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Into Destruction


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#1 Guest_Bibbi_*

Posted 24 March 2004 - 05:38 PM

Tybalt neared the walls of Saradush under the protection of an invisibility spell from Edwin. With the spell in place, the greatest danger he faced was a stray arrow from the archers on the city’s battlements or an explosion of catapult fire. He managed to wade through a smaller section of the moat and scrambled up next to the pitted walls, placing his hands on the stone while he thought on how to go about entering. He couldn’t remember exactly how he had learned the teleportation in Bhaal’s realm, just that he had imagined himself somewhere else, and that it had worked.

With nothing better to try, he did just that. He closed his eyes, pressed down on the wall, and thought of himself on the other side, away from the army’s commotion. He felt nothing, and cursed, opening his eyes. He turned from the wall and stopped. He was in the city. Soldiers rushed to the walls to reinforce failing sections, people ran at the threat of incoming missiles, smoke and cries filled the air. Saradush.

He had arrived near a series of stairs leading to what he assumed was the manor of someone influential; the building was the largest nearby, boasting sculptures and empty fountains which would have been pretty in a better time. Now, its double doors were barred shut and corpses stood before it, rotting.

No one had noticed his arrival, so he casually walked into the city and began his search. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for, other than a way to let Yaga-Shura’s army in. Maybe if he could topple a wall somehow?

He heard people shouting at each other as he went, each blaming others for their misfortunes. Most blamed the Bhaalspawn, and Melissan for bringing them to Saradush. “You’ve been busy,” Tybalt remarked grimly. The next time he met the mysterious woman, he would have to interrogate her more thoroughly on her actions.

Some of the people lamented Gromnir’s lack of aid; the powerful general had come to the city with the pretense of protecting it from attack, but since the fire giant army’s arrival, he had hidden away in Castle Saradush. “Maybe this Gromnir knows something useful,” the Bhaalspawn noted. It was an idea, at least.

Everyone blamed the Bhaalspawn, even the innocents who were no better off trapped in the city as everyone else. A mob had formed around a group of frightened people, drawing Tybalt’s attention. The crowd was cursing the people and throwing trash and stones at them. “Demon spawn!” someone shouted. “You did this to us! You doomed us all!”

Agreement surged through the crowd and it advanced, becoming more violent as tempers grew tighter. Thinking of something Melissan had said, Tybalt pulled Illasera’s pendant out and held it out to the accused people. The blood red center of the necklace sparkled and it seemed to pull him towards the crowd, and he knew that the seeking magics of the charm proved the crowd’s fears. In disgust, he continued on, allowing the Bhaalspawn to remain at the mercy of the mob.

Several streets away, he found a regiment of soldiers grouped together. To his surprise, many had orcish blood in them, complete with green skin and piggish noses. They bore the symbol of a laughing orc on their equipment, leading Tybalt to believe that they were some of Gromnir’s men. “Hello there,” he said, stepping up. “I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to reach Gromnir. I have some questions I’d like to ask him.” He hid a hand on his sword sheath, not knowing how this question would be received.

The soldiers guffawed and punched each other playfully, gesturing at the stranger’s ignorance. One of the larger men stepped forward. “No one gets in to see the general,” he said. “Especially not some runt like you. The general likes his privacy, he does, and we let him have it.”

“Even though he was brought here to defend this city?” Tybalt wondered. “Shouldn’t you be doing something to save this place, if only for your own lives?”

The soldier spat. “We know how to take care of ourselves. If the damn giant ever breaks through, we’ll make him regret it.” Tybalt was amazed by the bravado the man could take with the prospect of fighting fire giants, but let him continue. “Gromnir sees no one! Now beat it before we decide to practice for when the real fighting comes.”

Tybalt wasn’t in the mood for a fight, so he left. The troops weren’t going to tell him any more, obviously, and there was little point in a battle. Once Yaga-Shura came, they would all be dead.

He sighed and went into a tavern as the sky began to darken. He would think of a plan tonight and find Gromnir in the morning. He almost bumped into a man running out of the tavern as he stepped inside. “Watch it!” he snapped.

“They’re coming for me,” the man said, his eyes rolling around wildly. “It’s almost night!”

“What are you talking about?” Tybalt demanded, trying to shake the man from where he had latched onto his armor.

“The courtesans! They take people away but they never come back! There’s something not right, there is, and now they’re coming after me!”

“Why would courtesans be kidnapping people?” Tybalt asked. Why did he seem to attract the less stable people to him?

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re working for the mad general, giving him bodies to sustain himself. They say he’s a Bhaalspawn, and that he’s the reason we’re trapped here! Maybe he needs fresh blood for his unholy rites!”

Tybalt jerked to attention at this mention to Gromnir. “What do you know about him?”

The man shrugged, now trying to move past him into the open. “He won’t come out of the palace, so maybe he needs a way to bring people to him. All I know is I’m not sticking around for them to get me!” He sped out the door and out of sight, leaving Tybalt standing slightly confused.

“Don’t mind him,” the barkeep said, watching. “He’s always full of crazy ideas.”

Tybalt nodded and made his way to a far corner of the room to think. As he sat down, a woman sparsely dressed in thin clothing joined him. “You look like you could use a companion,” she said, winking.

Tybalt was about to tell her she wasn’t his type when he noticed how pale she was. Her eyes bored into him hungrily, and he sensed that something wasn’t right. Perhaps the crazy man hadn’t been wrong, after all. “Tell me, do you work here?” he pointed at the tavern.

The woman shook her head, keeping her gaze locked on him. “No, sweet thing. I come from a better place, below all of this chaos. I can take you there.” She stood in front of him and swayed her hips, holding out her hands.

He sighed. The worst that could happen would be that she would turn out to be a normal prostitute and he would have to decline her offer. If not, then there was a chance she could help him in another way. “How much?”

She smiled. “For such a handsome gent, only twenty gold.” He paid and they left the inn. Her cold hand gripped his firmly as she strolled down side alleys toward where he had originally entered from. She seemed oblivious to the cries of fear and pain echoing around them. Finally, she got to a plain building with boarded over windows. Some message had been scribbled on the door but had consequentially been erased. Tybalt thought he could still make out ‘beware,’ but he wasn’t sure.

The woman opened the door, gesturing for him to enter first. He obliged, reaching for the Equalizer as he stepped into darkness.

“You fool!” another female voice hissed to his left. “This one bears the blood of a god within. I can smell his divinity from here! You are powerful, godchild, and would not let us live, I think. We shall have to die with the hope of your sweet blood on our lips.” He drew his sword, but not before feeling a claw strike at him from behind. The amulet which protected him from life draining flared to life, and he realized that he was up against vampires.

He swung the Equalizer about him, searching for targets in the darkness. Screams met this attack, to his satisfaction, and he fought until there was no sound. He stumbled about, searching for a source of light, and found the exit. He flung the door open to receive a weak moonlight. It was enough to illuminate the scene, showing the twice dead bodies of several vampires. Behind them, what had once been a doorway to another room had caved in and formed a tunnel leading below the street. Tybalt decided to stretch his luck and follow through with the madman’s theory. He was right about the vampires, why not about their connection to Gromnir?

The tunnel went on for some time, and he stopped frequently to feel his way around outcroppings of rock or rubble. He wondered whether the undead had made the tunnel or if it had already been there when they arrived.

He saw light ahead and rushed forward, luckily not falling over anything in his haste to leave the tunnel behind. He was reminded of the tunnels near the Windspear Hills and didn’t care to remember.

He emerged into what looked like a prison cell. Manacles hung from the remaining walls, and a barred door lay open before him. A woman came into the room just as he did, causing both to jump. “Who are you?” he asked, his sword still at hand.

“I could ask the same of you,” she said boldly once she had caught her breath. “I don’t know what you’re doing or how you got here, but I suggest you turn around. I barely managed to escape this madhouse, and I wouldn’t go back for anything.”

“Why? What’s beyond?”

“You’re in Castle Saradush’s prisons. I used to work for Gromnir, as many of the Bhaalspawn did, and we were stationed around the castle as defense. He claimed defense of the city, but he’s grown paranoid and thinks everyone is out to kill him. He wants us to block attacks to give him time to prepare. Coward. That’s why I’m getting out while I can.”

“So you’re a Bhaalspawn?” he asked. She nodded hurriedly, moving to get to the tunnel. “What a coincidence, so am I.” He grinned humorlessly and lopped off her head.

She fell without a sound and soon dissolved into dust. Tybalt wiped off his blade and continued on casually.




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