Rune Seeker

“Yup, definitely a trap,” Nivian said a few short minutes later as the group rounded the corner on the second level of the keep, secret doors opening ahead and behind them.

Dozens of Troblins flooded out, green eyes glowing and weighted clubs waving over their heads.

“That’s a lot of Troblins,” Vix said, tapping Right on the arm. The two of them took up the defensive line at the back of the group.

“No green bands of energy around their arms or legs, so no buffs,” Hiral said. “And is it just me, or are they smaller?”

“Doesn’t change the fact it’s still a lot of them,” Vix emphasized. “Here they come!”

“Bet you wish you had your sword now,” Left said. The Dagger of Sath appeared in his hand, and he moved up with Yanily to work beside Nivian.

“Keep moving forward,” Seena ordered while gathering solar energy.

The first wave of Troblins crashed into them from both sides. Hiral moved back to support Vix and Right, though he didn’t draw Yanily’s knife yet, despite Left’s snarky comment. Instead, he hit the central Troblin with a burst from his Rune of Rejection, sending it staggering back into the others behind it, which gave the pugilists an opening to lash out. Two Troblins fell to two punches, their heads practically exploding like watermelons from the blows, and Right and Vix jumped back as if expecting some kind of trick.

“They’re soft,” Yanily shouted from the front. “Like normal, not-in-a-dungeon Troblins.”

“So you keep saying,” Right said from beside him.

“I think it’s a very pertinent point,” Vix said, tearing out a Troblin’s throat with the blade on the back of his heel as he hit it with a spinning kick, then seamlessly flowing into an elbow-and-knee combo to drop the next. “Even if they are really soft.”

“What does soft even mean?” Right said, dropping one, then two Troblins in quick succession with punches of his own.

“Don’t they kind of feel like hitting rotten fruit?” Vix asked, bringing his fists together on both sides of a Troblin head. A head which promptly geysered blood and gore straight up. “See?”

“Just yuck, guys,” Hiral said, shifting to his left and tossing out another wave from his rune. Three Troblins tumbled back, tangling with twice as many more, and even knocking one over the low crenellation.

“Right, Vix, Hiral, fall back!” Seena shouted.

All three leapt toward the Grower party as a wall of Spearing Roots burst out of the floor and into the lead line of Troblins. Green blood ran down the five-foot-tall, porcupine-like wall, more Troblins throwing themselves at the spikes despite the danger.

“That’ll hold them for a minute or two at least,” Seena said. “Help Nivian and the others punch through the ones in the front. We need to get to that door.”

“You got it, boss,” Vix said. He only needed two quick steps, then he vaulted over the tank to lay into the surprised Troblins all around him.

“If you even think of tossing me with your rune…” Right threatened, and Hiral held up his hands to try and calm his own double.

“Didn’t even cross my mind,” Hiral lied.

“I know when you’re lying—you realize that, don’t you?” Right asked, but then he joined Vix and the other damage dealers to push through the throng of Troblins.

“I don’t think they’re Elites,” Nivian said, his whip snapping back and forth to keep the focus on him.

“Still takes a hit or two to put them down, though,” Wule said. “At this rate, we won’t get through to the door before the ones in the back catch us.”

“So? They’re like a free, all-you-can-eat experience buffet,” Yanily said. “And I’m ready for seconds! Wooooo!”

Yanily’s spear lashed out over and over as he slowly advanced. Still, for every Troblin taking a fatal wound, there were two more rushing out of another secret door further back.

“We’re going to get overwhelmed,” Seena said. “Hiral, can you do something about the press?”

“I don’t think I can do anything permanent, but I might be able to get us some room to make a run for the door,” he said.

“That’s exactly what I’m looking for,” Seena said, then shouted, “When Hiral makes a hole for us, get to that door.”

“One hole coming up,” Hiral said, the energy already gathering in his rune.

Yellow light poured out of his arm as he filled it with more power than he ever had, and at the point it began to actually hurt, he stepped up beside Nivian and thrust his hand out.

The shockwave rolled out in an instant, tossing every Troblin within a thirty-foot cone to the ground and opening a narrow gap through the mass.

“Go, go, go,” Nivian shouted, leading the charge with the rest of the party behind him, everybody taking pot shots at the prone Troblins as they went. Even the Lashing Vines werehaving a field day.

Green blood painted the wall and floor as the group moved. Hiral tossed another wave of Rejection as they progressed, and then they were in front of the only obvious door, the mass of Troblins behind them.

“Figure out the door,” Seena ordered, releasing the solar energy she’d been gathering into another wall of Spearing Roots.

Judging by the Troblins literally crawling over the corpses of their allies back at the first wall, this one would only slow them for a minute or two at most.

We need to get inside.

“Yanily, Nivian, do what you can to stop them from getting over the wall,” she went on, and the tank and spearman moved into position to strike between the spikes.

“What about me?” Hiral asked. “My rune could push them back off…”

“You have the highest attunement; take a look to see if you can figure out a way through the door,” Seena instructed.

“Left, help me out,” Hiral said, going over to where the large doors were. “What do you think it could be? A secret switch? A lock? Maybe a pressure panel or a crystal…” He ran his hands along the wall, peering at the floor in front of the doors.

The open doors.

“Huh?” he asked, looking at where Left had one hand on each door and had pushed them apart. “How? Where was the switch?”

“It wasn’t locked,” Left said. He threw the doors wide open, then walked in. “Looks like we can brace it from the inside, though. Everybody in!”

“Wow, you got it open that fast?” Seena asked. “I’m impressed. Let’s go, guys.”

“Uh… well… you know,” Hiral said before following Seena.

Nivian and Yanily were the last ones in, their weapons coated with green blood, and then Right and Left pushed the doors closed.

“There’s wood there to use as a brace,” Left said, pointing off to the side at something more akin to a log than a piece of wood.

“I’ll get it,” Nivian said as something slammed into the door from the outside.

“Hurry it up,” Left and Right both said at the same time, leaning into the door. “They’re not strong, but…” Both heads turned toward Vix.

“…there’s a lot of them…” Vix said flatly.

“This should hold them,” Nivian said, sliding the four-foot length of wood into the braces built into the door. As soon as it was secure, the three stepped back from the door, which barely moved as the Troblins outside pounded on it.

“I wonder why it wasn’t already locked. How would we have gotten in?” Wule asked.

“Gotten in… to where… exactly? What is this place?” Yanily asked, looking at the dark hallway leading further into the building. “Are those stairs?”

“Maybe? I can’t see a thing,” Seena said.

“There’s a torch… I think… on the wall here,” Wule said, moving in the direction in which he’d pointed. He jumped back as something on the wall burst alight in purple flame.

“What…?” Nivian said, but more points erupted in purple flame in two lines.

The first went around the room they were in, a dozen torches coming to life, and then both lines ran along opposite sides of the hallway leading down the stairs.

“Pretty sure that’s not normal,” Vix said.

“Has anything here really been normal?” Hiral asked. “It doesn’t go too far… I guess that’s the first floor at the bottom there.”

“We’re not going to be able to regenerate solar energy in here,” Seena said, the pounding continuing at the door. “And I don’t want to trust that to stop all those Troblins from getting in. We’ve got no choice but to go forward. Don’t be surprised if something ambushes us on the way down.”

“Rebuff?” Wule asked. “Less than half the duration left on both buffs.”

“Good idea,” Seena said.

A pulse of energy blossomed out from her a second later, and the timer refreshed on Lashing Vines. Wule followed it up at the same time with Nature’s Blade, and then Seena pointed at the stairs, tapping the tank on the shoulder.

“Nivian, you’re up.”

“Got it, boss,” Nivian said, starting down the stairs. “Keep your eyes peeled. Who knows where they’re going to jump out of this time.”

“Even if they do, they’re not going to have an easier time fighting on these stairs than we are,” Right said. “Maybe even worse with their lower dexterity.”

He’s right. Sure, they might get the drop on us, but we’ve definitely got the stat advantage. But… what if there aren’t secret doors? What if it’s something else? Oh…

“Guys, it’s a traaaaaa…”

Hiral’s words trailed off as the stairs beneath his feet angled down—all of them—and suddenly, the whole group was sliding recklessly down a steep ramp, a line of spears rising out of the floor at the bottom. With no time to really consider what he was doing, Hiral slammed his right hand down on the surprisingly slick wood and thought of the party. Then, with their images firmly in mind, he pushed the power from his Rune of Rejection into the ramp beneath his fingertips.

Seena screamed, along with several others—none of them very manly—and the whole group popped off the floor just in time to go sailing over the line of spears.

A quick succession of thumps sounded, and then Hiral also hit the floor, his momentum sliding him along the grainy wood. The impact, really, hadn’t been that bad, and he was already pushing himself to his feet along with the others.

“I take it you did something?” Seena asked him, but that was all she had time for.

Purple torches burst to life and spread along the walls, lighting up the hundred-foot square room. In the middle, another ring of torches burst to life, and the largest Troblin Hiral had ever seen—or even imagined—got to his feet.

The thing wasn’t much taller than the Butcher—maybe eight feet to its seven—but where the Butcher was emaciated and wiry, this thing was a hulking monster. With arms almost as big as Hiral’s chest, muscles so massive and rippling, they cracked the bark-like skin covering them, legs like tree trunks, and shoulders that looked like they could carry the entire keep, this Troblin redefined the word monster.

“This… my… keep…” the Troblin breathed, the words sounding strange coming from its lipless mouth. “Me… duke… You… dead.”

Dynamic Quest

You’ve been accused of trespassing and selfishly evading the Slide and Spear trap.

Defeat the Eloquent Duke of Splitfang Keep to clear the dungeon.

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