Dungeon Life

Vernew

If she wasn’t already devout towards the Weaver, watching that miracle be cast would have done it. His presence has always had a quiet power to it, a subtle surety of safety, making it easy to forget He is more than able to take a more proactive stance in protecting those He cares about.

She’s not exactly a mage, able to analyze magic, but even she could tell that was something significant. While watching and being a part of that spell made her want to go charging into the depths of the Maw, Leo and Teemo are still sticking to the basics of the plan. The concept of an actual Murphy may be a bit tongue in cheek, but the idea is clear.

“Just because we’ve turned Murphy’s attention on the Maw, doesn’t mean he’s going to fully ignore us. Keep careful, keep safe,” said Teemo, and though Vernew still chafes at not getting to run rampant, the Voice has a point.

And so she sticks with the Crystal Shield followers as they enter the outskirts of Silvervein. Jen is with her, as well as most of the other dwellers, and even some of the healing magmyrm at the back. It’s a pretty intimidating army, in her opinion, even if it’s spread through several tunnels right now. The bulk is moving for the main passage, the one that goes through the settlement’s center. That’s the one that will have the most resistance, most likely. Her group is heading for the cheesemaker, to see what he can do about ensuring as few of the citizenry resists as possible.

So far, it’s going very well, but Vernew refuses to let that lull her into complacency. The worm farm is the official outskirts of the town, and the worm ranchers look on with nervous curiosity as she and the large group enter the cavern.

“Stay on the path,” orders the lead paladin, a grizzled wolfkin in shining plate named Unsil. The others easily follow the order, marching by the farm and only sparing the farmers enough attention to ensure they don’t come running at the group with pitchforks, or whatever a worm rancher would use as a weapon. A manure fork? Do worms make manure, or is it topsoil?

Whatever they make, it’s not important right now. Jen currently looks like a pale dwarf, and she moves towards the fence when she recognizes one of the ranchers. She shouts and waves him forward, which he nervously does.

“Uh… Jen? What’s going on?”

“You felt that magic, yeah?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the dead felt it. What was that?!” he almost yells, but reigns himself in as he looks over the gathered army.

“It was aimed at the Maw and its forces. Just hunker down and stay safe. The Maw’s going to be gone before the day’s out.”

“Gone?” he asks incredulously, and eyes the fighters for a few moments, before shrugging. “Well, if you’re going after the Great Maw, and if you cast that thing, it’s not like I can warn them any more than they’ve already been. Get a move on, before someone shows up and your fighting makes a mess of my field!”

Jen chuckles before running back to rejoin us, and the rancher goes to gather his people and his worms.

“It sounded like they’re staying out of it?” asks Unsil, and Jen nods.

“Yeah, I think they will. Anti-Maw sentiment is probably the biggest in this area, thanks to my contact. Once we get to him, he should be able to get us some more locals to help give us legitimacy for not wanting to attack the townsfolk.”

“Then let’s go. The sooner we can get his help, the sooner we can start securing the town.”

Vernew keeps her eyes open on the way to the cheesemaker, though she still doesn’t spot any of the Maw’s forces. Are they focused elsewhere? Maybe they don’t really care too much about the outskirts like this? Maybe the tunnelers are making the Maw pull back to deal with them? Or maybe the Maw was just not ready for a wide attack like this?

Whatever the reason, she’s glad that things are going so smoothly, even as she grows more nervous about the lack of response. The cheesemaker is actually standing outside his cheesery, looking nervous as Vernew’s group approaches.

“Serd, these are some of my allies!” assures Jen, though Serd still looks a bit jumpy. Vernew can’t blame him. He probably doesn’t have a combat class, so any kind of fight would be new to him.

“Did they do… whatever that was?”

Jen grins. “Some of them. That was the opening move of Thedeim. It targets the Maw and its forces. The ordinary people won’t have anything to worry about from it.”

“I hope not. That was…” he trails off before shaking his head. “Sorry. Uh… you want to get to taking over the town, right? Let’s get to the bar. We should be able to get more of my friends there, and they can go with you to prove you’re not after the townsfolk.”

They hurry down the tunnel for the bar, and finally make contact with some of the Maw’s forces. At least, Vernew is pretty sure the group outside the bar are working for the Maw. They spot the group and rush inside before anyone can stop them.

“Inquisitors?!” gasps Serd, confirming Vernew’s hunch.

“Vernew, Jen, slip in the side. We’ll go through the front and keep their attention. If the patrons are still alive, they’re probably hostages now. I need you two to keep them safe, if it’s not too late.”

Jen and Vernew both nod, with Jen’s features shifting back to her changeling form. She places a hand on Vernew’s shoulder. “I’d say this will be weird, but it’s not too far from one of Teemo’s shortcuts. Shadow Step!”

It really does feel like going through one of Teemo’s shortcuts, except she can’t see anything. Thankfully, they soon emerge in an unused bedroom. Though there’s no lights in the room, it’s still somehow brighter than the shortcut was. Jen gives a nod before melting into the shadows, leaving Vernew a few moments to ready herself.

She can do this. It’s another hunt. Don’t get spotted before it’s time to strike. She quietly opens the door and slinks out and down the hall, where she can hear raised voices.

“Invaders! What do we do!”

“Quiet! They’re clearly working with these… sympathizers. They’ll try to negotiate for their allies. We just have to buy time for more people to arrive and catch them by surprise! Get them lined up!”

Vernew carefully makes her way into the main bar area, where she sees a good dozen inquisitors, and a good dozen or so civilians, too. A guy with a lumpy red hat stands centered behind the civilians, and Vernew thinks it must be the Redcap! A few seconds of observation put that fear aside, thankfully. The hat is definitely made of fabric not… people. And he looks more like a dwarf than a tall fey.

That doesn’t make him any less dangerous. He has a holy symbol in his hands, an oval with triangles lining the interior, a toothy maw. It softly glows silver, along with a multitude of blades, each floating at the necks of the hostages.

The door to the outside slowly opens, and Unsil’s voice carries through. “Forces of the Maw! Lay down your arms, and blood will not have to be shed today!”

The Maw priest sneers. “Blood feeds the Great Maw, and we shall see it feast! If you enter, you’ll get to watch it consume these traitors before it consumes you!”

A helmed head peers past the doorway before vanishing, and Vernew would bet her best spear they’re trying to figure out what to do. She doesn’t have much in the way of ideas, either. She could probably skewer the priest before he notices, but she doesn’t know if she can kill him before he can mortally wound the civilians!

Maybe she can take her own hostage? She discards that idea quickly. Even if it did work, it’s just add another layer to the standoff, except without her being able to act freely like she can now.

Act freely? She hasn’t used that on a person before, but it should work. It’s gotten a few of her newer hunters out of a jam before. It’s not like she has any better ideas right now.

“Lone Hunt…” she whispers, and feels the magic take hold of her and the priest. Judging by the way he tenses, he feels it, too. The blades move, but find no purchase on the victims.

“Move! The priest is mine!” shouts Vernew, and havoc erupts in the bar. The shield followers burst in as a blade of shadow swipes at the priest’s neck, but it has no effect, either. She said the priest is hers, and she wasn’t kidding. She doesn’t bother trying to dodge a mace that swings at her as she slips forward, letting it skid along her cheek as her magic enforces her skill. Everyone else can have a brawl, but her and the priest are the only ones who can harm the other, now.

Unfortunately for the priest, he doesn’t know that just yet, and he’s still trying to attack the civilians. She doesn’t trust her obsidian spearhead to pierce his body armor, but she has skills for taking down a strong opponent.

“Hamstring!” she shouts as she stabs the back of his leg, and though the head shatters, it does so after piercing the armor. The priest yelps and falls over, screaming in rage and pain, before his eyes land on the spider.

“Maw Consume You!” he bellows, his symbol flaring and ripping the blades away from the civilians to lash at Vernew. She scurries away, jumping over and off of the various Maw loyalists in her effort to escape the blades. She might not be able to harm them, but she can distract them, and the forces of the Shield take advantage of any openings they can get.

She uses one pair of arms to change the spear head as her other works with some silk, trying to ignore the flashes of pain when the blades find the gaps in her armor and chitin. She powers through it, though she suffers a few more deeper gashes when she has to close back in on the priest.

She gets a loop over the foot of his injured leg before leaping straight up, momentarily avoiding the levitating blades as she takes an angle he wasn’t expecting. He’s quickly in an angle he wasn’t expecting, too, as Vernew hops over a crossbeam in the rafters, where lights were hung. “Snare!” is the priest’s only clue as to what happened, as his world goes upside-down and his leg explodes in pain.

“Piercing Fangs!” he manages to gasp out, two of the larger blades darting towards Vernew. She drops the silk as she feels the two impacts, as well as two sharp pains in her chest.

She grunts, but stays stable on the crossbeam for the moment, focusing on the priest and trying to ignore the damage he just did. “Cornered Beast,” she manages as she hops down from the rafters, putting all her momentum behind the move designed to return at least as much injury as was sustained.

The priest can’t dodge, and can’t even maneuver his blades to intercept her before the obsidian spearhead pierces his armor and his heart. He gasps, trying to hold on for a few more moments, his blades wavering in the air as he tries one last attack, but the light leaves his eyes before he can manage anything.

Vernew slumps to her side, wondering if her armor was always so slick inside, before remembering the two blades stuck in her chest. She looks around the room at the fight, and is glad to see not only the civilians are alright, but the Shield’s people are finishing off the last of the Maw’s.

She closes her eyes, so tired, only barely registering Jen’s shout.

“Medic!”