Ember's Tale 72: Breakout (SoA starts here!)

Chapter 72: Breakout

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

Someone shook Ember's arm.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!"

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

The door to her cage was open. A worried face, pale and thin and with a nasty cut across the right cheek and eyebrow yet infinitely familiar, looked down at her.

"Imoen?" Ember stammered. Her throat was parched. "What's happening?"

"There was a fight... assassins came after our captor, I think. Someone got in here, and when he was killed he fell on my cage and knocked it over. He had lockpicks, and this," Imoen said, holding up a dagger. "Can you stand? You're hurt pretty bad..."

Ember touched her side. Often, their captor would have someone heal her after the 'experiments', as he called them, but he had not done so today; her fingers touched raw flesh where the flames had burned her. Wincing, she called upon her healing gift. A brief surge of fire coursed through her, followed by a flash of blue light as new skin covered the wound. She struggled to her feet and felt herself start to black out; she had to lean on the metal bars of her cage for a moment until the dizziness passed. "I'll be all right. It hurts all over, though," she groaned.

"Yeah, me too, but my head hurts the most," Imoen said. "It's almost like my bones made a little dagger, and it won't go away."

A dagger of bone...

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Imoen said, "it just hurts, all right? Must have been from all the noise."

Ember shook her head in an attempt to clear it. It didn't really work.

"There's someone else locked up over there," Imoen said, pointing at a large cage behind Ember. It was made with bars twice as thick as any of the other cages around them, and a very large man with short, dark hair lay on the floor, asleep or unconscious; Ember couldn't tell which. The two girls hurried towards the cell and peered down at the prone figure inside.

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

"He's gotten so thin," Ember muttered, noticing to her dismay that several cuts and bruises were visible through his torn clothes. She reached in between the bars and shook Minsc's shoulder. To her relief, he woke up almost immediately, giving her a confused look before sitting bolt upright.

"Minsc must be free! Butts will be liberally kicked in good measure!" Minsc roared. "I will rain beatings down upon all who have dared touch Minsc's witches!"

"It's all right," Ember said, trying to calm him down. "We'll get you out of here, and then we'll all escape and set things right."

"I can't pick the lock!" Imoen grumbled. "It's been enchanted; we need the key!"

"I tried to help," Minsc said mournfully, "but the bars were too strong to bend. Minsc broke the other cages and the dwarves, so they put me here. I tried to stop them from hurting you. Minsc tried..."

"We know," Ember said. "It's not your fault."

Something rustled in a corner of the cell, and a small, yellow creature peeked out from under a blood-stained scrap of cloth.

"Boo!" Imoen exclaimed.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

"That he is! I'm glad he's still with you," Ember said. "Look, we'll go see if we can find a key for your cage, and then we'll come back and get you out of there. All right?"

Minsc nodded solemnly. "And if you don't find the key, you must come and take Boo away. He is too young to die in such a pit of stinking evil."

"We will find it," Imoen said.

Three doors led out of the dank chamber they were in. The first door the girls tried led only to a small room with a magical portal that Imoen couldn't activate, but the second led to a storage room of sorts. There was a golem inside, telling them to go back to their cages, but it never moved or otherwise responded to them, not even when Ember and Imoen started ransacking the room around it. They came away with a pair of heavy staves, a few flasks of healing potion which they wrapped in cloth scraps, and an enchanted key which they hoped would work on Minsc's cell. A set of sharp knifes, some straight, some curved, some serrated, hung from a rack on the wall; neither of the girls were willing to touch them.

They ran back to Minsc. "Let's see now," Ember said, pushing the key into the massive lock on his cell. She had to force the key into the hole, and even though it looked like it was a fit, the lock wouldn't budge. She hit the lock in frustration.

"Let me try," Imoen said. She ran her hands over the lock and key, then pushed the key a fraction further in, twisting as she pushed. There was a small click, then a sound like two rusty swords being rubbed together, accompanied by an acrid smell. The lock fell open.

"Minsc is free!" Minsc cried happily. "Come, Boo, it is time to redeem ourselves!"

Ember handed Minsc one of the staves with a smile. She still ached, and her head still felt muddled, but somehow, that didn't matter so much anymore; in this moment, the only thing that really mattered was that they were all together again. And that's how we'll make it out of here. Together.

---

The third door in the prison chamber was the exit - or so they hoped. It led into a chamber that held a couple mephits and a contraption that shot out bolts of lightning; Ember and Minsc beat down the mephits while Imoen turned a large switch on the wall which shut off the lightning machine. A narrow corridor followed the lightning room, and here they found goblins. Half a dozen of the nasty creatures waited for them around a bend, armed with short bows and axes, and quite a few of them managed to score a hit before they were killed.

"I wish I had my spellbook," Imoen grumbled as she looked over the bodies, picking up arrows and an unbroken bow and a few coins. "And I bet you don't have any spells ready either, Em."

"No, none. I can barely even remember the last time I meditated," Ember said, handing a half-full bottle of healing potion to Minsc. She'd tried to meditate at night for the first week or so of their captivity, if only to help hold herself together, but there was nothing in their prison for her to focus on, and it hadn't been long before she was too worn down by the daily 'experiments' to even try. "Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.

Minsc gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You will remember," he said.

After healing their worst cuts and bundling up their scant newfound possessions with scraps of the goblin's clothes, they continued on down the corridor. Soon, they came to a heavy steel door, far too massive for even Minsc to be able to budge. They passed it, and came to another storage room. A golem with no eyes stood inside.

"Master? Is it you?" the golem asked.

"It can't see," Imoen whispered.

"Uh... yes, it is I," Ember said.

The golem believed her. "I have cleaned the sewage chambers and fed your guardian," it said. "Do you wish me to open the door for you?"

"Er, not at present," Ember said, preferring not running into any guardians unless she had to.

"As you will, master. I shall return to my rest." The golem's posture slumped slightly, and it spoke no more. Just like the previous one, it ignored them completely as they searched the room, finding a sword for Minsc on a weapons rack and a few more bottles of healing potion on a shelf.

The next chamber, which they reached after killing a pair of mephits, was large and well lit. The light came from a giant glass tank, filled with an odd fluid that glowed bluish white. Long, black hoses connected the tank to large glass jars filled with the same fluid. And in those jars...

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

"I... I know this room," Imoen stammered. "I've been in here... we both have. Those things, they used to be people..."

"Cover your eyes, Boo," Minsc whispered.

"What kind of monster is this guy?" Imoen continued. "Captures us easy as pie, kills whoever he wants... that could have been us in those glass things!"

Ember let her fingers touch one of the jars. The shadowy figure within shifted, and a distorted, grey face with pointed ears pressed against the glass. Stifling a scream, Ember flinched away from the jar.

"Aaaaaa... who be thee... servants of the master?" the face asked. Bubbles of glowing liquid escaped its mouth as it spoke.

"By the gods, what happened to you?" Ember asked. The creature in the jar looked like an ancient wax model rather than a living being.

"I am... dying... or dead... I remember not which. Where is the master?"

"Who is this master?" Imoen asked nervously.

"He was my friend, I think... cast out, and one of us no longer... I cannot remember... are you to take my place?"

"No, friend, we are not," Ember said. How long has he been trapped like this?

The figure in the jar seemed to slump. "The master can take nothing more... I am forgotten. Too long... dead but not dead... alone. I seek... release..."

"No man will be kept in a jar on Minsc's watch! Tell me how, and I will release you!" Minsc proclaimed.

"Release, yes... Master! I no longer wish to come back! Let me die! Please!" the figure wailed.

Minsc seemed lost in thought for a moment, then nodded. With one swift blow, he cut the hose that connected the jar to the main tank. The glowing fluid inside the jar immediately turned dark. The figure stopped moving.

"He's... he's dead now? That poor, pathetic creature..." Imoen whispered, staring as transfixed into the glass tank.

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

---

Past the jar room, the corridor turned into a small, goblin-infested maze, which in turn led to a long disused library. From the looks of it, the goblins had ripped up books to use as bedding, and there was dust and debris everywhere. Imoen managed to find a few spellscrolls, which she carefully tied together with a piece of string.

There was a trail of sorts across the dusty floor, and when they followed that, they found a group of dwarves in what appeared to be their quarters, assembled around a bubbling pot of stew on a fireplace. Ember remembered both the dwarves and the stew; the dwarves were always there, attending their captor as he tortured them, and the stew, foul as it was, was the only thing they'd ever given her to eat in this hellhole.

Minsc remembered the dwarves as well. They did not last long against his fury.

After eating some of the stew - it tasted as nasty as ever, but Ember knew it would give them the strength they sorely needed, and they were all hungry enough that it went down easily - they examined the room. "It's a dead end," Imoen said after they'd gone over every wall. "We can't get any further."

"Minsc and Boo will not go back to the cell! Never!" Minsc cried.

Ember sighed. "We'll just have to take our chances with that golem's guardian."

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

"Now's our chance!" Ember hissed. Ignored by both the creature and the golem, they ran around the sewage drain towards a much smaller door on the far side of the chamber. Beyond it lay yet another narrow corridor, with a plain wooden door at the far end. They hurried towards the door, and opened it.

They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Wee! SOA!

[quote name="Cel"]
[quote]
Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

The door to her cage was open. A worried face, pale and thin and with a nasty cut across the right cheek and eyebrow yet infinitely familiar, looked down at her.

"Imoen?" Ember stammered. Her throat was parched. "What's happening?"
[/quote]

Ah... Poor Imoen.


[quote]
Something rustled in a corner of the cell, and a small, yellow creature peeked out from under a blood-stained scrap of cloth.

"Boo!" Imoen exclaimed.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.
[/quote]

Heh...

[quote]
"No, none. I can barely even remember the last time I meditated," Ember said, handing a half-full bottle of healing potion to Minsc. She'd tried to meditate at night for the first week or so of their captivity, if only to help hold herself together, but there was nothing in their prison for her to focus on, and it hadn't been long before she was too worn down by the daily 'experiments' to even try. "Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.
[/quote]

It has to be rather bad for a druid down there. Not an inch of nature.

[quote]
None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.
[/quote]

Nice scene and creepy.




[quote]
The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.
[/quote]

Ew... I imagine that those things smell pretty bad.


[quote]
They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.[/quote]

Irenicus likes his comforts...

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

And so doth the game open!

"There was a fight... assassins came after our captor, I think. Someone got in here, and when he was killed he fell on my cage and knocked it over. He had lockpicks, and this," Imoen said, holding up a dagger. "Can you stand? You're hurt pretty bad..."

Y'know... Between portals, golems, mephits, closed doors, Yoshimo and so on... that one thief who gets that far must be pretty good. I'd love to read their story.

That said... good thinking, Imoen!

Ember touched her side. Often, their captor would have someone heal her after the 'experiments', as he called them, but he had not done so today; her fingers touched raw flesh where the flames had burned her. Wincing, she called upon her healing gift. A brief surge of fire coursed through her, followed by a flash of blue light as new skin covered the wound.

Tss. That's pretty nasty... When healing is so easy, there is no need for taking care about the body, I guess.

However. Bhaalspawn powers to the rescue! (At least they are good for something.)

Ember shook her head in an attempt to clear it. It didn't really work.

(You have to eat something with glucose, Ember. Keep up there!)

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc with hair. And a beard. Now that's something extremely hard to imagine.

Something rustled in a corner of the cell, and a small, yellow creature peeked out from under a blood-stained scrap of cloth.

"Boo!" Imoen exclaimed.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

That is so sweet... All you lack is a resounding "Squeak!" from Boo himself...

In my recent focus on animals , I've started to wonder what the hamster-related vocabulary is. Methinks I'll be keeping tabs.

Ember handed Minsc one of the staves with a smile. She still ached, and her head still felt muddled, but somehow, that didn't matter so much anymore; in this moment, the only thing that really mattered was that they were all together again. And that's how we'll make it out of here. Together.

Well... You may meet a Yoshimo on the way, too...

"Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.

Yes. Coming from Ember, this is hitting.

Minsc gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You will remember," he said.

And coming from Minsc, this is surprisingly... normal. No "Little Ember will remember."?

"It can't see," Imoen whispered.

"Uh... yes, it is I," Ember said.

The golem believed her. "I have cleaned the sewage chambers and fed your guardian," it said. "Do you wish me to open the door for you?"

Heh. A golem without voice recognition... Shabby tech, Irenicus!

"Er, not at present," Ember said, preferring not running into any guardians unless she had to.

That sounds practical... Although, perhaps, she should have remembered the lesson of Durlag's Tower. I.e. it sounds even more practical to sigh despondently and go for it. Saves time.

The next chamber, which they reached after killing a pair of mephits, was large and well lit. The light came from a giant glass tank, filled with an odd fluid that glowed bluish white. Long, black hoses connected the tank to large glass jars filled with the same fluid. And in those jars...

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

No matter how many times I go through this part, it's still gruesome.

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

And detailed descriptions don't help lighten the mood.

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

That's just so revolting... I can see the otyugh there, aye.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Irenicus' Palace of Carnal Pleasure... he can wish.

I hope your holidays went well... and I'm certainly glad to see Ember back!

The door to her cage was open. A worried face, pale and thin and with a nasty cut across the right cheek and eyebrow yet infinitely familiar, looked down at her.

So did Immy get that scar there, then? It's a wonder she didn't lose her eye, really...

"There was a fight... assassins came after our captor, I think. Someone got in here, and when he was killed he fell on my cage and knocked it over. He had lockpicks, and this," Imoen said, holding up a dagger. "Can you stand? You're hurt pretty bad..."

I always thought the cage's be better anchored than that, but good detail with the lockpicks being on the thief.

Ember touched her side. Often, their captor would have someone heal her after the 'experiments', as he called them, but he had not done so today; her fingers touched raw flesh where the flames had burned her. Wincing, she called upon her healing gift. A brief surge of fire coursed through her, followed by a flash of blue light as new skin covered the wound. She struggled to her feet and felt herself start to black out; she had to lean on the metal bars of her cage for a moment until the dizziness passed. "I'll be all right. It hurts all over, though," she groaned.

Being a Bhaalspawn's useful for some things, at least.

"Yeah, me too, but my head hurts the most," Imoen said. "It's almost like my bones made a little dagger, and it won't go away."

A dagger of bone...

Like with the revenant and Mulahey?

"There's someone else locked up over there," Imoen said, pointing at a large cage behind Ember. It was made with bars twice as thick as any of the other cages around them, and a very large man with short, dark hair lay on the floor, asleep or unconscious; Ember couldn't tell which. The two girls hurried towards the cell and peered down at the prone figure inside.

This reminds me that I forgot to mention Minsc no longer being exactly clean-shaven in my opening chapter... good details.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

Go Boo!

Three doors led out of the dank chamber they were in. The first door the girls tried led only to a small room with a magical portal that Imoen couldn't activate, but the second led to a storage room of sorts. There was a golem inside, telling them to go back to their cages, but it never moved or otherwise responded to them, not even when Ember and Imoen started ransacking the room around it. They came away with a pair of heavy staves, a few flasks of healing potion which they wrapped in cloth scraps, and an enchanted key which they hoped would work on Minsc's cell. A set of sharp knifes, some straight, some curved, some serrated, hung from a rack on the wall; neither of the girls were willing to touch them.

Yurgh. I don't blame 'em.

"Let me try," Imoen said. She ran her hands over the lock and key, then pushed the key a fraction further in, twisting as she pushed. There was a small click, then a sound like two rusty swords being rubbed together, accompanied by an acrid smell. The lock fell open.

I hope that smell was just the rust going all dustified and not some sort of trap.

"No, none. I can barely even remember the last time I meditated," Ember said, handing a half-full bottle of healing potion to Minsc. She'd tried to meditate at night for the first week or so of their captivity, if only to help hold herself together, but there was nothing in their prison for her to focus on, and it hadn't been long before she was too worn down by the daily 'experiments' to even try. "Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.

I guess she couldn't find the dryad trees though the wall, after all...

"Cover your eyes, Boo," Minsc whispered.

D'aww.

Ember let her fingers touch one of the jars. The shadowy figure within shifted, and a distorted, grey face with pointed ears pressed against the glass. Stifling a scream, Ember flinched away from the jar.

Meep.

Minsc seemed lost in thought for a moment, then nodded. With one swift blow, he cut the hose that connected the jar to the main tank. The glowing fluid inside the jar immediately turned dark. The figure stopped moving.

Creepeh. Good change of pace with Minsc doing the plug-pulling, so to speak.

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

Eww. That was almost worse than my description of dangling flesh... good job!

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

Bleh. Good idea, Ember, that saved a nasty fight.

They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Somewhere very unpleasant...

Yay for Ember being back, though!

Wee! SOA!

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

The door to her cage was open. A worried face, pale and thin and with a nasty cut across the right cheek and eyebrow yet infinitely familiar, looked down at her.

"Imoen?" Ember stammered. Her throat was parched. "What's happening?"

Ah... Poor Imoen.

Ember doesn't exactly look better herself

"No, none. I can barely even remember the last time I meditated," Ember said, handing a half-full bottle of healing potion to Minsc. She'd tried to meditate at night for the first week or so of their captivity, if only to help hold herself together, but there was nothing in their prison for her to focus on, and it hadn't been long before she was too worn down by the daily 'experiments' to even try. "Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.

It has to be rather bad for a druid down there. Not an inch of nature.

Yeah. As Imoen would put it, "'Tis something most unnatural here"...

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

Nice scene and creepy.

Thank you.

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

Ew... I imagine that those things smell pretty bad.

Sometimes, it's better not to imagine and just hold your breath

They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Irenicus likes his comforts...

Yes. Even though he puts them just down a tunnel from his sewage drain

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

And so doth the game open!

Drumroll please

"There was a fight... assassins came after our captor, I think. Someone got in here, and when he was killed he fell on my cage and knocked it over. He had lockpicks, and this," Imoen said, holding up a dagger. "Can you stand? You're hurt pretty bad..."

Y'know... Between portals, golems, mephits, closed doors, Yoshimo and so on... that one thief who gets that far must be pretty good. I'd love to read their story.

Heh, good point

That said... good thinking, Imoen!

Ember touched her side. Often, their captor would have someone heal her after the 'experiments', as he called them, but he had not done so today; her fingers touched raw flesh where the flames had burned her. Wincing, she called upon her healing gift. A brief surge of fire coursed through her, followed by a flash of blue light as new skin covered the wound.

Tss. That's pretty nasty... When healing is so easy, there is no need for taking care about the body, I guess.

I suspect Irenicus is perfectly aware of exactly how much he can punish a body without it dying.

However. Bhaalspawn powers to the rescue! (At least they are good for something.)

In BG2 I usually forget I have them

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc with hair. And a beard. Now that's something extremely hard to imagine.

Yes, I am having problems with the concept myself

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

That is so sweet... All you lack is a resounding "Squeak!" from Boo himself...

I was tempted

In my recent focus on animals , I've started to wonder what the hamster-related vocabulary is. Methinks I'll be keeping tabs.

The danger with vocabulary is that if you get too specialized, only those already in the know will know what you mean (wheeking, for instance) My Boo will never have much to say, though, so he'll probably just stick with the occasional squeak and eating food in a cute manner.

Ember handed Minsc one of the staves with a smile. She still ached, and her head still felt muddled, but somehow, that didn't matter so much anymore; in this moment, the only thing that really mattered was that they were all together again. And that's how we'll make it out of here. Together.

Well... You may meet a Yoshimo on the way, too...

True, true

(3 weeks and I still haven't managed to sort out how I want the story to progress )

"Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.

Yes. Coming from Ember, this is hitting.

Thank you.

Minsc gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You will remember," he said.

And coming from Minsc, this is surprisingly... normal. No "Little Ember will remember."?

Minsc: Minsc does not rhyme! Minsc is a hero, not a bard!

"Er, not at present," Ember said, preferring not running into any guardians unless she had to.

That sounds practical... Although, perhaps, she should have remembered the lesson of Durlag's Tower. I.e. it sounds even more practical to sigh despondently and go for it. Saves time.

Well, you say that just because you know she won't find a simpler exit by investigating the entire floor

The next chamber, which they reached after killing a pair of mephits, was large and well lit. The light came from a giant glass tank, filled with an odd fluid that glowed bluish white. Long, black hoses connected the tank to large glass jars filled with the same fluid. And in those jars...

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

No matter how many times I go through this part, it's still gruesome.

Especially if you talk to all the pickled people

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

And detailed descriptions don't help lighten the mood.

I wasn't trying to

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

That's just so revolting... I can see the otyugh there, aye.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Irenicus' Palace of Carnal Pleasure... he can wish.

I hope your holidays went well... and I'm certainly glad to see Ember back!

The trip went very well but the return flight was aggravating and I am currently dealing with a nine hour jet lag. That, combined with indecision as to how to unroll Plot, means it might take me a while to pick up my pace with this story again

The door to her cage was open. A worried face, pale and thin and with a nasty cut across the right cheek and eyebrow yet infinitely familiar, looked down at her.

So did Immy get that scar there, then? It's a wonder she didn't lose her eye, really...

The bones of the eye socket protect the eye from shallow cuts, hence why it's only her eyebrow and cheek but not the eyelids.

"There was a fight... assassins came after our captor, I think. Someone got in here, and when he was killed he fell on my cage and knocked it over. He had lockpicks, and this," Imoen said, holding up a dagger. "Can you stand? You're hurt pretty bad..."

I always thought the cage's be better anchored than that, but good detail with the lockpicks being on the thief.

Minsc's cage, perhaps, but the rest always looked flimsy to me.

"Yeah, me too, but my head hurts the most," Imoen said. "It's almost like my bones made a little dagger, and it won't go away."

A dagger of bone...

Like with the revenant and Mulahey?

Yes, that is what Ember is reminded of here

"There's someone else locked up over there," Imoen said, pointing at a large cage behind Ember. It was made with bars twice as thick as any of the other cages around them, and a very large man with short, dark hair lay on the floor, asleep or unconscious; Ember couldn't tell which. The two girls hurried towards the cell and peered down at the prone figure inside.

This reminds me that I forgot to mention Minsc no longer being exactly clean-shaven in my opening chapter... good details.

I almost forgot myself

Three doors led out of the dank chamber they were in. The first door the girls tried led only to a small room with a magical portal that Imoen couldn't activate, but the second led to a storage room of sorts. There was a golem inside, telling them to go back to their cages, but it never moved or otherwise responded to them, not even when Ember and Imoen started ransacking the room around it. They came away with a pair of heavy staves, a few flasks of healing potion which they wrapped in cloth scraps, and an enchanted key which they hoped would work on Minsc's cell. A set of sharp knifes, some straight, some curved, some serrated, hung from a rack on the wall; neither of the girls were willing to touch them.

Yurgh. I don't blame 'em.

They've already been touched quite enough by those knives

"Let me try," Imoen said. She ran her hands over the lock and key, then pushed the key a fraction further in, twisting as she pushed. There was a small click, then a sound like two rusty swords being rubbed together, accompanied by an acrid smell. The lock fell open.

I hope that smell was just the rust going all dustified and not some sort of trap.

I meant the smell as more of a broken enchantment thing.

"No, none. I can barely even remember the last time I meditated," Ember said, handing a half-full bottle of healing potion to Minsc. She'd tried to meditate at night for the first week or so of their captivity, if only to help hold herself together, but there was nothing in their prison for her to focus on, and it hadn't been long before she was too worn down by the daily 'experiments' to even try. "Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.

I guess she couldn't find the dryad trees though the wall, after all...

And they wouldn't have done her any good if she had.

"Cover your eyes, Boo," Minsc whispered.

D'aww.

Minsc must protect his Boo!

Minsc seemed lost in thought for a moment, then nodded. With one swift blow, he cut the hose that connected the jar to the main tank. The glowing fluid inside the jar immediately turned dark. The figure stopped moving.

Creepeh. Good change of pace with Minsc doing the plug-pulling, so to speak.

Thanks

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

Eww. That was almost worse than my description of dangling flesh... good job!

*bows*

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

Bleh. Good idea, Ember, that saved a nasty fight.

(I was being lazy and wanted to get to the end of the chapter )

They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Somewhere very unpleasant...

Yep

Yay for Ember being back, though!

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

Ah. The part of the game that everyone loves.

"Yeah, me too, but my head hurts the most," Imoen said. "It's almost like my bones made a little dagger, and it won't go away."

A dagger of bone...

I never could understand what Imoen was talking about there, but it’s pretty neat how you made it into a clue about her Bhaalspawnness.

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc with hair and beard. I think I am going to cry.

"I tried to help," Minsc said mournfully, "but the bars were too strong to bend. Minsc broke the other cages and the dwarves, so they put me here. I tried to stop them from hurting you. Minsc tried..."

At least your witches aren’t dead, unlike in the game. Some comfort, still.

"Let me try," Imoen said. She ran her hands over the lock and key, then pushed the key a fraction further in, twisting as she pushed. There was a small click, then a sound like two rusty swords being rubbed together, accompanied by an acrid smell. The lock fell open.

Leave the locks to people who are proficient with them!

The third door in the prison chamber was the exit - or so they hoped. It led into a chamber that held a couple mephits and a contraption that shot out bolts of lightning; Ember and Minsc beat down the mephits while Imoen turned a large switch on the wall which shut off the lightning machine. A narrow corridor followed the lightning room, and here they found goblins. Half a dozen of the nasty creatures waited for them around a bend, armed with short bows and axes, and quite a few of them managed to score a hit before they were killed.

You wrote out the completely useless genie. Pfew.

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

Ugh. No such luck.

"Release, yes... Master! I no longer wish to come back! Let me die! Please!" the figure wailed.

I do wonder how long Rielev had spent in there… I suppose Irenicus really had meant to try and save him, but to let him remain like that, just shows the level of his obsession with the Spawn.

There was a trail of sorts across the dusty floor, and when they followed that, they found a group of dwarves in what appeared to be their quarters, assembled around a bubbling pot of stew on a fireplace. Ember remembered both the dwarves and the stew; the dwarves were always there, attending their captor as he tortured them, and the stew, foul as it was, was the only thing they'd ever given her to eat in this hellhole.

Duergar cooking… hmm, probably was some version of rat stew…

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

I still have no idea why Irenicus wanted a room full with sewage and an otyugh next to his bedroom.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Hey, why would you not expect your captor to want some measure of comfort and luxury?

Btw nice to see that you are going through that dungeon at a very fair pace, hopefully we will be out of it soon.

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

Ah. The part of the game that everyone loves.

Tell me about it

"Yeah, me too, but my head hurts the most," Imoen said. "It's almost like my bones made a little dagger, and it won't go away."

A dagger of bone...

I never could understand what Imoen was talking about there, but it’s pretty neat how you made it into a clue about her Bhaalspawnness.

Thanks. I may let Ember figure it out before she loses her soul, but I haven't decided yet

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc with hair and beard. I think I am going to cry.

All those nasty knives, yet not a decent razor in sight.

"Let me try," Imoen said. She ran her hands over the lock and key, then pushed the key a fraction further in, twisting as she pushed. There was a small click, then a sound like two rusty swords being rubbed together, accompanied by an acrid smell. The lock fell open.

Leave the locks to people who are proficient with them!

The third door in the prison chamber was the exit - or so they hoped. It led into a chamber that held a couple mephits and a contraption that shot out bolts of lightning; Ember and Minsc beat down the mephits while Imoen turned a large switch on the wall which shut off the lightning machine. A narrow corridor followed the lightning room, and here they found goblins. Half a dozen of the nasty creatures waited for them around a bend, armed with short bows and axes, and quite a few of them managed to score a hit before they were killed.

You wrote out the completely useless genie. Pfew.

That's far from the only thing I'll be writing out

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

Ugh. No such luck.

Nope

"Release, yes... Master! I no longer wish to come back! Let me die! Please!" the figure wailed.

I do wonder how long Rielev had spent in there… I suppose Irenicus really had meant to try and save him, but to let him remain like that, just shows the level of his obsession with the Spawn.

He didn't care enough to remember him.

There was a trail of sorts across the dusty floor, and when they followed that, they found a group of dwarves in what appeared to be their quarters, assembled around a bubbling pot of stew on a fireplace. Ember remembered both the dwarves and the stew; the dwarves were always there, attending their captor as he tortured them, and the stew, foul as it was, was the only thing they'd ever given her to eat in this hellhole.

Duergar cooking… hmm, probably was some version of rat stew…

The less said, the better.

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

I still have no idea why Irenicus wanted a room full with sewage and an otyugh next to his bedroom.

Does Irenicus even sleep?

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Hey, why would you not expect your captor to want some measure of comfort and luxury?

Because he's a wacko, that's why!

Btw nice to see that you are going through that dungeon at a very fair pace, hopefully we will be out of it soon.

Three chapters should do it, I hope

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

Tarant: But it's not a school day...

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

Tarant: Oh yeah... I remember this now. I seem to remember going through it many, many times... as if I was being controlled by some being who kept restarting... somehow changing who I was each time...

"Yeah, me too, but my head hurts the most," Imoen said. "It's almost like my bones made a little dagger, and it won't go away."

A dagger of bone...

Tarant: Pfff... just silly dreams. They don't mean anything, right?

"Minsc must be free! Butts will be liberally kicked in good measure!" Minsc roared. "I will rain beatings down upon all who have dared touch Minsc's witches!"

Tarant: Just what you need when you have a headache.

Something rustled in a corner of the cell, and a small, yellow creature peeked out from under a blood-stained scrap of cloth.

"Boo!" Imoen exclaimed.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

Imoen: Right... well best not dwell on that.

Minsc nodded solemnly. "And if you don't find the key, you must come and take Boo away. He is too young to die in such a pit of stinking evil."

Tarant: Boo is well past his sell by date for a hamster.

"Let me try," Imoen said. She ran her hands over the lock and key, then pushed the key a fraction further in, twisting as she pushed. There was a small click, then a sound like two rusty swords being rubbed together, accompanied by an acrid smell. The lock fell open.

Imoen: You just need to have the knack.

"Master? Is it you?" the golem asked.

"It can't see," Imoen whispered.

"Uh... yes, it is I," Ember said.

Tarant: Yes... never mind that the voice is completely different. It's... just a cold.

"What kind of monster is this guy?" Imoen continued. "Captures us easy as pie, kills whoever he wants... that could have been us in those glass things!"

Tarant: He's the worst kind of monster... he's a man.

"Who is this master?" Imoen asked nervously.

"He was my friend, I think... cast out, and one of us no longer... I cannot remember... are you to take my place?"

So... were they actually cursed along with Irenicus and he used them to test his soul machine? Just hadn't quite perfected the process at that point.

There was a trail of sorts across the dusty floor, and when they followed that, they found a group of dwarves in what appeared to be their quarters, assembled around a bubbling pot of stew on a fireplace. Ember remembered both the dwarves and the stew; the dwarves were always there, attending their captor as he tortured them, and the stew, foul as it was, was the only thing they'd ever given her to eat in this hellhole.

Imoen: Maybe if they addded a few spices to it?

"Now's our chance!" Ember hissed. Ignored by both the creature and the golem, they ran around the sewage drain towards a much smaller door on the far side of the chamber. Beyond it lay yet another narrow corridor, with a plain wooden door at the far end. They hurried towards the door, and opened it.

Tarant: Smart... although there were some chests in that room. For some reason I always feel compelled to open everything...

They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

Tarant: Somewhere he can kick back and relax after a long day of torture I guess.

Good chapter!

It's good to see this story picked up again, and I look forward to seeing Ember going through SoA. However, to be honest, I must say I found this chapter to be among your weakest. It seems like you've run into all the same problems I've had with the beginning. If you don't mind, I'll try to explain what I see as the problem.

I guess the simplest way to say it is that your projected reader has "been there and done that" several times; but I don't think the story works if it doesn't work without everyone already knowing it all and just watching how the trick is done this time. Now, the details of the adventure in the dungeon may not be the most rewarding and necessary things to describe, but this is still a vital part of the overall story, so something of it should be given more attention. It seemed to me when I was reading that you went through everything at a breakneck speed. With the details of the dungeon once they're exploring it, that merely makes it seem like some of that quickly passed detail might not have warranted inclusion in the first place. But what about the mood and the setting? What about the sense of darkness and threat, and of Irenicus's coldness and power? Those have been touched on and can be developed further later on, but (to me) this chapter itself is left without almost any kind of mood or atmosphere. It never pauses; it consists pretty much entirely of description of details and actions along with dialogue.

This is just my opinion, of course (and it seems pretty solitary), and further I'm not actually advising you to change anything (because I can't see how); just keep this in mind, if you think it worth that, maybe for the next chapter or something.

As I said, I know from personal experience this part can be difficult to handle. Just to try to make sure I don't leave you feeling too criticised, I'll point out that I've enjoyed this serial overall, and you usually do admirably in turning the game into a story, in different kinds of contexts that I sometimes might have found even more difficult than this one.

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

Tarant: But it's not a school day...

Irenicus: Oh yes it is. It is time to learn...

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

Tarant: Oh yeah... I remember this now. I seem to remember going through it many, many times... as if I was being controlled by some being who kept restarting... somehow changing who I was each time...

"Minsc must be free! Butts will be liberally kicked in good measure!" Minsc roared. "I will rain beatings down upon all who have dared touch Minsc's witches!"

Tarant: Just what you need when you have a headache.

What, a beating?

Minsc nodded solemnly. "And if you don't find the key, you must come and take Boo away. He is too young to die in such a pit of stinking evil."

Tarant: Boo is well past his sell by date for a hamster.

But not for a miniature giant space hamster!

"What kind of monster is this guy?" Imoen continued. "Captures us easy as pie, kills whoever he wants... that could have been us in those glass things!"

Tarant: He's the worst kind of monster... he's a man.

No, an ex-elf.

"Who is this master?" Imoen asked nervously.

"He was my friend, I think... cast out, and one of us no longer... I cannot remember... are you to take my place?"

So... were they actually cursed along with Irenicus and he used them to test his soul machine? Just hadn't quite perfected the process at that point.

I think they were his loyal servants and that he said he'd fix them and then just didn't care.

"Now's our chance!" Ember hissed. Ignored by both the creature and the golem, they ran around the sewage drain towards a much smaller door on the far side of the chamber. Beyond it lay yet another narrow corridor, with a plain wooden door at the far end. They hurried towards the door, and opened it.

Tarant: Smart... although there were some chests in that room. For some reason I always feel compelled to open everything...

What kind of person keeps treasure in the sewer anyway?

Good chapter!

Thanks

I guess the simplest way to say it is that your projected reader has "been there and done that" several times; but I don't think the story works if it doesn't work without everyone already knowing it all and just watching how the trick is done this time. Now, the details of the adventure in the dungeon may not be the most rewarding and necessary things to describe, but this is still a vital part of the overall story, so something of it should be given more attention. It seemed to me when I was reading that you went through everything at a breakneck speed. With the details of the dungeon once they're exploring it, that merely makes it seem like some of that quickly passed detail might not have warranted inclusion in the first place. But what about the mood and the setting? What about the sense of darkness and threat, and of Irenicus's coldness and power? Those have been touched on and can be developed further later on, but (to me) this chapter itself is left without almost any kind of mood or atmosphere. It never pauses; it consists pretty much entirely of description of details and actions along with dialogue.

That was on purpose. My party isn't in angst mode yet, they're in 'get out get out get out and worry about it later' mode. I wanted everything to be rushed and then slam the brakes at the very end of the chapter (the next one should be considerably slower).

This is just my opinion, of course (and it seems pretty solitary), and further I'm not actually advising you to change anything (because I can't see how); just keep this in mind, if you think it worth that, maybe for the next chapter or something.

I feel it is a bit too rushed, too, and I would have changed bits of it if I had seen how But I couldn't, so I decided to just go for it and hope it'll work better for me when I get the next chapter done.

As I said, I know from personal experience this part can be difficult to handle. Just to try to make sure I don't leave you feeling too criticised, I'll point out that I've enjoyed this serial overall, and you usually do admirably in turning the game into a story, in different kinds of contexts that I sometimes might have found even more difficult than this one.

Well, thank you for that, and no, it'd take much more to make me feel too criticised

Chapter 72: Breakout

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

Someone shook Ember's arm.

Welcome back

"Imoen?" Ember stammered. Her throat was parched. "What's happening?"

I think it's probably a jailbreak.

Ember shook her head in an attempt to clear it. It didn't really work.

I feel the same way, but in my case it's hay fever.

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc with hair? That's a really odd image.

Minsc nodded solemnly. "And if you don't find the key, you must come and take Boo away. He is too young to die in such a pit of stinking evil."

They'll get you out, I'm sure.

"Let me try," Imoen said. She ran her hands over the lock and key, then pushed the key a fraction further in, twisting as she pushed. There was a small click, then a sound like two rusty swords being rubbed together, accompanied by an acrid smell. The lock fell open.

"Minsc is free!" Minsc cried happily. "Come, Boo, it is time to redeem ourselves!"

Ember handed Minsc one of the staves with a smile. She still ached, and her head still felt muddled, but somehow, that didn't matter so much anymore; in this moment, the only thing that really mattered was that they were all together again. And that's how we'll make it out of here. Together.

Or... not at all. But that still counts as together.

The third door in the prison chamber was the exit - or so they hoped. It led into a chamber that held a couple mephits and a contraption that shot out bolts of lightning; Ember and Minsc beat down the mephits while Imoen turned a large switch on the wall which shut off the lightning machine. A narrow corridor followed the lightning room, and here they found goblins. Half a dozen of the nasty creatures waited for them around a bend, armed with short bows and axes, and quite a few of them managed to score a hit before they were killed.

Those goblins are extremely annoying, especially the bow armed ones. It always annoys me that they can use a bow too powerful for anyone with a strength less than 18 - I don't think goblins are that strong.

Minsc gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You will remember," he said.

Not the smartest but pretty wise.

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

They aren't that lucky.

"What kind of monster is this guy?" Imoen continued. "Captures us easy as pie, kills whoever he wants... that could have been us in those glass things!"

He had another use for you.

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

It's amazing that they got away with this and a PG certificate. Some of it is really horrific, when you think about it hard.

Past the jar room, the corridor turned into a small, goblin-infested maze, which in turn led to a long disused library. From the looks of it, the goblins had ripped up books to use as bedding, and there was dust and debris everywhere. Imoen managed to find a few spellscrolls, which she carefully tied together with a piece of string.

They've damage the books? Kill all the goblins. No mercy.

They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

This is the penthouse suite. You only paid for the cheap accomodation. In fact, I'm fairly sure you didn't even pay for that.

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

Someone shook Ember's arm.

Welcome back

Thanks

"Imoen?" Ember stammered. Her throat was parched. "What's happening?"

I think it's probably a jailbreak.

Or an invasion. Or something.

Ember shook her head in an attempt to clear it. It didn't really work.

I feel the same way, but in my case it's hay fever.

Ugh, I'm sorry. You should try this place, it's still cold and miserable here (I got back less than a week ago and already I'm pining for summer again).

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc with hair? That's a really odd image.

Well, I doubt he has alopecia on top of his other problems.

Minsc nodded solemnly. "And if you don't find the key, you must come and take Boo away. He is too young to die in such a pit of stinking evil."

They'll get you out, I'm sure.

Of course. Leave no man or hamster behind, that's my motto.

Ember handed Minsc one of the staves with a smile. She still ached, and her head still felt muddled, but somehow, that didn't matter so much anymore; in this moment, the only thing that really mattered was that they were all together again. And that's how we'll make it out of here. Together.

Or... not at all. But that still counts as together.

Always look on the bright side and all that.

The third door in the prison chamber was the exit - or so they hoped. It led into a chamber that held a couple mephits and a contraption that shot out bolts of lightning; Ember and Minsc beat down the mephits while Imoen turned a large switch on the wall which shut off the lightning machine. A narrow corridor followed the lightning room, and here they found goblins. Half a dozen of the nasty creatures waited for them around a bend, armed with short bows and axes, and quite a few of them managed to score a hit before they were killed.

Those goblins are extremely annoying, especially the bow armed ones. It always annoys me that they can use a bow too powerful for anyone with a strength less than 18 - I don't think goblins are that strong.

Strong? They're probably smaller than the bows, too! Anyway, hate those little bastards.

Minsc gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You will remember," he said.

Not the smartest but pretty wise.

That's my Minsc, yes

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

They aren't that lucky.

Not yet, anyway

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

It's amazing that they got away with this and a PG certificate. Some of it is really horrific, when you think about it hard.

Jan's jokes, for instance...

Past the jar room, the corridor turned into a small, goblin-infested maze, which in turn led to a long disused library. From the looks of it, the goblins had ripped up books to use as bedding, and there was dust and debris everywhere. Imoen managed to find a few spellscrolls, which she carefully tied together with a piece of string.

They've damage the books? Kill all the goblins. No mercy.

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

Don't wanna.

Someone shook Ember's arm.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!"

Don't wanna!

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

Ahh... definitely on the list of bad bad mornings.

The door to her cage was open. A worried face, pale and thin and with a nasty cut across the right cheek and eyebrow yet infinitely familiar, looked down at her.

It's ....

"Imoen?" Ember stammered. Her throat was parched. "What's happening?"

IMMY!

"There was a fight... assassins came after our captor, I think. Someone got in here, and when he was killed he fell on my cage and knocked it over. He had lockpicks, and this," Imoen said, holding up a dagger. "Can you stand? You're hurt pretty bad..."

Ember touched her side. Often, their captor would have someone heal her after the 'experiments', as he called them, but he had not done so today; her fingers touched raw flesh where the flames had burned her. Wincing, she called upon her healing gift. A brief surge of fire coursed through her, followed by a flash of blue light as new skin covered the wound. She struggled to her feet and felt herself start to black out; she had to lean on the metal bars of her cage for a moment until the dizziness passed. "I'll be all right. It hurts all over, though," she groaned.

Such a nice guy, Irenicus. So kind and caring towards his guests.

"Yeah, me too, but my head hurts the most," Imoen said. "It's almost like my bones made a little dagger, and it won't go away."

A dagger of bone...

DUH DUH DUH!

"There's someone else locked up over there," Imoen said, pointing at a large cage behind Ember. It was made with bars twice as thick as any of the other cages around them, and a very large man with short, dark hair lay on the floor, asleep or unconscious; Ember couldn't tell which. The two girls hurried towards the cell and peered down at the prone figure inside.

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc! With hair! Yeep.

"Minsc must be free! Butts will be liberally kicked in good measure!" Minsc roared. "I will rain beatings down upon all who have dared touch Minsc's witches!"

Good ol' Minsc.

"I tried to help," Minsc said mournfully, "but the bars were too strong to bend. Minsc broke the other cages and the dwarves, so they put me here. I tried to stop them from hurting you. Minsc tried..."

*grimaces* Poor Minsc.

"Boo!" Imoen exclaimed.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

Yay! And no awkward comment about where he was hiding!

"That he is! I'm glad he's still with you," Ember said. "Look, we'll go see if we can find a key for your cage, and then we'll come back and get you out of there. All right?"

Minsc nodded solemnly. "And if you don't find the key, you must come and take Boo away. He is too young to die in such a pit of stinking evil."

"We will find it," Imoen said.

Not leaving troopers behind.

Three doors led out of the dank chamber they were in. The first door the girls tried led only to a small room with a magical portal that Imoen couldn't activate, but the second led to a storage room of sorts. There was a golem inside, telling them to go back to their cages, but it never moved or otherwise responded to them, not even when Ember and Imoen started ransacking the room around it. They came away with a pair of heavy staves, a few flasks of healing potion which they wrapped in cloth scraps, and an enchanted key which they hoped would work on Minsc's cell. A set of sharp knifes, some straight, some curved, some serrated, hung from a rack on the wall; neither of the girls were willing to touch them.

Nice touch.

"Minsc is free!" Minsc cried happily. "Come, Boo, it is time to redeem ourselves!"

Ember handed Minsc one of the staves with a smile. She still ached, and her head still felt muddled, but somehow, that didn't matter so much anymore; in this moment, the only thing that really mattered was that they were all together again. And that's how we'll make it out of here. Together.

Yay!

"No, none. I can barely even remember the last time I meditated," Ember said, handing a half-full bottle of healing potion to Minsc. She'd tried to meditate at night for the first week or so of their captivity, if only to help hold herself together, but there was nothing in their prison for her to focus on, and it hadn't been long before she was too worn down by the daily 'experiments' to even try. "Hells, I'm not even sure I remember how to," she added bitterly.

Minsc gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You will remember," he said.

Minsc is right.

"As you will, master. I shall return to my rest." The golem's posture slumped slightly, and it spoke no more. Just like the previous one, it ignored them completely as they searched the room, finding a sword for Minsc on a weapons rack and a few more bottles of healing potion on a shelf.

Minsc is now ARMED!

The next chamber, which they reached after killing a pair of mephits, was large and well lit. The light came from a giant glass tank, filled with an odd fluid that glowed bluish white. Long, black hoses connected the tank to large glass jars filled with the same fluid. And in those jars...

Whatever the things in the jars were, Ember hoped for their sakes that they were no longer alive.

"I... I know this room," Imoen stammered. "I've been in here... we both have. Those things, they used to be people..."

The creepiest part...

The figure in the jar seemed to slump. "The master can take nothing more... I am forgotten. Too long... dead but not dead... alone. I seek... release..."

This is I think is one of the truly horrible parts of the Dungeon.

"No man will be kept in a jar on Minsc's watch! Tell me how, and I will release you!" Minsc proclaimed.

"Release, yes... Master! I no longer wish to come back! Let me die! Please!" the figure wailed.

Minsc seemed lost in thought for a moment, then nodded. With one swift blow, he cut the hose that connected the jar to the main tank. The glowing fluid inside the jar immediately turned dark. The figure stopped moving.

"He's... he's dead now? That poor, pathetic creature..." Imoen whispered, staring as transfixed into the glass tank.

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

A wonderfully disturbing touch there Cel. But I like Minsc's actions and his initiative. Makes sense...

Minsc remembered the dwarves as well. They did not last long against his fury.

Beserker rage against a bunch of dwarves? Yeah. They're paste.

After eating some of the stew - it tasted as nasty as ever, but Ember knew it would give them the strength they sorely needed, and they were all hungry enough that it went down easily - they examined the room. "It's a dead end," Imoen said after they'd gone over every wall. "We can't get any further."

"Minsc and Boo will not go back to the cell! Never!" Minsc cried.

Don't blame him.

Ember sighed. "We'll just have to take our chances with that golem's guardian."

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

Nice way of dealing with the Otyguh.

"Now's our chance!" Ember hissed. Ignored by both the creature and the golem, they ran around the sewage drain towards a much smaller door on the far side of the chamber. Beyond it lay yet another narrow corridor, with a plain wooden door at the far end. They hurried towards the door, and opened it.

They stepped into a room that was different from anything else they'd seen in their prison. Thick, opulent carpets covered most of the polished wooden floor. Wallpaper adorned the walls. The furniture rivaled that of a ducal palace. A lush garden could be glimpsed through an archway of beautifully carved marble.

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

His inner sanctum, of course.

Good work... a rousing beginning to SOA

VH

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

But... but Scarlett Johnannson was just about to take top off and do a little dance, and... awwwwwwww...

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

I've always figured that Minsc was naturally bald... that he didn't just shave his head. Maybe his "head injury" had something to do with the fact that he doesn't have any hair on his head. The beard is understandable, though.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

Not to mention immeasurably cute.

Anywho, everyone's familiar with the opening dungeon, so not much to say here.

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

Don't wanna.

After a week of trying to combat jetlag in a town with midnight sun, I know all about that sentiment

Someone shook Ember's arm.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!"

Don't wanna!

Ember: Wake up? Not particularly. Get out? Oh hells yes.

Ember slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the pain in her head. Her memory was fuzzy; she could vaguely remember being struck by fire, then their captor talking with a golem about... intruders? Yes, that was it. He'd left to deal with them, and she had passed out.

Ahh... definitely on the list of bad bad mornings.

Or evenings, or whatever the time of day is.

Ember touched her side. Often, their captor would have someone heal her after the 'experiments', as he called them, but he had not done so today; her fingers touched raw flesh where the flames had burned her. Wincing, she called upon her healing gift. A brief surge of fire coursed through her, followed by a flash of blue light as new skin covered the wound. She struggled to her feet and felt herself start to black out; she had to lean on the metal bars of her cage for a moment until the dizziness passed. "I'll be all right. It hurts all over, though," she groaned.

Such a nice guy, Irenicus. So kind and caring towards his guests.

Irenicus: I do not understand this term 'guest'.

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

Minsc! With hair! Yeep.

Don't worry, he'll shave as soon as they're out of there.

"I tried to help," Minsc said mournfully, "but the bars were too strong to bend. Minsc broke the other cages and the dwarves, so they put me here. I tried to stop them from hurting you. Minsc tried..."

*grimaces* Poor Minsc.

At least he didn't watch as they killed one of them

(Incidentally, the reason I didn't break Minsc out berserker style is that I figure he'd have done that a long time ago if it'd been possible.)

"Boo!" Imoen exclaimed.

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

Yay! And no awkward comment about where he was hiding!

My Boo has an entire messy dungeon floor to hide on

"That he is! I'm glad he's still with you," Ember said. "Look, we'll go see if we can find a key for your cage, and then we'll come back and get you out of there. All right?"

Minsc nodded solemnly. "And if you don't find the key, you must come and take Boo away. He is too young to die in such a pit of stinking evil."

"We will find it," Imoen said.

Not leaving troopers behind.

No siree!

Three doors led out of the dank chamber they were in. The first door the girls tried led only to a small room with a magical portal that Imoen couldn't activate, but the second led to a storage room of sorts. There was a golem inside, telling them to go back to their cages, but it never moved or otherwise responded to them, not even when Ember and Imoen started ransacking the room around it. They came away with a pair of heavy staves, a few flasks of healing potion which they wrapped in cloth scraps, and an enchanted key which they hoped would work on Minsc's cell. A set of sharp knifes, some straight, some curved, some serrated, hung from a rack on the wall; neither of the girls were willing to touch them.

Nice touch.

Thanks

"As you will, master. I shall return to my rest." The golem's posture slumped slightly, and it spoke no more. Just like the previous one, it ignored them completely as they searched the room, finding a sword for Minsc on a weapons rack and a few more bottles of healing potion on a shelf.

Minsc is now ARMED!

Minsc: Evil, meet my sword. Sword, MEET EVIL!

"I... I know this room," Imoen stammered. "I've been in here... we both have. Those things, they used to be people..."

The creepiest part...

Which is why I kept it in the story.

The figure in the jar seemed to slump. "The master can take nothing more... I am forgotten. Too long... dead but not dead... alone. I seek... release..."

This is I think is one of the truly horrible parts of the Dungeon.

Absolutely. Goblins, crazy djinns, mephits? They're just xp.

None of the other people in jars were able to respond at all, and several of them were already dead. Minsc went methodically through the room, severing the hoses that connected each jar to the central tank, and then plunged his sword into the central tank itself. There was a crackling sound, and the glow vanished; the fluid that seeped out of the crack seemed almost like a milky kind of blood. Ember tried to not look at any of the jars as they left the room.

A wonderfully disturbing touch there Cel. But I like Minsc's actions and his initiative. Makes sense...

Thank you. Minsc is the strongest, the best armed, and in full blown 'protect witches and others that are trampled under the boots of evil' mode, while the girls are pretty shell-shocked. If anyone was going to go around smashing tanks, it'd be him.

Minsc remembered the dwarves as well. They did not last long against his fury.

Beserker rage against a bunch of dwarves? Yeah. They're paste.

As long as they're not stew, nobody in the party minds.

The three of them made their way back to the eyeless golem. Ember asked it to open the doors, and, in a moment of inspiration, she told it to feed the guardian as well. It immediately sprang into action and ran towards the heavy steel door, stopping only to pick up a pair of dead goblins, which it held tightly in one massive fist. Then, the golem pressed its free hand against the door. The door swung open with a soft click, and the golem ran up the narrow corridor behind it. Ember and her friends followed it to a chamber that reeked of sewage. Small streams of dirty water meandered across the floor, and a massive, filth-covered creature with tentacle limbs sat on a large drain in the middle of the room. The golem threw the dead goblins towards the creature, which pounced on them much like a dog chasing a bone.

Nice way of dealing with the Otyguh.

It is a method also known as 'I really don't wanna write a fight scene'

"What... what is this place?" Ember blurted out, staring in disbelief at the splendor.

His inner sanctum, of course.

Too bad he's not really capable of benefiting from it.

Good work... a rousing beginning to SOA

Thanks

"Wake up, you! Wake up!"

But... but Scarlett Johnannson was just about to take top off and do a little dance, and... awwwwwwww...

She's not my type

"Minsc!" Imoen cried out. At this close range, no amount of hair and beard could have disguised their friend's face.

I've always figured that Minsc was naturally bald... that he didn't just shave his head. Maybe his "head injury" had something to do with the fact that he doesn't have any hair on his head. The beard is understandable, though.

I was tempted to go with that, but a bald, bearded Minsc was giving me a mental image of Mr T

Minsc picked up the tiny hamster and held him in his palm. "Boo is clever, far too clever for the evil men to find!" he said proudly.

Not to mention immeasurably cute.

Oh, absolutely

Anywho, everyone's familiar with the opening dungeon, so not much to say here.

Personally, I can't wait to get done with it (so that I may continue on to being bewildered by how to make something cohesive out of chapter 2 of the game )