Chapter 330: The Red Chapel
The sound of a pipe organ swelled, accompanied by the strange sound of a hundred ghouls forcing their deformed throats to provide a chorus of chanting to go along with the deep rumblings of the organ. Huge lamps dangled from the ceiling on chains, their red glow growing each second as the music swelled. The ghouls seated in rotting pews or sprawled on the floor stood up and began moving toward the group of humans that had rudely interrupted the proceedings. The choir in the loft above kept up their chant and hoped there would be enough left for them to have a snack.
The group in the center of the room quickly sorted themselves into a defensive formation, with Ben and Suzette in the center and Ozzy standing between Layla and Billy. But the expected charge didn't come. Over two hundred ghouls formed a circle around them, humming and swaying in time with the sounds coming from the organ and the choir.
This gave Ben time to appreciate the décor. "I don't believe our guide to this level was the only churchman who lives down here. This rivals some of the biggest cathedrals I've seen, especially regarding tackiness and an over-use of the color red." Stone buttresses arched upward, supporting a roof painted with scenes of sharp-toothed cherubs terrorizing peasants while overhead, angels with red eyes and swords dripping with gore watched with approval. Rotting teakwood antiques were crumbling to dust, and rotted red rugs covered the stained stone flooring. Their entrance was through a circular area of the missing ceiling, and their landing area was a stone circle 20' in diameter and a foot thick, made of dark red stone. Nearby was a pile of broken stone, some carved with parts of runes. The ghouls had partially put the pieces in order, like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.
Red velvet, ' golden' ornaments and chains created a gaudy, overdone look everywhere. The gold showed a tarnish and a green tint that true gold would never have. The ghouls matched the setting. Most of their skin was gone, showing bloody muscle underneath, especially on their heads. Huge oversized fangs gave them the look of two-legged piranhas. Long jagged claws made their hands look comically large and horribly dangerous. Each was clothed in the rags of a hooded red robe. Suzette stared at the closest until she could identify its level.
Squirmie was hovering over Rolly.
Suzette yelled at her. "Maybe a little info from the HR department? What the hell are we facing? I'm having trouble identifying them."
Identity is a pale substitute for the senses of a predator! Assess Prey is much better.>
Rolly petted her wing. "Now, now, pretty bug. Not everyone has all the levels we do, especially not when we work together. A good, Fearless Leader passes on helpful information to the troops."
Rawhead Ghouls, with 2000 Health each, low mitigation, and avoidance balanced by hyper-aggression and increased damage. The only reason they aren't attacking is because they are awaiting their swarm leader to give the command.>
A figure appeared on a dais at the room's end as if on cue. It was as close to ten feet tall and clad in a robe of much finer quality than the other ghouls. It spoke in a loud, low voice as it raised its clawed hands toward the ceiling. "Is it not as I foretold? Once the blood altar was carved, we had only to wait, and the living would come to us, bringing their fresh blood in the quantities we needed to anoint the Blood Altar and carve the runes that will give us power in the city. Not even the Baron will stand against us!"
A voice from the ceiling made Sartorius look upward. "Just a small point I'd like to bring up. If you would be so kind as to look closely at the handsome man and lovely woman in the black and red colors adorned with the heraldry of the Baron and Baroness of Gadobhra, you'll see that you owe me a bonus for sending you a present."
The huge ghoul stared in amazement and then laughed. "Ah, priest, you did well. Indeed, I will owe you a little extra. A leg from each?"
"Thank you, that will go well with the wine. I look forward to a lovely battle. But don't mind me, I'm going to find a safer spot to watch from; these tiles crumble so easily. I look forward to the rest of your rousing sermon." He scrambled away from the opening as a dozen flagstones came loose from the edge.
"As you should, this will be one of my best! It's not often I have the nobility I am ranting against show up for the sermon in person." He paused, raised his arms, and spoke to the assembled undead. "My friends...nay, let us be truthful, for are we not related by the blood we have drank together? Let us come together as a family. And if one member of the family is wronged, is it not an assault against the entire family? I can see it in your eyes and drooling mouths that you agree with me. We have repeatedly sought peaceful discourse with the Baron and his hateful minions, only to be rebuked. Why only a short time ago, we sent a diplomat, the esteemed Bone Gnawer. And how was he met? The Baron and his bloody Butcher destroyed him for no reason! We have only to look back over the years..." his voice droned on and on while the ghouls watched.
Billy took out a cigar and lit it. "He reminds me of Vern in some ways. More eloquent, and frankly, he's better dressed."
As the two ghouls conversed, Suzette was busy, on her hands and knees, reaching through the legs of the rest of the group, quickly sketching runes in a tight circle. She went around once and added another layer beyond that when Sartorius was still ranting. "Be careful of the circle; I only have time to draw these in charcoal. And It's not going to last long, so make it count. Slowly she fed mana into the spell. The circle around them started to glow as the Hermetic Seal formed. Suzette had been carving the same runes in stone at Rowan Keep for months in the huge circle that would run around the base of the keep's walls. While part of the magic depended on the runes being drawn or carved correctly, more turned on the mage's knowledge of the runes and how well they could hold them in their mind. After carving thousands of runes, Suzette was able to create a charcoal sketch of a Hermetic Seal in only a minute, something which would take most mages hours.
The nearest rawheads became nervous, some pointing at the circle and snarling as Sartorius droned on and on. Finally, it realized what was happening and became annoyed. It looked down from his raised position and screamed at the group of humans in the center of his chapel. The ghoul's face deformed as its fangs grew larger. "If you don't appreciate a few extra moments of life, we can cut this short. Tear out their hearts!" The ghouls leaped forward and were met with sprays of fire and magic. Ozzy had been holding as much heat as he could in preparation. As the ghouls charged, he sprayed them with Butcher's Breath, doing 800 points of damage. The burning ghouls hit Suzette's barrier and rebounded. Ozzy took another breath and sent more fire at the fifty ghouls in his arc of fire. Their robes burned, adding to the heat. Only a few collapsed, but most of them were near death.
On the other side, Rolly produced a Wand of Fire Balls and started burning the charges from it as fast as he could. Squirmie hovered over his head, breathing out a torrent of green acidic flame. Ghouls began to melt under the assault. Suzette was forcing more of her mana into the runic circle to keep it from collapsing. The spell weakened as each ghoul tried to claw through it. "What the hell did you feed the bug, Rolly? That isn't an effect from any of the wands I gave you!"
"Well, she's been really hungry lately, and after I let her eat one of the Wands of Acid Breaths, she kept asking about the gauntlets Ozzy gave me."
Rolly handed Squirmie a wand that she chewed down in three bites and again spewed forth acid dragon's breath, hitting as many ghouls as she could.
Billy was staying back, conscious of Suzettes warning about smudging the runes. Layla took advantage of her much longer reach to use her sword like a spear, using the thrusting techniques Ben had been showing her. From the center of the group, Ben watched, saving his mana. This assault could only go on for so long. Too many ghouls were putting strain on the runes, and he was waiting for the moment the protection broke.
"Forward my family, forward. Whoever dies to flames and acid dies in a great cause to kill those who keep us trapped in these crypts. Your ashes will be placed in fine urns as you wait to be recreated in undeath. Hammer their weak protections! Endure the fire! Drag them down and let their blood flow onto the altar they stand on!"
With a cry of pain from Suzette, the Hermetic Seal shattered, and ghouls poured into the fight. The ones in the front were wounded and dying. Ozzy killed two with each swing of his axes, clearing the area before him, Billy, and Layla. The Baron and Baroness fought like a yearly bonus from ACME was on the table. Both were bleeding from wounds taken from dying ghouls. Ozzy was almost unharmed, their claws were unable to get past his protections, and their bites did only a fraction of the damage they should have.
Rolly and Squirmie were having a great time. Squirmie was twice her normal size, flying between ghouls and slicing them with her razor-sharp wings and slowly growing larger and more monstrous as the fight went on. Like miniature cleavers, all six legs were in motion, shredding the weakened ghouls. Rolly kept the horde off of Ben and Suzette, his arms transformed into razor-sharp scythes and his body encased in shimmering dragon-scale. He looked more human than Squirmie, but like the bug, he was changing the longer the fight wore on, becoming more monstrous in size and shape.
Less than a minute after the collapse of the circle, the fight became critical. Layla was down, almost dead, with Billy standing over her protectively. Squirmie and Rolly had pulled in tight. Suzette was killing individual ghouls, trying to focus her spell on the uninjured ones. As the wounded ghouls were destroyed, the fresh troops from the rear started to overwhelm them. Ozzy had to concentrate on one ghoul at a time but faced four. Ghouls latched onto his lower legs and began gnawing at him, doing damage each round.
Ben cast a spell, choosing this moment. It started somewhere above this level and the next, burning down through the crypts and further collapsing the hole in the ceiling. The pillar of Phoenix Fire slammed down on top of the fight, hitting everyone. Layla felt immediately better as she was healed for a thousand health points. Wounds on everyone closed, and the terror felt far less. Any ghoul within twenty feet of the center of the stone took four-thousand points of damage as the Flamestrike spell hit each of them. The fire wiped away the undead, scattering fine ashes on the wind. The remaining ghouls pulled back from the circle in dismay. Sartorius advanced.
Ben was reeling on his feet, supported by Suzette. "I'm sorry, that's all I have! You'll have to kill the rest of them without me..." His eyes closed, and he fell to his knees.
Sartorius laughed. "A worthy attempt by a dying paladin of a minor god whose day is past. But the flames were beautiful. I reward you by letting you watch as I kill your friends." He screamed and dove at Ozzy, and the remaining thirty ghouls charged with him. "Attack my children; they are weak and ready for the slaughter."
Ozzy didn't feel like letting the monster build up any speed; his chains lashed out and wrapped around the neck of the creature, pulling the ghoul to him as he swung his right-hand axe as hard as he could into Sartorius' face, causing the monster to howl in pain as teeth broke off. He returned the blow with one of his own, cutting through the Butcher's defenses and doing over 500 points of damage. Ozzy could feel the thing's strength. It wasn't as strong as he was, but it was quicker and had five natural weapons.
Ben straightened up and raised his hands. "I have not yet begun to fight!" He grinned as once again he called for a Flamestrike, and the Maid of Orleans answered. Above and far back from the center of the room, the Priest looked at the fire and was tempted to throw himself into it. But he resisted the call. He had sausage to eat, and if he retired, then who would pit the ghoul tribes against each other to keep their numbers under control?
The remaining ghouls died, except for Sartorius, who lost his lovely robe and was revealed in all his hideous glory. Suzette didn't waste any time and hit the ghoul in the face with a spell as soon as the flames died down. Sartorius surged toward her, but Ozzy jerked him back, pulling the monster off his feet. Billy and Layla weren't going to let a chance get past them and hacked at a leg near them, their blows removing small bits of flesh. Rolly and Squirmie moved to get behind Sartorius as he surged to his feet despite taking a heavy blow to his side from Ozzy. The ghoul was hit by Suzette again and blinded by the light. But he knew where Ozzy was because of the chain on his neck. He screamed and dove at the Butcher, tearing out a hunk of his left shoulder with his teeth and slashing him with his talons.
Ozzy saw his health plummeting. He punched out with the axe in his left hand at the ghoul's mouth, knocking it loose from his shoulder, and his right axe came down on the oversized fangs. Broken bits of blackened teeth went everywhere. Sartorius went to strike Ozzy again, but Squirmie swooped down onto the elbow of the raised arm, mouth spewing acid and six talons slashing deeply into the joint. When Sartorius went to strike, it was with the stump of his arm. Squirmie laughed and flew off with the claw.
Rolly leaped high in the air, dropping from twenty feet above the ghoul, striking with both scythes into his back and slicing to the floor. He left his weapons in the ghoul, keeping it from pressing hard on Ozzy at the cost of a deep wound to his leg from a spur on the ghoul's foot that jammed deep into his thigh. Layla brought her huge sword around in a swing to its neck, chopping into the flesh less than an inch. The stump of an arm slammed into her, tossing her the length of the room and into a wall. Billy struck just after her, stabbing up into one of the wounds Rolly had made, searching for vital organs with his sword.
Ozzy took more wounds but felt healing coming in from somewhere. Ben had chosen to keep the Butcher alive rather than use his remaining mana on a final Flamestrike. He used one axe to fend off the remaining talon, and the other came down again on the ghoul's face, removing more teeth. Sartorius reeled, but his maw opened wide as he went to strike at the Butcher. Suzette used the opening to put a doubled spell into its open mouth and blow off the back of its skull, scattering rotten brains on the far wall. The fight went out of Sartorius, but it took many more blows before the brainless beast quit moving.
The Threat of Sartorius and the Red Chapel is over...for now. Some evils are never truly gone and will emerge from the Shadows again.
For destroying 200 Rawhead Ghouls of the Red Chapel, interrupting the Ritual of Blood, and slaying Sartorius the Red, each warrior is rewarded with the following:
30 Core Skill Points
5000 Boss Experience Points
The Title: Ghoulslayer, which grants immunity to infections or diseases caused by wounds from the undead.
Increased reputation with Hungrytown, and Mama Laveau
Baroness Layla and Baron William have attained Level 10 and qualified for the Third Tier. (Or you can stick around awhile and work on those abominable skill levels.)
An appropriately gaudy chest awaits you outside the dungeon with some tacky souvenirs of your visit!
Billy packed Layla over to the group. She was knocked out and had broken bones but was alive. Ben and Suzette did what they could to heal the group's wounds, but everyone was low on mana and stamina. Rolly and Squirmie looked like their normal selves and were nearly asleep.
From the ceiling, the sound of clapping came to them. The priest was sitting on the edge of the hole in the ceiling. "Well done. I had faith that you could do the job, but I'm so often disappointed. For once, my faith is rewarded. I'm certain you are anxious to leave this lovely area, which is wise, that was only one of the ghoulish tribes that inhabit this place, not to mention that the Dread Wolves are about to take their puppies out for a walk. They normally chew on stray bones and lone ghouls but will appreciate fresh meat."
Billy yelled up at him. "You're awful friendly for someone that pushed us into a trap."
The Priest looked affronted. "Pushed? Trapped? Why my good baron, I told no lies. You wanted to get to the Red Chapel, and I gave you precise directions that would lead you there. I admit things got messy, but that's only one way to look at it. What is that clever saying you have?: 'It's all about the bottom line.' You gained much-needed experience, you've asserted your domination over the undead, gained some petty revenge, scored a windfall of points, and accomplished your goals. The bottom line looks pretty good from where I'm sitting."
Billy grumbled a bit. Ozzy yelled up. "And what about your goals? You had a nice picnic and wine, were entertained, and I assume we took out a rival boss, making your job easier. Things have to look good from your end as well. At least until Billy finds a way back up there."
"Well spoken, Butcher. My job is simpler, for now. Sartorius was growing too powerful. But I worry about someone claiming the Blood Altar. You wouldn't mind destroying it, would you? I'd consider it a favor."
Billy crossed his arms. "Nope. I have a shopping list, and that chunk of rock lets me cross an item off it. It will take some work, but a dozen strong workers and some block and tackle will hoist the thing up to the next level, and then we'll bulldoze a path to the top."
"No! That will be horrible! You'll disturb the bone piles, rile up the tribes, and create such a mess. I'll be cleaning up after you for years, to say nothing of restacking the bones properly." The Priest was standing and looked agitated. "Barons are always so difficult. Luckily, I know of a Sisyphean solution to the problem." There was a grinding sound from a wall as stones shifted. A large section of rotted red-velvet curtains fell away to reveal a broad staircase. "There. I'm sure your brawny butcher and his helpers will have no problem rolling that stone up to the top of the dungeon.
Ozzy got his fingers under the round stone slab and heaved. It was heavy! "Holy shit! What kind of rock is this?" He got it upright and stable with Rolly's help.
"Why, the finest Red Granite, carved from the third tier of rocky strata that lies below us, down where the deep-ones sleep. It will take ages for anyone to replace it. I'd estimate it weighs barely 45 tons. Just keep a good attitude and don't let it roll back down on you. The top is only five stories above you."
In the distance, a wolf howled. Suzette went to help Rolly keep the slab upright as Ozzy lifted up each stair. Billy was assisting Layla and Squirmie scouted ahead. From behind them came the Priest's cheery voice. "Don't worry, I'll keep the puppies busy until you reach the top."
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