Nascent (The Stork Tower Book 1) Page 9
Leah searched the rest of the cave and found no more spiders, all she found was a tunnel leading deeper into the extensive cave system. She headed into the tunnel. Soon she reached another cavern, and after examining it, she slowly entered. This time she noticed saw the spider before it tracked her. Carefully Leah advanced, she slowed her breathing until she felt the strange quivering. The spider had noticed her approaching and began moving in her direction. She didn’t give it a chance to raise its front legs but charged right in. At the last second, she veered sharply to the left, just missing the turning spider. She thrust her new spear deep into the abdomen before dragging it out. Leah turned to see the spider writhing in agony, its leg spikes striking a random tattoo on the stone floor. Leah moved behind the spider and finished it with several stabs from her spear. Smiling, she harvested the loot and carefully moved on.
In the third cave, things didn’t go so well. In her anticipation of an easy victory, Leah didn’t activate her Ki and rushed in forgetting to put more scorpion poison on the blade. She found she wasn’t quite quick enough to get past the spider and although she impaled it she received a deep gash from a swinging leg. When she turned to finish it off, it wasn’t writhing on the floor but was rapidly advancing and beginning to raise its front legs. Leah slammed the spear through the mouth, but her momentum wasn’t enough to pierce through into the abdomen. In the end, she killed it but received several cuts and a deep wound from a spider leg that penetrated deep into her bicep. She took over ten minutes to recover, eating some trail bread to help speed things up. She castigated herself for making such simple stupid mistakes but reasoned now was the time to learn such things. She checked her spear, vowing not to be foolish again. Leah re-tied the spear and re-poisoned it.
Leah peered into the fourth cave and saw not one but three spiders. Each was Level 3, and they were spaced almost equidistantly around the room. The spiders moved deliberately; as if keeping patrol. She ducked back into the tunnel to consider a possible winning strategy. She turned all three remaining sticks into short spears and dripped some poison on them. She held three in her left hand and one in the right and crept into the cave. The spiders immediately started moving toward her. She calmed herself, activating her Ki, and rushed toward the closest spider. After spearing it, she had no time to finish it off as the other spiders were rapidly moving toward her. She ran toward the closest undamaged spider and speared it. Without stopping she ran on several paces before glancing behind to see what was happening. Both hurt spiders had regained their feet and were heading in her direction; the other was almost on her. Swapping spears, she charged the healthy spider and continued her attack. Soon all three were dead. She’d reached Level 3 and discovered that when she went up a level, her Health, Stamina, Mana and Ki refreshed to 100%. She sat down to assign her points. She needed to increase her Ki Attack Skill Level, After the last fight she had run out of Ki, if increasing levels meant the increased chance of attack, then combat wouldn't last as long. She added two to Intelligence, one to Strength and two to Agility.
Two more rooms yield six more drone spiders. Leah was glad that the spider spikes all occupied a single slot as she now had thirty-six in the bag and four on the ends of her spears. Unfortunately, as she increased in level the Spiders gave fewer Experience Points, each Spider was now only giving 200 EP. Leah had used half the first vial of scorpion venom. The next room as far as she could tell was empty. She waited and watched, but nothing. She edged into the cavern and slowly crept around the perimeter. She noticed a slight discolouration on the ground. It was a circular area about the size of a dinner plate. Nothing moved. Leah reached for a belt knife and stepping back lobbed the knife onto the lighter patch. As it landed, the patch exploded outwards, and a volleyball-sized spider erupted out of the ground attacking the knife. Five nearby holes also sprang open, and spiders jumped out. Leah moved away but saw the six spiders spinning in her direction; leaping toward her. Her stick fighting experience came to the rescue: with a spear in each hand, sticks whirling, it was over in a matter of moments. There were six dead spiders, all of them missing limbs, two neatly cut in half. She looked steadily at one, and its title appeared with an empty health bar.
Orumeck’s Trapdoor Drone (Level 1) 50HP 50EP
The Trapdoor Drones had small spiked legs and needle-like sharp fangs, they were solid black except for a tiny red fang shaped marking on the back. She checked the floor of the cavern and saw it the plate-sized lighter patches everywhere. She recovered her knife and harvested the spiders. Each gave the following:
You have harvested:
1 Orumeck’s Trapdoor Drone Fangs*
2 Orumeck’s Trapdoor Drone Spikes**
* Note: A Leather Worker or skilled Seamstress may be able to use these items.
** Note: A carpenter may be able to use these items.
“Ok, so needles and nails, it looks like I’m going to have a lot of them.”
Taking a deep breath, Leah moved to the next patch. This time she dropped a rock from the floor of the cave and stood a bit further back before lobbing it. It took almost forty minutes to clear the floor. In all, there were three groups of six, two of nine and a final patch with eighteen. After the group of eighteen, Leah had finished with only twenty-three health points, five stamina points, and no Ki points. The fifty-four Trapdoor Drones had given a total of 2,484 EP. She began to move toward the next tunnel.
“Excuse me, Leah,” Gèng interrupted her. “You have only one and half hours before it is dark outside although you have three hours before you need to exit the pod and have something to eat. If you are going to stay the night, I remind you that you might want to communicate this to your home. I can send a communication to your mother if you desire.”
Leah stood silently, thinking through all the options before agreeing. “Ok Gèng, please tell Mum I’m staying the night. I will be back tomorrow morning. Also, let Jimmy know I will drop in and let him know what has been happening. But now, the spiders!”
She found several strands of web drifting across the doorway of the next cavern. She decided not to enter but reached forward and carefully touched the web. It was sticky and stuck to her hand. She reached out and cut some with a knife. It cut readily enough, but there had been some resistance. She grabbed some more and tried to cut several strands at once. Again it was doable, but she had needed to add considerable force. She took a step back to think for a while. She wasn’t going to survive if she wasn’t able to move. As she sat, she noticed her hand becoming numb. A message appeared:
You have been poisoned by the web from one of Orumeck’s Webspinner Drones (Level 4) 460HP 250EP
Damage 1: 5HP/second for 10 seconds or healed (HP 159/164)
This web takes several seconds to begin working. If poisoned multiple times the effects will accumulate until you become paralysed.
Leah quickly scraped the web of her hand and healed herself.
She retreated further into the tunnel. Returning to the Trapdoor Drones' cave age considered the covers used by the trapdoor spiders; the covers were made of webbing. Taking out her fire-starting kit, Leah struck the steel with the flint. A few sparks flew off, but none came close to the cover. She tried again. This time several sparks landed on the cover, and it started to smoulder. Leah blew on it until suddenly, it burst into flame. She knelt and watched it burn for about a minute before it fizzled out. Moving carefully, Leah went back to the doorway of Webspinner Drones' cavern and very carefully, using one of her sticks, she collected some webs. Taking the web back to the trapdoor room she checked if they would burn as well; not only did they burn, the fire started instantly and burned with greater intensity.
Smiling, Leah grabbed as many covers as she could and returned to the Webspinner room. Kneeling down at the entrance Leah set a trap-door cover on fire. Once it was burning, she held another in the fire until it was just beginning to burn. She turned and threw the burning cover into the Webspinner doorway as if throwing a frisbee. She reached for an
other and repeated the action. Before she threw a third, a huge screech echoed from the web room, and the room suddenly blazed with light. She could see spiders outlined in flames. They were screeching and scurrying about trying to evade the inferno. Several made it out of the fire and scampered toward her. A single stab was enough to finish most of them off. She stood there watching until the last of the flames died. She examined the health bar of every spider and made sure it was dead. There had been 12 of them. When the last one died a message appeared:
Personal Achievement: You have reached Level 5
You require 4,820 Experience Points to reach Level 6
You have an additional 5 Character points to distribute.
You have 1 Skill point to distribute.
She put all the spare trap-door covers in her bag and then went to harvest one of the Webspinner Drones.
You have harvested:
2 Orumeck’s Webspinner Drone Spinnerets *
2 Vials of Orumeck’s Webspinner Paralysing Poison **
* Note: A weaver may be able to use these items.
** Note: May be used by healers and those who make potions
Moving carefully, she harvested the spiders. This had been the most satisfying room to clear so far. She’d used her brains far more than her muscles, and that felt good. She sat down to distribute her points.
“Gèng, I have a new skill called ‘Duel Wield’, and it is already at level two. Was there a message?”
“Yes, I have been withholding them. Do you wish to see it?”
“Not really, summarise please.”
“Your increased Intelligence Points and your use of both hands with the trapdoor spiders has earned an increase in that level.”
Well, that threw a spanner in the works. It seemed as though all the Characteristics were useful. Leah knew she was supposed to specialise: everyone said you couldn't be everything and do everything. She just wasn’t sure what would be most useful. She imagined the next room would be worse but had no idea how to prepare. In the end, she added one to Constitution, and two to both Agility and Intelligence. Her Skill/Spell point went into Ki Attack.
The tunnel leading from the room was longer and wider than before. Leah moved slowly, and as quietly as possible. She looked side to side, searching every shadow. The further she walked, the straighter and less curved the walls seemed: more fashioned than formed. The ceiling curved upward to a central point, like a gothic ash. The light faded and even using her night vision, she was barely able to penetrate the gloom. Up ahead the tunnel looked like it ended. When she closer she noticed it was not an ending, but a doorway. A pair of solid wooden doors blocked the exit. She carefully reached forward and gave it a gentle push, but it didn’t budge. She pushed harder and still no movement. She noticed a keyhole as large a thumb: no wonder it wouldn’t open: it was locked. Leah removed a Trapdoor Drone spike from her bag and slid it into the lock but couldn’t reach the tumblers. She lit one of the Trapdoor Drone covers and in the extra light searched the darkened tunnel for some clue but came away empty-handed.
She must have missed a key, something hidden. Now, where could it be? She ran back down the corridor into the Webspinner’s cave. She walked around looking at every curve and in each minor hollow. About two-thirds of the way around she saw a section of wall which was far too regular, it was a square. Lichen almost entirely covered it, except for one small oddly shaped piece about the size of a coin. She noticed that the lichen was a shade lighter than the rest she had seen. Taking her knife, she tapped the wall, but there was no echo and hollow sound. She ran the blade around the edge but couldn’t find a groove or a hidden catch. She stared at the square for some time before noticing small patches of lichen nearby that had also were a lighter shade. One was the same size and shape of the missing bit. She slid her knife under the patch and was elated when it detached from the wall. As soon as she filled in the square, it shimmered and disappeared to reveal a cavity with a bag, a key and a rolled up scroll.
In the bag were two coins and a gold spider ring. The legs curled to make the band. The body and fangs were similar to the Webspinner Drones and shaped to lie upon the finger. The abdomen was a dark purple crystal, finely cut, and the size and shape of a split pea.
A Webspinner Ring of Orumeck (Max PL 50)
This ring was made by Mage Orumeck during the time of his exile from Sihirbazlari. When charged, it will produce a cord of condensed Mana similar to that produced by the Webspinner spiders he created. Only the bearer of the ring is immune to its poison and can escape its binding.
For information on its use, please visit the Dunyanin Official Manual.
“Gèng, I’ll keep this for later. I need to read up on rings. Please remind me.”
The coins were gold, but each had an embossed Webspinner Spider on one side and what looked like a proud elf on the other.
A Gold Coin of Orumeck
This coin was made by Mage Orumeck during the time of his exile from Sihirbazlari. Full of pride he minted several thousand coins with his image. He embossed them with some of his favourite creations.
Value: Equivalent to 1 Gold*
* Note: Some collectors may pay more for such a rare coin.
“Note to self, don’t use these coins yet.”
“Leah, a routine message has appeared regarding the coins.”
“Ok, let’s have a look.”
World Quest: Collect the Coins - Gold (0/1,000)
Many people throughout time have minted coins. They are scattered throughout Dunyanin. Collect these coins.
Difficulty: Easy to Impossible
Reward 1 if successful: (Number of Coins collected) x (Player Level) x 100 Experience Points for each coin.
Reward 2 if successful: 2 x (Number of Coins collected) Gold Coins.
Consequences of failure: None
Do you wish to accept this Quest
[Yes] [No]
“Yes.”
“You have just received 513 Experience Points and two Gold Coins.”
Leah turned to the scroll:
Orumeck's Spell of Summoning - Novice Level
This is a dark spell of summoning. The spell summons one of Orumeck's creations. The creature is yours to command.
Do you wish to use this scroll?
[Yes] [No]
“No, well not yet. I'll think about it.”
“Gèng, If there is a quest for gold coins, then I imagine there is one for silver and copper. I think I need to go back and check the other rooms before heading through the door. I also have to find that key.”
“Affirmative!”
Leah, aware her time was running out before she was required to take a break moved quickly back through each of the rooms. The Trapdoor room had a similar cache containing four silver coins, a silver ring, and a vial filled with a fine purple powder:
World Quest: Collect the Coins - Silver (0/5,000)
Many people throughout time have minted coins. They are scattered throughout Dunyanin. Collect these coins.
Difficulty: Easy to Impossible
Reward 1 if successful: (Number of Coins collected) x (Player Level) x 50 Experience Points for each coin.
Reward 2 if successful: 2 x (Number of Coins collected) Silver Coins.
Consequences of failure: None
Do you wish to accept this Quest
[Yes] [No]
“Yes.”
A Trapdoor Ring of Orumeck (Max PL50)
This ring was made by Mage Orumeck during the time of his exile from Sihirbazlari. When charged, it conceals the bearer with a web of condensed Mana similar to that produced by the Trapdoor spiders he created. Only the bearer of the ring can see through this web to surprise and attack an enemy.
For information on its use, please visit the Dunyanin Official Manual.
The ring was almost identical to the golden one although the body of the spider resembled the Trapdoor Drones.
Ground Crystallised Spider Blood
A rare ingredien
t often used in Alchemical potions.
In the second last room of Worker Drones, she discovered a cache with ten Copper coins, another ring and a small key.
World Quest: Collect the Coins - Copper (0/10,000)
Many people throughout time have minted coins. They are scattered throughout Dunyanin. Collect these coins.
Difficulty: Easy to Impossible
Reward 1 if successful: (Number of Coins collected) x (Player Level) x 10 Experience Points for each coin.
Reward 2 if successful: 2 x (Number of Coins collected) Copper Coins.
Consequences of failure: None
Do you wish to accept this Quest
[Yes] [No]
“Yes.”
A Worker Ring of Orumeck (Max PL50)
This ring was made by Mage Orumeck during the time of his exile from Sihirbazlari. When charged, it fires a poisoned spike of condensed Mana similar to the fangs of the Worker Drone Spiders. The bearer of the ring is immune to this poison.
For information on its use, please visit the Dunyanin Official Manual.
The ring was almost identical to the other two, but the body of the spider resembled the Worker Drones, and it was made of copper.
The Key to Orumeck’s Spider Amulet
Orumeck created many Amulets during his extended life. In them, he stored fragments of his most powerful spell. This is a key to one of those amulets.
Note: This is not unique as during his life he made over 200 amulets and hid 20 copies of the spell. To date, no complete collection has been found.
She found nothing in the other rooms except for the first. In this, she found a large key and a bag of small purple gems.
The Key to Orumeck’s Basement
You are in the escape tunnel from one of Orumeck’s safe houses, his ‘Cavern’. To enter the main cavern, you will need this key. The cavern has become home to one of his many creations: Orumeck’s Spider Queen.