Chapter 7: Grim Reality

Setting out first thing in the morning, we marched upstream until we found a place to ford. It was only an hour’s walk, and Iona remembered the location, which I hoped she would when I rode past it the day before. Ultimately, the decision to travel northeast had been a good one. It now seemed unlikely that we would have missed the landslide, but it made the search easier.

“Goblins have passed through here.” Karin pointed to the now-familiar signs.

“Yes, you’ll soon find out why.”

Breaking through dense underbrush, we turned east, and even with our destination far off in the distance, the devastation caused by rockslide was hard to miss. Tons of soil, rock, and other debris had broken off from the top of the hill, leaving a wide trail of destruction.

Other than Iona acknowledging that she remembered where she was now, the rest of the journey was made in silence. With the broken terrain making travel difficult, we didn’t reach our destination until late afternoon.

As we helped one another climb the rocky slope, I pointed to a group of fallen trees. “Do you see the ropes?”

“Only three?” Iona asked. The missing adventuring party consisted of six members.

“Assuming they have more rope, I’m sure they decided to save the rest, in case they needed it later,” Leo explained, then called out to me as I continue to climb past the hole. “We’re not going to look?”

“Not yet. There is something I want to show you first.”

Our destination was an outcropping above the devastation. I had noticed a winding path on the eastern slope while searching for signs of Myra’s party. It soon brought us to a large opening protected by the overhanging rocks above.

“Oh, it’s another campsite!” my student shouted, scampering up the slope.

“Careful, Iona!” Karin quickly followed her niece.

Leo and I continued walking, watching the two in amusement. “How far does it go back, my lady?”

“There is a larger cave further in, but I didn’t go much past that.”

As the two of us reached the opening, Karin once again pointed to familiar markings adorning the walls. “These are goblyn caves.”

“Well, now we have an idea why they might have fled.” Leo stared at the devastation below. “They could have undermined the hill face.”

We took a quick look at the next chamber before returning. Although it was getting late in the day, everyone wanted to continue the search for Myra’s party.

Iona grabbed one of the ropes, before leaning over the precipice to get a better view of the darkness below. “That’s pretty deep.”

“Careful!” Karin called out, trailing a rope behind her. We had tied three more lines to one of the many trees caught in the landslide.

Iona sighed, “How far does it go down, Lady Eleanor?”

“Thirty feet or so,” I answered before tossing the end of one of the ropes into the opening. Part of the way was accessible without aid, but then it dropped straight down.

Karin nodded her approval, as Iona started to prepare her own decent. “Another cave?”

“Actually, no, something else.”

That caused everyone to stop. I had not discussed what I had found other than the location of the landslide. “Come on; you will find it interesting.”

Casting a Witch-light, which illuminated our way, I shifted my hold before starting my descent. “Take care; most of these rocks aren't too stable.”

I then disappeared into the darkness beyond.

“This isn’t a goblyn cave.” Karin mused, almost stumbling as she let go of her rope before moving out of the way for her husband.

And she was right. It wasn’t. We had dropped into a large cavern, but to our right stood what could only be called a castle wall with the top covered in crenulations.

“Looks more like a bailey to me,” Leo said in wonder, noticing a similar wall to our left and what appeared to be a gatehouse to our rear. What gave everyone pause, to our front stood a large building, which could only be described as a keep.
Although some cataclysm could have buried these structures, nothing was in disrepair. These were not ruins.

“Auntie, do you think this place is a living labyrinth? Like the one under Olicana?” wondered Iona.

“I…don’t know.” Karin looked to me, “Lady Eleanor, what do you think?”

This dungeon already appeared quite unusual, but something told me I was missing something important.

“Honestly, I am not familiar with the name, but I assume whatever magic is in that labyrinth is similar to this place?”

“By Andor’s beard, I hope not,” Leo swore.

Karin frowned at her husband then explained, “After Caltius landed with his legions on the beaches of Prydain, he built the great city of Olicana on the Sacred Hills above them. One of the imperial augurs had proclaimed that Hashan came to her in a dream revealing wondrous magics under those hills.”

“So did they find something wondrous?”

“Yes, my lady, scholars believed it to be an ancient holy site; however deep beneath its ruins, they discovered swamps, open fields, even a strange forest.”

We all grew silent as she continued her tale.

“The augur was correct mana stones in great numbers have been brought out, but every adventurer that has descended into its depths claims that the labyrinth is alive watching and waiting to kill you.”

“Lady Eleanor?”

Damn, “Yes, Iona, I’m familiar with that type of labyrinth.”

In Magic-Life, all dungeons had a bit sentience to them, and like the labyrinth under Olicana, they would do their best to try and kill you. And we had a novice adventurer in our party. Well, this wouldn’t be the first time.

Turning to my student, I made sure she understood by my look that this was not a suggestion, “You will stay behind me at all times Iona. If any of us tells you to run, you will run. Do you understand me?”

Nervously looking towards the keep, she nodded. “Yes, my lady.”

So living dungeons, it would have been nice to have known about them sooner. I was beginning to regret my half-assed knowledge about this world.

“Good, all right, let’s go.”

Manifesting Marwolaeth, I lead the party across the courtyard up a flight of stairs and through an archway. Inside we found a great hall with its walls higher than it was wide. Eight thick stone pillars stood in two lines to each side like some silent sentinels reaching up towards a domed 30-foot high ceiling. There were three different exits, another archway to the front and two smaller doorways to our left and right.

Iona quickly moved to my side, pointing to one of the grey stone pillars excitedly. “Look, Lady Eleanor, Myra’s adventurer’s mark!”

It could only be described as a large letter ‘M’ with an arrow drawn through its center.

Leo chuckled. “They haven’t decided on a group name yet.”

Although I hadn’t gone further into the dungeon, I did notice the mark the day before, so I knew that we were in the right place.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t indicate which door they took.” Karin pulled out a sheet of parchment and a stick of charcoal before passing it to her niece. While Iona mapped the room, we searched the exits.

“The one on the left is magically sealed,” I commented while studying the second doorway but found no additional enchantments.

Finished with her mapping, Iona cajoled, “Lady Eleanor, you should mark one of the pillars too.”

“I should?”

Karin shrugged, “It's sort of tradition.”

Adventure graffiti sure why not, placing my hand on the nearest pillar, I cast my Mage’s Sigil. Suddenly a bright red flame appeared, taking the appearance of a red dragon dancing along the grey stone surface trying to eat its own tail, and in the center, a white lily blossomed.

Sealing the second doorway, no need for something to come up behind us, we decided to search the corridor on the other side of the archway. After about fifteen feet, it ended at a T intersection. Thankfully, we discovered another adventurer’s mark pointing to the exit behind us.

“There’s a body, my lady. “ Leo pointed to his right, and indeed some twenty feet down the corridor lay a corpse.

Drawing closer, we could tell it had been dead for some time. Not that it was alive when it was slain a second time. The mummified remains lay there motionless with its right arm removed as well as its head and from the hole in its chest the heart core as well.

“One of Mania’s children,” Karin said, slipping into the back rank with Iona in the middle and Leo to my right

Looking into two more rooms, we concluded that Myra had taken this route after we discovered four more dismembered corpses. Further down the corridor, in a smaller room with shelves filled with beautiful white and black terracotta amphoras, we decided to take a short break.

After checking the room for magic, three of us took a spot on the floor. It would have been helpful if someone had the Delver skills, especially if we stumbled upon any mundane traps. Handy folks to have in your party if you run into a magical chest you cannot open either.

Our fourth member, however, happily danced about the room, looking through each container before pointing to one closer to the door. Most of the other jars were broken while several others lay on their side.

“This one filled with oil and that one’s filled with wine. At least that’s what it smells like.”

“Come, Iona, have something to eat.” Karin waved her over, “You need to be sure you take breaks and not tire yourself out.”

Nodding, she sat down, taking the water bag, from her aunt, who also passed her a small loaf of bread and a couple of lamb kebabs that had been sitting in my inventory.

We happily stuffed our faces before Iona queried, “So, how can the oil and wine still be good?”

Leo laughed, “You’re asking that while eating something that’s still warm after being pulled out of storage?”

Blushing, my student took a sip of watered wine and said, “Magic.”

“Magic.”

“I wonder how safe it is to spend the night down here,” Leo pondered while noisily licking his fingers.

Karin gave her husband a look before pointing to one of the broken amphoras I had filled with water before passing him a linen napkin.

I tried not to smile. “I can seal and ward a room easily enough, so it should be fine unless there are any objections.”

Afterward, Iona had gone back to playing with the amphoras while we finished cleaning up.

“Lady Eleanor?”

“Yes?”

With a grin, she started to shake one of the jars. The telltale signs of coins rattling around filled the air.

A little richer, our party continued on its search. I ended up placing several smaller amphoras in my inventory after Karin commented that many merchants would happily buy them from us. While I had no need for money, I’m sure the three of them did.

Down another hallway, blackened walls told us that someone, most likely Argus, had set a large portion of it on fire in the hope of killing almost a dozen basketball-sized spiders.

“There are more of them,” Leo murmured, pushing another crispy arachnid out of the way with his spear.

“Smells dreadful,” Iona complained while carefully marking our progress. “Do you think Myra came this way?”

Her uncle had been pleased with her diligence with the mapping of this dungeon. Once we returned, it would be copied and given to the Adventurers Guild. Unlike other fantasy games, Magic-Life did not offer a mini-map, even with Iona’s mapping skills, it would have been helpful right now.

“Well, it’s either this way or through the other door,” Karin replied from the rear of the party.

Earlier, we had discovered a barracks which had two exits. It was where we also planned to spend the night, if possible. The rope beds looked comfortable enough.

At the end of the passageway, we stepped into an empty library thick with cobwebs. I immediately noticed a light breeze coming from a darkened window. Casting a Flare spell through the opening, Witch-light’s brighter cousin, revealed a massive cavern beyond covered with webs and even larger spiders.

“No, this isn’t the way.” The missing adventurers might have climbed out of the window, but something told me they didn’t. At least I hoped not.

An Arcane Lance swatted one of the giant beasties that attempted crawl its way to us before we withdrew, leaving someone else to deal with the nest.

Reentering the barracks, we passed through the second doorway, which turned up an armory now only filled with empty armor and weapon racks. Finding nothing useful, I sealed both doors, and we happily settled in for the night.

After Iona fell asleep, the three of us spoke about living labyrinths. I learned that they weren’t common, at least not in the southern kingdoms. The only one known was in the Ingsmouth swamp sitting between the Principality of Aryn and the Kingdom of Cadeep.

As young adventurers, Leo and Karin had searched the upper levels of that dungeon until several new members convinced their party to challenge the lower depths. After one particular harrowing adventure, in which they lost a third of their number, Karin discovered she was pregnant. It was then they decided it was a time to retire.

“Twenty years ago, the Ingsmouth Labyrinth had just been discovered so any adventuring band could test their worth. Now the Adventurer’s Guild has strict guidelines who and who cannot enter.”

“Don’t forget the taxes.” Chirped Karin, who was off to the side of the room, digging through Iona’s bag.

Leo chuckled. “Hard to forget them, dear, then about ten years ago, the Kingdom of Cadeep tried to stop the selling of mana stones outside of Ingsgate.”

“Ingsgate?”

Karin sat back down after placing an extra blanket on her niece. “It’s a village, well a town now, near the entrance to the labyrinth.”

“So it’s ownership has been an issue.”

Leo nodded. “There had been several skirmishes over who had the right to collect taxes. After Cadeep’s proclamation, Aryn declared war. At times the fighting spilled over into the labyrinth.”

“We think that was the cause of our dear friends Katia and Nickolas disappearance. There were rumors of adventuring bands ambushing one another.” Karin sadly explained.

Leo reached over and patted his wife on the arm. “When healers started to complain about the scarcity of mana stones, old King Alfred and a few of the other monarchs interceded, forcing the Peace of Ingsmouth.”

Countries were the same, no matter the world. With a secure supply of mana stones, this dungeon would be a great boon to the Kingdom of Estassa, which apparently I had been living in for over a week, and Baroness Sabena, who owned the land. However, the chance of great wealth also brought its own troubles.

“So I take it that the Emperor was not willing to share the bounty found under Olicana during that time?

Iona’s aunt gave a very unladylike snort in response.

--0--

On our way back to the T intersection the next morning, we discovered something disturbing. Most of the corpses were missing. It seemed some of our headless friends had either de-spawned or walked away. The spiders thankfully were still dead. We were quick to check that before returning to the entrance.

“Uncle, this isn’t normal, is it?” Iona nervously drew closer to me.

“No.”

Looking to my rear, I questioned our Pathfinder, “Is this something you have seen in other living labyrinths?”

Karin didn’t answer but closed her eyes and nodded.

“So it’s either that or someone or something is controlling them.” I frowned before casting several protection spells on my companions.

“My lady?”

“Karin, the rings and Iona’s medallion should keep all of you safe, but undead attacks are not always physical. If we are also dealing with a necromancer, then additional magical protection is essential.”

Zombies and other lesser undead should not be a threat to this group unless they came in great numbers. I prayed to whichever gods were listening that we wouldn’t encounter an undead member of Myra’s adventuring party.

Continuing our search, we found several hallways blocked by stone and four more empty rooms. I could see the relief in Leo’s eyes when we came across another one of Myra’s marks. We didn’t believe that they entered the spider cavern, but it was good that we had confirmation.

Further down the corridor, we discovered a dining hall that could probably feed thirty people. There were also a number of exits. One lead to an empty kitchen while another to a large storage room. Except that instead of sacks of grain, we encountered three unhappy looking zombies.

I quickly dispatched the first two walking corpses, the third I didn’t have to lift a finger. Leo stabbed it with his spear, Karin put a couple of arrows into its chest, and Iona blasted the creature’s head clean off with a Mana Bolt. Later, I tossed the pieces into the fireplace at the end of the dining hall before setting them on fire. Good luck with raising those three.

“Do all castles look like this?” Iona asked as we sat around a large wooden table, taking a break.

Thinking back to my old gaming research, I made a slight face. “Sort of, but they tend to all have different layouts. This one is a little odd, which shouldn’t be too big of a surprise since we’re thirty feet underground.”

That brought a chuckle from the group. Their spirits had lifted considerably when we came across signs that Myra’s party had shared a meal at this very table.

I didn’t’ know what we expected to find beyond the dining hall, but it wasn’t a circular stairway going down. We proceeded cautiously.

About a third of the way down, the walls started to change. The castle’s interior had been light grey stone, the way forward dark red brick. After another thirty feet, the stairs ended at a large circular landing. A large iron door on the other side of the room was the only exit.

We only took a dozen steps into the long hallway beyond the iron door before it shut behind us with a loud clang. Turning around, we found this side of the doorway to be heavily scorched and blackened.

“Lady Eleanor,” Iona squeaked.

Studying the door for a moment, I shrugged, “It’s only magically locked.”

A low rumbling from further down the hallway made us turn. We felt it first, sounding like a truck’s engine or the guttural growl of a large best. Suddenly, two shadows in the shape of wolves stepped out of the darkness.

“Vargrs!” Leo shouted, readying his spear.

“Iona.” I calmly commanded, “Mana bolt the beast to your left if you would please.”

As the spell flew past my ear, the two wolves started their charge. The bolt seemed to damage the beast. “Excellent, a couple of Fire Darts next, please.”

The Fire Darts seemed to do a little better.

I knew Karin’s bow was heavily enchanted, so it didn't come as a surprise when three shafts of pure light, instead of solid arrows, sped past and slammed into the shadow wolf to the right, which checked its charge.

However, the two beasts would never reach our line as I immediately filled the hallway with lighting, leaving only hazy smoke and two heart stones, which bounced towards us.

“Waste of mana.” Oh well, bending over, I picked up the sparkly orbs before passing them to my confused looking student.

“But why?”

“Iona.” Her aunt admonished her. Her uncle only chuckled.

“What do you mean, Iona?” I smiled as she began to pout.

I was also pleased to see that Iona didn’t seem tired after casting two offensive spells in a row. I needed to get a better idea of the size of her mana pool before she learned anything else.

“Sorry, Lady Eleanor. Why didn’t you cast the lightning spell first?”

Good question, but Karin beat me to it. “She was gauging the Vargrs strength.”

“Correct, unfortunately, I wasted mana casting the Chain Lighting spell. From what I could see, your aunt’s next volley would have easily slain one of the wolves.”

Unfortunately, I had to look to Leo and Karin to figure out the difficulty of this dungeon. In my old game, sure, in this world, I needed to learn more.

After we started moving again, Iona inquired, “Lady Eleanor, have you fought those shadow wolves before?”

“Vargr no, but I have encountered grim, which are quite a bit larger and roam the moors of Mercia. Oh, you seem to have recognized these creatures, Leo.”

“Yes, my lady. They tend to haunt ruins and are quite common on the first floor of the Ingsmouth Labyrinth.”

I raised my hand for everyone to stop. We had reached the entrance to a large chamber at the end of the hallway. The remains of a half a dozen humanoids lie scattered about the floor. With no apparent exit, I didn’t like this one bit.

“Sweet merciful Dinya, it’s Argus!” Iona cried out in anguish.

The poor mage lay on his face at the back of the room with a large ax sticking out of his back. Thankfully, Leo grabbed her arm before she could rush to her friend because, at that moment, five of the armored corpses started to rise.

Karin was quick with her bow, sending shaft after shaft of light into the nearest creature. Leo followed up, blocking their path at spear point. I bisected one of the monsters, easily shearing through its ancient armor as it moved forward with a glowing longsword to attack our healer. After punching another one in the face, I helped Leo finish his opponent.

“Iona, stand back! “ Karin urged her niece. “These aren’t like the undead we faced earlier.” And she was right; these were wights.

The largest and more heavily armored among them casually reached down with its gauntlet pulling the ax out of the back of Myra’s former mage.

“Lady Eleanor, let us take care of these two! “ Karin called out, pushing Iona to the side, to fire point-blank into the wounded one.

Leo stepped into my position, shoving his spear forward, forcing it back. Although his continued attacks did little damage, the creatures could no longer advance. I needed to do something about Leo’s lack of magical weapons.

While the two fought their remaining opponents, Iona ignored it all, sending spell after spell at the one who had apparently murdered her friend. It didn’t seem to care.

As I approached, the wight looked up, giving me a malevolent glare. Like its ax, the creature’s aura was another terrible weapon. I knew what it was now, and I couldn’t let this monster pass.

Unlike the lesser wights, which Leo and his wife fought, this was a barrow wight. These monsters’ vicious attacks were deadly, draining the very life out of its victims. Unfortunately, we would also have to burn the corpse of poor Argus least he turned into one of these foul creatures.

Slamming my shoulder into its chest, I wouldn’t give it a chance to harm anyone else. While the barrow wight staggered back to crash against the wall, I summoned my spear Rhew then stepped forward, thrusting it through the monster’s body.

Giving me a hatred filled glare, it tried to attack me again, but it was already too late. I had over-cast an Immolation spell directly through my weapon.

As soon as the foul thing collapsed in a flaming heap, Iona rushed to the slain mage’s side sobbing.

After checking everyone for injuries, Karin sat with her distraught niece while Leo and I searched the room. Mana stones collected, usable items stored, we stacked the wight corpses, which I intended to burn, in the center of the room.

No one objected when I insisted that Leo take the enchanted longsword. The battle-ax was cursed. Even touching, it was a bad idea. Storing it directly into my inventory seemed the only option; hopefully, either the curse could be removed or the ax destroyed.

We were not done. Karin took Iona off to the side as we approached Argus. There would be no resurrection for the young man — no raise dead cast by one of my guild healers. The death penalty, annoying in-game, was permanent in this world. The idea that this was a game had finally been ruthlessly crushed. Strangely, it didn’t scare me but only reinforced my desire to make sure we all returned safely home.

However, we couldn’t just dump his body with the other corpses. After storing his personal belongings, we gently wrapped him in two blankets, sealing the top and bottom with a bit of rope.

“Take his staff, Iona. Argus would want you to use it,” Karin assured her niece.

While my student silently stared off in the distance, I couldn’t help but notice Leo and Karin’s concern for not just Iona but for what fate might have befallen the rest of Myra’s adventuring band.

--0—

Glossary:

Aggro - As a verb, it refers to a hostile mob that has noticed a player and is actively trying to attack that player. As a noun, it refers to the amount of "hostility" the player has generated on the mob.

Alt - or alternate character is a character in addition to one's "primary" or "Main" player character. In addition, one frequent use is to play characters of opposite gender or to see what new features have been added since they last were on a low-level character.

Bells: Most large communities have some way to keep time, useful for travelers, and tradesmen heading off to work. Usually the either the Town’s Hall or Healer’s Hall will ring a large bell. It's Midsummer, so the times below will change depending on the time of year and location-

First 2:30 a.m.
Second 3:40 a.m.
Third 7:00 a.m.
Forth 12:20 p.m.
Fifth 3:00 p.m.
Sixth 7:00 p.m.
Seventh 8:20 p.m.
Eighth 9:30 p.m.

Escort Missions – a job where you have to safeguard an NPC, without getting them killed. Now, this wouldn't be so bad, except that the NPCs are universally stupid, running ahead and getting killed in the process. Many players despise these types of jobs.

Death Penalty – In real life, death is well permanent. In MMORPG, not so much. Yet death in 99% of MMOs is a mere inconvenience and speed bump — you don’t lose experience, and you don’t lose much of your time.

Guilds - Semi-permanent player groups. In typical games, players must use a substantial amount of capital to start the guild.

Minimap - A mini-map or minimap is a miniature map that is often placed at a screen corner in video games to aid players in orienting themselves within the game world. They are usually only a small portion of the screen and thus must be selective in what details they display.

MMORPG - Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

Mob - An AI-controlled monster.

Noob- Newbie, newb, noob, or n00b is a slang term for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in a profession or activity. Variant forms of the noun include Newby and newbee, while the related term noob (often stylized as "n00b") is commonly used in online gaming.

Root - Can refer to a class of abilities as well as its effect. A root spell immobilizes a target. The target is then said to be rooted. Early versions of these abilities involved references to plants, hence "root."

Spawning - In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item, or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of a body from the game world.

Tank - A tank or also known as a meat shield, redirect enemy attacks or attention toward themselves to protect others. Typically the fighter tries to take as much aggro as possible away from weaker players such as healers and mages. Since they can often take a lot of damage, they are usually heavily armored and have lots of health.

Total party kill (TPK) “Rocks fall, everyone dies” or wipes - a situation in which every player character in a party dies. Factors include player inexperience, insufficient player characters, or encounters too difficult for the party's capabilities.

Horses in the Middle Ages:

The Destrier
The Destrier was the most expensive horse and were typically owned only by nobles and knights. Destriers were tall horses and were typically only used in battle. Trained to not only bite and kick on command but also to trample fallen enemies. Destriers were not common and, as a result, were highly sought after by knights.

The Palfrey
The palfrey was used for riding, traveling, and hunting as well as for ceremonies. Riding a palfrey was much more comfortable and was the favorite riding animal of noblewomen.

The Courser
Coursers were fast horses and had good endurance. They were often used by messengers as well as by people who needed to move quickly. Many knights who did not have access to a destrier, preferred to ride a courser into battle because it was fast, strong, and agile.

The Rouncey
The rouncey could be used as a pack animal or even on the farm. It could be trained for war or used as a riding horse and was often used by knights who could not afford any of the other horses. A knight would also provide rounceys to his squires and other men at arms.