Old Fashion Dungeon Crawl
by Grimslade
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Description
The welcome home celebration for Gor and me was so wonderful. Although there was a bitter sweet moment when we raised our mugs and toasted those that had fallen. From the hundred twenty only six of my brave Iron Tigers survived. They were with us for the feast. You should have seen the shock on their faces when Ghost Tiger himself showed up at Iron Keep and personally requested they attend. They were actually going to see the interior of Unicorn Falls, and they were both honored and nervous. The only Iron Tigers that had ever gone into Unicorn Falls were Patch and Amethyst, and both of them warned extreme caution to any mortal that ventured into that magical place. Although the creatures and folk there were loyal to Ghost Tiger, they were all of a magical sort, and Ghost Tiger allowed them their freedom; he did very little to suppress their mystical and some times very wild natures. He had a rule against killing within the boundaries of the Falls, but other than that, anything goes. In truth, I've personally liberated several mortals under the thrall of fairy charms, and had to get right nasty with a few nymphs to get them to return sight to some poor souls. So you can see why the six human Iron Tigers were a bit nervous. But they came of course; Iron Tigers never back down, not even from nymphs and fairies.
They left the forty new recruits, handpicked warriors from the Duchy of Wynddane, to continue cleaning up and repairing the battered keep. They were good men and women all, but still had a great deal of training and adventuring to go through before they earned the name Iron Tigers.
The next morning Moonpie woke me up with an amazing cup of tea. There are times when I truly love that little fairy, that is until I remember that she is not just some sweet fae butterfly, but an ancient and powerful creature from the Glamour.
The current cause of tension between us has to do with three things; first, she thinks she knows who my arch nemesis is, but she wont say yet; it's not the right time yet! GRRR! Second, she turned me into a fairy! Yeah, ok, it was to save my life and potentially the lives of all I hold dear; but she turned me into a fairy!! GRRR! And third, she refuses to tell me where she hid my battle axe, and she wont until she can cleanse it of the curse. Ok, I get that one, so no GRRR.
It was the third "contention" she talked to me about over morning tea, which by the way soothed away all traces of the hangover I had. Yeah, I had to out do everyone else, even Patch couldn't keep up with me. Of course Ghost Tiger could out drink a dragon, but he doesn't count, being the Rhakhasha Highlord and all. So, Moonpie gave me directions to find a powerful magic sword to stand in for my axe. She also gave instructions on how to avoid most of the traps,...most!
I was a quarter mile into the underground tunnel on what I thought was a solo quest, when Ghost Tiger caught up to me. I had mixed feelings as I wanted to go this one alone. But I thought about why he came along I was so glad he did. He wasn't here to protect the poor maiden, he had great confidence in my abilities and often allowed me to go off fighting monsters without him. No, he was here because he missed me when I wasn't me.
Well, this quest is going to take a lot longer now, with the "getting reacquainted" breaks; and don't ask for details; they'd only make you blush, uncomfortable, and make you completely lose track of the sword quest story I'm trying to tell you! ...Whew! Ok, where was I? Oh yeah. Well the traps Moonpie mentioned seems to be all behind us now, and nothing but unmentioned traps and challenges lay before us. At one point a corroded stone column broke lose and tried to fall on us, and the ceiling with it. Almost too fast even for my eyes to follow, Ghost Tiger caught the massive weight of the stone column and through shear extreme strength, jammed it back into place. And so we move deeper into this increasingly lethal dungeon. Although Ghost Tiger can see in the dark, I can't; thus the solid flame axe. It's a little trick I've learned using my pyrokinetics. Soon we rounded a corner into an opened chamber.
"Wildfire" Ghost Tiger growled "Don't use your flame here"
OK, yes, there was a definite warning in his growl, but I am a woman, which at times completely trumps the hard earned common sense of a seasoned adventurer.
So I said "And then how am I supposed to see? Lead by hand like the blind? I don't think..." and of course, that's when my axe of solid flame ignited the gas in the chamber, and the world exploded! ...to be...well, you know
Comments (24)
_Wildfire
I love the render and the story! Immediately a fav! I know, Ghost Tiger knows best but what can I say, I'm still a woman, lol.
lyron
Fantastic work!!!
BIGBEAR1965
Awesome image and story my friend, excellent work!
ChaoticHeartLD
Great work. Good positioning and posing, and nice attention to detail. Love the skeleton on the floor. Also enjoyed the story to go along with it. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture AND words is worth a thousand smiles.
Mavrosh
Fantastic work, both - the render and the words! :-)
BaeWulf
Old school dungeon crawling :-) indeed yas indeed says I.
mgtcs
Splendid story my dear, love the image and atmosphere, well done!
gibby.g
Great story, you have a really nice style to your narrative. Excellent atmospheric render too!
mrestey
Very cool image. Too bad I can't zoom. :-(
shadownet
LOL! Awesome tale and render!
Faemike55
While the image is fantastic, the story just rocks. I can imagine sitting at a barroom table downing some brews while she tells her story, pausing every so often to get a refill. Excellent
scifibabe
Great story - I kept smiling at all the Grrrs. Really interesting and engaging prose. Nice pic to illustrate it. Very cool!
jif3d
Man, tough gig to get the sword, so many pitfalls, lucky for Ghost Tiger's presence and strength, otherwise this might have been a one-way adventure ! Neat story-telling and bonus scene ! Well done & ~Cheers~
atlas7
Superb scene ! Love the lighting and the special effect on the axe !! 5+
magnus073
Have to say I agree as this one is such a classic Ray and took me back. Love the story and the way the image reflects it so well. This makes me think instantly to the D&D games along with a few others adventuring in the dungeons.
adrie
Great story and also a fantastic work on the scene....excellent done love it.
Minda
great story and awesome scene.
Zazou
Excellent story and illustration my friend !
flaviok
Sua historias e arte continuam excelentes meu amigo, aplausos (5)
densa
fantastic story and scene
SIGMAWORLD
EXCELLENT!
JaneEden
Superb writing and image, very well done my friend, hugs Jane xx
Carlazzo
Fantastic fantasy work of art. =D
fnor
Great story :-)