Nameless: Notaku

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

"So, Drisana didn't make it huh?" said Notaku with disappointment after Nessa introduced him to her new party.

"Sorry Notaku. Tell us what happened here, what became of the Wizard King? Did anyone from our rebellion survive?" asked Nessa.

Notaku sighed. "Some cult from abroad arrived, Shadowstar they called themselves, and they ... assisted in the regime change. Rumor is someone caught Tectuk napping and made him into a pincushion of arrows. Those that join the cult are rewarded with riches and power. That's pretty much anyone who actually owns property in this city. Those that oppose are hunted down and killed. Everyone else is just fighting for scraps. All up it's the same as before, only now we are under the foot of a hydra instead of a dragon."

"Do you recognize this symbol," interrupted Florin as he held up the bloodied cloth.

Eyes wide with shock, Notaku immediately pushed his hand back down. "Don't go waving that around," he whispered angrily while trying to maintain a facade of normality. "This is a sigil of the new rebellion," he continued. "Some folk don't like the new order that's taken over after Tectuk was assassinated."

"Where can we find these 'folk'?" asked Buster bluntly.

"Underground in what is now called the 'Sorrows'. There are entrances to it via the many sewer ways around town - the closest being just there," said Notaku as he pointed the way with his chin. "Look for Arslan. Short, angry, bearded guy. Can't miss him."

With a nod of thanks, Florin and the others began heading off. Nessa lingered for a moment longer and asked him "After our rebellion... did Chaya make it?"

Notaku opened his mouth but stopped himself saying how the Wizard King had captured the blond warrior and subsequently used her as a public plaything for his army for weeks until her torturous death. "No," he ultimately said, deciding to omit all the details. Nessa nodded and left to catch up with the rest of the group.

Nameless: The Best Defense

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Only the dual scimitar wielder and one death knight remained. With a combined attack, Nessa and Drisana managed to pierce through the skeleton's defenses, staggering it back. At the same time Tabitha, now having lost her helmet and one eye to the scimitar master found an opening to begin her own offensive.

The robed man danced back immediately, making her waste precious energy swinging her great sword at nothing but air. Rex had now flanked him and roared with rage as he charged in with his axe. The robed man gave his undead companion a quick sidewards glance and the two suddenly changed tactics.

The death knight spun around in a great arc with his jagged blade, cleaving through both of Rex's raised arms in the process, followed with a stab through his throat. At the same time, the scimitar wielder spun underneath and across, attacking both Nessa and Drisana with his curved swords, managing to wound Drisana's left leg with his initial attack.

It only got worse for her when he managed to kick Nessa away and focus all his attacks on wounded ex-caravan mistress. Unable to dodge she attempted to parry instead but soon learned that was a bad idea as her fingers got chopped off, followed by an ear, a hand, her other leg and ultimately her head. Focused as he was on Drisana, the scimitar wielder turned too late as Tabitha's great sword bore down on his head cleaving right through him from top to bottom.

Nessa took a moment as she watched Drisana die before turning to face the death knight advancing towards her. In a rage she leaped up at him, letting the undead warrior parry her blade as it left him open to her main attack: smashing her shield into its face. The blow knocked it to the ground, and after kicking away its weapon and standing on its arms, she then used both hands to continue smashing its face with the edge of her shield until its face was nothing more than dust.

Nameless: Cathedral Showdown

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The dark spirit let out a haunting moan as Father Tom banished it from the world. Behind him Rex was still brutalizing a corpse of some woodland shambler with his axe while the girls were wiping blood away from their own weapons as they stepped over the bodies of their defeated foes.

Reaching the cathedral was easier than expected as for some reason the nearby streets were deserted of monsters. Drisana guessed they had all chased another adventuring party somewhere. Now, inside the once blessed halls, they slowly worked their way up the structure. Despite the monsters lurking inside, things were progressing smoothly until they reached one of the main offices, a final hurdle to block their way from the stairs up to the bell tower.

There stood two heavily armed skeletal knights, each with a flaming skeletal hound waiting patiently beside them. In the center stood a robed man holding a pair of scimitars that looked every bit as wicked as the smile on his face. Without a word the knights drew their swords and the hounds sprang into a charge.

Nessa and Rex intercepted the dogs, easily dispatching them but both were caught off guard by the speed at which the death knights followed - leaving both open to their heavy, jagged swords. Drisana quickly parried the blade falling on Nessa and Tabitha moved to do the same for Rex - only to have her own blade blocked by the scimitar wielder who followed up with a flurry of blows that Tabitha was hard pressed to deflect.

Helpless, Rex's eyes widened as certain doom fell upon him but at the last minute another figure stepped in the way. Even the death knight looked surprised as his blade cut into Father Tom's shoulder. With blood seeping out of his mouth the old priest grabbed on tight to the skeletal arm, preventing the undead creature from retrieving its sword just long enough for Rex to cleave through its skull with his axe.

The undead knight collapsed to the floor, with Father Tom's lifeless body falling on top of it.

Nameless: Group Two

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The long sloped roof of the Mages Guild may have let Nessa and Drisana decrease the distance of the drop back to street level, but it was the conveniently located water wheel that was powered by the nearby stream which ran along the back of the structure that let them descend safely.

The girls silently agreed that staying in the open was a bad idea and quickly moved back into the cover of the ruined town, putting as much distance as they could between them and the building they just escaped from while keeping a low profile as to not attract the attention of the trolls or winged lions still patrolling the area.

Turning around a bend they suddenly ran into three armed humans whose tattered robes and damaged armor were also covered in blood and gore. The woman in scale mail with the two handed sword was clearly the leader as she was flanked by a barbaric, dim witted looking fellow on one side and a timid, middle aged priest on the other.

After the brief moment of surprise, Drisana found her voice and whispered "We're what's left of group eight." The knight looked over them briefly and nodded. "We are group two; you're with us now. I'm Tabitha, the surly one is Rex and this..."

"This is not a good time for introductions," interrupted the priest in a loud whisper.

Tabitha sighed. "This is Father Tom's first outing," she explained slowly - much to his annoyance. "I assume it was you who destroyed the summoning gem atop the Mages Guild?"

The girls nodded, puzzled how Tabitha would know about the gem. Seeing this, she explained "We helped take care of the one at the barracks. It's just the one at the cathedral left."

"Then let's finish this," muttered Nessa grimly.

With a curt nod, Tabitha signalled the team into single file as she took point and began the run towards the old Dranner cathedral on the hill.

Nameless: Bloody Gems

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

"What is that?" asked Nessa as the team cautiously approached the huge green gem that, apart from radiating a blinding light was slowly rotating in mid air. The climb to the top of the Mages Guild had been tiring but mostly uneventful. Now they found themselves in what would classify as a large attic, full of miscellaneous items covered in blankets and tarps.

Kiefer, bringing up the rear with his injured leg, replied "It's probably what's calling all the monsters here." Signalling everyone else to stand back, Maeve stepped forward with her newly acquired staff and using its imbued magic, easily shattered the magical beacon that was spinning before them.

"That was easy," she said with a smirk - not realizing the large tarp beside her had begun to move. Before anyone could yell a warning a large stone hand shot forth and grabbed Maeve by the face, easily lifting the hapless woman off her feet. As the tarp fell, the golem became clearly visible and a wave of terror washed across Drisana, Nessa and Kiefer. It was exactly like the ones they had found in the depths beneath the city of Deepwater.

The construct took advantage of their flat footed-ness and charged with unexpected speed, catching the already limping Kiefer with its other huge stoney hand, and then slamming his two captives together face first resulting in a shower of brains and blood. It then turned its attention to the quivering Nessa, still frozen by fear.

Lucky for her, Drisana had managed to force her body to move and had already flanked the stone man without it noticing. With a well aimed thrust, she pierced through the small panel and shattered the small, magical gem powering the construct in a single blow. The statue unceremoniously collapsed to the ground - lifeless. It was then she noticed a number of the other tarps began to move - more golems!

"Nessa, we need to get out of here!" she yelled at her comrade - vigorously shaking her by the arm. Blinking away the fear, Nessa regained her senses and with a quick scan of the room sprinted towards the closest window - breaking through the stained glass shield first with Drisana following close behind.

Nameless: Not Welcome

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

As the pounding on the barricaded doors subsided, Nessa, Kiefer, Maeve and Drisana collapsed to the floor exhausted from exertion. At least the beasts outside had seemingly lost interest in them, but each of them knew they were far from being safe. That's when they heard the tapping, a sound of wood upon stone from further inside the building.

From a darkened hallway emerged an old man with a gaunt, weathered and bearded face. He slowed to a halt when he saw the adventurers who were forcing themselves back to their feet and leant heavily on his gnarled staff with a look of utter contempt on his face.

With a sudden thrust he pointed the tip of the staff at them which shot out a thin, blinding ray of light - the same magic that killed Buggie just minutes before. Kiefer was fast enough to push Maeve out of the way of the immolating beam as it exploded through the barricade and the door, opening the portal once more to all the horrors outside.

Not willing to let the wizard fire another spell, Drisana immediately threw a knife at the old man but with a simple gesture the blade was magically deflected and found itself in Kiefer's left thigh. At the same time Maeve threw a projectile of her own, a small flask that fell short of the old man - spewing forth a thick mist as soon as it cracked open against the stone floor.

The sudden drop in visibility was the only opening Nessa needed to sprint into the hall and run the wizard through with her blade. As if on queue the mist began to dissipate as quickly as it formed, letting her team mates regroup on her position as she kicked the dead wizard off her sword. With just an exchange of nods, the team progressed deeper into the structure - with Maeve having taken the fallen wizard's staff as her own.

Nameless: The Mages Guild

[Day 32!? of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Kiefer knew they'd have to get out of there quick, before all the other creatures lurking in the dark descended upon them so with one deft movement he threw a small pouch from his belt right into the trolls blocking their path. The small satchel exploded with a soft "boomf", successfully blinding both creatures momentarily with the magical powder. "Go!" Kiefer ordered as he led the others past the wildly swinging monsters who somehow failed to claw anyone but each other. Their loud roars would definitely call more creatures to the area.

"Buggie, of those places that had the lights - which is the closest?" asked Drisana to the boy clinging to her arm.

"The mages guild," replied Buggie, thrusting a free arm out to point the way.

With loud footsteps and unidentifiable howls growing nearer there was no sneaking to be had now, so team ran towards the direction Buggie pointed - adjusting as needed when they found paths blocked with either collapsed buildings or by hideous beasts. As they turned the last corner Nessa could finally see the mages guild ahead of them, across a small park. It was then that she also noticed dark shapes from the sky descending upon them.

Without time for warning she beheaded the first winged lion and rolling under the second one, ran her blade along the length of its belly, disemboweling it. It was a sprint now across the park, with even more winged lions coming at the team from all directions. For the most part their straight dive-bomb attacks were easy to evade but Delmair, already lagging behind everyone else was caught by surprise as another troll stepped forward from behind a nearby tree. Despite managing to put an arrow into its left eye, he was unable to escape from the monster's long reach as it easily picked him up with one hand and chewed his head off. At the same time a thin beam of light shot forth from a high window atop of the mages guild. While the adventurers were fast enough to react to the deadly magic, Buggie was not - running directly into it and emerging on the side immolated in flames, screaming as he burned alive.

Unable to do anything for them, Kiefer continued urging everyone else forward rushing out of the park and right into the surprisingly open double doors of the mages guild. Working quickly, they closed and barricaded the door with the nearby bookshelves and tables before pushing against it themselves, using every ounce of their strength and will to prevent their angry and hungry pursuers from breaking in. The door shuddered with each loud bang as the monsters began ramming themselves against it for what seemed an eternity.

Nameless: Dranner

[Day 31 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Finally, with Maeve on the point of exhaustion from expending her magic, the team cleared the mist covered forest and found themselves in what was left of the town of Dranner. Most buildings had been extensively damaged, with some reduced to piles of rubble. Strange shapes moved across distant intersections and inhuman calls and bellows filled the night air. Kiefer preferred not to run into any of these things by surprise and opted to keep the team moving stealthily through the shadows. Delmair, who was recovering quickly from his run in with the spirits, stopped Kiefer suddenly as they walked passed another run down hovel.

"There's someone in there," he whispered without taking his eyes off what he was looking at. It took Drisana's eyes a little while to adjust before also seeing the scared little face hiding beneath some rocks. Realizing he was seen, the face vanished deeper into the house - though it didn't look like there was much more of it to run into. Quietly, Kiefer signalled the rest to moved in to investigate while he and Delmair watched the door. Maeve decided to risk a faint light spell so they could better see who they were after: a frightened little boy, whose face was covered in soot. 

"Easy there," said Drisana calmly. "We're not going to hurt you. What's your name?"

"Buggie," said the child after a short moment of hesitation. "It's what my friends called me since I collected bugs."

"What happened here?" asked Nessa, without the slightest hint of compassion in her voice. Drisana gave her a disapproving look.

"Strange visitors came," Buggie said quietly. "They gave the Mayor a heavy bag, asked for a tour of the town. Later these three lights appeared - one on top of the mages guild tower, one at a lookout at the town barracks, and one at the highest bell of the cathedral. Soon after the monsters came. They began eating everyone... and..."

Buggie's voice choked as he began to sob uncontrollably.

"Did those visitors wear robes with a shaded star symbol on it?" asked Nessa to which Buggie nodded, confirming that these strangers were at least dressed like Shadowstar cultists.

"It's alright now," Drisana said as she hugged the little boy.

"Uh, not quite," said Kiefer as he and Delmair backed into the room. Towering ahead of them were two large, green humanoid with warty skin, frizzy, filthy hair, and angular yellow teeth. Trolls.

Nameless: Cold Touch

[Day 30 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Florin's plan involved the thirty odd troops separating into eight smaller groups to approach the city of Dranner from all directions in hopes that this would increase their odds of catching the enemy unprepared. While Drisana questioned the logic in this, at least she was still grouped up with Nessa and Kiefer. Their fourth member, a tall and pale woman named Maeve seemed inappropriately dressed for such a venture wearing simple red garments that matched her hair but there was no point in arguing attire now. Their team, "Group Eight" was to approach the city from the farthest side, which cost them even more travel time as they rode for most of the day to their instructed position.

Finally, at dusk did they begin pushing forward into the Dranner forest but since it was so overgrown they had to dismount their horses and continue on foot. As a cold mist began to settle around them Drisana felt uneasy as they pushed deeper, especially as the horses began to fight violently against their leads. Unable to calm them, Kiefer instructed the team to unsaddle them instead at let them go. After all, he had recharged his teleporting amulet if anything goes wrong. Drisana certainly felt remorse about using hers as part of the fare to travel across the sea at that point but quickly put the thought from her mind as ghostly faces began appearing in the fog.

Clearly she wasn't the only one seeing it as Nessa began hacking at the air, her blade finding nothing solid to make contact with. Suddenly a shimmering blue light emanated from behind them, pushing back the fog. It was Maeve, holding up what looked like a short wand that she had kept hidden in a sleeve. "Keep going," she urged and with her magic protecting them they managed to navigate the forest quicker, as if even the trees and branches were moving out of their path.

Eventually they stumbled across a clearing with four other bodies, one of whom was rocking back and forth in a fetal position. Nessa checked the other people first and found that each once was dead and ice cold to the touch. "You there," Kiefer called out to the fourth man. Hearing his voice, the blonde man stopped his motion and slowly raised his head - a clear look of relief on his face.

"Who are you?" Drisana asked as she quickly threw her thick cloak on the shivering survivor.

"I... I am Delmair... l..last m...member of group s...six."

"It's the spirits," explained Maeve to her other companions. "The faces in the mist. If they get their cold arms around you it's not long before you join them."

"You're with us now Delmair," said Kiefer as he knelt beside the man. "We still have a mission to complete."

Nameless: Florin

[Day 28 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

A few weeks after their foray into the sewers, Drisana and Nessa were once again summoned to the Peacekeeper's office. The last time they had been there was when they received their reward stipend for alerting the Peacekeepers to the danger beneath the city. A large force of them along members of other units, guilds and mercenaries were assembled and raided the underground to cleanse it of all evil, and most probably treasure, but the girls decided to sit it out - having had enough bloodshed and enough gold to get by comfortably, for a while anyway. Curious as to what more the Peacekeepers wanted with them, they hesitantly returned to the main headquarters in the city square. A familiar face opened the door for them as they arrived.

"Nice to see you survived," Drisana said to Buster, his once mangled arm now in a cast. The bald man smiled as he ushered them in. Kiefer appeared beside him from a side door and gave them both a quick bow. "Did you miss me ladies?" he asked with a smirk.

"In your dreams, Kiefer. Why are we here?" asked Nessa, once again getting right to the point.

"Because I summoned you," replied another man further in with long, black hair. He stood an entire head taller than Kiefer and judging from his uniform was of much higher rank. "I am Commander Florin. Please take a seat."

After they all got settled, the commander continued. "While the threat to our city has been removed, it seems the plans of the Shadowstar cult extended farther - including our neighbouring city of Dranner. My scouts have reported that the entire city has been over run by horrible creatures, seemingly being drawn there by some malevolent power. We need to find whatever is controlling these beasts and put an end to it now, before there are too many to contend with."

"You want us to go there..." began Drisana.

"Yes! By all accounts the two of you have the most experience in fighting the cult so far and I would like all the expertise I can muster to keep my troops safe. Do you know how many men died cleaning out the ruins below? Only a third of the entire expedition made it back, and half of those are going back in to defend the yet unexplored deep roads that connect to the underground ruin. Quite frankly we are short on time and man power. The two of you helped save this city once, I am simply asking that you do it again while there is a city still left to save. If money is what you care about then I can assure you it will be worth your while."

Drisana looked at Nessa who also was thinking it over.

Finally, Nessa whispered to her. "It's what Nerith would have done."

Drisana sighed. "Fine, we're in."

The commander smiled. "Excellent. Prepare yourselves and rest well. We will move out at first light."

Nameless: Belief

[Day 27 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Pale and tense from the sight of the giant's face, Nessa managed to relax when Drisana put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and realized that she was looking at a statue. A whole row of large stone statues that, while not as large as the giant himself, all bore his exact, crazed visage. Nessa breathed a sigh of relief and hoped none of her allies realized the warm trickle down her leg was not perspiration. Fortunately they were all examining the odd stone work.

"These look like something we ran into at Shadowstar," spoke Drisana as she advanced carefully.

"Looks like they were put here recently too," muttered Kiefer as he ran a finger along the edge of the stone. "There's not as much dust on them."

"Golems," spat Hortag as he found a small panel hiding a magical gem. "Best we destroy them now while they lie dormant."

Kiefer needed no further prompting as he and the rest of his team began pulling out the magical stones. Nessa watched from outside as Drisana also began to help them. That's when movement at the edge of her vision caught her attention. A floating orb of eyes and teeth had turned the corner and was coming straight for her! Without hesitation, Nessa dove forward into the statue warehouse just as a blazing beam scorched the area she was just standing in.

Seeing this, Hortag, Dorhum and Buster quickly stacked up on the side of the door while Kiefer and Drisana pulled Nessa behind one of the statues. Before Nessa could speak any warning the monster had reached the door and blew apart the statue next to them with another blast. Taking this as his cue, Buster charged around the corner with his heavy mace but as he swung the floating creature took the initiative and caught his arm in its sharp teeth then spinning around like a top, released the poor fellow into another statue, sending a whole row of them toppling over.

Hortag and Dorhum charged it next and while the older man used his pike to prod the monster's mouth, Dorhum rolled underneath it and spun around with all his might - hacking right into his enemy with his battle axe. Having never encountered such a beast before they didn't realize the repercussions of such an act as the spherical creature popped into a misty green poisonous cloud. Kiefer had stood up to run to their rescue but Drisana held him back firmly as there was nothing more he could do other than watch his two subordinates cough, vomit and defacate uncontrollably before finally collapsing into steaming melted puddles of flesh on the ground.

A sudden blast from the other side of the statues betrayed the presence of another eye beast, but this one was popped easily as Nessa threw a sword cleanly into its center. Unwilling to risk encountering more of these Kiefer quickly regrouped the team atop the conscious Buster, and pulling out a magical medallion which looked very similar to one the girls had seen before, concentrated and in an instant all four of them were back at Kiefer's office in the city.

"Get him to the healers," ordered Kiefer as he began to run for the door. "I need to alert my commander!"

"At least he believes us now," muttered Nessa as he left.

Nameless: Deeper

[Day 26 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

As they followed the eight legged creature, the tunnels became even more dense with thick webbing to the point that each member of the party had to take great care where they passed or be caught by the sticky strands and worse, possibly summon more spiders. Eventually, Drisana found what she was looking for. A large section of floor from the tunnel had collapsed into a lower level that seemed to be hewn from stone. They gingerly climbed down one at a time and from their faces Drisana could see that even Kiefer's team had never seen this forgotten ruin before. It was then she had the feeling that she was being watched.

Glowing red eyes peered from the dark. There was more than one spider. The team barely had time to prepare as the gigantic insects attacked, with their venomous bites. Fortunately this meant they had to stoop down and put their faces right where the adventurers could stab them. While Drisana and Nessa managed to slay one together, Kiefer and his entire team proved that they weren't just some inexperienced chumps, managing to slay one each. The remaining spiders must have decided they were too dangerous and retreated into the darkness where they would hold the advantage. Kiefer wasn't stupid enough to give chase, instead opting to push on into the ruins where slowly the tangle of webs gave way to moss coated corridors.

A familiar clicking noise alerted the girls right away as they shepherded the team behind the nearest corner. Carefully peering around they were surprised to see not giant ants but man sized mantises patrolling the passages up ahead. They also were brandishing what seemed to be crude bone weapons. Not willing to alert these creatures to their presence, Kiefer signaled the team to go around another way with less moss, finding another set of stairs going down.

This section of the ruin seemed abandoned entirely, which was a good change of pace as it let them relax somewhat.Knowing that they were getting fatigued, Kiefer signaled them to stop and got Buster to help him try open one of the ancient doors nearby in hopes of finding a secure place to rest. As the doors rumbled open Nessa tossed a torch in and saw a terrifyingly familiar, huge bearded face with crazed eyes: the giant that devoured Sharon at the Temple of Shadowstar.

Nameless: The Rats Nest

[Day 25 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

"The Rats Nest" was aptly named thought Nessa as she kicked away yet another giant rat in the winding maze of sewer tunnels. Other strange humanoids lived here too, but they were easily fought back or simply bypassed as they slept. According to Kiefer there was another group who handled population control but even they failed to kill all the prey down here. Nessa just figured they were sloppy hunters, but she kept that to herself.

Drisana had told Kiefer early on that whatever they were looking for would probably be at the deepest level so eventually after taking a number of ladders deeper down into the depths, they found themselves in what looked like extremely decrepit tunnels that were no longer used. "Last floor," muttered Buster as they arrived. Apart from layers of spider webs, it didn't seem like there was anything until Drisana spotted glowing red eyes watching them from the darkness. Not a pair of eyes. Eight of them. Hanging upside down, the monstrous spider began crawling towards them but a few loose bricks thrown by Dorhum dissuaded it to retreat into another tunnel.

"Don't worry, none of us be spider food," said the heavily bearded fellow, clearly proud of his rock throwing skills.

"What does that thing eat down here?" asked Drisana.

"Rats, bats or... perhaps of those wandering creatures from upstairs," suggested Hortag.

"Like us?" asked Kiefer slyly.

Drisana wasn't convinced. There were no bones here to indicate any of those had been down here recently. The spider was also far too large to have climbed up the narrow ladder pipe to hunt on higher floors and too big to just be sustained by wandering vermin. Undeterred, she began walking after it. Seeing this, Dorhum quickly ran in front of her to block her path.

"Whoa lady, are you crazy?" he asked.

Drisana grinned and picked up another loose brick.

"I trust you'll keep us safe," she said with a smirk as she pushed it into his chest.

Nameless: Ladies First

[Day 23 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Kiefer scratched his beard as he read the unfurled manuscript in the candle light. After letting out a sigh he turned his attention to the two women sitting across his desk. He noticed one was missing a few fingers on her left hand.

"So you believe there is some sort of danger lurking in the sewers beneath this city? Something that might have come from Shadowstar temple?" he asked them.

Drisana nodded. "Those scrolls we brought back should be proof enough, but if you still don't believe us go send someone to check our story. Even if the dragon is decomposing, the hole in the side of the tower should still be there."

Kiefer sighed. As a peacekeeper of Deepwater it was his job to look into matters such as this, and while the scrolls were indeed compelling he couldn't be sure of their authenticity. Running a hand through his messy hair as he leant back in his chair he finally said "If I decide to check this out, are the two of you willing to tag along?"

"Yes," Drisana said without hesitation before looking at Nessa, who just nodded quietly while holding the stubs of her missing digits.

"Alright then," replied the peacekeeper as he stood up from his chair and looked to the solidly built, hairless man guarding the door. "Buster, get the boys. We're going into the rat's nest first thing tomorrow morning."

"As for the two of you," focusing back on the women. "You can stay in the cells here tonight. It's not the cleanest but it's safe, free and I'll make sure Dorhum brings you a meal as well."

Despite his tone both girls knew that it wasn't an invitation, however they were simply too tired to decline.

The sun had only just begun to rise when Dorhum, a large man with an overgrown beard, pulled open the large metallic grate leading into the sewers upon the watchful gaze of Buster and Keifer. At the same time Hortag, a more elderly gentleman with silvery hair handed Drisana and Nessa their previously confiscated equipment. Seeing Nessa fumble with her left handed blade the old timer also offered her a plain wooden shield - a much easier piece of equipment to handle with three fingers.

"All set?" asked Kiefer as they finally approached the entrance. Nessa nodded.

"Ladies first."

Nameless: Liquid Fire

[Day 22 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The red robed figure applauded the four remaining adventurers as they finally entered his chamber at the top floor of the Shadowstar Temple. Not one to hesitate, Tanglor let out a loud battle cry as he rushed straight at his target and was caught completely by surprise when the figure tossed off the robe right at him and quickly transformed into a large red dragon!

Since the ornate ceiling here was much taller than any floor before, the monster had no problem extending its wings as it roared back at the interlopers. Confused and terrified by the beast's horrible visage Tanglor could only quake in his boots and wet himself as the great beast opened its maw wide and bathed him in liquid fire, leaving nothing but a charred skeleton clutching a melted axe.

The girls who were farther back had more time to evade, and flanked the beast, weaving under and jumping over claw strikes and tail swipes while trying to land attacks of their own. It soon became clear that light slashes would not pierce the creatures armored scales so, with grit teeth and careful timing Nessa rammed both her blades deep into the dragon.

The beast responded with a heavy strike of its own, and being unable to retrieve her weapons or dodge properly Nessa could only try block the attack poorly, the force of which knocked her off her feet. Coughing blood and in agony she was horrified to find the last two digits on her left hand had been severed.

Amber, thinking that it was her chance to strike, then leaped upon the back of monster thinking that it would be eager to finish Nessa off. In mid leap she realized her mistake as it suddenly turned around with its maw wide open, catching her upper half in its mouth with such force that she dropped her two handed sword.

Not wasting any time the dragon bit through her and using a free claw ripped Amber's legs away, tossing them aside while it swallowed the rest of its still screaming meal by tilting its head back. Nessa could only look on in shock as the bulge in the monster's throat that used to be her ally quickly made its way down to it's belly.

The swallowing action gave Drisana the opening she was waiting for though as she quickly charged in, picked up Amber's discarded blade and sliced deeply through the beast's long neck, causing it to drop its head. With as much force as she could muster she then thrust the blade upwards, piercing through the tissue underneath the jaw, up through the tongue, through its brain and out the other side.

Its eyes wide with surprise, the dragon stumbled backwards and lost its balance, crashing through the wall and falling to the distant ground below. Drisana peered out from the large hole and confirmed that the monster was indeed dead before seeing to Nessa's injuries. It was fortunate that this floor was well furnished too and held enough materials that the girls could re-purpose into helping them climb down safely.

Nameless: The Challenge

[Day 21 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Nessa was still hugging Nerith's dead body when an apparition of a red robed man appeared before them.

"There you are, impudent intruders," it spoke. "How dare you enter MY tower and disrupt MY plans! You know there is no escape. Give up now and I may yet be merciful."

"Oh, there's the coward," said Tanglor loudly while pointing his axe at the still speaking illusion. "Prepare to go to hell!"

The apparition stared in amazement as the bearded man began hacking the air where it stood and laughed.

"You fools dare to challenge me!? Very well, I shall await for you at the top of the tower. Defeat me, and freedom is yours."

As the ghostly figure vanished Tanglor looked around confused, but a reassuring pat on the head from Amber settled him down. Behind her, Nessa stood up quietly, wiped the tears from her eyes and then with a blade in each hand marched down another unexplored passage. The rest of the team followed in silence and eventually found another staircase, this one made of marble, leading higher up the tower.

The next floor was also almost entirely adorned with marble and had a taller ceiling, but was devoid of all decoration and furniture, bar the emplaced crystals that filled it with a bluish light. They had only taken a few steps in when suddenly a heavy, unadorned marble slab sealed the passage behind them as floating laughter filled their ears. Not bothering to even check how to reopen it, the group pressed on and upon turning the next corner they were shocked to see a large, bearded face staring back at them from down the hall.

With crazed eyes the giant began to move closer at a frightening pace despite crawling on all fours to fit in the passage. Before San Raal could utter an incantation it suddenly threw one arm forward, reaching much farther than any of them realized it could, and crushed the mage flat into an unrecognizable splat on the wall with it's mighty fist. The rest of the team immediately went into action, hacking and attacking the now outstretched limb. While Sharon used all of her dexterity to climb atop it and try run to the back of its neck. The giant saw this and shaking vigorously at the right time, caused the girl to scream, slip and fall... right into his mouth where he bit down hard, over and over, crushing her into pieces before swallowing her down.

This distracted him though, and it was all the time Drisana needed to slide rush under his throat and hack at it. In a panic, the giant tried bring his other hand forward only to have Tanglor cut across the palm with his axe, followed by dismembering a few fingers. Eventually Amber managed to do what Sharon could not, reaching the giant's back and with one double handed stab, severed its spine - killing it instantly.

Victorious, the tired but shaken survivors continued on their journey up the tower.

Nameless: Not Everyone can Evade

[Day 19 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

While the ominous clicking eventually faded behind them, at the top of the stairs was a well sealed stone door - one that didn't have a lock for Sharon to pick so San Raal expended more magic to blast it open and right into a room of armored soldiers and clerics of Shadowstar. While both groups were caught unprepared, Nessa's managed to react first - charging headlong into the enemy and killing many before they could even draw their weapons. Those that did were quickly over powered by her companions or stabbed in the back as they tried to flee.

It slowly dawned on them that they were back at the prison level of the temple, and following the now guarded stairs back up eventually found themselves at the entrance foyer of the temple once more, easily dispatching the squads of guards in their way through sheer combined skill and might. Upon seeing the door Amber almost made the fatal mistake of trying to touch it, only stopping short thanks to Drisana's warning. After once more using magic to collapse the passage to the cellar below, San Raal confirmed the door had the same type of trap he couldn't disarm from the prison.

With only one way to go, the group headed up into what seemed to be the cleric quarters but thanks to the ruckuss they caused downstairs it seemed that this floor was pretty empty, yet at the same time also devoid of usable windows to escape through. Sharon was just openly cursing the architect of such a place when a strange, floating, spherical creature composed of eyes and teeth quietly turned the nearby corner and upon seeing them, grinned.

Amber quickly pulled Sharon back as a beam of light shot from one of its eyes, scorching the area she had just been standing in. The blonde lady then quickly herded the rest of the team around the corner as another scorching beam missed by a few inches. "We can't fight this thing up close," she explained while moving. "The poison they breathe out fills their body and lets them levitate, but it also causes them to explode if pierced properly."

"Not a problem," San Raal muttered as he turned back with a ball of conjured lightning in his hands. Before Amber could stop him, he launched the spell as the creature hovered into view but to his horror the lightning bolt simply reflected off the hideous beast and back at the party - causing them to dodge every which way. Now caught flat footed there was no way they would be able to dodge another of the monster's beam attacks.

Without warning the creature exploded into a gaseous green mist with a large pop as a flying "spear", in reality a metal bar that had one end sharpened, pierced it from the side. Nessa had flanked it somehow caught it off guard. With the immediate threat over everyone began getting back on their feet. Everyone but Nerith who remained seated against the opposite wall. Her blackened, over-cooked face was still smoking when Nessa returned. Breaking into tears at the sight, Nessa hugged her dead sister tightly. Not everyone could evade the lightning bolt.

Nameless: Already Dead

[Day 18 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

"Over here," called Sharon to the rest of the group spread out in the dark chamber. She and the blonde, leather clad Amber were standing in front of a strangely shaped hole in the wall that looked big enough to crawl through. Without any other exits, the simple Tanglor volunteered to go in first with a rope attached to his waist to what actually was a network of tunnels. Eventually he popped his head up into another large and dark chamber and gave the signal for the rest of the team to follow.

Having all crossed without incident, they began exploring the clearly abandoned area, making foot prints in the dust that had settled on the old stone pathways. Nerith caught herself being relieved upon encountering a regular, non animated, skeleton rotting against one of the walls. It was then that they heard the clicking, slow and distant at first, but as the clicks began to multiply and echo in the darkness the adventurers quickly formed a circle, making sure that everyone had ample firelight to see what might be coming.

"This way," urged San Raal as he noticed a draft gently sway the fire from his torch. With the clicking getting louder, the mage decided to conjure up another ball of fire to throw forward into the darkness at it had worked so well before. This time, the flame exploded into huge, black chitinous creatures - ants that stood as big as a horse. To make matters worse the force of the blast collapsed the ceiling ahead of them, forcing them to double back in search of another draft. That's when the ants began attacking en masse.

It was all they could do to push the overgrown insects back. Strangely they seemed to attack in waves, giving the adventurers room to maneuver during each lull. It was during one such lull that a single ant managed to catch Shorn by surprise, impaling his left ankle with its mandibles. Clearly it could have just severed his foot but instead it began dragging him away from the light. The panicked man screamed for help as he tried to dig his fingers into the ground.

Seeing his plight, Calandra immediately left her position to rush to his aid, swinging at the black ant with her great sword but failing to connect as it simply let go and retreated into the shadows. At that very moment another wave came forth, not just separating the team from their two companions, but effectively pushing them apart. As before, the ants withdrew once more giving Amber the opportunity to throw her torch towards Calandra's position.

There the woman sat, crying from the pain of having one of her legs severed clean off. Shorn was clearly dead, having even less limbs to speak of. Nerith stepped forward but was kept in place by her sister. The ants were baiting them.

"There are stairs going up, around... thirty meters from us," squeaked Sharon as she peered down another hall where she had thrown her torch.

Seeing the indecision from Drisana's team, San Raal muttered a quiet incantation and pointing two fingers at Calandra, shot a beam of light through the woman's face, making it explode and killing her instantly. Shocked all eyes turned to him as he defiantly returned each of their gazes.

"She was already dead."

Not being the place to argue, the remaining adventurers quickly fled to the stone staircase Sharon had found and began climbing. After a certain distance up, San Raal threw another fireball back down blocking the passage with debris to hopefully block their pursuers or at least buy them some time.

Nameless: Captives

[Day 15 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

With the main entrance magically sealed and a surprising lack of large, openable windows, the girls were left with few options. While Sharon voted they try go higher to find another exit, the others out-voted her in descending to the lower levels to try free the other captives. There was strength in numbers after all. At the end of the large cellar was a spiraling staircase leading deeper underground. More of the armored guards patrolled here so they were very careful to move quietly without torch light and only engage stragglers in quick, silent skirmishes if necessary.

Eventually they came across what seemed to be a strangely unguarded but empty prison block, yet all the gates were locked and the ones blocking the torch lit hallways needed to be picked or broken open. As they turned a corner they suddenly found an occupied cell, and from behind the bars stood Cecilia. After exchanging a moment of shock, Cecilia spoke "You don't look like guards, who are you?"

"C...Calandra?" asked Sharon meekly from the back of the group. The woman nodded, shocked that the strangers knew her name.

"Your twin sister hired us to rescue you," explained Drisana as Sharon went to work again on the lock. "I'm sorry to say she... she didn't make it."

Sharon stopped her work as she noticed other figures in the room behind Calandra.

"They are what's left of my group," said the woman as she looked back at them and signaled them closer. "Shorn, Tanglor, Amber, and San Raal."

It occured to Drisana that unlike Insal, all these people were actually still armed, albeit poorly. She put one hand on Sharon's shoulder to prompt her to continue picking the lock but also squeezed gently to her know that she should do it slowly. "How did you get stuck here?" Drisana asked politely.

"Same way you did," muttered Shorn, a bearded stocky fellow. "We walked in."

Seeing the blank expressions on their faces Shorn just laughed and unlocked the cell door from his side, "Some rescue you are!"

At this the girls jumped back, weapons at the ready but Calandra quickly moved between the two groups, hands raised to prevent any violence.

"Please calm down. We were ambushed just before dawn in the nearby forests and those of us that surrendered were forced to help carry our dead down here. Eventually the soldiers let their guard down and we managed to take some of their equipment and flee here. We didn't know why they didn't follow us, but it soon became clear when we tried to leave."

"The first one who touched the door went BOOM!" exclaimed Tanglor with expressive hand gestures. Like Shorn, he was also a stocky and bearded fellow though apparently more simple.

"A magic trap," coughed the thin and dark skinned San Raal who seemed to be doing the worst of all of the captives, leaning heavily on a broken table leg he was using as a cane. "One that is difficult to dispel."

"You've been in here for how long... surely there's another way out?" spat Nessa in her usual non-polite manner. The other group looked to one another before Shorn spoke up again. "Oh, we found one but you're not going to like it."

Nameless: Not that Way

[Day 14 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The trail of blood led down some stone stairs into a dark and dank torch-lit cellar. There the girls found Cecilia's bloody corpse, her throat cut from ear to ear, and standing atop her was the balding monk who was busy violating her mouth. Nessa, who was in the lead, wasted no time in beheading the clueless bastard. They were all startled to then hear a nearby voice that said "Oh well done! That bastard had it coming."

Nerith, flanked by Sharon and Drisana, moved deeper into the large chamber, lifting her torch higher and found what seemed to be a small iron cage. In it was a short smelly man, devoid of all belongings.

"I am Insal," the prisoner said. "Be good girls and get me out of here, will ya?"

"Why are you being held captive? Are there more prisoners around here?" asked Drisana while Sharon started working on picking the lock.

"I was... entertainment mainly," replied Insal, his gaze now watching Sharon's deft hands. "There was another group brought in not too long ago but they were taken downstairs, and other than the guards no one has ever comes back from there. Sorry I can't be of any more help..."

As soon as the lock clicked open, Insal suddenly burst out of the cage - snatching a bag of supplies from Sharon's waist as he ran past and up the stairs. Nessa was the fastest to react, chasing right after him but the little fellow was too quick and remained out of her reach. He gave one last grin at his pursuers as he ran for the main entrance, but upon putting his hand on the door to open it he suddenly was flooded with searing magical energy. After screaming in agony for just two seconds he suddenly exploded - sending pieces of himself all over his pursuers and redecorating the foyer in grisly, dripping blood red.

Though none of the team spoke it was clear they weren't going to be getting out that way.