Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing, page 36
“True,” I said, acknowledging the logic. “Or, we could avoid the tripwires since they’re easy to step over if you’re looking for them.”
“In a fight, we won’t be looking for them, and there’s no guarantee any enemies we encounter won’t trip them,” Deacon shook his head. “I’d feel safest if we just set them off to get them over with.”
“Or, perhaps, we can disable the trap mechanism and avoid the effects entirely,” Gavin suggested, walking up to the first tripwire and inspecting where it connected in the wall. “Mind if I attempt it?”
Deacon opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it and stopped to consider his words. “That’s not a bad idea, just be ready to move quickly or fight. Maybe have Phelyya give you a hand.”
“Me? Oh, my trap skill, yes!” Phelyya bounded over to Gavin and they began fishing inside the wall with the end of Phelyya’s dagger.
“And the rest of us?” Goodwin asked, looking around at the walls just past the entrance.
“The rest of us will stand here just outside the archway. Gavin and Phelyya should run back and get in position if something bad happens.”
Just after he said this a loud snap echoed off the stone walls and the halfling and demontouched elf sprinted back in our direction.
“Was that a good sound or a bad sound?” Deacon asked, readying his weapon.
“Bad sound,” Phelyya said, shaking her head and drawing her second dagger. “Tripped it by accident, not sure what it does yet.”
What it did was animate the skeletons in the alcove furthest from the entrance. Three skeletons with bows got into position and nocked arrows in the left alcove, while two on the right lifted rusted swords and shields to bear. I didn’t hesitate, aiming a Fire Blast down the hall into the alcove on the right to prevent the melee enemies from charging at us. I was pretty sure if they ran down the hall they’d trip every other wire along the way.
“Amalie keep doing what you’re doing, nobody else move!” Deacon barked out an order, freezing Goodwin and Uri mid-stride. “If you charge them you’ll set off another trap. Hang back, Amalie will try to pick them off at a distance. Just be patient for now.”
With a smile, I channeled my ephemeral water elemental spell, summoning several to harass the archers and knock their arrows off-course. I fired a few Fire Blasts down the hall into the skeletons, then sent another volley of water spirits, only to find no moving enemies to aim at. The battle was concluded in under a minute without a single enemy attack connecting, nor any traps getting tripped.
You are no longer in combat.
You have defeated 6 x Poorly Articulated Skeleton (Level 2) and gained 90 experience (6 x 15 experience)
Elemental Evocation increased.
Elemental Conjuration increased.
“That was anticlimactic,” Uri said, sheathing his sword and leaning against the archway. “They just fell apart when Amalie touched them.”
“I don’t think we were supposed to take them out at range,” I said, pointing at one of the runes on the hallway wall. “I think they were supposed to trigger the other traps and swarm us with skeletons. Or maybe trigger a poison gas trap or something that they wouldn’t be affected by. That’s why they’re low level, they’re a swarm.”
“Gavin, Phelyya, want to try again?” Deacon asked, indicating the hall. They both nodded and moved forward to the trapped detection rune, and a moment later there was a shattering sound like a dish plate, followed by cheering.
“Disarmed,” Phelyya called back. “So long as you don’t pass in front of the rune it won’t trigger. They’re on plates inset into the wall, you can just break the plate it’s inscribed on from the side.”
“Neat,” Uri said, inspecting the designs etched just inside the archway. “Is it hard to tell the runes from the cosmetic stuff?”
“When I looked at the walls last time the runes stood out as familiar, like I should recognize them,” I said, walking in to look at the decorative symbols inside the entrance. “These are just for show I think.”
He traced his finger along a loop and the stone floor shot up with a sharp sound of impact, sealing the entrance. Nobody was in the doorway at the time, but Deacon and Goodwin were stuck outside. After a couple of seconds of panic, Uri reversed the motion on the symbol and the door slid back into the floor.
Deacon stepped inside, shaking his head. “Maybe we don’t touch random things.”
“Agreed,” Uri nodded.
Gavin and Phelyya managed to get all the way to the end of the hall before triggering another tripwire, this one summoning a small group of level 5 skeletons in the alcoves closest to the entrance. With all the other traps cleared, the melee fighters charged them and the battle was over within seconds of the skeletons emerging from their coffins.
You are no longer in combat.
You have defeated 6 x Average Skeleton (Level 5) and gained 240 experience (6 x 40 experience)
“No loot,” Deacon said, kicking at a pile of bones as they disintegrated. “Not even crafting materials.”
“I’m okay with not having to find a use for brittle ancient bones and rusted weapons,” Goodwin said, stretching in place. “That was a decent little warm-up at least.”
We continued through the hall to the stone pillar trap in the corner. This one we gave special attention to, considering the damage we’d seen it deal to the locust queen. The activation rune on it was functional now, or at least it was until Phelyya cracked the plate it was inscribed on. Gavin tested to make sure the trap was actually disabled in classic Gavin fashion by simply walking through it and hoping not to die. With a little hesitation, the rest of us followed and found ourselves in the hall lined with unlit torches.
“Anyone else starting to smell rotten eggs?” I asked, getting a hint of the smell we’d encountered last time.
“No,” Phelyya replied immediately in a mocking tone, then paused and added, “Actually yeah, my logs say I detect a faint hint of sulfur in the air right after you asked. Weird.”
“Okay, this time I came prepared,” Deacon said, walking over to one of the torches and producing a small box from a pouch on his side. After some fiddling with the contents, he produced a shower of sparks against the closest torch. The end ignited after a few attempts, and he pulled it from the sconce on the wall. It didn’t seem like it wanted to come loose, and a tiny flame remained behind when he pulled it away. Deacon puzzled at it for a moment, then moved on to begin lighting the remaining torches with the one he’d liberated from the wall.
“That’s weird,” I said, inspecting the flame. It clung to the wall, barely the size of a match flame, just behind where the head of the torch was previously. The angle of the torches placed the flammable end almost directly against the wall. When the flame didn’t diminish over time, I conjured one of my temporary water elementals and sent it hurtling into the spot on the wall. The tiny elemental evaporated in a small puff of steam on impact, extinguishing the flame and revealing a rough patch in the smooth stone tiles. By that point Deacon had returned from lighting the hallway, the light somehow making the place feel more foreboding.
“Hold your torch here,” I said, pointing at the spot on the wall that was previously on fire.
Deacon inspected the spot and looked back at me. “Sure, but why?”
“Testing a theory,” I said, feeling an itch at the back of my mind to confirm something.
With a shrug, he passed the torch flame against the wall, reigniting the small spot on the wall.
“Spooky ghost flame,” said Uri, watching from a few steps back.
“Can you humor me a bit more here and put that torch back?” I asked, stepping away from the wall. “I think this is part of a puzzle.”
He re-inserted the torch in its wall sconce, having to balance a bit to get it in place. Nothing changed in the room and I didn’t hear any indication that we’d solved a puzzle.
“Maybe next time,” Gavin suggested with a shrug. “You can never know when the hand of Fortuna will reach out and bless your actions.”
I pulled on the torches as we walked along the creepy hall, trying to see if any were loose or different. We reached the turn at the end of the hallway and I gave up. There was still some compulsion in my mind urging me to investigate further, so I pushed it aside to concentrate. At least the smell hadn’t gotten worse this time, remaining annoying without increasing to overwhelming.
Turning the corner showed the longer hall fully illuminated. The torches appeared to possess larger, brighter flames as we proceeded forward. At the halfway point Deacon signaled for everyone to pause.
“Last time the locusts had cleared out the next room before we got to it,” he warned, looking in the direction of where we died last time. “Stay together, and stay alert. I don’t think we’re going to die in a sudden inferno again, but I don’t think we’ll be safe either.”
“What’s ahead?” I asked, trying to look around the last corner. “I see lights, so clearly you’ve been there.”
“I only made it to the beginning of this hall before the torches started lighting themselves,” Deacon shrugged. “Didn’t want to get too far from the group and pull the attention of whatever’s in that room. Everybody ready?”
“Yes, the suspense is killing me,” Phelyya said, bouncing from heel to toe. “Why can’t I jump in place? Gah! Let’s go!”
The treasure chest was clearly visible in the center of the room, an obvious trap considering the dungeon had reset and we were the only group in here. If we’d have known the chest didn’t appear after the locusts cleared the room we would have been more cautious about opening it. Maybe, I reconsidered. We thought it was a trap last time too and still got killed. From the entrance, we could see four full suits of armor that weren’t there last time, each posed against the wall with sword and shield at the ready.
“Animated armor,” Deacon said, nodding at the figures. “I mean, that’s pretty obvious at this point, right? They’re what left the slag heaps from before. Let’s get their attention and fight them in the doorway, just in case there are other nasty surprises in the room. Amalie, can you blast one of them and see what happens?”
“With pleasure,” I smiled, pulling out my wand and aiming at the one in the furthest corner. I sent a Fire Blast directly toward the center of its breastplate. The moment the little ball of flame entered the room, the whole place ignited. The entire room filled with blinding flames and we were blasted with a shockwave of heat and concussive force, forcing me to turn and step back averting my face from the heat. It was uncomfortable, bright, and loud, but dealt no damage.
The intensity of the heat and light faded after a few seconds, and I turned back to see the chest in the center of the room was obscured by a pillar of flame. I could also spot the suits of armor, still fully intact. Not only were they unharmed, but a steady stream of fire also flowed from the walls behind the torches, compressing and twisting to fill the metal. The pillar of fire in the center of the room faded in intensity as the humanoid figures of flame finished taking shape. The flames solidified in places, giving the appearance of magma.
I focused on the nearest creature, the game responded to my attention and labeled the enemy as an Armored Ember of the Forge, level 4, with 300 hit points. That was more than the locust knights had, and they were a challenge to take down. I doubted the additional level we’d gained meant all that much in relative terms. This was not going to be a simple fight. Raising my wand, I fired another Fire Blast into the closest of the enemies only for it to explode with less force than I’d have expected from my weaker Firebolt.
You attack an Armored Ember of the Forge with Fire Blast for 15 fire damage (150 damage minus 135 fire resistance).
The flames on the torches behind the creatures faded from billowing sheets of fire, to only slightly larger than a standard torch. I imagined that dropped the room’s heat down to the temperature of an oven instead of the heat at the center of a bonfire.
“Hallway was definitely a good idea,” I said, swallowing hard in the suddenly dry heat. “Huge damage resistance from fire, by the way.”
“Good to know,” Deacon adjusted the grip on his hammer as the creatures formed a line, burning eyes visible within their helms. “You have other elements to use though right?”
I was already conjuring an ephemeral water spirit, commanding it to charge at the face of one of the flaming creatures. The ember raised its shield as the spirit closed in, blocking its charge and turning it to steam in an instant. I summoned several in succession by channeling the spell, giving each a slightly different path toward the enemy while its view was blocked.
Your ephemeral water spirit was destroyed.
Your ephemeral water spirit was destroyed.
Your ephemeral water spirit was destroyed.
Your ephemeral water spirit attacks an Armored Ember of the Forge for 82 water damage (75 plus 7 Water damage).
Your ephemeral water spirit was destroyed.
“This is bullshit, they barely take any increased damage from water,” I complained, conjuring more spirits. The enemy I aimed the little water orbs at saw them approaching and responded. An aura of flame flashed around it briefly, infusing its flesh and armor with a bright orange glow, a heat haze visible around it. As my animated projectiles approached, they evaporated into harmless steam. “Actually they take no damage from water now.”
My mana was just under three-quarters full after the fire blasts and channeled volley of water spirits. This meant I still had some room to experiment. Another handful of spirits directed at the other embers didn’t result in any more lucky hits, instead just causing them all to glow with their own heat aura. They were almost within melee range now, advancing at a steady pace, and I could feel their heat auras’ effect from the backline. Uri and Phelyya were visibly sweating and Deacon’s rough stone skin took on a slick, glossy texture in places. I waited for my mana to refill, watching their auras and waiting for an opportunity. The armored line reached our party and the fighting began in earnest.
While they had begun with an organized line, alternating which of them would strike while the others defended, the melee quickly devolved. Deacon deflected a blow meant for Uri and managed a return strike that dented the helmet of the attacker. The attack sent one of the central embers backward, and he pursued. He took a glancing blow to the side of his head from another of the enemy for his efforts, shaking it off with little apparent effect. Bashing the armored enemy with his shield, he knocked it back into the jet of flames around the chest in the center of the room.
The room flashed as the flames increased to their previous intensity. I could see the armored ember thing leaving a pile of glowing metal behind as its flesh fueled the central fire. Deacon turned his attention to the remaining line, forcing one to turn and address him directly while Uri and Phelyya squared off against the other two. Phelyya kicked one back and sheathed her daggers, her hands moving in a rapid set of gestures before she pulled her weapons back out. The aura around her opponent dimmed, and I seized the opportunity.
With my channeling, I could summon about one spirit every couple of seconds. Four spirits hurtled toward Phelyya’s opponent while its aura was down, two aiming for the face while the other two took a wide arc around to try to strike it from behind. I thought it was a good idea until the two flanking spirits evaporated in the heat. As the ember blocked its face with the shield, Phelyya managed several slashes into the joints of one arm and its leg. Two more of my spirits followed her strikes, flowing into the holes left behind by the blades.
Your ephemeral water spirit attacks an Armored Ember of the Forge for 78 water damage (71 plus 7 Water damage).
Your ephemeral water spirit attacks an Armored Ember of the Forge for 79 water damage (72 plus 7 Water damage).
You have killed an Armored Ember of the Forge.
Contrary to expectations, the suit didn’t crumple to the ground once its animating entity was removed. That would have been convenient. An explosion of flame engulfed the creature, sending a small hail of molten metal out in all directions. Phelyya recoiled, Uri dodged the bulk of it, but Goodwin was hit full in the side from point-blank as he rushed past to help Deacon. I looked in my party icons and saw his health drop by half, then noticed Deacon was similarly injured. If the other two exploded like that in the enclosed space of the room they’d need cover if they were going to survive.
Deacon landed an overhead blow on his opponent’s shoulder, the last sliver of red fell away from its health bar. He immediately turned away to join the others against the remaining ember. The explosion from his felled enemy started before I could say a word.
Deacon - Forging Ahead
The heat in the small dungeon room was intense, like the feeling of standing too close to an open oven or active forge. Not exactly surprising, considering the column of flame reaching the ceiling beside me. I kept my eyes centered on the enemy in front of me, looking for an opportunity and conserving my stamina. These Armored Embers of the Forge were more dangerous than I’d been expecting, way smarter than the bugs and skilled fighters. If I hadn’t switched to a completely new weapon I might be having better luck. I was struggling to land any meaningful hits, though the damage when I did get one in was almost worth it. Switching back to my sword right now wasn’t an option without producing a significant gap in my defenses. I parried a well-placed thrust at my face from the glowing orange figure, only to have it adjust so the blade ran across the side of my neck.
Armored Ember of the Flame strikes you for 12 damage.
The gash was shallow and painful, like the majority of injuries I’d received so far. The density of my skin had turned many potentially lethal blows, leaving behind survivable injuries instead. Survivable didn’t mean pleasant by any means. My body ached, and Gavin had his hands full with keeping the others on their feet last I’d checked. My health was sitting at 90 out of 315, and the tricks I had up my sleeve may not be enough to keep me alive if I didn’t share the fun with someone else. Turning to take stock of everyone again, I made eye contact with Goodwin. He was still in a guard position next to Amalie and he nodded as he started my way, like he’d read my mind.
