Trial of the Gods
Author: Stuart Grosse
Date: 2017-12-28 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Harem
Description: Zayn Darkmore's journey through the Tribeslands was memorable, to say the least. Whether it was slaughtering an entire tribe of goblins in a dark ritual that kicked open a door to one of the lower planes, or slaughtering a tribe of trolls because they were being trolls, or even just swinging by one of his baby mamas' home to see how she was doing, nothing he did could be called dull. Now, after fighting his way through a dungeon that had the biggest bug problem he's ever seen, Zayn is setting his sights on the dwarven kingdoms, to fulfill a promise he made months ago. What could possibly go wr

Table of Contents

- Arc VIII – Trial of the Gods
- Chapter 85 – The Door in the Mountain
- Chapter 86 – Monwihr
- Chapter 87 – Hardbottle Clan
- Chapter 88 – A Request
- Chapter 89 – Heroes’ Villains’ Feast
- Chapter 90 – Trial of the Gods: Moradin
- Chapter 91 – Trial of the Gods: Lolth
- Chapter 92 – Trial of the Gods: Tempus
- Chapter 93 – Trial of the Gods: Necron
- Chapter 94 – Trial of the Gods: Loviatar
- Chapter 95 – Trial of the Gods: Sharess
- Chapter 96 – The Trial’s Reward

Arc VIII – Trial of the Gods

Chapter 85 – The Door in the Mountain

SCHUNK!

That was not the sound one normally heard when a person’s fist met the head of a giant wolf, but when you have a monk around, and their fists can harden to the point where steel is no match for them, then you should expect some irregularities. Like the slim, toned arm of a drowess getting buried to the elbow in a wolf’s skull.

Jastra Sylrya

Drow Female

Level 41 Dirgesinger (Bard) / Monk

Titles: Beautiful One, Cunning One, Stonefist, Manslayer, Slave

Dire Wolf Alpha

Level 40 Wolf

I’d summoned my Stewardess from the castle as we left the Tribeslands for three reasons. First, I wasn’t at the castle, so she didn’t have anything better to be doing. Second, if she was going to be protecting my body while I slept in the castle, she’d need to be high enough level to make a good showing of it, so the weaker monsters in this area would make for a good training ground for her. Third, I had that quest I’d picked up to try and satisfy her desire so I could advance my profession.

The creatures in this area averaged in the high 20s, but that downside of my eating the eggs was having us meeting creatures in the low to mid 40s. Still child’s play to my group, now that we had all gone past level 50, but for Jastra they were a challenge, and one that would help level her up. And I enjoyed watching her work.

With this battle finished, I affectionately patted Jastra on the rear as she returned to my side. “Well done, Jastra. You’ve earned a reward when we camp for the night.” The Drowess shuddered, but said nothing. She still resented her enslavement, no doubt, but was starting to see some benefits to her situation. There were a lot fewer death threats against her these days, for instance. Drow politics can get cutthroat, literally.

We (ok, mostly Jastra) fought several more groups of wolves as we continued our journey out of the Tribeslands. When it came time to camp for the evening, she had leveled up to 43, making it a boost of five levels in the day and a half since I’d summoned her here with my Slaver’s Ring. Not a bad haul, especially considering that all these wolves brought in some extra coin, and plenty of crafting materials.

I was busy giving Jastra her reward, a task which, naturally, required us to both be naked and for her to be bouncing repeatedly up and down on my lap while I used my tongue to see if there were any problems with her tonsils, when I heard the sounds of people approaching our camp. Della, Yukiko, and Kylana, who were nearby, heard it too, but gave no outward sign. Hrozne was too busy reading the latest in a set of tomes shi had hidden in hir bag, each devoted to different fields of knowledge, it seemed.

Hekoir Bronzemaster

Dwarf Male

Level 60 Bulwark (Fighter) / Trapsmith (Rogue)

Titles: Sentinel, Wolfsbane

Brudrinen ‘Toll Collector’

Dwarf Male

Level 50 Bulwark (Fighter) / Rogue

Our ‘visitors’ stepped into our ring of firelight, in formation. There were five of them, all dwarves, and all armed and armored, with heavy armor and shields nearly their height. That they were able to move with any kind of stealth given all of that was… impressive. It hadn’t worked on our group, obviously, since they hadn’t noticed the three of our party who were hiding from view, but it was impressive in its own right.

Still, I didn’t care to play by their rules, so I just ignored them, and kept rewarding my slave. This did not seem to sit well with the leader of the five shorties. He growled, and stepped forward. “Get the hell up, you stinking nutsack spunk-bubble professor!”

I didn’t even look at him. “Nithroel, there’s a nail here.” The dwarf leader didn’t know what to make of that, at least, not until Nithroel’s hammer came down on his head as she came swooping down as fast as she could without hurting herself on the hard landing. The dwarf must have had one hell of a defense rating, since he wasn’t dead, but having your bell rung that hard is going to send pretty much anyone sprawling to the ground, at least for a bit.

The other four, seeing this sudden violence, started forward. Unfortunately for them, Severa and Kamla made their presence known at that point, stabbing each of them through the throat. I nodded my approval as the four fell, never seeing the face of their killers. Damn, but I loved watching my team work. Gripping Jastra’s waist, I slammed her down hard, and grunted as I released, the drowess slumping against me. “Good work, girls. Let’s see what we have here.”

Antique Mithril Warden

Type

Shield

Rank

Uncommon

This shield is forged from Mithril, so even though the style predates the Scourge, the shield still looks like it was new. Such shields are rarely seen outside of the dwarven lands, and are thus prized by many who live on the surface for their rarity, especially as many examples in non-dwarven hands have been lost to time as their wielders fell in battle. The device on the shield changes to display the chosen deity of the wielder.

+200 CON, +200 STR

+375 Defense

+10% to all Resistances

Enchanted: Repairing – Shield recovers lost durability over time. Cannot be destroyed by normal means.

Bloodcursed Skeletal Crusher

Type

Warhammer

Rank

Uncommon

Damage

340 – 455

Damage Type

Bludgeoning

This grisly weapon is forged from Adamantine, but the unknown artisan who crafted it showed both great artistic skill and great lack of taste, designing the haft of the hammer to appear as a human spine, while the head is a pair of human skulls. The grim enchantments placed upon this weapon has turned the hammer a blood red color.

Requires: Level 50

Requires: STR 200

+200 Attack

+250 STR, +250 CON

Bloodcursed – Any creature damaged by this weapon takes 50% more damage from this weapon and has their defense against this weapon reduced by 50% for 24 hours. (Additional hits do not stack, but replace the old duration with the new one.)

Enchanted: Vampiric – Heal 25% of the damage done by this weapon.

Gaze of Courage

Type

Helmet

Rank

Rare

This dwarven helm is styled with silver wings, making one wearing it easily noticeable on the battlefield. However, the enchantments upon it help to protect the wearer from harm, including an enchantment that saves one from instant death, giving this helmet the additional nickname of “Assassin’s Bane”.

Requires: Level 50

+100 CON, +100 WIS

+100 Defense

Sturdy – The maximum damage any attack can do to you is (your Max HP - 1).

Aura of Courage – You and all allies within 30 feet gain +10% Morale bonus to all actions. (Stacks with other bonuses.)

Enchanted: Mental Fortitude – Gain +25% resistance against mind-affecting spells and effects.

Ebon Breastplate of Dismay

Type

Breastplate

Rank

Rare

This breastplate is forged of Mithril, and turned black as obsidian through magic. The design and the devices upon the armor change with each wearer. The only common element is that they are all designed to inspire dismay and dread in the wearer’s enemies.

Requires: Level 50

+200 CON

+600 Defense

+40% Resistance against Piercing, Bludgeoning, and Slashing

Aura of Dismay – All Enemies within line of sight suffer a 10% morale penalty on all actions, and deal 10% less damage. No effect on blind or sightless creatures, or mindless creatures (simple undead or constructs, most oozes and plants).

Enchanted: Holy Ward – Wearer counts as Neutral for spells and effects that deal additional damage to evil creatures. Undead wearing this armor take no additional damage from holy spells and effects.

The dwarves all had copies of the shield, which was nice, so I gave one each to Yukiko and Nithroel. Nithroel was our only hammer user, so she got the hammer. Della was our best healer, so I shoved the helmet on her head. And Hrozne was surprised when he got the Breastplate. But he could wear it because of his death knight class, and this would add yet another debuff to his arsenal.

By this point, the lone surviving dwarf, namely the asshole who tried to ruin my fun, was beginning to stir. Before he could say anything, I stepped on the dwarf’s throat. “Now, be a good boy, and tell me what you want.”

“Geh! We’re the toll collectors, see? You wanna pass the road to get to the Empire, then you gotta pay the toll. And you lot are dead! The Black Hand will kill you all for crossing them.”

I chuckled at them, and said, “Oh, really? Well, they’ll have to be better than you lot.” And with that, I stepped down, crushing the dwarf’s throat enough to deal a point of damage, and kill him.

Looking to the rest of the group, I smiled. “Well, if we’ve met the bandits, then we should be fairly close to the entrance. Tomorrow, we’ll go see what these dwarves have in store for us.” And with that, we broke back up into our watch structure.

The rest of the journey to the mountain was uneventful. Evidently, the local thieves only kept one group of well-armed and armored bandits on the road. They probably relied on their sturdy stature and sneaking up on people while they were sleeping in order to collect their ‘tolls’. Maybe sending a runner to get more guys when a caravan was coming through.

Either way, we made it to the entrance to the dwarven lands without trouble. The door was twenty feet tall, and wide enough for two carts to pass eachother with room to spare. Carved into the stone of the mountain itself, I had a feeling that when they were closed, they would be all but invisible to the eye, based on the level of craftsmanship alone, to say nothing of what magic could do.

Lodwegret Warsong

Stone Dwarf Female

Level 60 Lightbearer (Paladin) / Hammerblessed (Fighter)

Titles: Sentinel, Undead Bane, Wolfsbane, Demonbane, Captain

The doors were open, fortunately, and ten dwarves, arrayed in plate armor, carrying shields and axes bearing the mark of the kingdom stood watch over them. I did not doubt that there were some who were less conspicuous hiding to cover these guards with ranged weapons or magic. The leader of this group stepped forward, and said, “Hail, travelers! Where might ye be headed, and what is your business?”

She was a dwarf that seemed to be carved out of solid marble. Guess that dwarves who ascend often get mineral or metal forms. Goes with their toughness and connection to the earth, I guess. Not my personal fave, though. Still, she would have been cute, for a dwarf, if she wasn’t uncanny valley statuesque.

“I am Zayn Darkmore, Knight and Lord of Wyrmwood. My companions and I are on errantry, and seek entrance to the Brudrinen Empire so we might find the residence of the Hardbottle Clan, where we have business to resolve.”

“And what business would an Incubus be having with the Hardbottle Clan?”

“That is a matter of my own accord, and no business of yours. But I shall say that, in their need, a member of Clan Hardbottle who was waylaid abroad asked for us to find and recover certain items, and bring them to the Clan holdings.”

The guard captain laughed at that. “And will the former owners of these items be coming to question about their whereabouts?”

“Oh, I seriously doubt that. Not in this life, at the least. And their afterlife promises to be no picnic, if their conditions prior to death are any indication.”

“So, ye killed them, then?”

“Well, the ones who had the items felt a certain attachment to them, and were none too pleased to hear that I had come to collect them to complete my quest. I did, however, attempt to gather the items with as little trouble as possible.”

“Hah! I like you, incubus. Go on into the city. But be warned, if ye be causing trouble, then no amount of silver tongued chatter will save you from the golems.”

“Well, it is a good thing I’m not here to cause trouble. You wouldn’t be able to give me directions to Clan Hardbottle’s holdings, would you?”

“Well, there aren’t many of them here at the border. Monwihr is too rural for their tastes. If you have business with the main family, your best bet would be to take a transfer portal to Vag Todur, where they have their main holdings.”

“Thank you much.”

“No problem. You really want to thank me, though, then you can meet me at the Golden Nug Tavern in an hour when my shift is up and buy me a drink.”

I laughed, and said, “You know, I just might be thirsty, myself.”

Chapter 86 – Monwihr

Monwihr was a typical dwarven frontier town, with a bunch of smithies, barracks, taverns, and other such things. Yeah, there was more to the town than that, like shops and such, but let’s face it, most of the stuff in town was designed to support the troops protecting the gateway into the mountain. Most of the serious traders would continue on, through the deep roads, to get to the capitol or other major cities, following the subterranean trade routes. The trading posts here on the border were simply for those surfacers who did not wish to linger underground, or those from underground who did not wish to see the sky.

Dwarven culture was definitely clan-based, and only a rare few of them ever left their caverns to go aboveground, unless they were on a mission from their clan or their gods. Dwarven adventurers found plenty of death and danger to entertain themselves with in the deeps, and there were always the constant conflicts with the drow to keep them occupied. Besides, when you lived your whole life with stone over your head, you could get a bit touchy about open sky. It wasn’t to the point where a dwarf who stepped aboveground would be cast out of society, like in some games, but dwarves raised underground did tend to get anxious outdoors.

None of that mattered to me, really, as I was just passing through, myself. Still, it would hardly do to pass through dwarven lands without trying dwarven ale, right? They were pretty much famous for that, as well as for their work at the forge. So I headed towards the Golden Nug, to see about quenching my thirst a little.

The reaction when I entered was not quite what I was expecting. The entire tavern grew quiet, and the dwarves in the room began looking angry. At first, I figured it was the whole ‘incubus’ thing again, but then I saw that their attention was directed mostly at Hrozne and Jastra. Great, this was going to turn into some kind of dwarf vs. drow thing, wasn’t it?

As we passed the bar, heading for one of the tables, the stumpy bartender growled, and said, “We don’t serve their kind here!”

Looking back at the dwarf with an imperious glare, I said, “Which kind?”

The dwarf spat. “Those drow! We don’t take kindly to their lot around here!”

Well, damn. Now I was going to have to do something impressive or this was going to be a long day. So I shifted into my drake form, and said, quite loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “I am Zayn Darkmore, Knight of the Wyrmwood, Friend of Black Rock Hold, and Consort to Dragons! You DARE say you will not serve those in my train? One is my personal slave, and the other has turned hir back upon hir dark kin, and played a critical role in the freeing of Duskhaven! Now, you DARE to say you will not serve them, because of your own foolish prejudices?”

OK, so I wasn’t really all that offended. But it would be inconvenient for me to have to split the party all the time, so I may have channeled a bit of Torgan there. That damn Paladin was always going on about the dangers of pride and prejudice. Really glad I’m not him any more.

Now, surprisingly enough, people backed away from a man-sized dragon that suddenly appeared in their midst. I heard one person growl, and turned to see a table of dwarves, one of whom, a berserker type, was grabbing his axe. I turned away from the dwarf as black tentacles erupted underneath him, and began ripping and tearing at the dwarf’s armor, stripping him.

I turned back to my Incubus form as the tentacles began violating the dwarf while holding him aloft in the air. The two dwarves nearest him attempted to grab their axes and help, but more tentacles sprang up, and they were subjected to the same experience. I figured I’d let them enjoy that until the berserkers ran through their rage, or until the tentacles going in from front and back met in the middle, whichever came first.

Looking back at the bartender, I said, simply, “I will not allow attacks on my person or upon my train, dwarf. However, in respect to this establishment, which was recommended to me by one of the guards outside the city, I have done what I could to limit the damage. Now, is there going to be any further problem?” The dwarf shook his head, clearly cowed by that display. Seeing that, I removed several gold coins from my pouch, and said, “Good, then bring ale for myself and my party, the good stuff. And don’t try anything stupid, like trying to poison me or spitting in my drink. You’ll only make me angry. One of the guard captains will be joining me soon, and will be drinking the same thing I am.” That got a quick nod, and I moved with my minions to an empty table.

Kylana was the first to speak. “Master, you’re horrible!” Well, that’s what she said, but she was trying hard not to laugh. “Look at those three dwarves! I don’t think they’ll be able to sit for weeks!”

I shrugged, and said, loud enough for those nearby to hear, “I would have let things go, but the moment their hands touched steel, they needed to be taught a lesson. And it was only out of respect for this establishment that the fools retained their heads.”

We were into our second round of ale (the threats and coin being enough to ensure we weren’t cheated) when Captain Warsong joined us at our table. She cleared her throat and pointed over her shoulder to the three dwarves, who were in… less than pristine condition by this point. “Your doing, I take it?”

I shrugged. “They touched steel, with the intent of harming me and mine. I defended myself and avoided damage to the tavern while leaving them alive. Killing them would have been simple enough, but that would have caused more trouble than it was worth.”

The captain nodded. “Well, let them go now. A couple boys will see they get someplace to sleep it off, and maybe stop by the healer on the way.” With a nod, I snapped my fingers, and the tentacles disappeared, dropping the three dwarves to the stone floor.

As they started to get their gear, I loudly cleared my throat. “The gear stays with the barkeep, as payment for causing a scene. You can buy it back from him later.”

When one of the dwarves started to object to having to leave the tavern naked and unarmed, another snap of my fingers brought more tentacles up in front of him. The dwarf yelled in fright, and all three turned and ran out the doors as I dismissed the tentacles. I seem to have made an impression on them.

Warsong sighed, and said, “Just how long were they up there? I know those three, and they’ve never run from anything less than a dragon.”

I shrugged again. “Little more than half an hour, I think? I wasn’t really paying attention to them after they were caught, and just left the tentacles to their own devices.”

The captain considered, and then said, “Right, not my problem. So, what does a party so… varied do to have business with the Hardbottle clan?”

“Well, as I said, one of the Clan had met with unfortunate circumstances out on the surface. They had, it seems, placed their trust in the wrong people, and paid grievously for it. By chance, I was able to help them out of the situation they had found themselves in, and so they gave me a quest to find the people who had broken trust with the Clan, and convince them that they should never have been that stupid. Of course, this conversation required proof that we had talked, and the dwarves were very unwilling to give up that proof. They were quite attached to their heads, you see, and not at all willing to give them up.”

Warsong laughed, and said, “Damn! So the Hardbottle clan sent you out after the heads of the people who betrayed them, huh? Makes sense they wouldn’t want anyone saying that they’d gotten one over on them without paying the price. So, how’d ya do it?”

“Well, we were passing through from the human lands to the Tribeslands when we encountered a patch of Blight…”

So, one round of drinks became several, and eventually the conversation moved from the tavern to the Officer’s barracks, where the topics turned from our respective adventures on the battlefield, to our adventures in the bedroom. The girls giggled and told stories about me, and Captain Warsong laughed and said they were exaggerating. Then the girls made me prove that they weren’t.

This, of course, led to a very stunned dwarven female, trying to come to terms with my… attributes. That bit of play led to some experiences she wouldn’t soon forget, as we tried to fit a 20” rod into a creature 50” tall (and only 32” of that was torso). Fitting the entire thing inside her was, it seemed, wholly impossible, not without causing some serious HP damage, and I’d tried to avoid doing that kind of thing since that first time with Della.

After a few long, hard rounds of penetrating questions and answers where both parties were quite willing to go all the way in order to satisfy their passion for new experiences and expanding their horizons, I lay under an unconscious Warsong, still buried as far as I could get within her. It was quite an evening, and much more interesting than simply staying at the inn. Of course, my girls were not left idle during this time, for I had given them instructions to enjoy themselves as they saw fit. Suffice to say, more than one dwarven officer had a good time that evening.

When morning came, we got a later start than I had originally intended, in no small part because Warsong had hurriedly called a couple of her friends to ‘wish me farewell’. OK, so it was more like ‘use me as a sex toy, because DAMN’, but still. I felt like I was the entertainment at a Bachelorette party, and couldn’t say I minded. Maybe I should have mentioned to them that I’d used Fruitful Passion on each of them before I thoroughly enjoyed them, but they would figure out my parting gift before too long.

Anyways, after a very breathless farewell to Monwihr, we queued up for the transfer portal. Teleportation spells could be… tricky at times when used underground. No one really understood it, but there were magical energies that concentrated underground and made magic unreliable. That’s one of the reasons that races which lived underground tended to be fairly resistant to magic in general. Drow may not be any more powerful magically than their surface kin, but they are easily able to withstand more magical attacks than surface elves could.

The side effect of this, as far as teleportation spells went, was that they were practically useless unless one was intimately familiar with the target location (and knew the local quirks of the magical field), or were insanely powerful (and could just ‘punch through’ the interference). For everyone else, permanent transfer gates were required, or you had to travel the long way, through the Deep Roads connecting the dwarven cities.

The transfer gates, unfortunately, had limits, meaning we could not take our horses or wagon through the gate. And none of us really wanted to go wandering through the deep roads just yet. There were too many places for ‘accidents’ before we got to Vag Todur, where the Hardbottles had their family holdings. It cost some extra coin, bringing the entire cost up to 200 PP, but I was able to pay for someone to teleport the wagon and animals to Lithaes before we stepped through the transfer gate.

Now, I just had to find Brylres and complete this quest.

Chapter 87 – Hardbottle Clan

Vag Todur looked a lot like Monwihr. But then, Dwarven architecture has a very distinctive style, and dwarves lived long enough, and were traditional enough, that styles changed slowly, if at all. Oh, they were happy to put new innovations in crafting to work, once they were proven to be reliable, but the aesthetics of dwarven buildings didn’t really change.

Getting directions to the Hardbottle estate was easy enough. They were one of the big-name clans in the Empire, after all, and this was their home turf. Everyone knew the Hardbottles, whether they liked to or not. So it didn’t take us long to find ourselves at their gates.

Two guards, armed and armored and wearing the Hardbottle crest on a tabard, stood outside the gates, and one of them challenged us as we approached. “Halt and state your name, and what business you have here.”

Ah, love it when things move simply to the point. With a smile on my face, I said, “I am Zayn Darkmore, Knight of the Wyrmwood and Lord of Lithaes. I’ve come a very long way to speak with Brylres Hardbottle, of the Clan Hardbottle, and I have brought her gifts that I do not doubt she has been hoping to receive for some time.”

The guard who spoke looked at me more closely, and said, “And why would the young mistress be hoping to receive gifts from an incubus Lord of the elven kingdom?”

I smiled, and said, “Well, I would not discuss the full details of our meeting here upon the doorstep, or in public at all without her leave, but suffice to say that she ran into an unfortunate situation with her old adventuring party, Moradin’s Hammer, and parted ways with them on a somewhat less than friendly basis. I was in the area on my own business, and helped resolve the issues that forced her to remain behind. Before we parted ways, Lady Hardbottle requested that I find the members of Moradin’s Hammer and arrange for some recompense for the way they treated her.”

The guards, who must have heard the scuttlebutt on what happened to Brylres by this point, grinned and said, “Oh, and I suppose that you’ve had a very fruitful discussion with the sorry bastards, then?”

I sighed, and shrugged my shoulders. “I am afraid that the conversation became very one-sided towards the end. It seems that Lady Hardbottle’s former companions were wholly unwilling to give the trinkets I asked of them to show their contrition. I may have had to be a bit forceful in my negotiations.”

The guard who had been speaking laughed at that, and said, “All right. Wait here, and I’ll send word inside. Understand that there’s no disrespect, but we can’t be just letting strangers in without appointments unless we have permission from higher.”

That was entirely expected, naturally. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long, as soon after the guard left, he returned, with another dwarf, this one looking more like a footman or butler than a guard, who bowed to us. “Lord Darkmore, if you and your companions would please follow me, Lady Brylres will see you in one of the sitting rooms.”

Following the butler into the house, I had to say that I was impressed. It was made of stone and carved into the living rock, of course, and sturdy as a bank vault, but everywhere there were ornate engravings, clearly the work of a master. The sheer scope of time it would take to do a single room, much less the entire house, however large it might be, was astounding. But then, these were dwarves, and they tended to think about things in the long term. Very long term.

The sitting room we were shown into was a very well-appointed place, with several comfortable chairs and sofas. Though they were carved stone, the cushions on them were quite nice. The only issue, if one could call it that, was that everything was dwarf-sized. Meaning that it was all a couple feet short to be comfortable to people like me, or my group. Still, we sat down and made ourselves comfortable while we waited for Brylres to show up.

Brylres Hardbottle

Dwarf Female

Level 205 Lightbearer (Paladin) / Defender (Fighter)

Titles: Glorious Defender, Blessed of Moradin, Defender of the Realm, Demonslayer, Orcslayer, Undead Bane, Former Slave, Dwarf Bane

When she did show up, the dwarven paladin was looking far better than she had been when I last saw her. No longer dressed only in simple clothes, she now was dressed in mithril armor, gleaming in the fire’s light, with sword and shield slung across her back, and a massive two-handed warhammer which she was carrying around like a traveler might use a staff to walk with. She looked the very image of a paladin, to be sure.

Rising from the chair where I’d been seated, I bowed to her, and said, “Ah, Lady Brylres, it is good to see you in such excellent health. I see that you have gained a new title since last we met. I take it there have been some ‘discussions’ with those who backed your former team?”

Brylres actually laughed at that, and said, “Tactfully put, Darkmore. Yeah, once I was able to get back home, there was a crackdown on some of the demon worshippers and terror cultists. Had to purge quite a few nobles who were selling out our people for their own power and greed.”

I nodded. “It is always good to know for certain who your friends and allies truly are. Speaking of which, when we last spoke, you gave me a quest to find the other members of Moradin’s Hammer, and either bring word to you of their location, or deal with the situation myself.”

Brylres nodded, now much more alert. “Aye, the guards said you’d found the bastards, and had a very ‘one-sided discussion’ with them. Since you’re still breathing, and standing in me house, I’m assuming that this discussion went the way you wanted it to?”

I grinned, and pulled the severed heads of her companions out from my inventory, placing them upon the table. Looking back at her, I said, “I’m not sure if you know this, but it appears that Moradin does not take kindly to someone betraying one of his Blessed. Your former companions were under a heavy curse. It made the discussion much easier.”

I poked the head of the barbarian/dominator, Kindag Chainhelm. “This piece of goblin dung was the one who convinced the others to betray you. Well, more like he had already converted these saps into his Thralls, and was basically using them as puppets. When you wouldn’t become a Thrall like the rest, he decided to get rid of you.”

Brylres spat on Kindag’s head. “I knew he was a bastard, but I never thought he’d go so far as to take the will of the rest of the team. I just wish I’d seen it sooner, and maybe the others wouldn’t have followed him. But they made their choices, and now they are forever beyond Moradin’s grace. Their souls will suffer torment for eternity. May their fate be a lesson to others.”

Then the dwarven paladin looked at me, and smiled. “You have proven true to your word, Zayn. Even when there was nothing but your word to make you seek out this lot, you did so nonetheless. Clan Hardbottle always rewards those who do us a service, and I know just the thing for you.” With that, she held out a golden disk, engraved with the symbol of Moradin.

Quest Completed: Betrayer’s Due

Brylres Hardbottle was betrayed by her comrades in the adventuring party Moradin’s Hammer, and left to be enslaved by the demon Neozhur and his pawn, Jynerra. She now asks your aid in gaining her revenge.

You tracked the members of Moradin’s Hammer to a tomb where they were attempting a trial to gain the forgiveness of Moradin and remove the curse the god laid upon them. You killed them, and brought their severed heads to Brylres Hardbottle.

Rank

A

Success

Find the former members of Moradin’s Hammer, and return to Brylres with the information.

Capture and/or kill the former members of Moradin’s Hammer. And return either prisoners or proof of death to Brylres.

Failure

You do not find the adventurers.

You do not capture or kill the adventurers.

You do not return with proof of death or prisoners.

Give up the quest.

Rewards

Portalkey of the Pantheon

Increased Reputation with Brudrinen Empire

Increased Reputation with Hardbottle Clan

Consequences

Decreased Reputation with Hardbottle Clan

You gain 50000 XP.

You are now level 55.

+5 Attribute Points.

You are now Friendly with the Brudrinen Empire.

You are now Respected with the Hardbottle Clan.

Portalkey of the Pantheon

Type

Tool

Rank

Divine

This key may only be given to a mortal by a direct agent of a deity, either one of their immortal servants, or by a Blessed or Chosen of that deity, and only with the permission of that deity. Using this key creates a portal which allows the user and their party a one-time access to a legendary, scaling dungeon known as the Trial of the Gods. This dungeon has perils, and rewards, suitable to the name, though the challenges are more often one of faith and conviction rather than pure force of arms.

Open a portal to the Trial of the Gods. Key is consumed with use.

Can only be used in the capitol city of the home realm of the one who gave the key.

“That key will get you into a dungeon set up by the Gods themselves to test your worth. You’ll be changed by the experience, but if you succeed, then you will have become even more powerful. This portal can only be opened in Verngurum, capitol of the Brudrinen Empire. Though you could take a portal there, I would recommend you travel the distance along the deep roads. You may gain several days in travel times, but the dangers of the road will help toughen you for the Trial.”

Then she grinned. “For now, though, I’m going to have to insist on you staying the night, at least. Rooms are being prepared as we speak. You can freshen up some, and then there will be something of a feast tonight. Complete with plenty of good dwarven ale, and stories, like the full story of how you found these bastards.”

I laughed at that. If there is one thing I have learned from my years in World of Destiny, it is that when a Dwarven Noble invites you to dinner, and the words ‘feast’, ‘dwarven ale’, and ‘stories’ are mentioned, then you must absolutely and without question say yes. Not only are you in store for some of the best food and (ESPECIALLY!!) drink available in the realm, but the stories are all of the bragging sort, which is fun. Most importantly, however, your reputation with the dwarves at the party goes up if you make a good showing, especially if you’re able to drink and keep going through the night. Dwarves may get a (well deserved) reputation as being dour and cranky, but at a party? Things get wild.

With that in mind, I bowed to Brylres, and said, “Milady Hardbottle, it would be my honor to accept the hospitality of your Clan, and to share in the feasting, drinking, and spinning of tales with you and your house this evening.”

Chapter 88 – A Request

Moans filled the guest room where I was staying. Slowly, the ebony-skinned creature above me began working her way up and down upon my length, as I simply laid back and enjoyed the view of those tight, round cheeks slicked with sweat as Jastra’s sex engulfed me again and again, while a demon and an angel sucked upon her breasts.

Hrozne had taken Kamla to their room for some fun. Della, Severa, and Yukiko had demanded the first turn in the well-appointed bath that could hold three easily, and was heated by enchantments. That had left me with Jastra, Nithroel, and Kylana to find something to do. Given the large, comfortable bed, that something was easily decided upon, naturally.

Kylana and Nithroel gasped as I slid my fingers into them, but they did not stop their work with Jastra’s well-endowed chest, causing the drowess to moan in further pleasure as she shook herself on top of me. All four of us were sweaty, now, in a good way, as the sound and smell of bodies grinding together filled the room.

Our movements began reaching a more fevered pace, and the moans increased in pitch, as first Jastra, then the other two women, shuddered, and let out a cry of pleasure, only to be joined by my own as I exploded deep within Jastra’s womb. The drowess fell back upon my chest, breathing deeply as she tried to recover, Kylana and Nithroel laying down beside me, their breasts sandwiching my arms as they caught their breath.

After a moment, Jastra turned her face to look at me. “Master, what are your plans for after you’ve finished in the dwarven empire?”

Reaching around to play idly with her clit with one hand, I considered the question before answering. “I don’t know, to be honest. I had considered venturing off towards the Drow lands, to check on the property I gained from Kali when I defeated her, but I have no knowledge of what to expect there, and I’m certain that I won’t exactly be welcomed with open arms.”

I felt Jastra stiffen at the mention of the drow lands, even as she squirmed under the assaults of my fingers upon her nethers. “Master, with your current strength, I would not recommend venturing to Amyaththalas, the citadel of the Drow. Not until you were at least level 100 would it be safe for you to venture there without your full Guild and all your slaves to protect you, and you would lose most of them in the venture.”

She paused, and then said, “The settlement where I joined Kali’s group would be safe enough, I think, if you could rise to level 70 or so. The monsters in the deep places are more terrible than those on the surface, and without more experienced warriors to keep them back, I doubt that any of the settlements outside the Citadel would be capable of survival. Have Dorei is a fortified settlement that helps direct most of what little trade the Drow do with the outside world. It was there that I joined Kali’s group at the behest of the Matron of my House.”

“Hmm. And we could find out the extent of Kali’s holdings from there. That’s a good idea. Though I can’t imagine it will be an enjoyable visit with the family, if what little I’ve heard about drow society is anywhere close to the truth.”

Jastra rolled over, sliding my length out of her in the process, so her breasts were now pressed against my chest and she was looking at me with those purple eyes of hers. “If it is a simple visit, then no, it would not be pleasant. But I have a request that may make it much more so, Master.”

I grinned as I looked up at her. I could feel Kylana and Nithroel shifting, now interested in the conversation. Jastra took my grin as a sign to continue. “My family sacrificed me to that mad bitch’s insane endeavor. It was probably some scheme of my sister’s to keep me away from power. Having been enslaved, I cannot rise to the top of the clan any more, but I can have revenge.”

“Oh, and what might this revenge entail? And what would I be getting out of this whole arrangement?”

“My mother and sisters are very proud, and very certain of their superiority as females. I would ask you to humble them, break them, and enslave them to me, so that I can continue humiliating them for what they’ve done to me.” She paused, a fiery look in her eyes, and said, “And in return, I will give over to you House Sylrya’s most prized possession, and the knowledge of where another of those descended from Mirelth’s captors may be hiding.”

Quest Updated: To Become a Master

There is a difference between a simple owner or trainer of slaves, and a true Master. Those who do not know this difference think mere ownership is all that matters. A true Master knows that he must care for his slaves, for healthy, happy slaves are productive slaves, less prone to ‘accidents’ or ‘misunderstanding’ orders at inconvenient times. Whether they are a general laborer, a combat slave, or a harem girl, all slaves have needs and desires. Prove that you have the necessary talents to be a Master instead of a mere Trainer.

Jastra has shared with you her wish, to gain revenge on her mother and sisters for sending her with Kali, which has led to her slavery and abuse by you. She wishes them broken, and enslaved to her.

Rank

F

Success

Complete the Stewardess’s Task.

Failure

Give up the Stewardess’s Task.

Rewards

Slave Master profession upgrade.

Increased Reputation with Slaver’s Guild.

Consequences

Reduced Reputation with Slaver’s Guild

New Quest Added!

The Stewardess’s Task

Jastra Sylrya has asked for you to capture, humble, and break her mother and two sisters, before enslaving them to her, so she can continue their torment as long as possible. This task, obviously, is not going to be an easy one.

Rank

A

Success

Capture Matron Sylrya and her two daughters, and humiliate them and break their spirit, before handing them over to Jastra to own.

Failure

Do not capture the Matron and her daughters.

Leave their spirit intact.

Refuse to hand them over to Jastra.

Rewards

Experience

Information on one of the individuals Mirelth seeks

Key of the Crucible

Increased Reputation with Drow

Consequences

Decreased Reputation with Drow

I smiled openly as I saw the quest notifications. “Ah, there is the legendary vengefulness of the Drow! I am glad to see you have not yet been completely tamed. So, you want revenge on your family for throwing you into the necromancer’s train? That is something I can help with, certainly, though I doubt it will be as easy to pull off as you are trying to make it sound. Is there a dark shrine somewhere inside your clan’s holdings that I could use to open a portal we could have reinforcements come through? This sounds like something the whole guild might want to get in on.”

“Yes, Master. There is a shrine in the courtyard of the estate, as well as a private one open to just the family deep within the estate. Both are dedicated to Lolth, with subordinate shrines to the other gods of the Drow pantheon.”

I patted Jastra’s rear. “Good. Then we only need to make our way inside, and then my forces can come through and wipe out the house. We haven’t done a guild raid in a long time.”

Yukiko and the others took that moment to come back in, and the samurai cocked her head at me as she said, “Oh, we’re doing a raid?”

I shook my head. “Not now, later, after we’re done in the dwarven lands. Jastra here wants me to go have some fun with her family, and I thought I’d bring the whole guild for this, so everyone could get in on the fun.”

Severa shook her head. “So we’re going to take on the drow on their home turf? You best have items to give everyone darkvision, or we’re going to be in big trouble. Lights will hurt us far more than they will help us in an environment where the defenders don’t need light to see.”

“Yeah, I’ll have Lexichan and the guild Enchanters and Alchemists start working on that. Now, Nithroel, why don’t you take Kylana and Jastra and help clean them up? Make sure that you are all thoroughly clean. Every nook and cranny, understand?” I chuckled as the girls blushed at what I had told them, but they nodded, and headed off for the bathroom.

Turning to look at the three ladies that just came back from their shower, I said, “So, whatever shall we do to pass the time?”

As it was, a few hours passed blissfully, while I enjoyed all my slaves, before I took a quick moment to wash myself and get dressed in clean clothes. OK, so the getting dressed part didn’t actually happen until after a servant appeared at the door. He stammered a bit as he stood there, staring at a naked drow female kneeling between an Incubus’s legs, her head moving up and down as she methodically worshipped my cock.

Once the poor man was able to bring his wits about him, he told us that dinner would be ready soon, and he was to take us to the dining hall. I thanked him, and told Jastra to finish quickly. This flustered the man even more as soon I was releasing myself down Jastra’s throat with moan of pleasure.

With that pleasurable task done, we all got dressed, and joined up with Hrozne and Kamla, who were in a similar state, having spent quite a bit of time together in their suite. Honestly, those two were a good fit with eachother. Hrozne was, it seemed, a ‘switch’ in real life, but had never had the chance to display it, thanks to being in a rather backwards, conservative area, like Texas, but overseas. Kamla, on the other hand, was a retiree in real life, who’d had to sell her cats when she broke her hip and couldn’t take care of them any more, so she threw herself into this world, enjoying the chances she got to do all the things she had never been able to do in real life.

Like I said, they were a good match for eachother, throwing themselves into everything that was possible in this game. Honestly, it pleased me to see it, since I was very much the same way. After sixteen (experienced) years as a righteous hero, a role I had thrown myself into wholeheartedly at the beginning, I had thrown myself into the role of Zayn with equal enthusiasm. And watching the byplay between the two was so cute.

I shook my head to clear those thoughts away as we entered the main dining hall. It was, as I suspected, laid out for a feast, and there were a great many people here. Most were dwarves, naturally, but our group certainly wasn’t the only non-dwarves in attendance. Apparently, the news of a feast had gone out, and several associates of the clan had come with their friends to attend the festivities. I smiled widely as I spotted the buffet tables piled high with food and drink.

It was going to be a GREAT night!

Chapter 89 – Heroes’ Villains’ Feast

Moving with my party towards the buffet tables, I unfortunately did not get far before I was waylaid. After all, I was basically the guest of honor at this feast, and one of the few nondwarves in the room. Thankfully, I had minions, and I wasn’t afraid to use them. I had Jastra and Kylana stay with me while the rest went and got their food, with orders to bring some back for the rest of us.

The first couple people I talked to weren’t that important. Mostly fourth sons of third cousins of the main family, and things like that. They were the types who were important enough that they had to get an invite, but not so important that anyone really cared about what they did. Which meant they were the ones who got chucked out as sacrificial lambs, so that those who actually mattered could see how I acted, and plan their own evening accordingly.

I could have acted like a jackass and saved myself a night of pointless smalltalk followed by very pointed political maneuvering, but that was shortsighted, and not in the best interests of myself, or my guild. So I was polite, schmoozed the canaries enough so people figured the coal mine was safe, and started making connections.

And, as I expected, telling tales of adventure was part of the evening’s itinerary. We dispersed into smaller groups, in order to hear as many tales as we could, as well as spreading our own stories as far and wide as we possibly could, increasing our guild’s fame. I was on my fifth tankard of dwarven ale when I was chatting with a group that, by this time, included Brylres, a couple of the higher-ranked craftsmen in town, a human trader, and a dark elf, something of an emissary to the Dwarven lands.

Ihihe Creirda

Highshadow Elf (Dark Elf) Female

Level 80 Webmistress (Priestess) / Shadowblade (Rogue)

Titles: Elf Bane, Cunning One, Silent Death, Poisoner, Demon Layer

I had just finished telling the tale of how I’d help liberate Duskhaven when the priestess moved to get my attention. “Apologies, Lord Darkmore, but you seem to have two of my people in your train. I am interested how you came by them?”

“Ah, well, that’s an interesting story. And it actually has something to do with where I’ll be going next, when I’ve completed a couple tasks I still have to do within the Empire. But I suppose a bit of background on Travelers may help explain things.” I paused, and saw that all of my group was now listening more intently than before. “By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard that Travelers like myself have emerged in societies all around the world, yes? The world we Travelers come from is one most unlike this world. It is a world without magic or monsters, and is, in fact, only inhabited by humans.”

That got a gasp from the people around me, and I smiled, saying, “The bridge which connects our world to this one, and allows us Travelers to come here, projects our mind into this world, allowing us to become something we are not. But our bodies still remain behind in our world, and so we must leave now and then to attend to them. This, by the way, is the secret to our ability to return from death. Death, in most cases, disrupts our projection, so it takes time to reestablish our connection with this world.”

I paused, and then said, sadly, “Because of this, there are Travelers who believe this all to be a game, and that this world is worth nothing except as something to build their own reputation back in our world. One of those Travelers began her time in this world as a Drow by the name of Kali.” I nodded to Ihihe, as she started at that name. “Ah, I see you know of her. Kali was a necromancer, who gained the favor of the priestesses of Lolth and some of the noble houses in Drow society.”

The ’ambassador’ nodded. “The last I had heard, she had led a party to the surface in order to launch some attack upon the elves of Wyrmwood, as they are our ancient enemies.”

“Indeed. Her first step was to attack the inhabitants of Ullelone Village, several days ride from the capitol. During the attack, she unleashed a spell on friend and foe alike, killing the living, and causing the dead to rise as feral, infectious undead…”

I went into great detail of the fighting in the village, and the aftermath. The story was entertaining enough that the crowd around us had grown larger, and some of the girls began chiming in with comments here and there.

“…And so, with the village secure, we left hunting down and eradicating the feral undead to the soldiers and my guild, while we pressed on towards the Deeps, a dungeon we had already been prepared to tackle, but now turned towards with renewed urgency. After all, a plague of undead serves no one, save the insane necromancers like Kali.”

I told the tale of how we had been captured, causing us to receive a few laughs and jeers, though everyone here knew that drow were famed for their ambushes in the darkness. The laughs got louder (and less at our expense) when I retold how I had taunted Kali until she had knocked me out, only for me to escape my cell by befuddling a guard.

“So now I had pants, and a weapon, but little else worth my while. Still, I wasn’t going to just give up on my pets. Fortunately, I still had my skills, and while they had taken all the gear that I had on me, they had no means of stealing the items hidden within my inventory. As it happened, I had spent a good deal of time increasing my Enchanting skill by creating slave collars.”

Brylres blinked, and said, “I didn’t know ye were an Enchanter. And ye know the slave enchantment? Now I see how you could afford so many beauties. You simply captured most of them, eh?”

I shrugged and failed miserably at keeping a shit-eating grin off my face. “Well, I could have killed them, I guess, but I figured it was far more fun, and profitable, for both me and them for them to become my property. Oh sure, some of them didn’t appreciate it at the beginning, but they’ve been coming around under my tender care.”

“Anyways, I came across a patrol of five, with two females and three males. I did not expect I could fight them fairly and come out unscathed, so I cheated. I used magic to immobilize the females and hinder any spells they might try and cast with a spell that creates black tentacles which stretch up to bind or penetrate a foe. This left me fighting the three males, which was still bad odds.”

“The females screamed in surprise before the tentacles shut them up, which allowed me a moment to deal with the first of the males, dispatching them quickly. Using poison enchantments that were already laid upon one of my blades, I managed to drag the other two into a fight that left me victorious, as their paralyzed bodies could not handle my assault. Once that was done, the collars went on the female drow, and they led me to the rest.”

“Once we found Kali, I used a piece of ‘magic’ that is part of the bridge between our world and this one to challenge Kali to a special type of duel. I defeated her, and forced her to live out all the tortures she had inflicted upon others within this world, all within a minute, before her connection to this world was forcibly destroyed. She may build a new connection, but she would be severely weakened, and would not be the same threat as she was before.”

“After that, it was simply a matter of mopping up. We slew or enslaved all the drow we came across, according to my whims, and, when the dungeon had been cleared, returned to the surface, so that we might enjoy the fruits of our labor.”

Brylres chuckled, “As only an Incubus could, no doubt?”

I nodded. “Indeed. So I took the slaves with me back to Mylenoris, and from there to my new lands in Lithaes Village. In addition to my guild, I’ve got drow, vampires, werewolves, and elves protecting the lands of Lithaes, along with some weaponry designed by a gnome and a dwarf I acquired while in the human lands. It is a lot of work, but thanks to my Seneschal and the communication magic of guilds and Travelers, I am able to keep working on building the defenses while I explore the world and gather strength.”

Ihihe nodded. “And you mentioned that the story of you and Kali had something to do with your future plans?”

“Ah, yes. When I struck Kali down, the property she owned reverted to me. From so far away, I have been able to do little but have the wards seal themselves so that no others could get in or out, but I will need to visit them before too long, which requires a journey into the Underdark.”

The drowess sighed, and said, “Well, that will certainly cause some troubles. I feel I would be somewhat remit in my duties as an ‘emmissary’ if I didn’t point out that traveling into the territory controlled by my people as a male non-drow is likely to devolve into something that will give you a great deal of trouble, if not outright pain, suffering, and death. And if you’re very, very lucky, it will be in that order.”

With a laugh, I said, “Well of course! We may not have drow where we Travelers come from, but we have bridges into many worlds, some of which are not unlike this one. I had thought it would be a difficult journey, which is why I’ve held back from this for as long as possible. But I should see the property I own eventually. And while I doubt I shall ever find much in the way of welcome with the Priestesses of Lolth, I am not seeking any conflict with Her or her church. If an individual attacks me, or orders an attack upon me or mine? Well, then they deserve whatever they get.”

By this point, I was looking squarely at Ihihe, to make sure the message was being delivered to the priestess. “As a servant of Sharess, I swear upon the Gods that I seek no quarrel with the Spider Queen or her church as a whole. Any actions I might take against those drow who may or may not be her followers is due to personal reasons, and not any form of crusade, unless one is launched against me, or those under my protection. Before a servant of Loviatar, Moradin, and Lolth do I make this vow.”

There was a stunned silence before Della spoke up from not far away, “In the name of the Lady of Pain, I witness this vow.”

Brylres spoke next, “In the name of the Hammerlord, I witness this vow.”

Looking at me like I was some kind of madman, or maybe a unicorn, Ihihe said, “In the name of the Queen of Spiders, I witness this vow.”

I nodded. “So let it be.”

Deific Vow

You have, whether through a moment of brilliance or madness, made a binding vow in the name of your Goddess, with servants of three other deities witnessing the vow. Should the deities agree that you willfully broke this vow, then you will be cursed by all four deities until you atone for your sins, and they may offer divine quests to their servants to hunt you down and kill you. Servants of all four deities know upon analyzing you that you have made an oath witnessed by their deity, but not the contents of the oath. While you keep faith with this oath, in both the spirit and letter of the vow, you receive the following benefits:

Reputation with all four deities improves to Neutral, if it was not already higher.

Reputation with all followers of the four deities becomes Neutral, if it was not already higher.

WARNING: In addition to other effects, a person who breaks a Deific Vow cannot make another Vow until they have Atoned to all gods involved in the broken Vow. May only have (Level/30, round down) Vows active at a time. Vows the gods deem as frivolous will result in very non-frivolous curses upon those who waste the time of the Gods.

As I cleared away the notification, I saw that others (followers of the four deities named) had also received notifications. Looking at me once again, Ihihe shook her head. “You are a very bold man, Zayn Darkmore. From your stories, you no doubt know just how much you’ve risked with this. Do you think that it will be worth it?”

I considered, and said, “I have witnessed the powers of the gods, and seen their wrath against those who break faith with them. This oath will allow myself, and those under my banner, to at least venture into Have Dorei without automatically being the enemy of every drow in sight. From there, it is up to my own abilities to see me through. That alone makes the risk of vowing not to do something I have absolutely no interest in doing worth it.”

Nithroel coughed, and said, “It may make you unpopular with some in the Wyrmwood, Master, but I have no doubt that you could use this as a means to be a ‘go-between’, since you are a Knight of the Wyrmwood, but not an elf. With that, and your vow, there are few better suited in the elven lands to serve as a messenger to our dark kin.”

Brylres laughed out loud now, breaking the spell the oath had cast upon the gathering. “As expected of you, lad! You’ve gon and made yourself indispensable to both kingdoms!”

Chapter 90 – Trial of the Gods: Moradin

The journey from Vag Todur to the dwarven capitol of Verngurum took almost a week. It would have been over more quickly, but we were delayed by frequent monster and bandit attacks, causing us to go slow, but pushing me to Level 56, so it was not all bad.

Now here we were, in front of the main temple of Moradin in the capitol of the Brudrinen Empire. Brylres, who had traveled with us with a couple of her retainers, said, “All right, lad. Now is the time to go and prove yourself to the gods. When you use the key, the portal will open, and your party will be transported to the plane where the trials will be held. I cannae tell ye much about what you will face, only that you will face at least one trial for each diety represented in your party, as well as Moradin, since one of his servants gave the key to ya.”

“The trials may be combat, or they may be tests of character or puzzles you have to solve. Whatever the case, they will have something to do with the portfolio that the diety in question rules over. Complete the trials, and you’ll be rewarded. Impress the gods, and you may be given divine favor, or quests not available to most mortals. Fail, and you’ll be dead, or worse. Understand?”

I nodded to her, and the paladin backed away, while my group gathered around me, and I activated the portalkey. As it crumbled into dust, a portal opened, and with one last wink at Brylres, I stepped through, followed by my party. There was no point in hesitating. We had a unique dungeon to conquer!

The walls of this dungeon were made of carved stone, beautifully done as one might expect of a godly dungeon. There were stairs in front of us, leading to a raised dais with a group of dwarves in shining armor, armed with spears that radiated power, standing there. Behind them, I could see more steps, leading to another dais, with more dwarves, and so on, until the fourth dais, where a golem made of what looked like mithral was standing.

Glorious Defender

Celestial Dwarf Male

Level 65 Aegis Lord (Paladin) / Phalanx Master (Fighter)

Titles: Godkin, Blessed of Moradin

Stepping up to the dais, the dwarves moved into a phalanx formation, two rows of five blocking the stairs to the next level. One dwarf, the center of the second line, had a helmet that was painted red, rather than the steel of the others. That would be the leader, I guessed, and I was proven right when she spoke a moment later.

“Those who wish to pass the Trial of the Gods must prove their worth before the gods themselves! As a servant of Moradin has given you access to this place, we have been chosen to judge your worthiness. You have two choices before you. Force your way through by strength of arms, or answer the questions of those upon each platform. What choose ye?”

“Will the choice I make be the same for all the platforms, or can I choose for each platform?”

“Each platform is a different choice, but your choices will affect the later choices.”

“Then ask me your question.”

“Your soul is black from the atrocities you have committed in this world, Zayn Darkmore. And yet you did not hesitate to throw yourself into the fire when faced with the undead horde at Ullelone Village. What say you to this?”

I chuckled. So the gods could see what I’ve done in this world, but not why, unless I told them? Well, they could probably use magic, but that kind of thing would get noticed, especially if there were competing gods involved, so maybe it was something they didn’t use on any but their own followers? Finding the limits of the gods was a puzzle for another time. For now, I needed to answer the question.

“I may be black-souled and evil, at least in this world, but when I am in this world, I am a part of this world. Why should I wish the destruction of the world, when this is where many of my favorite possessions are?” At that I made a show of pinching Severa on her rear, causing her to yelp. “Destroying the undead and preventing them from spreading earned me great experience, as well as brought me favor with the Wyrmwood.”

The dwarf in the red helm looked like she could spit nails, clearly not impressed with my answer, but issued a command, and the phalanx broke apart into two columns, with room for us to pass between. “You are a vile man, but you have spoken the truth, and so I must allow you passage.”

We stepped through the space between columns, and walked up the stairs. The next platform was much the same as the last, only there were three rows of five Dwarves, and the one with the red helmet was male this time. Like the last platform, he spoke to us.

“Your soul is black from the atrocities you have committed in this world, Zayn Darkmore. You have stripped many living creatures of their pride and their freedom, turning once-proud warriors of the gods into your servile playthings. How are you any better than the thrice-damned Kindag Chainhelm, who corrupted the members of Moradin’s Hammer, and betrayed a Blessed of Moradin?”

Oh, it was going to be like this, was it? Fine, I could play this game as well as any. “Because I am honest about what I am. Most of those I have under my power were enemies, or the property of my enemies, that I have captured by right of conquest. The rest were purchased or obtained by legal means in the realms where I obtained them. Not once since I have entered this world have I betrayed a promise or broken a vow, once given. Betrayal is not something I will tolerate in myself, or those who follow me.”

Grudgingly, though with a better spirit than the last commander, the order was given, and the phalanx split, with two rows on one side, and the third on the other, giving us room to pass. “You are a wicked man, but you have acted true. You may pass.”

The third platform, predictably, had a phalanx with four rows of five, armed and armored as before. The red-helmed one in the third row spoke, as the others had before him. It was getting to be a standard refrain, honestly. “Your soul is black from the atrocities you have committed in this world, Zayn Darkmore. You have consumed the flesh of other thinking creatures, often taken from them while they were still suffering upon the fires you cooked them in, for nothing more than sport. You are like a Terror, and yet you fought against Terror cultists, eliminating their whole group and taking their leader as a slave. Why is this?”

“Why not? Honestly? If they had kept out of my way, then I probably wouldn’t have bothered with them unless someone gave me a quest or something to take them down, as I had when I first came to this world. I am not some champion of justice seeking to right wrongs and purge evil. I am a bad man who does bad things. If you come to me as friends, then we can be friends. If you come to me or my allies as enemies, then I will be your enemy, and I will crash down upon you like a thunderbolt. And when it is done, the lucky ones will be amongst the dead.”

I was clearly not winning any friends with these Blessed of Moradin, since the red helm looked at me like I was something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe, but I had answered the question honestly, so he said, “You are a despicable man, and filth in the eyes of the righteous. But you have not lied to me, and I must let you pass.”

Finally, we reached the fourth platform, which was bigger than the other three combined, and was set up as an arena. I noticed that the forty-five dwarves from earlier were now seated in the stands, all on one side of the arena. In front of me was a golem, shaped to look like a dwarf, if a dwarf was ten feet tall. It held a great two-handed hammer in its hands, clearly not a ceremonial piece.

Lukaemora Silverhorn

Mithral Golem Female

Level 60 Glorious Defender (Paladin) / Foehammer (Fighter)

Titles: Blessed of Moradin, Sentinel, Living Golem, Demonbane, Undead Bane, Evil Bane

The golem looked down at me like I was a bug, and said, “You have answered the questions truthfully, but the answers have doomed you to a greater trial. Now you face Judgement! Atone for your black heart!” And with that, the dwarves in the stands all shouted a war cry, and knelt, the butt of their spears clanging on the stone stands. And then they shone with a golden light, which was echoed by a glow surrounding the golem.

Lukaemora Silverhorn

Mithral Golem Female

Level 60(105) Glorious Defender (Paladin) / Foehammer (Fighter)

Titles: Blessed of Moradin, Sentinel, Living Golem, Demonbane, Undead Bane, Evil Bane

Well, wasn’t that just peachy. As the golem began charging towards us, I called out orders, “Severa, Kamla, Kylana, Jastra, Della: SLAY THE DWARVES! The rest of you with me!” And with that, I shifted into my drake form, and used the magic I had learned from Kylana after the fight with the Queen in the Cells of the Vanquished Queen. My skills weren’t as great as hers, but the boost to size and strength was enough that I was able to match the golem’s size, and caused my strength to be boosted by 25%!

With a draconic roar, I rushed to meet the golem. A Golem Paladin was pretty much the worst thing our party could be facing, except perhaps an Ooze Paladin. We were all evil (and thus smiteable), and most of our success relied on critical hits and sneak attacks, things we couldn’t use against golems. This was basically sealing our best strengths, and exploiting our weaknesses. Frankly, having our tactics used against us sucked.

But we had prepared for situations like this. Well, not exactly like this, but golems and holy power users working together. The big damage dealers went to take out the dwarves in the stands, who were locked in their pose while they were channeling their power to the Golem. Which was good, because even with my buff, and the buffs Hrozne and Nithroel threw on me, I was overmatched in raw strength with the Golem.

The Golem pushed me back, but it could not quite free its hands enough to swing its mighty hammer, forcing it to struggle against me while I breathed hellfire in the thing’s face. Yukiko, Hrozne, and Nithroel surrounded the creature. Hrozne and Nithroel both knew spells and attacks that worked well against Good-aligned creatures (and paladins particularly), being a Death Knight and a Blackguard. But what saved us was Yukiko. Every time the Golem attempted to cast a spell, unleashing holy vengeance upon us, a slash from her katana disrupted the spell. Her Antimagic Blade granted by the Mejikira (Mage Killer) advanced class was quite literally saving us.

As we fought, I felt the Golem grow weaker, little by little. Its level was falling from that inflated 105 back towards its normal 60! Risking a glance to the side, I gave a draconic roar of triumph as I saw the five I had sent into the stands slaughtering the dwarves. Those who tried to keep channeling power to the Golem were helpless against their attacks, and those that turned to fight denied their power to the Golem. Even so, the stands offered no chance for them to form their phalanx, and Della’s ice magic wrecked havok amongst them.

With its level dropped to a more manageable 60 (and losing the buffs it had gained), I was finally able to overpower the golem, stripping its weapon away. It was now a fight of hellfire and claws against metal, but it was one I could win. Of course, the fight wasn’t nearly as fair as that, since now it was nine against one, and no one was coming to back the creature up. I decided to make a show of things, since the gods were watching.

“NITHROEL, ALL YOURS!” With a roar, I grabbed the golem by one (now) misshapen arm, spun, and hurled the massive creature into the air. Fortunately, mithral (and thus, mithral golems) are lighter than other metals. Mithral golems use this lighter weight to increase their speed and dexterity, but unfortunately for this golem, it allowed me to do this trick.

In the air, Nithroel was waiting, her hammer in a two-handed grip. At the height of its flight, with all the force she could muster, she hit the golem square upon its back with an unholy smite attack, shattering the plate and sending the creature flying down at an impressive speed, leaving an even more impressive crater where it landed.

When the sound of metal meeting stone faded, a portal opened on the far end of the platform.

Trial of Moradin passed. Though you have proven yourself black-hearted to the extreme, you have faced adversity without fear, and struck with the resoluteness and fury of a hammer upon the anvil.

HP and MP restored to full. All cooldowns reset.

All rewards delayed until completion of the Trial of the Gods.

Chapter 91 – Trial of the Gods: Lolth

An inky darkness enveloped us as we entered the second floor of the dungeon. Thankfully, between our abilities and Kylana’s spells, we did not need to carry lights to give away our position, as magic let us see in the darkness. But even then, that meant that we could only see the rough walls around us. Gone were the worked stone walls of the last floor. This felt like something more natural.

When I heard the skittering in the dark, I knew which deity was testing us now.

As calmly as I could manage, I said, “Everyone stay together. Watch for traps, and watch for enemies above. This is the Spider Queen’s gift to us. Expect spiders and drow.” With that, we moved out, staying as quiet as we could (which wasn’t very, considering that some of us were in heavy armor), slowly trying to find our way in the branching tunnels of this maze.

And a maze it was, like the labrynths of myth. Even without the threat of enemies to fight, and loot to discover, there was the ever present danger of getting well and truly lost. Without the ‘Traveler Magic’ that allowed us to keep maps of the area we passed through, we almost surely would have gotten lost by now.

We fought spiders as they appeared. Lots of spiders. Really, like LOTS of spiders, from swarms of little ones to spiders the size of a large wolf. There was some decent loot, especially if you were into poisons and arachnid-themed crafting supplies, and once Kamla found a chest containing several potions, which was always nice.

Of course, the easy times had to come to an end. That end came when we found a wide cavern with webs strung across the area tightly enough to form a floor over the space inside. Below the webs was an inky darkness that went down who knew how far. In the center of the web was a giant spider, perhaps the size of a small van, guarding an ornate black chest shaped to look like a spider.

Abyssal Web Queen

Monstrous Spider

Level 70

Titles: Incubus Bane, Manslayer, Lolth’s Pet

I was fairly certain that this thing had been placed here especially to try and kill me, or at least weaken me. And I couldn’t go with the time-honored ‘kill it with hellfire’ approach, because the flames had a good chance of burning the web, and sending us all into an unknown abyss. Falling forever just to go splat wasn’t on my list of ways to experience death in this game.

Thankfully, the webbing was thick enough that we could walk and move almost normally, but it was sticky, slowing us down. This made what should have been a fairly easy fight into a longer, more drawn-out affair. Still, beating things until they stop moving is kindof our schtick, so it wasn’t too long before we managed to kill the thing.

Left Eye of the Queen

Type

Tool

Rank

Divine

This purple gem is about the size of a man’s fist. Outside the Trial of the Gods, it would have significant value, but removing it from the trial means giving up on the rest of the dungeon, for the Left Eye of the Queen is one of two keys needed to pass this level of the Trial.

All spiders will be drawn to you.

I sighed as I looked at the gem. Turning to the others, I said, “Guess we’re hunting through the rest of this maze for the other one.”

This level was as sadistic as one might expect from the Spider Queen. Oh sure, none of the challenges were impossible to overcome. But they just kept coming, rarely giving us time to rest and recover. Or there would be things that limited our options, making us work harder for our wins. In some ways, it was a scale version of what she had done to the drow for all this time, throwing them into a crucible to make them stronger. Well, the ones that lived, at least.

It took two hours of near-constant fighting to find the next ‘boss’. Sure, the level of the opponents was only in the 40s, but without any time to rest, we were starting to make mistakes. This level was wearing us down, slowly but surely.

Abyssal Poison Queen

Monstrous Spider

Level 70

Titles: Incubus Bane, Manslayer, Lolth’s Pet

This fight was somewhat different. The spider was just as large as before, but instead of forcing us out onto a web, it preferred to stay up the walls, out of reach, spitting poison and acid attacks at us. It also had a bunch of little spiders that it called on to keep harassing us, and make sure we couldn’t just burn it with long-range attacks. Worse, the poison and acid actually HEALED the little spiders.

Right Eye of the Queen

Type

Tool

Rank

Divine

This purple gem is about the size of a man’s fist. Outside the Trial of the Gods, it would have significant value, but removing it from the trial means giving up on the rest of the dungeon, for the Right Eye of the Queen is one of two keys needed to pass this level of the Trial.

All spiders will be drawn to you.

We collapsed around the chest that appeared when we had finally finished the battle. Needing to take a while to rest and recover, Kylana and I blocked the entrances to the wide cavern we were in with walls of hellfire, giving us some time to catch our breath without having to deal with attacks from spiders, at least for a little while.

Once we had rested, we began trekking towards where the center of the labrynth seemed to be. From what I had seen on my map, this level was laid out like a spiderweb, so the final goal (and the way to the next level) would almost certainly be in the center. The attacks from before had not let up. Indeed, it seemed that now that I had both keys, the attacks were coming even faster than before.

No longer able to take things slow and cautious with all the denizens of this massive web being pulled toward us, we went as quickly as we could and not set off every trap that littered the large hallway we were now passing through. It was a brutal, blitzkrieg-style battle as we attacked with full power anything that stood in our way, forcing a hole large enough that we could pass through.

Finally, we fought our way through to the center. And just like that, the attacks had stopped, the spiders kept back by wards placed upon this massive room. Upon a large stone dais, there was a great statue made of obsidian. It looked like a female drider, but far more impressive, even with it being only stone. Standing twenty feet tall, I noticed two gaps in the statue, where the eyes would be.

Taking the extremely subtle hint (ok, about as subtle as a Wiley Coyote plan), Nithroel and I flew up, and placed the two Eyes in their proper places. There was a pulse, a wave of power emitted from the statue, and we quickly rejoined the others on the ground. I motioned Jastra to stand next to me. Her insight would be helpful for whatever came next.

Avatar of Lolth

Divine Avatar Female

Level 900 <Hidden> / <Hidden>

Titles: <Hidden>

“Well, shit.”

I took a deep breath as the statue began moving, and somehow morphed into a living being. I’m not saying it was Dieties, but Dieties. Heh. I crack myself up sometimes. When the statue’s metamorphosis into an avatar of one of the nastiest goddesses in the game was complete, I looked over to Jastra, to see her already prostrating herself. Well, that was to be expected, I guess.

Still, the Avatar’s attention wasn’t on her. Jastra might be pleased by that, but the fact that the Avatar was looking directly at me was not something I was too pleased about, honestly. This feeling got worse once she started speaking.

“So, this is the impudent male who dared make a vow in my name? And so soon after, he dares to intrude upon my Trial?”

I took a breath, and offered a sweeping bow. “Lady Lolth, Queen of the Spiders and the one from which the Drow learned all their best qualities, this humble mortal is pleased to make your acquaintance, though I had not dreamed it was a possibility, that one as lofty as yourself would take notice of one such as me.”

The Avatar chuckled darkly as it advanced, but I made no move to draw a weapon or take a defensive position. I was good, but a level difference of over 800 was more than even I could overcome. If this turned to combat, I would be dead, pure and simple. With that in mind, the choice became equally simple: don’t let it turn to combat.

“I take notice of all those who make vows in my name, mortal. Especially when that one takes a vow naming three other dieties at the same time. What do you seek to gain from this, I wonder?”

“That much is simple, your Worship. I am a Traveler, as you know. In coming to this world, I’m seeking new experiences and entertainments, not looking to be tied down with cumbersome duties like a Paladin might. But circumstances forced me to venture into the lands of the Drow, which is a somewhat hazardous proposition for one like myself, who is both male and not a Drow. I could use magic to disguise myself, but such things are imperfect, and draw the wrong kind of attention when noticed.”

“I had no idea what effect the Vow might have before uttering it, but at the very least, I figured that convincing Emissary Creirda of my intent may earn me some leeway in being allowed to enter those lands without fighting a battle of attrition that I would surely lose. The fact that it puts me as being anything better than hostile to your followers is already better than I had hoped for.”

“Hmph. And what are your plans when you go and fulfill your slave’s wish to get revenge on her family? And why should I allow you to go and destabilize things in my realm?”

I shrugged, and said, “Well, if they are so weak as to be taken down by the likes of me and mine, are Jastra’s family really worth your protection? From all I know of the Drow, you have set upon them trial after trial, that removes the weak from their society, keeping them strong. I could be just another trial to face some individuals with. Sure, I may not be as grave a trial as the machinations of another Drow house, but surely it can compare to some of the dangers of the Underdark?”

The Avatar narrowed her eyes at me. “Clever, Incubus. Clever. Well, if you wish to be a trial to the faithful, then I will give you a challenge. A quest, befitting your nature.”

New Divine Quest!

Chaos in Amyaththalas

In your eagerness to avoid giving Lolth reason to smite you for your impertinence, you have instead given her an idea on a way to properly ‘test’ you, and some of her followers, as well. You must head to the citadel of the Drow, their great capitol of Amyaththalas, and complete three tasks. First, you must impregnate the Matron of the ruling House of Amyaththalas. Second, you must enslave the High Priestess of Lolth. Third, you must kill the Grand Archmage, the most powerful arcane spellcaster in the city. This quest cannot be declined, and the consequences for failure are… harsh.

Rank

S - Divine

Success

Impregnate Matron Fosanri Kalreban,

AND

Enslave High Priestess Tamzrin Drorval,

AND

Kill Grand Archmage Vimoss Yilrat.

Failure

Fail to do any of the three tasks.

Rewards

Experience

Gold

Increased Reputation with Lolth

Increased Reputation with Drow

A scaling item for each member of your party.

Consequences

Death, with the souls of all your party being bound and enslaved to Lolth for eternal torment.

“Now go. I await news of your deeds.” And with a cruel laugh, the Avatar disappeared, leaving only a long spiral staircase made of obsidian behind.

Trial of Lolth passed. The Queen of Spiders has tested your strength and resilience against her children, and you have triumphed in this crucible. Having faced an avatar of the Goddess herself, you have earned a chance to gain favor with her, or face a fate worse than death.

HP and MP restored to full. All cooldowns reset.

All rewards delayed until completion of the Trial of the Gods.

I sighed, and said, “Well, that went well.”

Chapter 92 – Trial of the Gods: Tempus

“So are we just not going to comment on how Lolth basically put us all on a suicide mission?”

“Ah, c’mon, Severa. It could have been a lot worse, you know. We’re still alive, and there’s definitely a chance we’ll survive, especially if we can find a few more dungeons before we go and try our hand at the quest.”

“Della, how can you say that? She’s literally sending us after the heavy hitters of the entire drow race!”

I decided to cut off that line of conversation as we emerged onto the next floor. “Because it wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining for her if we didn’t have some chance of succeeding. Della is right. This is a dangerous quest, probably the most dangerous we’ve ever gotten, but we will prepare properly before making our move, especially when it comes to the Archmage. If we are lucky, we will be able to find conspirators who are more than happy to help our quest in order to improve their own positions.”

Floor Law

Glorious Combat

All combat must be done with strength of arms alone. Spells designed to damage or attack an enemy are disabled. Spells designed to heal or enhance martial combatants remain unchanged.

“Oh good. This has to be the floor devoted to Tempus. Looks like it is time for a brawl. Yukiko, you lead. Hrozne and I will flank you. Severa and Kamla take the rear. Nithroel on overwatch. Jastra support where you can, either with your singing or by taking out enemies that slip through. Same with you Kylana, support or take out enemies. Della, heals.”

That was all the time we had for planning, because as the floor law was displayed, the shadows cleared, and it became obvious that we were in an arena. In fact, it looked like the same arena that I’d fought my Demon’s Duels in, or a larger version of it. And we were positioned directly in the center of the arena.

Our opponents were all around us. A variety of races, but all were melee fighters of some kind. Knights in armor, rogues with deadly daggers, monks with fists of steel, barbarians wielding mighty two-handed weapons, and more. They varied in level, from 20 to 70. That wasn’t the bad thing. The bad thing was the numbers. According to Nithroel, we were facing almost four hundred enemies.

Damn, Tempus wasn’t going to give us a break on this floor, that was for sure. Well, maybe he did. As the first enemies crashed into us, I saw that while they were numerous, they weren’t coordinating their attacks. This was a mob, not an army. We just needed to get to a defensible position, somewhere that we could face them without being surrounded…

THERE! With a yell, I rallied my team, and we charged through a section that had weaker enemies, forcing our way through to a section of broken wall nearby. It was only eight feet high, but it was solid, and had formerly been the corner of whatever building it had once been part of, giving us cover frokm two directions. That was what we needed, something solid to put our backs to so we could focus all our power outward.

We won our way to the wall, thanks to the power of our attacks, and the fact that this section of the encirclement had mostly level 20s in it, which Yukiko, Hrozne, and I could cut down like a scythe through wheat. Oh, they were still dangerous if we got cocky, or were distracted by other threats and they were able to get through our guard, but they weren’t as big an issue as you might think. Weight of numbers only matters when those numbers can be brought to bear.

Now, with our backs to the walls, we could implement a defense that wasn’t certain to get us all killed. Della and Nithroel stayed in the back, dispensing healing as judiciously as possible, trying to stretch their MP as far as it would go. Kylana stayed with them, dispersing buffs on the rest of us, favoring the lower-powered, longer lasting ones rather than the big hitting ones that would be gone in a minute or less.

The other six of us broke into three pairs: myself and Severa, Yukiko and Jastra, Hrozne and Kamla. We fought close enough that we could support another pair if needed, but far enough that we weren’t getting in eachother’s way. The forward person in each pair took the brunt of the attack, while the support made sure no one got around the sides to attack the rear, or ganged up on the forward person. When the forward person tired, or got low on HP or MP, they switched, allowing them to catch their breath, and heal. Would never work in real life, but this was one time where the game mechanics helped us somewhat.

The game physics didn’t help us with the fact that blood was staining the sand, or that we soon had piles of bodies in front of our position. It only takes stepping on one limb of a fallen warrior to screw up your balance, and leave you open for all kinds of counters. There’s a reason why no one likes fighting on top of a pile of bodies, besides the ghoulish aspects of it.

In frustration, Hrozne unleashed one of hir spells that caused a corpse to rise as a temporary minion, and to all of our surprise, it worked! The spell did not damage an enemy, nor was it an attack. Sure, the minion was just a low-tier skeleton or zombie, losing several levels from what it had in life, but extra bodies attacking our enemy took pressure off the rest of us. Hrozne’s eyes met mine, and we shared a quick nod, before I began issuing orders again.

“Nithroel to the front! Hrozne to support. Send your minions out to raise hell. Della, watch your heals. We don’t want to take out any of our new friends by mistake! Everyone else, the plan remains the same. Hold the line, and let Hrozne do hir job, clearing the corpses from in front of us!”

With a war cry, Nithroel slammed into the front of the fighting, eager to get into the thick of things, her hammer crashing down upon one unfortunate elf warrior’s head and crushing it like a grape. Hrozne raised the fallen dwarf to the elf’s side as a skeleton, flesh melting off the bones as the dwarf rose, still wearing its armor and carrying a two-handed hammer in its hands. The skeleton turned, and began swinging that great hammer, advancing into the throng, mindlessly following its task to cause as much damage ot the enemy as possible.

Another skeleton soon followed that one, and then another. All the while, those of us on the front lines kept slaying the forces arrayed against us. When Nithroel had made her first count, it looked like we were facing odds of forty to one. Of course, we were cheating, using the piece of wall to limit the number of enemies who could attack us at once, and keeping them from being able to divide us. The fact that we could have dedicated healing and buff support, along with being able to switch to rest and recover helped greatly extend our HP and MP. In real life, we would have been dead long before now.

Even so, it was the skeletons that began to turn the fight for us. The enemy forces were a mob, not an army, so they had no dedicated healers keeping track of how much damage the front lines were taking. This meant that the skeletons helped soften up the enemy, sometimes even distracting them enough that we could get in a backstabbing sneak attack.

Slowly, the numbers began moving in our direction. 40 to 1 had become closer to 35 to 1 by the time we discovered the trick with the skeletons. Not much change in the odds, yet fifty men lay dead upon the field. Fifty men that began rising one by one as skeletons to join us. 35 to 1 became 20 to 1 before we knew it. I don’t know what caused us to start, but we began singing as we fought, punctuating the score with the screams of our enemies and sound of steel against steel.

And then there were only ninety enemies left upon the field. Mere 10 to 1 odds, not counting the skeletons? After what we had been through so far, this looked like the light at the end of the tunnel. Abandoning the defensive, we now launched a counter attack on the thoroughly demoralized enemy, springing upon them like ravenous man-eating tigers. The enemy faltered, and then broke, running for their lives as they attempted to flee the arena. The skeletons gave chase, slaughtering several as they ran.

Tedus Doomhammer

Stormborn Half-Giant Male

Level 70 Battle Raper (Barbarian) / Giant Basher (Fighter)

Titles: Tough One, Hammerer, Human Bane, Ork Bane, Sexecutioner, Dragon Slayer, Dragon Layer

Zinar Wrathspeak

Wildkin Half-Giant Female

Level 70 Skald (Priestess) / Snu-Snu Warrior (Fighter)

Titles: Tough One, Sexecutioner, Human Bane, Manslayer, Ork Bane, Dwarf Bane, Pixie Bane

But not all the enemy warriors broke. Two in particular stood tall over the rest. That was easy since they were both about ten feet tall, being half-giants. Looking over the information I got from analyzing them, I didn’t really want to know what went into making these two, or how they came to be here. I have ventured the wicked depths of 4chan, and have enough nightmares for one lifetime, thanks very much.

By this point, only about ten fighters rallied around the two pillars. Well, ‘rallied’ might be a bit kind. Say rather that they cowered behind them using these two half-giants as giant meat shields, hoping to get in some lucky hits while we were distracted. But then, those who were left were all in the 30-40 range. The lowest leveled and the highest leveled fighters (other than the two pillars) had met their fate by now.

Yukiko and I led the charge against the two massive warriors, while the others either supported us or went about eliminating the hangers on. Yukiko broke left, taking the giant with the large hammer, while I turned to the right, and moved in on the Skald with her mace and shield. Now that we were in the home stretch, Kylana stopped saving her MP, and gave both of us the size-increasing buff, causing us to grow to match the giants’ size.

I lost track of Yukiko’s fight as I crashed into the Skald. I hadn’t had much chance to get into a prolonged battle against a single foe with my blades since hitting level 50. Entirely my fault, of course, since we used blitzkrieg tactics, but now I was getting a chance to try out the abilities I’d gained on my two soulforged weapons when I hit 50. Munsuraisa had gained the Sundering Blade ability, which had a 10% chance of reducing the enemy’s Defense by 20 until their armor could be repaired, making them vulnerable to further attacks. Taiyo no Tsubasa gained the Spellbane ability, which meant that 1/4 of the damage my Sun Blade did was also dealt to their MP.

The skald roared in frustration as she saw me chipping away at her defenses and MP, all the while steadily reducing her HP. The frustration came from my blades healing me as I did damage, along with Della’s spells as needed. I would outlast her in a battle of attrition, and she knew it. So she tried to overwhelm me with power, pushing her MP into strengthening her attacks. I respected that kind of tactic. Knowing your opponent can outlast you, you instead attempt to defeat them quickly, before their endurance can come into play.

Unfortunately for her, I was ready for such a tactic. As she charged at me, I stepped to the side, and then caught her mace hand in mine, using her momentum to execute a shoulder throw. When she was on the ground, I shifted into my drake form, and stradled her. Clawed hands kept her mace and shield at bay, while my fangs dropped down, ripping out chunks of her flesh as she screamed in pain and terror. The sight of a dragon eating one of their pillars of defense caused the rest of the warriors to break completely, and when the hammer-wielding barbarian fell to Yukiko and the others, all those that remained could do was beg for a swift death, instead of being eaten alive like the skald was.

Trial of Tempus passed. The Lord of Battles has tested your mettle by throwing you into combat against incredible odds. You did not falter. You did not break. Instead, you fought with valor, and used what advantages you could find to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.

HP and MP restored to full. All cooldowns reset.

All rewards delayed until completion of the Trial of the Gods.

Chapter 93 – Trial of the Gods: Necron

Arriving at the next floor, we were warmly welcomed by another blue screen.

Floor Law

Darwin’s Game

All HP and MP regeneration set to 0. All magical healing has been blocked. All potions and other consumable use has been blocked.

Yeah, ‘warmly’ is probably the wrong word to use here. I struggled for a moment, and then looked at the other players in the group. They all nodded, slowly. The area in front of us was not like anything you would see in the world of Farenna, where AAO was set. We were on the streets of a modern city, though one that had clearly gone through hell. Fires were burning and windows were broken. We could hear sounds of combat in the distance, but in our area things were quiet. Too quiet.

Slowly, Severa and I led the way forward. We had a marker on our map telling us where we needed to go. Looking around, I saw that it was at the top of a skyscraper that hadn’t yet been touched by the flames. The building was proudly emblazoned with a red and white octagonal logo, with the name of the company going down the building beneath it: PARASOL.

Well, fuckity fuck. I looked, and found a newsstand that hadn’t been completely destroyed nearby. Moving as quietly as we could, I found the most recent newspaper. It was the Coati City Times. Even worse, the headline (which was unreadable to the NPCs, but I could see was written in English) told of the dead rising.

We were in a zombie movie.

Whispering softly, I told everyone that there were likely hordes of undead around. They were smart enough to realize that fighting without the use of healing magic or consumables would be a foolhardy exercise, so we began moving as quietly as we could, hoping to avoid drawing the attention of the zombies that were undoubtedly lurking about.

Our suspicions were soon confirmed, as we got to an intersection and saw several of the undead milling about. Fortunately, they hadn’t spotted us, yet. I had to stop Nithroel from flying in to smash them in her typical way. Sure, we could take them out in melee easily. But not without making a lot of noise that could bring more zombies. That was the thing in zombie games. It was never the individual zombie that was the problem. It was the horde that fighting inevitably attracted, which would eventually overwhelm you, like the tide.

Instead of a full melee that would only draw enemies to us, those of us with stealth abilities and ranged weapons found cover, and began shooting at the zombies. The zombies were all weak, merely level 15 or so, but even level 15s could be deadly, especially in the tens of thousands. But these five were quickly (and more importantly, QUIETLY) taken down, leaving us free to advance on the Parasol Corporation building.

Five times we encountered roving bands of enemies as we moved quietly through the streets, and five times we managed to kill them all, without attracting attention. The last group was touchy, however, as there were almost twenty of them, so taking them down without giving away our position was tricky. Finally, though, we broke through to the building.

Unnervingly, the doors and windows on this building were still whole, as though this was the one building in the city that hadn’t been looted. Given the signs of battle, however, it seemed likely that the undead had come from inside the building, meaning that this was where all the trouble started. It also meant that if there were any ‘boss’ type undead, then they would be here.

On the hopeful chance that most of the undead had left the building, as quietly as we could, we went to work blocking the doors, so that the undead would have a harder time getting in here. At the very least, it meant that any reinforcements from outdoors would be delayed just a bit more.

We made our way to an emergency stairwell, not daring to trust elevators at a time like this. So far, the first floor was blessedly empty. I doubted the whole building was empty, and honestly, I wasn’t too keen on sticking around and trying to find loot. We found clear signs that the horde had passed this way, as the railings of the stairs were a wreck. I counted it as a mixed blessing, since it left plentiful scrap metal that we could use to block the doors, slipping them through the door handles and the nearby stair railing so that the doors couldn’t be opened without breaking through. Was that being paranoid? Sure. But when you’re living a zombie movie, paranoia is life.

We continued on in that way until we reached the 30th floor. There, we found the stairs above us cut off by what had clearly been an explosion of some kind, causing the stairs to collapse and block the way. This stairway was blocked, but the one on the other side might still be open. Which meant we had to cross the floor.

This floor was cubicle hell, a winding maze of 6’ fabric walls. That was good for us in some ways, as we could avoid the gaze of the few zombies we saw walking around, but we quickly found that there were zombies hiding in the cubicles, or hidden around corners, just waiting for us to stumble into them. Severa shined at this point, as her stealth abilities were the best of all of us. Scouting the way ahead, she silently dispatched lone zombies and led us on a path away from the worst of them.

We made our way to the other emergency stairwell, and I had to bite back a curse. The stairs were out here, too, but not as bad as it was on the other end. The stairs on this level were out, and had crashed down, blocking access below us, but the way above was open, if we could get to the landing. That, however, was easy enough, with the number of us who could fly, or could simply jump the gap. Regardless, we continued up, making sure to block the doors to the different floors as we went.

This was long, tedious work, made moreso because our regeneration was at 0, which meant we couldn’t use our MP to make the process easier. This was, I supposed, a very fitting setting for a level devoted to a death god. Nothing like hardcore survival horror to make you appreciate death. Honestly, if the players in our group hadn’t seen zombie movies or played zombie games before, we would have died long before reaching the building, or at least been too badly injured to succeed at the boss battle we all knew was coming.

We were all tired, sore, and generally miserable by the time we reached the 69th floor. There was a roof access on this level, but it was, surprise surprise, in the other stairwell. We would have to cross another floor full of zombies. We didn’t talk above a whisper, and only then when we absolutely had to. The oppressive feeling of fear weighed down on all of us. Despite all we had done to try and limit the number of reinforcements that could get to us, we all knew that one wrong move could have the horde upon us.

Parasol Elite

Human Zombie Male

Level 30

Titles: Human Bane

This was the top floor, and was given over to executives and their expansive offices. All the important people had, it seemed, fled when the zombies began attacking, but in their places were a number of zombies dressed in Parasol Security uniforms. Probably used them as fodder while the executives scampered off in helicopters. Regardless, now we had to fight, as there were twenty in the hallway right outside the door.

Now I had Della lead off with one of her wide-area healing spells. As expected, it did nothing for us, but all the undead caught in the radius of her attack were devastated, leaving them as easy prey for the rest of us. We moved quickly as we can, cutting down any of the undead that got in our way. Finally, we won our way through to the other side of the building, having cut our way through sixty of the damn zombies.

Fortune was with us, however, as the executives liked their soundproofing, which allowed us to keep the noise from drawing attention from the lower floors, so long as we didn’t use any explosive attacks. While the rest took a bit of a breather and rested, to recover their stamina, even if their MP wouldn’t return, Severa and I moved quietly and blocked off the doors in the couple floors below us. That would, at least, keep the most immediate reinforcements at bay for a time.

T-103 Tyrant

Human Mutant Zombie Male

Level 100

Titles: Human Bane, Calamity

The roof was guarded, as I expected it would be. I had just hoped that I wouldn’t have been so right about WHAT was guarding it. Seven feet tall, impossibly bulky, with weird bulging tentacle-like veins in its neck, a mouth permanently pulled back revealing its teeth, and a face that had skin stapled over itself, hiding one eye, this thing was a nightmare to look at.

And then it charged at us.

“SCATTER! DON’T GROUP UP!” I barely managed to duck as claws that looked like the meat cleavers from hell came slashing over my head. “SEVERA BLOCK THE DOOR FIRST!” I didn’t want adds in this fight. I really, really didn’t want adds in this fight.

I rolled right, just ahead of the scythe-like blades of doom, and smiled as I saw Kylana blast the bastard with hellfire, and then Yukiko darted in, her katana slashing at the massive undead before she nimbly rolled back, her fox spirit heritage proving useful with its extra Dexterity. “Della, Nithroel! Prepare your best heals! Hrozne, if you have anything that’ll debuff this bastard, lay it out! Anyone who can’t take a hit, keep away from this bastard’s claws!”

The fight was brutal. If we hadn’t saved MP for this fight, and avoided combat as much as possible on the way here, we would have been like lambs to the slaughter. As it was, we were still in a godawful bind. The Tyrant was strong, yes, but it was faster than bulk like that should be. Without Hrozne using his necromantic powers to the fullest to weaken the thing, Jastra, Kamla, Yukiko, and I would not have been able to keep up, even with the buffs Kylana gave us.

Severa would dart in now and then with her blades, making swift cuts and then dancing back out of range, while the rest of us laid on the pain. Thankfully, the creature was about as intelligent as a sack of hammers, and tended to lash out at the last living thing that hit it with singleminded aggression. Which was extremely good for Kamla, as the vampire got to simply wail on the thing, but it wasn’t a bad turn for the rest of us, either, since we had enough people that we could keep it distracted, not able to fully target any one of us. All while Della and Nithroel emptied their MP on healing spell after healing spell, dealing horrific damage to the Tyrant.

Finally, we managed to bring the damn thing down in a blaze of healing magic and hellfire, causing us to breathe a collective sigh of relief. That relief was quickly shattered by the banging noise on the doorway leading down into the building. The fight had attracted attention. We had to find a way out of here before…

Trial of Necron passed. You have shown that you know there are some battles that cannot be won through strength of arms alone. Though many would call such actions cowardly, you live while they would have joined the legions of the dead. By rationing your resources to use all at once, you have defeated a foe well above your level.

HP and MP restored to full. All cooldowns reset.

All rewards delayed until completion of the Trial of the Gods.

As if in answer to our prayers, a portal appeared at the edge of the roof. We rushed through it, just as the rooftop door shattered under the assault of the undead.

We had survived Coati City.

Chapter 94 – Trial of the Gods: Loviatar

I’d never been a big fan of the survival horror genre, mainly because what ‘survival horror’ means is ‘run around desperately fighting to survive before you get brutally murdered again, and again, and again, and again…’ That shit was probably a helluvalot of fun on old consoles or computers, but when you go to full immersion, it takes a ‘special’ kind of person to sign up for that kind of thing. Like the kind of person who’d get the Masochist title here in AAO.

Floor Law

Legendary Suffering

Every 5 minutes spent on this floor, a random debuff will be applied to your party, lasting 5 minutes. Every 60 seconds in combat, another random debuff will be applied to a member of your party, lasting until you leave the floor. Every combat circumvented results in random debuff to your party, lasting until you leave the floor. Pain increased to 125%.

Why didn’t I learn to keep my thoughts to myself?

I shook my head. We didn’t have time for this. “All right, everyone! We’re doing a speed run. Move as quick as you can, kill everyone we meet as fast as possible. If it doesn’t look like we can beat them fast, we take the hit and avoid combat. Severa, you and I are up front. Everyone else, follow close. Della, be ready with healing, we won’t have time to look for traps.”

We sprang forward into what proved to be a maze. Or really, a labrynth, since it was underground and all. Anyways, we were trying to rush through and find the exit, which caused problems the first time we triggered a trap, and barbed chains shot out from the walls, attempting to shred my flesh. Thankfully, I took the hit on my Nether Shield, thought it broke from that one hit. After that, we slowed down slightly. If the traps were capable of breaking my shield in a single hit, then we needed to be more careful.

Magic Damper

All magic is 10% less effective for 5 minutes.

And that is when the first of the five minute debuffs hit. This wasn’t too bad. 10% wasn’t good, but it wasn’t as nasty as it could have been. Still, it did mean that we had to be extra careful as we proceeded onwards.

The traps we found weren’t just ‘spikey chains of doom’, of course. There were pit traps, acid traps, a weird sculpture of a demon head that disintegrated anything that passed through it, and more. But once we knew they were there, we were able to keep moving.

Inverse Reverse

Spatial coordinates reversed. Actions take opposite movements, and inverse effects. Duration: 5 minutes.

That was the debuf that hit us just before we got to the first of the minibosses. And by the gods, it was nasty.

Butterball

Abomination Male

Level 70

I couldn’t see any classes on the thing, so it only had monster levels, maybe? Or maybe it was just something I wasn’t allowed to know. Either way, the… creature looked vaguely humanoid, but was horribly fat, with rolls on his neck, and a large vertical gash on his gut. And it was coming our way with a quickness that its girth belied, laughing as it did so.

As we tried to spring into action, we quickly found out what Inverse Reverse did. Say you wanted to move your right hand. Your left hand would move instead. That was freaky enough, but walking left made you go right, and worst of all if you attacked the enemy, the damage was dealt to yourself. On the other hand, if you attacked yourself, you ended up damaging the enemy, even though you felt the pain. Unfortunately, the enemy could damage us just fine.

The fight, as one might expect, was brutal. We used all our best tactics for killing humanoids, but the cenobite was a tough bastard, and his spiked chain attack was nasty as hell. In the end, it took us two minutes to take the guy down, if only because it took us a while to come to the idea of attacking ourselves. Hrozne actually found that out by accident, when shi got thrown off balance by trying to inverse dodge a spiked chain. But dealing 125% pain to ourselves wasn’t something we were typically willing to do, except for those of us who had the Masochist title.

Two minutes in combat meant two debuffs. Kamla and Yukiko were the ‘lucky’ recipients. Kamla was immediately cast to the ceiling, as a ‘Reverse Gravity’ debuff appeared on her. She had to navigate the labrynth with us by walking, upside down, on the ceiling. Yukiko, on the other hand, got the ‘No CQB’ debuff. She was no longer allowed to make melee attacks, which was a damn sight more inconvenient.

Bodyswap

Switch bodies with another member of the party for 30 seconds. Repeats every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.

We’d just found the second miniboss when we got hit by another random debuff. I grimaced as I read the text box. “This is going to…” And then suddenly my point of view changed. Looking down, I saw I was now in Jastra’s body. When I finished speaking, I found that I was speaking in her voice, which was just freaky. “…suck. All right, we can’t do a big fight like this, so we’ll…”

Now I was in Severa’s body. “…wait and see if the next debuff isn’t easier to fight with.” Everyone agreed, though it looked like Hrozne agreed twice and Kamla hadn’t said either way, but that is just due to people moving about. This debuff was just nasty, and clearly designed to screw with your head more than to disrupt the party.

Flammable

Fire attacks deal 2x more damage, burn effects 2x more damaging, and last 2x longer. Duration: 5 minutes.

The next one wasn’t much better, but it was at least something we could manage. So we turned the corner, and found ourselves confronted with a miniboss that was, if anything, uglier than the last one.

Chatterer

Abomination Male

Level 70

This one looked like he had been tortured for who knows how long, with wounds that had scarred to the point that his eyes were invisible, and the flesh around his once humanoid face had been pulled back, so that one could always see his teeth. Dressed in black, as the other abomination was, this Chatterer had two spiked chains that it swung at us as it chattered its teeth in some profane way to try and communicate with us.

This fight was easier than the last, as we were not fighting our own bodies (and the natural reluctance to stab ourselves), and the enemy didn’t use fire attacks, so the Flammable debuff never came into play. But it still took us a minute to get the asshole to 0 HP, which meant that another debuff got landed on one of our party. Jastra took the hit this time, getting the ‘Mute’ debuff, meaning she couldn’t speak. That was a major problem for a Bard, naturally, but at least it didn’t interfere with her Monk abilities.

There was a nasty moment when we all got caught in a lightning trap that was cleverly warded to keep rogues from finding it without setting the thing off, and then there was the wire mesh that dropped from the ceiling over Della’s head and began tightening once it covered her, attempting to slice her into pieces. Thankfully, we managed to free her in time, but the dangers of this level were clearly growing both in the level of peril, and the pure sadism they represented. As we rested a moment outside the third miniboss’s chamber, I considered that this was a level to represent Loviatar, the bringer of pain, so I wouldn’t have expected any less.

Identity Crisis

All party members assume a different gender than their own for 5 minutes.

And it seemed that the goddess had a good idea that not all pain was physical. Looking at the rest of the group, I was just glad that the debuff decided to affect our clothes so that they still fit, since everyone had changed. Della, Kamla, Severa, and Hrozne were all now a good four or five inches taller, and broad chested, becoming strapping men in their own right. Kylana, Severa, Yukiko, and Nithroel, on the other hand, all looked much the same, except all now had very large bulges between their legs, clearly having become futas. Which left me…

Looking down, I was fairly impressed by the size of the bulge on my chest. Using my character screen as a mirror, I gasped. I wasn’t just a woman, I was fucking HOT! Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had a Charisma score of over 1500 after item bonuses, so it was only fitting that I got curves that a Playboy Playmate would kill for. Also, it looked like my shirt and pants, to say nothing of my breastplate, had remodeled themselves to best display my new… assets.

When I spoke, even my voice was now silkier, more feminine, like something the damsel in an old black and white noire detective movie would have. I noticed that the rest of the group’s bulges were becoming quite pronounced as I spoke. That’s when I realized the nasty quirk of this debuff. All our bodies were sexualized into ideals for our new genders, and the hormones were probably running wild. This would cause no end of distress to those who weren’t very comfortable with their sexuality. Nasty.

“All right, enough ogling me. We’ll have plenty of time for talk later. We have bosses to kill!”

Lady

Abomination Female

Level 70

The… woman before us was clad in black, as the others, and sported no hair on her pale white head. A long needle pierced the bridge of her nose, and a wire appeared to run through her head just below the base of the skull. Her throat was cut open, the flesh pulled back by wires. In one hand she held a saw-bladed dagger with a hook up on the end, designed more for ripping flesh and causing pain than dealing deadly wounds to an enemy. And unlike the ones before, this woman spoke.

“No more teasing, Zayn. It’s time to play.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, babe, you’re not my type, even when I’m a guy.” Then I shut up, because she was on us, slashing with that wicked knife. Now, though, we also had to worry about chains which whipped out from the walls of the Labyrinth, attempting to bind and flay us at the same time. Nasty shit.

Still, this ‘Lady’ wasn’t too much of a challenge for us. We still managed to kill her in just at two minutes, which still left two debuffs to our party. Severa got the ‘Heatsight Eyes’ debuff, which changed her vision from being based on light to being based on heat. It made things like reading or precise targeting impossible, and worse, it also meant she couldn’t search for traps any more!

I got the last debuff, hitting me with ‘Weak Grip’. It didn’t hit my stats any, but I couldn’t hold a weapon in combat. It would get knocked out of my hands the first time I hit someone with it, much less trying to parry a blow. I couldn’t even draw a bow or grip a blade tight enough to throw it. If I wasn’t also a caster, it would have been a death sentence.

Drunk

30% penalty to accuracy of all attacks. 25% penalty to mental abilities and skills. 50% penalty to resist social skills. Duration: 5 Minutes.

Pinhead

Abomination Male

Level 75

Being drunk was bad for things like hitting the guy trying to kill you all. It was also bad for paying attention to what the guy was saying. Something about being angels to some and demons to others, and looking to find new sensations or whatever. I didn’t care. I just wanted to kick this bastard’s ass so we could get off this stupid level because it was pissin’ me off, an’ I just wanna go check the hot love goddess’s floor. Heh. Betcha there’s a whole bunch of hotties there. Maybe I’ll get to bang me another angel. That’d be sweet!!!

Oh, while I was ramb-rhaling- fuck it, talkin’, we kindof killed the bastard. Those chains the asstard had flying at us hurt, but he wuzzna too tough. Straight spellslinger, y’know? An’ when Nithroel, Kamla, Jastra, Severa, and Hrozne all got up in ‘is face and started beatin’ on him in melee, while Yukiko, Della, Kylana, and I all hit ‘im wit spells an’ rangey weapons, didn’ take ‘im too long t’ go down. Which was good, ‘cause we were all too drunk and pissed to think much about anything other than beating the shit out of the fucker. That’s what the fucker getz, bein’ all in our way an’ shit.

Trial of Loviatar passed. You have suffered many painful tortures, both physical and mental, and have conquered, despite the disadvantages you were given. Suffer well, and bring suffering to those who stand against you.

HP and MP restored to full. All cooldowns reset.

All rewards delayed until completion of the Trial of the Gods.

Yay, we getting’ off this floor! As we stumbled through the big black portalgatething, all that stupid debuff crap started falling off of us, and we groaned as we realized just how idiotic we’d been acting the last few minutes. There was a reason we didn’t get drunk in the middle of dungeons, damn it!

Chapter 95 – Trial of the Gods: Sharess

Seriously, I couldn’t tell you how glad I was to be off the floor of infinite pain and annoyance. Loviatar’s floor was nasty.

Floor Law

Passionate

All damage reduced to 0. All racial effects which would cause harm are suppressed. All effects of Charisma increased by 200%. All effects of social skills increased by 200%. All effects that restrict or reduce fertility dispelled. All individuals under the effects of Fruitful Passion. Pursuing any act of passion to ‘completion’ will cause a change in the individual’s race and/or gender and grant +10 to all stats until the end of the floor. Warning: Becoming pregnant removes the individual from play for the rest of the floor, and may cause permanent changes to result.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. The others took one look at the floor law, then at my face, and started having a great laugh at my expense. Clearly, this floor was designed to test the will of those servants of Sharess who made it so far, since they had a tendency to be more than a little free with their passions.

Clearly we would have to ‘passion’ our way to the end of the floor. My main concern was just what was considered ‘completion’. Was it when you completed, or when your partner completed? Or did you both need completion? Unfortunately, I had no way of knowing until we met enemies, unless I wished to test things out on my girls. And I wasn’t willing to risk that just yet.

Waiting for the others to finish laughing, I said, “Yes, yes. This is going to be one of those ‘interesting’ dungeon floors, like when we were in the Pits after Nithroel first joined us.” That caused some chuckles from his older girls, and Nithroel blushing a bit as they remembered that time, which was only a few months ago, but seemed far longer.

They searched for traps as they advanced, but honestly Zayn didn’t expect to find any, not with the way the floor law was set up. Unless there were hentai tentacle traps, of course. But passion was best shared, otherwise it would always be stilted. So traps that merely inflicted sensation on a victim did not seem to be the way things would go, unless a floor boss included that as part of their room.

When we finally reached the first room of the floor, I groaned as I saw that it was fashioned like a brothel. Not just any brothel, though, but the Blissful Sheath, the premier whorehouse in the human kingdom of Windguard in World of Destiny. As Torgan, I could not frequent such establishments too often, but there were several quest lines that forced players to partake in the delights of the Sheath, like the Captured Maiden quest line, where one of the ‘ladies’ working there had actually been ensorcelled and enslaved by a criminal guild, and you needed to free her from her bonds for her to be able to return home. Unfortunately, the description you were given of the woman was not that great, and despite the fact that getting the girl you wanted was a 33% chance, you would often have to go back two or three extra times to find the girl and get her alone so you could use the talisman you’d been given to free her.

I personally thought that it was the devs trying to be clever in encouraging even the holier than thou roleplayer types to frequent the brothels more, which meant that they were spending more gold, which was always a good thing in their eyes, since there was a real money transfer (RMT) system in place allowing you to buy gold with real-world currencies.

Anyways, the Blissful Sheath was famous for some of their more exotic (and pricey) specials. Their signature was the Gauntlet. You signed up for how many rooms you thought you could handle, paid in advance, and then enjoyed yourself until you either finished the Gauntlet, or you couldn’t go any more. All the girls (and guys) working at the Sheath were something special, but the best ones were far too expensive for a ‘normal’ guy to enjoy. And the Madame was on a whole different level. But in the Gauntlet, you could get some of those lovelies if you chose the six- or seven-room course. But for those who truly believed in their stamina (and the depth of their pockets), there was the ultimate, the nine-room course that ended with the Madame herself.

In World of Destiny, if you could complete the three-room gauntlet, you’d find a round waiting for you at the bar below. Finished the six rooms? You could count on a healthy bonus to your Fame, and a lot of attention from those who might be interested in companionship. You finished seven rooms? You were a LEGEND. In the history of WoD, no one had ever finished the eight-room course, much less the vaunted nine, though there were many who thoroughly enjoyed the attempt.

The Gauntlet

You, servant of the Goddess of Passion, now it is time to put yourself to the test. Choose one from your number as a champion, and send them through the Gauntlet. Should they finish all their rooms, you will pass the test. Should they falter, or be removed from play, another may take up the attempt, starting at the beginning. Each must claim the number of rooms they’ll pursue at the start. The longer the Gauntlet completed, the greater the rewards shall be.

Well, fuckity fuck. Literally.

I turned to the others and sighed. “Well, we’ve got some decisions to make. What order do we want to attempt this in, and how many rooms shall we try for?”

Yukiko laughed, “Please, Master, like it isn’t obvious this level is designed for you. We all know you intend to challenge the nine.”

Hrozne chuckled. “How far did you get in WoD?”

I sighed, “I was a paladin then, so I didn’t have much practice, but I managed six thanks to my stats. I’ll do better this time. May as well go for the nine. The rest of you will get a chance to go as far as you will if I get ‘taken out of play’.”

Della just shook her head, and said, “Good luck, Master.”

So while they sat at the bar to watch my challenge on the provided magical screens, I went to see what the first room would be like. Inside was a room with a comfortable bed, and a pretty human woman standing there, topless with a sarong around her waist. I didn’t bother with things like finding out her name, or anything like that, but went straight to business, throwing the woman onto the bed, and diving down between her knees for a bit of warmup. I didn’t know for sure, but I suspected that showing more passion (and sharing it with those in my gauntlet) would increase my ‘score’, or at least my favor with Sharess.

I quickly discovered the truth of the floor law. Every time a person climaxed, they got the random change and the stat boost. After the human became a gnome, I decided to stop playing around with her. As a test, I also found that finishing in the woman’s mouth after a hard romp counted as completing the room. It was something to keep in mind, since that climax turned me into a Succubus.

Continuing on to the second room without rest wasn’t too bad. A human male was waiting for me there. This wasn’t my preference, since I was straight in real life, but the room apparently was completed after both parties had ‘finished’, so there wasn’t anything for it. Things got a little more interesting after the man spent himself on my breast after I gave him a rather vigorous paizuri, and he turned into an elf woman. She returned the favor with a bit more relish when I sat on her face, and soon I was a drow, but now a hermaphrodite. This level was seriously starting to fuck with my head, and it was only the second room.

The challenge continued on, and I steadily made my way through the rooms, turning into an Orc Male, Human Female, Nymph, Frost Giant Male (I actually felt bad for the poor Half-Demon Elf woman I met after that. If damage hadn’t been turned off…), Draconian Female, and finally an Archangel Hermaphrodite. So many changes in so short a time has a way of fucking with your head. It is why I never really went for the Mystique types in superhero games. If you don’t have a role, and commit to it, you can end up losing yourself, fast.

I was expecting someone spectacular for the ninth room, especially as the eighth room included a VERY attractive Draconian Male (fragging alternate body hormones fucking with my head), but he was more into my Draconian Female’s ‘tail’. At least he properly lubed up, first. Anyways, I was expecting someone special. I had, apparently, set my expectations too low.

Avatar of Sharess

Divine Avatar Female

Level 900 <Hidden> / <Hidden>

Titles: <Hidden>

I bowed low as I entered the final room, which was set up as a very luxurious bedchamber, and saw an avatar of my chosen Goddess there. I had figured that it was a possibility when Lolth had appeared earlier, but for it to happen, and in a situation like this, was beyond my expectations.

Sharess appeared as a… well endowed human female with the head of a cat with black fur and radiant green eyes. Her clothes, if one could such a garment call them that, were essentially a wide ribbon of silk tied in a bow across her chest, and then wrapping around her luxurious frame in a crossing pattern, dipping into her fertile valley and wrapping down each leg before looping under her foot and heading back up again. It was a sight that was sensual in the extreme, at the same time leaving everything and nothing to the imagination.

When she spoke, it was with a throaty purr that sent shivers down my spine (in a good way), and made my whole body feel as though I was being licked by a cat. “Ah, it has been so long since one of my followers has undertaken my Trial. And even longer since one has had the hubris to try all nine rooms.” She moved with catlike grace around me, looking over my current celestial form, and whispered in my ear, “And you’ve done so well spreading my name throughout the land, as well. You even managed to gain the favor of those nasty, stuck up bitches Loviatar and Lolth.”

With a smile, I said, “Well, I can’t deny that I enjoyed the tasks set before me, for the most part. There have been times where things were hard, but they have forged my path to this point, and I would not change it. Simply being able to look upon your beauty is more than I could have hoped for.”

The Goddess laughed, and I thought I would melt in pleasure from the sound of it. “Oh, you ARE good! But can you give a Goddess an experience she’s never had before, I wonder?”

I leaned in to kiss the Goddess upon the lips, as one hand pulled at the bow tied across her chest. As the ribbon began unraveling from her body, I gently pushed her back so that she fell upon the bed, and said, “Well, when a man hears that, what can he do but give it his all?”

When dealing with a lover, one should always strive to make sure they enjoy themselves as much, or more, than you do in bed, as it encourages them to do the same. When dealing with the goddess of lust and passion, well, such things are even more important. Thankfully, Sharess was wonderfully sensitive, and responsive to the touch of my fingers, and my tongue, enough so that her avatar had been transformed by her own floor’s magic three times before I slid inside her. The fourth time, I joined her as we came together, on one last deep thrust.

Trial of Sharess passed. You have endured much, and have proven to have great stamina, even as the changes in your body threatened to shake your soul’s commitment. In the end, you showed your devotion to the Goddess in person, with utmost passion.

HP and MP restored to full. All cooldowns reset.

Calculating Rewards…

Chapter 96 – The Trial’s Reward

The world devolved into a white space, and the whole party was now standing there, even though there wasn’t a floor, or anything like that. Sharess was there, too, and I noticed that not only was I back to my own form, but we were fully dressed again. Then the goddess spoke to us.

“Well done, well done indeed. You have overcome trials of combat, of wit, of spirit, of stealth, and of passion. Few groups have done so well upon the Trial of the Gods as you have. In a moment, your rewards will be given to you, but first, I will use this chance to give you an opportunity. I know of the quests you have in the lands of the Drow, and achieving them will not be easy, especially the quest given by Lolth. You will need some kind of leverage in order to gain access to the three you must target.”

“Three dungeons lie between Have Dorei and Amyaththalas. There reside three ancient relics of the Drow that, if you could recover them, would be enough to ensure your access to the three. They have remained sealed for millenia because the magic upon them is such that only a noble Drow female who has been enslaved by a nondrow not native to the Underdark may open them. The location of the dungeons have been added to your maps.”

The Reliquaries of Lolth

Lolth has given you a task that may well be impossible. To have any hope of succeeding in her quest, you will need to recover three artifacts of the Drow sealed away during an ancient war. Sharess has given you the location of these three dungeons, and the secret to accessing them. This quest has automatically been accepted.

Rank

Divine

Success

Conquer the Dungeon of the Lost Legion

Conquer the Labrynth of the Spider Queen

Conquer the Crypt of Vaemzu

Failure

Fail to conquer all three dungeons before reaching Amyaththalas.

Rewards

Experience

Increased Reputation with Drow

Increased Reputation with Sharess

Increased Reputation with Lolth

Hidden

Consequences

Decreased Reputation with all factions

Hidden

After I’d had a moment to look over the quest, the goddess spoke again. “Now, I present you with your rewards. Take them and use them in great deeds, for your path is linked with that of your gods, now. Take this door when you are ready to leave.” And with that, she faded from view, and a door appeared before us made of sweet-smelling wood boasting gilded engravings showing the symbols of the gods whose trials we had overcome. We also got a bunch of blue boxes and piles of well-earned loot. Also, four of my pieces of armor glowed and transformed, apparently getting upgrades. The others also had gear upgrades, as well.

You have gained 20 levels.

You may now select an Advanced Class for your Subclass. See your class trainer for details.

You gain 346500 PP.

The following skills have increased:

Pheromones has increased to Master 6.

Charming Gaze has increased to Advanced 3.

Dark Magic has increased to Master 8.

Charm Magic has increased to Godly 1.

Sword Mastery has increased to Godly 2.

Seduction has increased to Godly 3.

Negotiation has increased to Advanced 1.

Sneak has increased to Advanced 5.

Move Silently has increased to Advanced 5.

Identify has increased to Master 1.

Observe has increased to Master 1.

Hellfire Mastery has increased to Advanced 4.

Transmutation Magic has increased to Intermediate 5.

Soulsight has increased to Intermediate 1.

Breastplate of Demonic Might

Type

Chest

Rank

Divine

Made of Godsteel, this breastplate has been worked to resemble a demon’s skull. There are runes upon the breastplate that provide additional protection than just the armor itself. When the wearer bathes in blood, the breastplate speeds their strikes. This breastplate can gain strength by consuming the souls of those felled by the wearer. This breastplate cannot be damaged.

Soulbound to Zayn Darkmore.

+400 Defense

+60 STR, +60 DEX, +60 CON

+55% Resistance to Piercing, Slashing, and Bludgeoning

Bloodied Haste – When you deal over 100 points of damage to an enemy in a single strike, gain +100% attack speed for 10 seconds. Each additional strike that qualifies extends the duration of the haste.

Enchanted: Unholy Might – +60% Resistance to damaging Divine Spells

Divine Relic: Judgement – You can always tell when someone is lying to you.

Spiderhide Gloves of the Unending Trial

Type

Gloves

Rank

Divine

Made by a skilled leatherworker out of the hide of giant spiders common to the Underdark and imbued with the power of the Spider Queen herself, these gloves are supple, yet surprisingly tough. The gloves are embroidered with silver thread to have an image of a spider on them, and cannot be destroyed.

Soulbound to Zayn Darkmore.

+100 Defense

+80 DEX

Enchanted: Spider-Climb – Can climb walls/ceilings at normal ground speed. Able to stick to walls.

Divine Relic: Poisontouched – Immune to all poisons and venoms not handcrafted by the gods or produced by divine-level creatures. All weapon attacks have a 1% chance of inflicting a random poison effect on the victim.

Title Unlocked!

Unholy Hordebreaker

You have faced odds of 40 to 1, and survived, stepping over the broken corpses of your enemies as you triumphed on the field of battle. Your act of might has impressed the God of Battles. Whenever you are outnumbered in battle, you gain Unholy Might, adding 100% to all stats when you are outnumbered 10 to 1 or more. For every additional 10 to 1, this buff stacks with itself (200% at 20 to 1, 300% at 30 to 1, etc.), to a maximum of 10 stacks at 100 to 1 (1000% bonus to all stats).

Twilight Lord’s Cloak of Dread

Type

Cloak

Rank

Divine

A cloak made by an experienced Tailor and improved upon by a god. This black cloak was made of silk from the Demon Spider, and carries several enchantments upon it. It is emblazoned with the symbol of Zayn Darkmore, a skull gripping a rose in its teeth. It cannot be destroyed.

Soulbound to Zayn Darkmore.

+100 Defense

+60 CHA

Take no penalty from glare.

Take no penalty from weather.

Mysterious – Name, Alignment, and Level hidden while hood is drawn up. Face hidden in shadow when hood is up.

Enchanted: +20% to Sneak and Move Silently

Divine Relic: Dread Aura – Upon command, can create an aura of dread. All enemies with line of sight to the wearer are affected according to their level. Enemies of an equal or higher level feel unease, suffering -10% to all actions. Enemies up to 50 levels lower feel intense dread, suffering a morale penalty of 50% to all actions. Enemies 51 to 100 levels lower suffer the effects of intense dread, and are compelled to flee until they are either trapped or can no longer run. Enemies 101+ levels lower are slain outright.

Dire Treads of Sadistic Pleasure

Type

Boots

Rank

Divine

Made by a skilled leatherworker out of the hide of giant spiders common to the Underdark, then improved upon by the work of a Goddess, these boots are supple, yet surprisingly tough. The boots are embossed with a web pattern crossed with a thorned lash. They cannot be destroyed.

Soulbound to Zayn Darkmore

+100 Defense

Perfect Move Silently – So long as the wearer wishes, their movements cannot be heard by anyone but the gods, or the effect of divine-level powers or artifacts.

+75% Movement Speed

Enchanted: Web-walker – Can walk through spider webs without penalty. Immune to Web spell and similar effects.

Divine Relic: Sadistic Pleasure – All attacks cause 2x as much pain as they would normally. Damage remains the same. Creatures you attack have a 10% chance to gain the Masochist title.

Enhanced: Vorpal Fur Lining - +20 DEX, +25% move speed.

Title Unlocked!

To Launch a Thousand Ships

Tales of your physical beauty and legendary prowess in the bedchamber. Leaders of all races may seek you out. Some will wish to possess you. Some will wish to add your bloodline to their own, by any means necessary. And some may pursue you in the same way that some seek out new and exotic partners despite the harem they have built themselves.

+5000 Fame

Title Unlocked!

Chosen of Sharess

The Goddess of Passion and Lust has seen your devotion through action, and has made you one of her Chosen. All members of Sharess’s faith start at Friendly towards you. All Chosen or Blessed of any diety knows your name, as you know theirs. You will at times be asked to lead religious services of your faith. Those who betray you shall suffer the wrath of your goddess, but should you betray your faith, her wrath upon you will be fivefold.

+10000 Fame

+200 CHA, +100 to all other Attributes

Social skills are 5x as effective.

For your Intelligence passing 500, you gain a Perk based on your playstyle:

Cunning Swordsman

Few swordsmen ever devote so much to developing their intellect, preferring, either by choice or necessity, to increase the strength of their sword arm, or the quickness with which they move, or the sturdiness of their body. You have walked a different path, however. You now add your INT to Attack.

For your Charisma passing 1500, you gain a perk based on your playstyle:

Passion’s Heat

Upon first meeting you, those who would be attracted to someone of your race and gender are filled with lust for you, and those whose level is lower than yours, or whose CHA is over 500 lower than yours may try to act upon their passions without thinking when they see your face and hear your voice, regardless of the situation, unless they have an iron will. Creatures above your level have more control, and will not throw themselves at you unless their CHA is 1000 or more lower than yours. Keeping your face hooded or otherwise hidden by mundane disguise or magical illusion prevents this effect from happening. This effect only occurs when you first come within 10’ of an individual who has reached adulthood.

The others had all received similar benefits from our time in the dungeon. While not a full set of new gear, the pieces that had been ‘upgraded’ would certainly serve me well until I reached level 120, at least! That made for a VERY good haul from what was, frankly, a dungeon that was one of the hardest I’d gone through in any game. Too many games had dungeons that only focused on combat. And while there were ‘slaughter them all’ dungeons in AAO, there were also ones like this, that tested you in other ways. Nasty, but the kind of thing you’d tell your friends about over a couple beers.

Now having confirmed our rewards, and recovered from our Trials, we stepped through the waiting door, and found ourselves back in Verngurum, before the Temple of Moradin. And Brylres was standing there, just as she had been before we left. It seemed that, despite the hours upon hours we had spent in the dungeon, no time had passed outside of it.

Brylres blinked and then smiled at us. “Oh, I knew ye would be gettin’ through the Trials, lad, but you must have done very well indeed, to have gained as much strength as you have, and to even emerge as a Chosen. Few mortals ever receive such a blessing from the gods.”

I smiled wryly at the dwarf, and said, “Well, things did get pretty interesting there, for a while. Some of the trials were most taxing, not just in terms of combat, but mentally draining as well. I can say that each trial was suited to the diety it represented, and designed to push us in ways I had not considered.”

“So, where ya be off to next, lad?”

“Well, I still need to visit Have Dorei, but it seems my path then leads into the heart of the drow lands, as I have a couple divine quests that will take me that way. So it will be a while yet before I get to venture back aboveground, I fear.”

“Bah, you go where the gods send ye, lad. That’ll be where ye be needed most. Ye said ye have good people at your side in your guild, right? Trust them to look to things. And if ye be finding a shrine, ye’ll be able to go back and check on things, easy enough, being a Warlock and all.”

“True enough. But I have a long trip ahead, it seems, and I will need to prepare.”