The party avoided a confrontation with a crowd of beholders by venturing further inside the ore mine. But now, they were blocked by a pair of sentinels.
Slade had to lure enemies guards away so that Milia, Shaki and a pawn could sneak deeper in the underground labyrinth.
His first step was to cross the intersection without being noticed.
While Slade attempted to slither on the ceiling, one of the beholders shot a ray at Slade.
Woah!
He evaded, jumping to the other side.
The beholders glanced at each other, shrugging.
They were puzzled by this unknown lifeform but they didn’t treat it as an intruder. As a result, they didn’t make a call for help or pursued Slade. After all, they could catch it and dissect it when they encounter it again.
Noticing this, Slade gathered himself on the ground.
On the other side of the corridor, he saw Milia with her eyes wide open, covering her mouth and Shaki grimacing.
Normally, his failure at sneaking away meant that he should abort that plan… But he already died once, getting run over by a truck.
I don’t care anymore! Can’t help it if I get busted!
Slade decided to push through.
He lifted a thumb up to Milia. He offered himself as a decoy, so that they could go further.
“I’ll never forget your sacrifice, little slime!” Milia tearfully muttered.
“Come on. Violet could always make a new dildo,” Shaki said.
They saluted his self sacrifice for being a decoy so that they could go further. Shaki took Milia’s hand to guide her away from the corridor.
As expected, they didn’t oppose his decision.
I’m just a disposable sex toy after all, Slade thought.
He crawled far from the party, until he found a recess in the wall.
It’s a good hiding spot, he thought.
The plan was to shapeshift into a beholder, to use the unlocked skill “Beholder Tongue”.
He stood in the middle of an empty corridor. His stump slowly wriggled outwards, turning into tentacles. His vision centered through his single eye.
[Temporary disabled skills: Alchemical synthesis, Symbiosis, Mana transfer. Temporary available skills: Disintegration Ray, Beholder tongue, Common tongue, True Sight]
“SKRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (HELP!)” Slade shouted and quickly hid underneath a rock.
The stationed guards and patrollers arrived in Slade’s corridor.
They approached each other in confusion.
Now is the hard part, I have to escape but… huh?
The beholders started to raise their voice and argue.
“Why did you call?”
“No, I didn’t. You called!”
“Is this a prank?”
“Hey, that’s not cool. Don’t call us for nothing.”
“What? Are you blaming me? I’m the victim here!”
Slade hesitatingly poked his head out from his hiding spot.
“Don’t fuck with me, small iris!”
“What did you say?!”
They didn’t notice him at all. Slade crawled at full speed while the beholders were slapping each other with tentacles.
He found the girls and broglodyte in the corridor beyond the guard’s place.
“Good job,” Milia whispered, raising her thumb up.
He jumped onto Milia, wrapping her eyes.
[EZ PZ] he wrote.
They resumed their exploration.
Soon, they arrived at a large open area. The ceiling was a natural cathedral of stone, its rough surface riddled with stalactites. A blooming ray of light pierced its center, illuminating a finely crafted stone bridge.
As they walked forward, they stopped to peer at the abyss underneath the bridge.
The ground was several hundred meters. Their sight, affected by the light, readjusted to its darkness.
Countless gnoll soldiers were lined up on the ground. They formed neat rectangles. An underground river flowed in the middle on the army.
“Are those… Clay statues?”
The thick standing figures stood lifelessly in the darkness below the bridge.
It looks like a giant eastern tomb.
“We’re not sightseeing. Let’s go,” Shaki said.
They walked past the well of light piercing the ceiling.
What... is that?
The party stopped in their tracks, gazing forward. As their eyes readjusted to the darkness, they beheld the structure standing before them.
Beyond the three hundred meter bridge, stood an oriental looking stone palace. It was a dilapidated testimony of Gnoll’s glorious past.
It was severely damaged, worn down by a repulsive tree of eyes. Its branches were tentacles protruding from the gaps of the roof, and holding unripe sacks of beholders. A network of pulsating veins and eyes ran along its surface.
“It’s... a pillar of eyes. That’s where the beholders are born,” Shaki said.
“It’s creepy. Isn’t it going to spot us?” Milia asked.
“Well… I don’t know. Look! There are people underneath it,” Shaki said.
They walked beyond the opened steel doors of the ruined palace.
The tree’s trunk broke through the ground, spreading its roots inside the cracks of the room. A pile of decomposing corpses lay at its base, feeding it the nutrient to birth the beholders.
“Hmmhmm!” muffled voices screamed all around the party.
Twenty five emaciated gnolls were tied in ropes in a corner of the room. They cried from happiness at the sight of the party.
“Oh my. Look at those free experience points,” Milia said.
The captives winced in terror.
[Wait, are you serious?]
“Hell yeah, I’m serious! We can level up! Maybe we could unlock something to fight the beholders,” she said.
“That’s a good idea. You could unlock ‘Medusa Glare’ to counter Beholders,” Shaki said.
“Yeah, I’m a genius!”
[No but… but… Really?]
Milia approached the gnolls, raising her spear.
A female gnoll thrashed her broken body. Perhaps because of her weight loss, the gagging ropes came undone.
“Please wait!” she pleaded.
The minotaur mercilessly threw her spear down.
“Noooo!” The ungagged gnoll screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Huh?” Milia blurted.
The tip struck the stone wall, missing her target from a large margin.
[Please calm down...]
“You fucker, what did you do?!” Milia shouted.
She tore the slime bandana from her face.
“What’s going on?” Shaki asked.
“He distorted my vision to make me miss!”
Discarded, the slime landed on the ground. He wobbled back up on the tied gnoll, as if to protect him.
Milia and Shaki readied themselves for battle, surrounding the rebellious slime.
The slime shriveled against their animosity. It was his first encounter with the true nature of the Dungeon. Ruthless monsters who reigned with fear and cruelty.
Gnolls are based on hyenas. Hyenas are cool. Gnolls must therefore also be cool. Cool things deserve to live. Math says gnolls should be recruited.
This mine is clearly of high value to the gnolls. Even if the protagonists clear it out they will face reprisals from other gnolls. However if they recruit gnolls then they have added protection for the mine, and reduced chance of reprisals.
Additionally in a world where different races have different racial traits that can greatly affect their strengths and weaknesses, it is a good idea to have a wide pool of options. Gnolls in particular would be useful because they can operate in groups on the surface, and have good senses. Troglodytes lack eyes, which is a huge weakness when operating in daylight. Harpies need open space, and can't function well in areas like forests where there is lots of cover. Minotaur are not really the type to fight in large teams. They might be good in small scale fights, but they won't be as good in large scale battles where teamwork and combined arms (think units of archers, pikemen, siege weapons, cavalry, etc all working alongside each other) tactics are what counts.
Gnolls would fit well as the core of an aboveground fighting force. Their good sense of smell would also make them good trackers and sentries. Minotaurs would be heavy infantry, and fill any role that requires lots of strength (loading siege weapons for example). Harpies would be be air support, attacking with ranged weapons, or using their superior mobility to strike weak points. Troglodytes would be the bulk of the underground forces, and serve as general cannon fodder.
Gnolls in particular would be the best option for massed ranged combat. Harpies can't really stay still while flying, and having them land would remove their main strengths. Minotaurs are too costly to mass produce just to fire a bow. Troglodytes are blind, need I say more?
Holy sh*t you're right!!
Yeah Minotaur cant fight efficiently in tight formation since they need to swing their great axes.
Woah I didnt think about stationary flight. Good thing you've mentioned it. I can adjust some paragraphs ^^
I didnt think about troglodytes penalties in daylight. What should I give to them ? Reduced sight range? They do have infrared vision so maybe they get good at tracking hot blooded targets but very clumsy at navigating the cold environment?
@owotrucked Well thermal sight would be far less detailed for one thing. It covers a much smaller range of the em spectrum.
Colder environments would actually make it much easier to spot warm enemies due to contrast. They would have a harder time spotting anything closer to the ambient temperature. Any strong source of heat could also overwhelm their sight in the same way a blinding light could. So fighting in a volcano would pretty much blind them. They would also see worse during warm sunny days.
Fun fact, glass would actually block their sight, so windows would be the same as walls for them.
Pretty much the best way to deal with it is to have troglodytes being good at knowing something is there, but they won't be able to pick out many details. So no reading, pick out colour, or being able to aim for vital areas.
Really the I would say their vision isn't their main sense like it is with humans. That means it is over all weaker, and they would have a much harder time judging range beyond a certain point. After all there is not much need to see anything beyond a kilometer if you live underground (a human can easily see 20+km at sea level on a good day, more if they are higher up).
Troglodytes would really benefit from good optics like glasses or binoculars, but they can't use them due to heat being blocked by the very stuff optics are made of. Magical vision enhancement might be a good option if it can be provided at a cost effective rate.
Gnolls are based on hyenas. Hyenas are cool. Gnolls must therefore also be cool. Cool things deserve to live. Math says gnolls should be recruited
Fun fact: they have 30 cm clitoris. I saw this fact at some nature tv channel in my childhood.
Skadi and Milla need to learn something called chess.
Loooooool
I didnt think Slade's judgement would appear so self evident to the readers.
Shaki's worry is explained in the next chapter maybe your decision will sway during their exchanges.
I played an escape room where players had to release a fictional serial killer in exchange for your freedom and you'd be surprised by the numbers of people who just went with the flow
Standing for your values and trusting your guts, in a situation that would put you under pressure or threaten your life is something I find both foolish and beautiful. It could go horribly wrong or really good.
That's why I was worried about not writing enough for Slade's stance in next chapter xD
@owotrucked
1) Alright I'll wait until the next chapter to see Shaki's thoughts.
2) And this is why the human race is doomed.
3) True, and it makes for a good story.
4) Slade's stance is gold. Never stop.
If they could not beat the spectators with 11 people, they will not do anything with 3, better increase the meat shields and maybe some survive
Yeah, it's the calculation that goes through Slade's mind too ^^
Just killing the gnolls only helps them in the immediate. However, if they recruit them then they can use some as meat shield and any that do survive will increase the strength of their dungeon.
I agree, that's a promising bet for the long terms that can come with a set of problems too. Most of the gnolls aren't pawns, so their loyalty can't be controlled by the system.
For example, In HoMM3, you get morale penalty if you put more than 3 different factions together in an army.
No matter what happens with the gnolls, I hope it will be a good story and comedy out of it :P
Hmm, on one hand more forces would help.
On the other, would the numbers even help? They'd still be outnumbered right?
Think it'd be better for them to level up, for Shaki's skill or some diplomacy skill to try recruiting the beholders. IIRC Beholders were a dungeon mob, thus they could just recruit them and have them defend the mines.
That's right, they will still be outnumbered.
Recruiting beholders with diplomacy is a great idea. But those skills arent the best match for Shaki and Milia's personality.
Imagine you got trespassers and they murdered your livestock and then they tried to swindle you into working for them lol
For the sake of action genre, conflict is unavoidable and I'm hyped about it
EXPLANATION TIME LOL.... or death?
Slade can't even articulate his feelings hehe
Btw I added a poll to know the reader's opinions on gnolls
VOTED
It just makes to have strength in numbers in a place of uncertainty
Thanks for the chapter