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Chapter 30 - Runes


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#1 Guest_Clovis_*

Posted 28 July 2005 - 04:13 AM

The party made its way up a gently spiraling stone passage. Yoshimo poked around here and there for traps, but the way seemed clear for a change. Theodoric was grateful for a moment’s peace after the non-stop peril they’d faced in the sphere thus far. Especially in the gardens now well behind them.


“You have to admit, my idea worked perfectly.”

“I will admit no such thing, wizard.”

So much for my moment of peace sighed Theodoric.


Valygar and Neracer were once again bickering over the decision to activate the garden’s caretaker golem. The debate had started as soon as they left the garden. This was but the latest round between the two men. Theodoric suspected Neracer kept bringing the subject up to needle Valygar. Then again, Valygar seemed to thrive on rebuffing the illusionist’s claims.

“Hey, it *worked*, didn’t it?”

“We were lucky.”

“Lucky? The golem cleared the garden of monsters and opened the portal to this passage.”

Theodoric admitted that much was true. Upon activation, the golem had gone berserk, hunting out all manner of creatures that laid in wait. There had been more of the manta-like creatures that tried to consume Minsc. There had also been some truly bizarre plant life, including a predatory species of tree that had tried to strangle and eat the golem. None of them had seen its like before.

“You see, everything went exactly as I wanted it to.”

“As you wanted it to, mage?” sneered Valygar. “As I recall, the golem seemed rather oblivious to your commands.”

“Now, that’s not true!”

“So, when you chased after it shouting ‘Hey! You’re making me look bad!’…?”

“Ah, I can explain that. You see…”

“And when it finished with the garden, it came after us.”

“Only to report back to me and ask permission to rest” Neracer pointed out.

Valygar grunted. “Yes, but you didn’t know that.”

“Of course I did!”

“Then why did you start screaming ‘it’s coming after us’ at the time?”

“That’s really quite an exaggeration, Valygar…”

“Ah, actually” Yoshimo interrupted with a grin, “I think it was more along the lines of ‘AHHH! AHHH! IT’S COMING RIGHT FOR US!!!’”

“I think I’d remember saying *that*, Yoshi.”

“Yoshimo.”

“Right. Anyway, I hardly think I was screaming when I said those alleged words, much less waving my arms about like that – ”


“W-well” peeped Aerie. “You *were* awfully ex-excited.”

There was a moment of surprised silence, followed by peals of laughter from the rest of the group. Aerie flushed at first, then laughed along. Even Valygar managed a faint grin as Neracer threw his hands up in the air and took his place at the back of the group.


Theodoric chuckled and shook his head, his spirits lifting a bit. After all they’d been through the last few hours, it was good to see any opportunity to lighten the mood. At least he felt that way until he caught a glimpse of Jaheira.

The druid stood away from the others, her expression haunted and angry. It had been so since her confrontation with the feral halflings earlier. Theodoric’s heart sank.

You have me worried, old friend. It is not like you to brood so.

Theodoric looked at her for a long moment, trying to fathom what it was that was gnawing at her. Jaheira noticed he was staring at her, and he quickly looked away. Whatever the creature had done to her, Theodoric knew he had somehow become the focal point for her pain and anger. Any attention on his part would likely only make matters worse right now. He decided to keep his distance for a time longer, though it frustrated him to be so powerless to help.



Best we finish this business with Lavok soon. I’m not sure how much longer Jaheira can keep going like this.



*



The passage ended in a large, round chamber. Along the walls were four huge brass portal doors, virtually identical and remarkable for the lack of any visible mechanism for opening them. Etched into the floor were four equally large runes, softly glowing and equidistant from the center of the room.


Minsc scratched his bald head. “Boo says this reminds him a little of that time in Durlag’s Tower.”


Theodoric groaned. He really, really hoped that wasn’t the case. The idea of running a gauntlet of irritatingly difficult puzzles and hunting down dozens of nearly identical wardstones just to get past a couple of doors did not sit well with him.

“Let me guess” Valygar grumbled. “That means were going to use magic to get past this area.”

“That seems likely, Valygar” admitted Theodoric. “Unless we can find some way of manually opening the doors.”

“I will take a look” Yoshimo said. “Though in my experience, wizards usually do not make a habit of leaving skeleton keys about. So to speak.”



While Yoshimo scouted out the doors, Theodoric had the rest of the party searched the room, carefully avoiding the runes in the floor. They uncovered nothing of interest, though Yoshimo did return with a few clues from the doors themselves.

“The door to the left has patches of frost covering, and the one to the far right is sooty and warm to the touch.”

“What about the other two?” asked Theodoric.

“Nothing I can discern. No unusual markings, no sound coming from behind them.”

“And no way to open them, I assume?” interrupted Valygar. Yoshimo shook his head.

“None that I can detect.”

“What about the wardstone cards?” asked Theodoric. “They seem to operate everything else around here.”

Yoshimo shrugged and looked over at Neracer, who was studying the runes inlaid on the floor.

“What about it, Neracer?”

“Hmm?” Neracer looked up distractedly. “Oh, sorry Theodoric. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think so. None of these runes look like the symbols on the wardstones we have.”

“So what do we do then?” Valygar scowled.

“I would expect that we have to manually activate one or more of the runes in some specific order” Theodoric said, remembering with little fondness how these things usually worked.

Things would be so much easier if we simply had to defeat a guardian of some sort to advance he thought sourly. But I suppose that is the whole point, isn’t it?


*


Valygar patted at a scorched spot on his armor, glowering at Neracer.

“Are you planning on finding the right combination for the doors soon, wizard?”

“I’m doing the best I can, Valygar.”

“Hmm…then we are all surely doomed.”

Theodoric rubbed at his temples, aware of a growing headache. Don’t these two ever stop?

“Look, Valygar. There’s no other way to figure this out but to go through the different combinations of runes.”

“You aren’t the one getting set on fire each time you make a mistake.”

“You volunteered, remember? The magic resistant armor and all that. Besides, Jaheira’s abjurations seem to have mostly protected you from the fireballs.”

Valygar gave Neracer a smile that was reminiscent of an attacking shark’s.

“Ah, anyway” the illusionist continued. “There’s only a few more combinations we need to try.”

“How many is ‘a few’?” Valygar asked suspiciously.

“Well, I’d have to work out the exact number. Let’s see, we’ve tried six combinations, and…”

Minsc’s ears perked up and he cheerfully interrupted the discussion.

“Boo says there are 22 possible combinations.”

“TWENTY-TWO?” growled Valygar.

“Yes” continued the big ranger. “Boo says there are twenty-two possible combinations of runes. Assuming, of course, there are no repeat runes in each sequence or less than four runes used in a given sequence.”

Valygar and Neracer, along with everyone else within earshot, stared at Minsc for a long moment. Minsc shrugged.

“Minsc sometimes gets lost in Boo’s words but Boo is confident his friends will figure it out.”

“Your hamster told you that?” Neracer said. “That’s some hamster, Minsc.”

“Boo is very smart” Minsc advised sagely.

“Ah, it would seem so. So, Valygar…”

“Forget it, mage. I’ve run this magical gauntlet six times already. I’m not going to spend all day getting barbecued for your amusement.”

“Just give it one more try, Valygar. I’m pretty sure this next combination will work.”

Valygar looked to Theodoric, then nodded.

“Fine, fine. I’ll do as you ask once more.” “But” he added, raising a finger, “the next run is * yours *, wizard.”


*


Valygar stepped across the rune faces in the sequence Neracer called out (from a safe distance away). He winced as he crossed the last one, sure that he was about to be blasted once again. Miraculously, no punishment came this time. He heard a loud click and saw one of the huge brass portals swing open.


“Ah-ha! Just as I thought it would!” Neracer said triumphantly.

Valygar opened his mouth to say something but merely sighed in disgust and ran a hand through his singed braids.

“All right” Theodoric spoke, not about to give either man the opportunity to start an argument. “Let’s form up and see if this is the way out. Yoshimo, take point and keep an eye out for traps.”


*


Beyond the portal was a short, dark passage leading into a dimly-lit room. The air was damp, and permeated with a rich, earthy smell. The party could see fungoids of every imaginable variety growing on the floors, walls, and ceilings of the stone chamber, with patches of eerily glowing purplish mold providing just enough illumination that the party could make out the door at the other end of the room.

“Phew, what a stink!” Yoshimo said, wrinkling his nose.

“A-are we really going in there?” asked Aerie.

Mmm…mushrooms thought Neracer, his stomach grumbling.


Theodoric looked skeptically at the room. I am not eager to repeat our experience in the garden he thought. Looking to Jaheira he conspicuously cleared his throat.

“Ah, Jaheira?”

“Yes?” the druid answered him a flat tone that was carefully neutral, but with the slightest underlying hints of resentment and hesitation.


“We’ll need some light here. I want to see what’s in there and flush out anything that might be dangerous.”

“As you wish” she replied in clipped tones. Closing her eyes, the druid murmured an incantation. Moments later the room was filled with bright light, followed by a cacophony of piercing shrieks.

“I guess we got their attention” Valygar said, cupping his hands over his ears.


The source of the noise came from a cluster of halfling-sized toadstools in the center of the room. They vibrated and gushed air as they wailed. Behind them a number of much larger toadstools came to life, sprouting limbs and milling about to meet whatever it was currently threatening them.

“Myconids” Jaheira warned. “They will react badly to our presence should we try to cross the room.”


“I don’t suppose either of you have a fireball magic memorized?” Theodoric asked Aerie and Neracer. The two mages shook their heads.

“Okay, we’ll have to do this the hard way, then” Theodoric said drew his sword.


*


The myconids provided only a modicum of resistance, and were quickly cut down. The party escaped serious injury, though one of the fungi managed to spray Neracer with a cloud of hallucinatory spores before dying. It had taken some effort to restrain the raving illusionist, but he had finally calmed to the point of merely babbling dire warnings.

“Can’t you all see the danger?” Neracer mumbled. “They’re almost on us!”

“Oh, you poor thing” Aerie said, wiping Neracer’s face with a dampened cloth. “Don’t be frightened, you just need to rest for a bit.”

“Rest? We can’t stop *here*. This is bat country” the illusionist said gravely.

“Wh-what?”


“Just rest easy” Yoshimo said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “The effects should wear off in a few minutes.” Neracer simply nodded and fell silent.

No point in mentioning the bats , Neracer thought. Poor bastards will see them soon enough.


On the other side of the room, Valygar and Theodoric discussed their options

“So, Theodoric” Valygar said “What do we do next?”

Theodoric mopped the sweat from his brow. The door at the other end of the chamber had led into an unfinished passage that had dead-ended a few yards in.

“I suppose we’ll have to keep trying the runes until we find a combination that leads to a way out of here.”

Valygar nodded grimly and sighed. “I feared as much. Very well, I will run the wizard’s gauntlet again.”


“We’ll stop and rest for a bit first, I think. I think we could use a break. At least until Neracer is feeling…himself again, anyway.”


Valygar looked at the runes darkly and sighed. “As you would have it, Theodoric. “But this constant involvement in magic is beginning to foul my mood.”


Theodoric wondered if he would be able to tell the difference, but thought better of mentioning that to Valygar.




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