S1 E6 - Thunderstruck

S1 Episode 6: Thunderstruck

Intro & News

Calling all adventurers, I repeat, calling all adventurers.

There's a job-maybe-i'm not sure yet. I've gotten word that the bear issue in Thallow has cleared up, but now there's something else going on. Sights of a tall creature hiding in the woods, watching people from the treeline. No one has been able to make contact and frankly, I don't think anybody wants to, so it falls to us. Someone, please, go find out what's going on.

Additionally, a bounty has been put out on a Duncan Proste from Formick for 15 counts of burglary. He has managed to steal something from almost every house in the town. More information is being relayed to affiliated tavern noticeboards, so check them out if you're interested in doing some hunting.

Anyway, that's all we've got right now so it's story time.

I'm sure you remember where I left off.

Story Start

A jaw full of jagged teeth grew wider above me. Didn't take much to know it was going to try to bite my head off, and judging by the size of its mouth, it would manage. I had mere moments to react. I leant back with all my weight, brought my knees up to my chest to place my feet against the beast's torso and with everything I had; I pushed off.

I managed to break free despite the creature's efforts to keep me in place. I saw the sleeves of my coat briefly still locked in its grasp before being thrown aside. I glanced behind it and saw the civilian had managed to scurry away in the moment of confusion. Slowly, I stood back up, careful not to move too fast or begin this showdown before I was ready.

The area was finally clear, and no civilians meant I could fully focus on the creature.

I rolled my shoulders, bawled my hands into tight fists as I brought them up to defend my face, and made eye contact. The creature almost seemed to comprehend me; like the creepy dog from before, there was recognition in its eyes. This thing couldn't speak, but in that moment I knew that it had accepted my challenge.

[moster roar]

It lunged at me, swinging wildly. It was slower than Geight during the test, which was good for me, but each strike was stronger. I bobbed and weaved through its attacks, but I could feel the sharp claws on its massive hands slicing through the air beside my head. If it had landed a hit, I would be in real trouble. It was tough, the huge breakfast I'd just eaten was slowing me down, but I had to suck it up. Backing out or rescheduling was not an option here.

Its swings were wide, every time. Left a lot of opening, so I began to return some heat. A left haymaker, so I ducked and delivered a jab to the jaw.

[Host punches the beast but it doesn’t react]

Host: Really? Nothing? What am I not hitting you hard enough?

Another wide swing, from the right this time. I slip it and uppercut the creature from under its arm, driving my knuckles into its jaw, clamping its teeth shut with a sickening crunch.

[bone crunching and monster roar]

Host: Yeah, you felt that didn't ya?

It was hard to predict what swing was next, as the beast had no rhythm. Thankfully, I do. It kept trying to slice where I was, not where I was going to be. I had taken control of the fight and it didn't even know it.

It lunged again with a wide stance as though it was about to embrace me. I tried to step back but I felt something against the back of my knees. A half turn of my head revealed a merchant's stall was preventing my escape. Before I had time to lock eyes with the beast, it grabbed me.

Once again, claws dug into my shoulders. Instead of a bite it lifted me clear off the ground. It turned my stomach to know it could lift me like that, but I barely had time to process it before the feeling got worse as I was quickly thrown 20 feet to the right.

A brief moment of weightlessness followed by crashing through another market stall. My weight combined with the velocity of the throw blew the stall to pieces, which thankfully broke my fall a little. I let the momentum carry me as I rolled back onto my feet.

The beast's strength unsettled me. That feeling bubbled up from my heart again, the same from the test with Geight. 

[SFX heartbeat]

It forced me to focus on the fight, despite the knock I'd just taken. It made my blood boil, I just wanted this thing to go down already.

I pushed back toward the beast, closing the distance and hunkering down. Not letting any sign of pain or fatigue show.

I kept delivering strike after targeted strike.

The sick feeling was going away and the monster was slowing down. It wasn't losing power, but was swinging less frequently. I took a deep breath and focused; I was also getting tired. This thing had taken a beating like none I'd ever dished out, I wasn't used to being in the ring that long.

I delivered a combination of four devastating blows to its abdomen and chest.

[SFX punch, crunch, and dripping]

Blood began to pour from the beast's mouth, I'd ruptured something in there.

It was time to bring this to an end.

I slipped a few more hits, creating a bit of distance until it went for a lunging strike. I returned with an inside slip, grabbed its arm to straighten it out and slammed my open palm against its elbow, snapping the limb nearly clean in two.

[SFX bone snapping, monster roar, punching]

Host: Quiet!

I kicked the back of its leg bringing it to one knee, positioned myself against its back, wrapped my arm around its throat and secured it with my other hand. I steadied my feet, and yanked up and backwards as hard as I could.

[SFX crunch, heavy breathing, and body fall]

Val: “Hey, what's going on?”

I turned to see Valuin leaning from a first floor window of the Inn, barely wrapped in a towel.

Host: “Oh, there you are! Where were you? I could have used a hand for this!”

Val: “I was running a bath in the other room. I didn't even hear anything was happening. Are you okay?”

I looked around and saw no bodies. That was lucky! It seemed I sorted it before it was a real problem.

Host: “Yeah I'm okay. Will you get down here already?” [exasperated]

Val: “Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!”

I knelt down and studied the beast for a few moments, before that familiar question loomed in my mind. Where were the damn guards?

I looked around, the mist had all but cleared now. I could see the guards surrounding me. They had apparently decided against helping me directly, but cordoned off the area from civilian interference and were preventing the creature from escaping.

Alright, that was fair enough, I suppose. I would have liked the help but I'd take them being any kind of useful over nothing at all.

As I caught my breath, I turned to see Valuin approaching with an older guard in tow. He was a human male, late 40s, with a chiselled jaw and cropped blonde hair. Donning leather armour similar to the other guards, his gleamed with polish and studded brass accents denoting a higher rank. His full-length blue cape bore the kingdom's crest and gently billowed in the breeze.

I correctly assumed he was the captain of the guard. He was marching toward the corpse, and Valuin was sidestepping a half-pace in front with her torso contorted into his path. Like a street salesman selling shite leather purses. She was damn near rubbing her hands together in preparation for the coin.

Val: “And for such a reasonable price, you can consider our impressive services all yours for 24 hours. This was a small demonstration of what just one of us is capable of, captain. Hard to say no to that, right?”

Captain Tranter: “Alright, you've made your point, sellsword. If you think you can get to the bottom of this nonsense that quickly, then I accept your deal, but you won't see a coin until you bring me results.”

Val: “I understand completely. We will begin immediately!”

I stood up straight and shook the man's hand, his gloved fingers brushing against my torn knuckles, which stung more than I let on.

Val: “This is my partner by the way.”

I kept my introduction short and sweet. Didn't want to give away my inexperience so I risked coming off as blunt rather than incapable. Val handed me my sword, which I slung over my shoulder, as Captain Tranter bid us good luck and vacated the area, allowing us time to inspect the square in peace. 

Val leant back and watched him over my shoulder before turning her attention to the creature on the floor.

Val: “That guard captain's an odd one.”

Host: “Not what my first question was going to be about. But do explain now you've brought it up.”

Val: “I can't be entirely sure. Usually, guards put up more of a fight about hiring mercs than this guy did. But he seemed positively chuffed to hand the case over to us.”

Host: “Well, it's likely that he just doesn't want to risk his own men's lives when he could risk ours instead.”

Val: “That was my thinking too. In any case, we've got the job so let's get it done. What are we looking at?”

I looked down at the body and remembered the way Old Man Brecken would introduce fighters in Rulshall. The late summer evenings teenagers spent scrapping in a barn on the village outskirts. We were younger and the bouts were always in good fun. They never ended like this.

Host: (Announcer-Voice) “Standing at 7 feet tall and weighing in at about 600 pounds of muscle, this is the biggest sumbitch I ever did see. Bigger'n my old man and that's saying something. Sharp teeth, long claws, and moved pretty quick with 'em too.”

Valuin's expression remained alarmingly neutral at my impression of a man she'd never met.

Host: “Not as fast as Geight, but those swings were deadly, each and every one. It managed to throw me at one point, which was quite impressive.”

Val: “Impressive? How so?”

Host: “Well, in my exam, they had to weigh me for their records, I guess?”

Val: “Yeah that's pretty common. What about it?”

Host: “Well, apparently, I currently weigh just over 35 stone but it threw me like I was balled up parchment. My feet even fully came up off the floor.”

Val: “You are consistently an anomaly to me, but if what you say is true, throwing nearly 500 pounds of weight like it was nothing is...interesting.”

She leant down to begin inspecting the body with a gloved hand and found some kind of dust or powder underneath its claws.

Val: “And how clever was it?”

I wanted to make a smarmy joke about it clearly not being clever enough to avoid me, but I ignored the impulse.

Host: “I dunno, It was weird. It recognised me as the biggest threat and was ready to throw down, but it didn't have the wherewithal to pace itself properly during a punch-up. Leads me to believe it was running largely on instinct. What is this thing? I'm thinking through the old monster encyclopaedia but I'm drawing a blank here.”

Val: “I haven't a clue, but that isn't too strange. There's often some new freak of the week that we have to contend with.”

She stood up and looked left to right.

Val: “Any idea where it came from?”

Host: “Not yet. But I feel like someone would have noticed if it passed through the gate. There was no screaming before the sudden eruption here in the square, as though it didn't approach and rather just appeared here.”

We began the search. The town square was a ways away from the town palisades. There's no way it had made it this far in without someone seeing it. How could a creature like that have appeared in the middle of a populated town in broad daylight?

Smuggled in via a crate? I looked around and no crate was big enough for it.

Dropped from the sky? There was nothing above for it to fall from and with how heavy it was, it would have left cracks in the floor when it landed.

Maybe it was one of the townsfolk transformed? That was definitely a possibility, but no torn clothes? And no one had seen it happen?

We looked around for a little longer before Val made a suggestion.

Val: “Well, let's look at what's left. It didn't come from above or from the sides. That only leaves below.”

Host: “Like it sprouted from the ground?”

Val: “No, more like it came up from under the ground. I was just running a bath, so this town has plumbing and thus, probably a sewer system.”

Host: “Oh yeah, you're right.”

I looked at the floor beneath my feet, and followed the incline toward a storm drain near the centre of the town square. There were claw marks in the flagstones surrounding the grate. That explained the residue under the claws. I could see Val making the same connection in her head.

Host: “Looks like we're going to have to pop down there for a spell.”

Val: ”It certainly does seem that way. It's never pleasant.”

Host: “You spend a lot of time in sewers?”

Val: “It actually comes up a lot more in this line of work than you'd want it to.”

Host: “Well, that's good to know.”

I lifted up the grate that accessed the sewers. Thankfully it hadn't rained for a day or two so the smell was not as bad as it could have been.

We descended the metal ladder inside the drain, down into the dark. I reached the bottom, and stepped off the ladder. Val joined me a few seconds later.

[Valuin snapps her finger, SFX humming magic]

With a snap, a sphere of cold light materialised at the tip of her fingers, floated above her head and followed her movement.

Host: “That's useful.”

Val: “Again, not my first time.”

We began looking around. The town wasn't huge but the sewers were complex, another surprising development in this settlement. They went on for a while, but we took each step slowly, deliberately, and carefully. The last thing either of us wanted was to slip or fall over down there.

The light illuminated our immediate area well, but it didn't stretch very far before the dark consumed its glow. We continued to search for anything strange.

Val: “So, where were you when the monster appeared?”

Host: “About two streets west of the square. Things were misty, more than earlier in the morning. Almost too much to see.”

Val: “It's not unheard of to get mist this time of year around these parts, but for it to increase into the day is pretty strange, and right before a monster attack is...well, frankly, it's as suspicious as you could imagine. Notice anything else?”

Host: “Yes, I did. I think the thickness of the mist was actually not concentrated here. It's pretty clear this was a smokescreen for something sinister at play, but the mist was thicker about two streets west of the town square. As though it was actually meant to cover something over there. Which brings me to the next thing I saw.”

Val: “Goodness. The amount you got up to in the time it takes to run a bath is impressive. Go on.”

Host: “There was a...dog?”

Val: “Okay, so real cause for concern then.”

Host: “Not a normal dog.”

Val: “The plot thickens.”

Host: “It...well it, stood up...on its hind legs...and spoke to me.”

Val: “Okay. What did it say?”

Host: “It said ‘You again’ but all freaky like with a strange voice. You imagine what a dog would sound like if it could talk and that was probably the last voice you'd hope would come out of one. Unsettling to say the least.”

Val: “Do you think the dog is a problem?”

Host: “Part of me is thinking that, yes. It was definitely sentient, coherent, and recognised me but It didn't attack anyone and it was well-disguised. If it hadn't stood up, I would have pet it and been on my way. Although I think the dog is related, I have no idea where it went-”

[SFX bump]

I had kicked something. I didn't even need to look down, I already knew what it was going to be.

Slowly, I turned my gaze downward and saw the body of a lightly armoured man...or rather, what was left of him, laying on the floor of the tunnel.

Break 

We've got a notice here that the popular magic shop "The Soulstone" has a 2 for 1 deal on, for any magic scroll that is missing its label. Grab a couple and find out what they do.

Also, there's been a dragon sighting near the Shallowlands. If any adventurers are in the area please be advised, no attacking unless provoked, our deal with the Lord Regent still stands to this day.

Right, break over.

Let's continue!

Story Resume 

Host: “Hey, gimme some light here.”

Val: “Oh, it seems our friend here met with a terrible fate, hasn't he? Who is he?”

Host: “Nearly torn to pieces, but judging by that blood trail behind him, he died very recently but the blow was dealt elsewhere. He dragged himself here. Lost his crossbow but I can see he still has the bolts on his belt. No idea who he's supposed to be. He's not in guard gear, no emblem on his armour. An adventurer?”

I studied the trail of blood as it disappeared into the dark. Val leant over my shoulder to inspect the body. Her perfume had a nauseating strength, but was a pleasant mix of berries and roses.

Val: “Mmm-the captain would have mentioned if there were other adventurers around. I don't think Big Boy upstairs killed this guy. The depth and length of these cuts are substantial but not a broken bone in his body. This looks as though he was killed with a long thin blade.”

Val was right. I touched my arm and tried to remember the creature's hands. Five claws, one on each fingertip, about 3 inches in length. Whatever killed this man did it with sweeping slashes of a lengthy blade.

Host: “A sword?”

Val: “Maybe. In any case, we need to keep our wits about us from here on. We're probably not alone down here.”

We continued, even slower than before, every guided step placed painfully slowly to avoid unnecessary noise. Soon, the tunnel opened out to a large cistern. It was too dark to see anything, but I could hear dripping…and...chewing.

[Monster chewing and growling]

Val and I looked at each other. I nodded, and she focused on her orb. Gently, the entire cistern began to fill with a pale light and something in the dark became visible.

Splotchy grey skin with white and red streaks. It bore strong similarities to the creature on the surface but it was leaner and smaller with large leathery wings. I couldn't see it properly as it was facing away from me but I was sure that it was...eating someone.

It didn't notice us. I pulled my sword up and readied myself, but felt Valuin's hand on my shoulder. I looked back as she silently stepped forward and held her hand out at arm's length. She clenched her fist and extended her index and little fingers.

It was silent for a moment, then the orb above her head flickered before gently dimming as sparks formed between her extended digits. I felt my hair charge with static as she silently mouthed something I couldn't understand.

This lasted for maybe 10 seconds. All I could do was watch as an unsettling feeling built in my chest. I had just begun shifting my weight to lean forward and ask what she was doing, when I saw a bolt of purple lightning streak from the space between her fingertips.

[SFX powerful magic lightning bolt builds and releases]

The full force of nearly a thousand lightning bolts hit the creature square in the back. 

I was sure it would scream, but the noise was caught in the beast's throat as it was superheated in a fraction of a second. I barely had time to acknowledge the flash had temporarily blinded me, before the fight I was expecting was already over. I silently blinked away the lines from my vision and looked back toward the monster.

She had turned it to a pile of twitching half cooked meat and flash boiled bones. It was the most dazzling display of raw power I'd ever seen.

Val fell to one knee and huffed as the light above her head flickered. She caught her breath and the light returned to its original brightness.

Host: “You good?”

Val: “Yes, I'm alright. I put quite a lot into that, but I really didn't fancy fighting whatever it was. I'll be grand after a breather.”

Host: “That was wild. I had no idea you could do that.”

Val: “It pays to keep one's hand close to their chest. That strength of yours isn't the only thing a person can hide.”

I decided against pushing the conversation, however curious I was about it. Besides, as astonishing a sight as it was, we weren't down here to discuss our skills.

I helped Val to her feet and we began searching. Val inspected the beast's body as I looked around.

I saw chains bolted into the wall, snapped halfway along their length. There was another set in a nearby wall that remained intact.

Host: “That thing wearing chains?”

Val: “Um...yes. It is. They look broken.”

Host: “Got the other halves here. Several dead in here, all with identical wounds as the body in the tunnel, if not more severe.”

Val: “This thing didn't have hands of any kind. Just these long blades that match the wounds on the bodies. This…this feels weird.”

Host: “Weird. How so?”

Val: “Like...this doesn't feel like evolution. Most monsters evolve as they live; even if they evolve very quickly through magic or over thousands of years, most of their evolutions make sense contextually. This thing looks like the other one on the surface. As if designed by someone with only the intention of killing.”

Host: “Is that possible?”

Val: “I cannot stress the difficulty or immorality of it, but yes it is possible.”

I searched one of the bodies. They had normal stuff, like personal effects, a glasses case, some money and vials of something...

Host: “I got something.”

[Val approaches]

Val: “What you got?”

Host: “Corked vials of...indiscernible liquid. Doesn't look like medicine.”

Val took a vial, uncorked it and sniffed it before quickly leaning away like her nose would catch flame.

Val: “Yocrin Root, otherwise known as Dusk Laurel.”

Host: “Oh, I've heard of that. A powerful sedative, I think.”

Val: “That's the stuff. Usually undetectable, but a dose this large gives off a scent. It's a little woody but dizzyingly sweet. Like very concentrated liquorice.”

Host: “Oh, gross. Liquorice is terrible.”

Val: “It is. Seems like these beasties were drugged and dragged in here and then locked up. One was released on purpose hence that unbroken chain.”

Host: “But, we're both thinking that it was all purposeful, yes?”

Val: “Yes. I'm almost positive this entire situation was intentional. They got these creatures in here and then released Big Boy to the surface on purpose. Seems like they didn't account for Blades over there breaking free.”

Val leant down next to one of the mangled bodies and opened the crossbow bolt pack on its belt to retrieve the contents. She lifted up a bolt with a funnel built into the tip.

Host: “The delivery method for the sleep juice. Very clever.”

Val: “These guys were astonishingly well-prepared. Another question I have is: Did they accomplish what they set out to do with all this?”

Host: “How can we tell?”

Val: “The only reason you'd arrange something this painfully convoluted and dangerous as a distraction is if you're planning something pretty big. All we have to do is go up there and look for some new development that is seemingly unrelated: a robbed bank or kidnapped rich guy. Y'know, that sort of thing?”

Host: “Does this happen a lot?”

Val: “Yes. Criminals blow up a building on one side of town to rob a bank on the other. It's textbook - to the point where that analogy I just made? I've seen that exact thing happen.”

We continued investigating for a few more minutes but stopped when nothing else was revealed. No one had any cryptic notes, there was nothing scrawled on a wall in blood, and no dying words from a repentant survivor; we'd hit a wall. It was time to leave, there was nothing else to do.

As we stumbled back along the way we came, it took me a full 5 minutes to realise that we had gotten turned around. I'm usually very good with directions, but I wasn't thinking properly, too focused on everything swirling in my head.

As we wandered, I felt something. My hackles went up, something was nearby, something potentially dangerous....couldn't even have 5 minutes in a sewer without something happening but never the matter.

With bated breath, I scanned the tunnel, and saw a crack in the wall, about a foot wide.

[SFX faint breeze]

I moved closer and could feel a faint breeze flowing out of it. It made me feel a little better given how it seemed like the walls were closing in on me at times. While letting that fresh air caress my face, I heard something move from inside the wall, something bigger than a rat.

[SFX gentle strange movement]

Val: “What are you looking at?”

Host: “There's a gap in this wall, and I feel like something moved behind it.”

I moved my face closer to the gap.

Host: “Hello? Hello? I guess I was mistaken. Is anyone in there?”

Bob: “Yes.”

Slowly, I turned to Valuin whose face had taken on a strong shade of surprise.

Host: “What the fuck?” 

Bob: “There is no need for such language.”

Host: “Who are you? And...why do you - it has my voice, right?”

Val:” Yeah, yeah, it's definitely yours.”

Host: “Yeah, why do you have my voice?”

Bob: “Firstly, I do not have a name...and for your voice, I am simply borrowing it for now. You called to me, did you not?”

Host: “I suppose so. Um, what are you exactly?”

Bob: “I am, what I am. Some may need to define themselves via a title...I do not. But for the sake of ease, call me...Bob.”

I gestured to Valuin to bring her light orb closer to the crack...for a split second I thought I saw something but I couldn't define its shape or any features before the light was quickly snuffed out.

Bob: “I will do you this service and spare you the sight of me. Do not attempt that again, for both our sakes.”

We stood in total darkness for a few moments.

Host: “Be real with me, Bob. Are you dangerous?”

Bob: “Very...but I saw what you did in the town square, and I would wager I am no more dangerous than you.”

Host: “You saw me?”

Bob: “I see a great many things on the surface. It has been a long time since I witnessed such a show.”

Host: “How long have you been down here, behind this wall?”

Bob: “I was here before the town.”

Host: “Have you ever killed anyone, Bob?”

Bob: “Not for a long, long time and only to defend myself. As for now, I only take animals for food.”

I turned away from the gap.

Host: “I'm not really sure what to do here, Val. I think Bob is a monster. Should we do something?”

Val: “I say yes. Bob has killed before, can we trust he won't kill again?”

Host: “He did say it was self defence.”

Val's nose crinkled and her brow furrowed for a second before the expression melted into resignation with a gentle huff.

Val: “I feel you've already made your mind up. So, I will leave the decision to you. I trust your judgement, but know that any blood this monster spills is on your hands too.”

Host: “To me, monster is as monster does. I'm sure to the pig, the butcher must seem a monster but killing in self defence is reasonable, as well as killing animals to feed. It's a matter of degree.”

I turned back toward the gap.

Host: “Okay, Bob. Er…I guess we'll just leave you be then.”

Bob: ”I would appreciate that. Besides, I imagine you are more interested in  those armoured men storing monstrosities down here.”

Host: “You know about that?”

Bob: “I heard one of them mention that there is another here in town; someone who is heading this operation of theirs. They were very careful not to speak his name, but they talked about him with great fear and reverence. That's everything I know.”

It was then that I realised the dead down there weren't the only ones involved, that this leader of theirs was somewhere topside and still very much a player in this little game. A bunch of mercs had already been killed. Regardless of their affiliation, this much death was pointless. Val and I knew we had to do something about it.

Host: “Thank you for the information, Bob. I think it's time for us to go to work.”

Outro

Now this part of the story is far from over but we'll have to call it there for today.

It's time to put it all down and go to sleep.

Be careful out there, Adventurers.

Rest well, and good hunting.