Calista fell in behind Lefty and Narene as they entered the passageway. Behind them, they could hear the knight yelling through the doorway as he tried to force it open. Then the wall closed behind them and the noise died. You’re in for a bit of a surprise if you do that, buddy, Calista thought as she remembered the magical trap Lefty had set on the door.
They had entered a crevasse of natural rock so narrow that Lefty and Calista had to step sideways to follow Narene. The cr...
2023-07-26 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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As it turned out, Narene had a pair of mana potions tucked in her robe, neither of which she minded parting with when they told her they weren’t going to hurt her.
Calista was glad the medusa couldn’t see her crocodile smile as they took all of their prisoner’s worldly possessions. Killing her boyfriend’s mistress in game would have been great fun, but turning her into a small fuzzy animal and then forcing her to lead them through the dungeon now seemed a far more apt punishment...
2023-07-25 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Calista was stunned. The deception of the past few months was hitting her now as each scene began to play back in her mind. He had first told her about the move over dinner at a fancy restaurant. She had told him she supported anything that advanced his career, especially if it was what he wanted (even if she secretly did not want him to go). She had brought takeout to help him shop for condos online. She had talked to him about her finding a job in the same city one day, perhaps after he had...
2023-07-24 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Behind them, another blast of fire lit up the fog as they marched the medusa down the hallway. Calista kept the point of her sword firmly up against her prisoner’s back as the medusa’s golden eyes glanced back over her shoulder. “I suppose we can get a little more acquainted now that we’re alone?”
Calista grimaced as she glanced nervously behind them. There was another burst of flames as a knight cried out in pain and anger. However, no one appeared behind them. “I don’t t...
2023-07-21 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Behind her, she heard a hiss. By the name of the Goddess, we’re screwed. She had hoped the medusa would be too involved in her ritual to fight, but now, through the corner of her eye, she could see the flutter of robes and a mane of green writhing snakes walking to her left. I have to keep the knight in front of me and the gorgon to the side. A wide arcing swing came from the knight and while she parried, the force of the blow pushed her another step back. He almost ha...
2023-07-20 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Only the tiny room they had left wasn’t tiny anymore but was now a large circular chamber littered with tattered clothes and old bones. We got lucky. He changed it up again. As she landed, a lifeless skeleton in moth-eaten peasant garb looked up at her. She nudged it with her foot to make sure it didn’t move.
“Lefty, are you here?”
“Yeah.”
The mage’s voice was right beside her, so she picked up the portable hole and replaced it in her inventory. She fe...
2023-07-19 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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One hand held the feather while the other held hands with the mage and Calista watched the cave floor get closer and closer until they landed softly in cold, waist deep water. She waded through the soft running stream to the shore and then stopped and surveyed her surroundings.
Along the water’s edge were glowing fungi that formed a small pocket of light. There was just enough illumination that she could see they were in a cave of some kind, though it was big enough that she could har...
2023-07-18 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Lefty slammed the door behind them and the sound of the wind and the battle died to a low roar. Calista heard the mage flip and slide the locks into place as she looked around. They were in a storage room. Shelves with boxes, pouches, metal ingots, skulls, herbs, and random ingredients lined the walls.
“Let's hope we didn’t just leave all our gear,” Lefty said.
“There!” She pointed to a nearby shelf.
It was all there. Her pack, her weapons, potions, lock picks, tra...
2023-07-17 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The jar shattered against the wall. As the glass fell to the floor, a burst of air shot out and quickly enveloped the room in a maelstrom. It started with a howling wind that picked up
dirt, debris, books, scrolls, instruments, and random pieces of furniture. Calista took cover behind a pillar as she saw Severin and Narene duck down against the wall to shield themselves from the onslaught. Metal whined and snapped as Lefty’s cage was ripped out of the ceiling and tossed across the roo...
2023-07-14 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Lefty then mumbled a few words and aimed a finger through his cage. A second later, a thick, black oil was oozing all over Calista’s hands and forearms. Because her manacles were secured to a chain that hung from a ring on the ceiling, she was able to bring her hands together. Squeezing her left hand, she disjointed her thumb to slip it free. Then, biting her thumb, she set it back in place before doing the same to her other hand. She dropped to the floor. Clutching her right hand, she popp...
2023-07-13 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Her head throbbing and her vision blurred, she began to come to. The world was a buzzing, shifting mass of different shades of green and yellow. She tried shaking her head, but that only made her dizzy. She tried yawning, but that had little effect. So finally, she just closed her eyes and held still.
Someone had her hanging from her arms, but her shoulders were no longer dislocated and so other than the dull throbbing in her skull, she wasn’t in any pain. What happened? Where am ...
2023-07-12 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The devil laughed as the cage door swung open. “You’re in for a hot time tonight, little delver. This will teach you not to steal from the wrong dungeon.”
Then the room door opened as two round-shaped, hunched figures slinked through the doorway. She recognized them immediately. Tick devils. Semi-mindless, hard-shelled, and insect-like, tick devils were commonly employed as servants by their more intelligent cousins. They followed orders without question, rarely spoke, an...
2023-07-11 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Okay, what now? The floor was uneven and though her hands were bound behind her back, she managed to roll over and sit up. I still can’t believe I’m in this situation. I don’t have a neuralink connection, but I’m sitting here and I can feel how cold the stone floor is and I can smell the old, stale blood in this cage. What in the actual hell is going on?
Dried blood covered the middle of the floor and she could see hair hanging from the bars. The cage was large...
2023-07-10 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Ever since she had first heard Smith and Smithey talking, she had been wondering as to their true nature and now she couldn’t help herself. What on earth were these two men doing. “So if you guys are players, why are you guys playing guards down in a dungeon?”
Smithey leaned forward on his spear. “Because we’re getting paid.”
She was confused. “You’re getting paid? By whom?”
“Severin, of course,” Smithey answered.
Smith grinned, “The owner of th...
2023-07-09 17:02:01 +0000 UTC
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The trolls turned up a stairwell, Smithy and his torch leading the way. Calista went limp as she bounced against Smith’s lumbering bulk. Her head was full of cobwebs. However, not wanting to disturb her carrier, she fought back the urge to yawn. The longer she could eaves drop on these two the better.
Cresting the stairwell, they entered a much larger room where their footsteps echoed against the distant walls. She could hear Smithey turn his torch this way and that as he asked, “Ho...
2023-07-09 17:01:02 +0000 UTC
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The wall slid open, revealing a darkened staircase leading up. Calista sent a sly smile back to her companion, “I guess we’ve found our way out.”
Two big blue eyes looked up at the stairs. “Excellent.”
Calista laughed, “I’m starting to feel a little better about my delver abilities.”
Nylvani looked at her with two curious eyes. “Why is that?”
Calista shrugged, “I don’t know, I guess I didn’t think I could do it? Ever since I found I couldn’t...
2023-07-09 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“Wait.”
Calista turned around to look at Nylvani.
The young Gothic woman had a vulnerable and worried look on her face. Behind the tangled black hair and the dark mascara stains, two big, blue eyes looked up at Calista. “Do you ever wonder …” she started but then her voice trailed off. Seconds went by as Nylvani studied Calista, almost as if she were trying to read her. “Do you ever wonder if any of this has any meaning at all?”
“What do you mean?” Calista ...
2023-07-07 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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“Do you know where you’re going?” Nylvani asked.
“Yeah, forward,” Calista replied.
“From there, I mean,” Nylvani said.
“Uhm … no, but that’s kinda the point of the dungeon, right?” Calista asked.
“I wasn’t challenging you,” Nylvani said. “I was just asking if you knew where you were going.”
“And I didn’t feel challenged. All I meant was that we’re in a dungeon and so there’s not any way for us to know where to go.”
...
2023-07-06 17:02:00 +0000 UTC
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There was again a flutter of movement in the corner. She stepped around the blood as she wiped her blade off and tapped her pen light on again. The gloom still covered the far corner, yet Calista could see something was cowering there. Something pale with long, black hair. It has to be chained to something. Holding her pen light up, she stepped forward and as the light penetrated the dark it revealed a young woman with jet black hair and skin like porcelain. Her eyes were deep pools ...
2023-07-06 17:01:03 +0000 UTC
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The stones were finally quiet and all was silence. She checked her health bar. Calista was all healed up. So she pulled herself to her feet and tried to listen. Wait. What’s that smell? She thought about that. Wait. Why can I smell?
She reached up to take her headset off and ended up touching her hair. Fumbling, she felt around her head but found no headset. Where did my headset go and why does it smell like something died in here?
The smell hadn’t b...
2023-07-06 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Calista fell into black nothingness until she landed with a bone shattering crunch. That’s it. I’m dead. However, as she watched and waited her death screen did not appear. For a long minute the only sound was her shallow breathing as her H.U.D blinked red, then orange, then red again, and then a deeper red. She was critically wounded, possibly dying. However, the screen did not turn gray. Gray meant death. That meant a fade to black. That meant she would have to log out and hit ...
2023-07-05 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The torchlight now allowed her to track the dragon and so when she saw the beast had turned its back to her, she crept away from the rock to duck behind a crowd of stalagmites. The rocks were tight and uneven, but she managed to slip through the first few rows to an open spot where she hunched down and waited.
Another plume lit up the cavern as the words again flashed across her H.U.D: Do you know where you are little thief? Are you here to steal from my mother? Or are you a los...
2023-07-03 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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She dusted herself off and turned around to see her Voorlock flopping and struggling in the corner. Its leg was broken, its right wing shattered, and its neck was bent at a funny angle. She knelt next to it, held its head in one hand, and whispered into its ear. “Shh … just give me a moment, buddy.” Then she took a healing potion from her inventory, one of the strong ones, and poured it down the bird’s throat.
Bones snapped and feathers regrew as the Voorlock’s leg straightene...
2023-06-30 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“You know, I get it, you’re seduced. You don’t have to play along quite so hard, okay?”
The mage, however, not only didn’t respond but didn’t even seem to have heard her. Moving on, she toggled to her H.U.D to see when her next [willpower] check would activate and saw the timer had over a minute to go.
As her legs carried her around the room, bouncing and swaying with the beat of the music, she took a good look at the women who were gathering around he...
2023-06-28 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Together, they traveled down the dimly lit corridor as it veered left and ended at a single wooden door. After checking for traps, Calista easily picked the lock. Inside was a torchlit room with two square pillars that flanked a carving in the shape of a skull. When she saw a set of runes on the floor encircling the grim statue, she asked Lefty if he could read them.
There was a moment before the mage’s invisible voice answered. “I think it says something about …” he paused, “...
2023-06-26 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Shenza din’Hooba, aka: “Lefty”
Human Wizard, Level 34
Wisdom: 16
Cultures: 22
Survival: 16
- Survival (Dungeon): 17
- Survival (Navigation): 17
- Survival (Forest): 18
- Survival (Desert): 18
Meta-Magic (Arch Skill divides by class): 16
- Meta-Magic (Ar...
2023-06-25 01:14:08 +0000 UTC
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“I didn’t know we had stumbled into someone’s personal fantasy land,” Calista said.
Lefty shrugged, “They say that the new neural jack is really something. I’ve heard it’s almost like real life.”
“Whoever owns this place needs to go outside,” Calista muttered.
“As much as I agree with you, I don’t think that’s their plan tonight.”
“Clearly.”
They crept down the hallway until they came to a four way intersection. The lighting of the...
2023-06-23 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The next room was five sided with a high ceiling. Through the torchlight, Calista could see red markings carved into the floor. As she led Lefty into the room, she leaned down to read the carved runes. Flipping through her skills, she activated [Knowledge: Magic] but a few seconds later a notification returned saying [skill check failed].
She turned to Lefty, “Say, what are these words carved into the floor?”
“It’s some sort of summoning c...
2023-06-21 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Just as the old woman had said, the key chain held a big brass key that opened the door. As the hidden door slid closed behind them, they stepped into the dark. Calista lit her pen light again, and a narrow spiral stairway rose out of the gloom. Up they went. As the boards creaked beneath their feet, Calista activated her [Trapfinding] skill. The old crone did not say what was up here, she only said this was the way we needed to go.
A doorway met them on the ne...
2023-06-19 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Calista: Delver (level 89)
Wisdom: 11
Survival: 17
Survival (forest): 23
Survival (mountain): 23
Survival (dungeon): 30
Cultures: 13
Animal Handling (Voorlock): 20
Willpower: 29
Scholar (Geography): 24
Perception: 16
Stealth: 42
2023-06-16 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
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