To be continued.