Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our friends entered the small building of the Dragon's prison, which turned out to be bigger on the inside (a TARDIS reference, maybe???). They moved through a series of traps and challenges, and managed to overcome each of them and go forward.
The new chamber was big and dusty, with walls and floor made of cut stone. There was a door about thirty or fourty feet ahead, but on its left and right, two statues stood.
No, Mary thought. Not statues.
Golems.
They were large and foreboding, covered head-to-toe with heavy plate armour, with giant swords and shields in hands bigger than Mary herself. One shined like silver, and the other like gold. They were motionless at the moment, but on their chests, small crystals glowed in white, showing that they were operational. Mary figured that they were just waiting for the right conditions to become hostile.
Which was probably someone crossing the red line on the floor.
“All right, that is obviously a trap," Bruno said.
“In more than one way,” Aurum added. “Notice the trapdoors?”
There were six of those on the floor, and they weren't really hidden or something. Aurum reached out with his Mage Hand and pressed one of them, which sank under the pressure and then got pushed back by some kind of a spring mechanism.
“Why don’t we teleport to the other side and avoid those things altogether?” Mary said. “I can Misty Step, Tesaya, too. Aurum, you can use your Dimension Door and take the others with you.”
“I can only take one,” the bard said.
That left Agatha. But she could try running around--or above--the golems? Mary'd seen her do some crazy manoeuvres back on the streets of Pamagos...
She saw Aurum's *Mage Hand" fly towards the Silver Golem and tickle the feathers on its helmet. It didn’t react. Aurum moved on to the Golden one and Mary saw the hand dissipate the moment it touched it. That was strange.
“What if we tried… commanding the Golems?” Mary said and turned to the figures, yelling out. "In the name of Falka, stand down!”
The Golems didn't move from their places but their heads turned as if to look at her.
"We should go on," Tesaya said, staring at the door in the other end of the chamber. "We don't have time to waste."
"Are we even sure that the Order people are ahead of us?" Mary said. "These things don't look like they've been disturbed."
She glanced behind, at the rope they’d left across the floorless corridor. She couldn’t get rid of the feeling that they were making it very easy for anyone to follow them through the traps and obstacles on the way.
"I can't wait any longer," Tesaya growled.
She stepped forward, her face contorted in an animalistic grimace. Bolts of lightning danced on her armour. The moment her foot crossed the red line, the Golems' eyes flared in green and they raised their swords.
The group sprang into action. Bruno cast a blessing on Tesaya’s sword and it glowed icy-blue. Mary sent out two Eldritch Blasts at the Silver Golem. Aurum shot a lightning bolt at the Golden.
“I’m on door duty,” Agatha said and took off.
She ran around the Golems and up the wall, so fast that her movements were hard to follow. She made a somersault over the Golden Golem and reached the door. Her thieves' tools flashed in her hand. The Golem, much faster than its lumbering figure suggested, swung its sword at her back and left her with two bloody gashes. Agatha staggered but continued working on the lock.
Tesaya ran ahead and plunged her sword into the Golden Golem, averting its attention away from the tabaxi. Her blade sank deep into the metal, but strangely, Bruno's blessing stood on the outside.
Mary frowned. Aurum's lightning hadn't connected right, either. Was that thing resistant to magical attacks?
She concentrated on the Silver Golem. It didn’t seem to have the same resistances as its companion – her Eldritch Blasts had already left a few cracks in its otherwise shiny armour.
Mary’s heart raced with excitement. They were getting the hang of this fight! A few more hits and spells, and they were surely going to win! All they had to do was stay together and…
Somewhere to the side, the Golden Golem whacked Tesaya with its shielded arm and sent her flying across the room. She tumbled down on one of the trapdoors making it sink under her weight. It swallowed her whole and sprang back to its place as if nothing had happened. Only, there was a distant crash from below, and Tesaya’s yelp of pain.
Mary didn’t have time to react. The Silver Golem had regained its composure and was slashing poor Agatha’s armour to ribbons. The tabaxi hung to the door, swaying, a puddle of her own blood growing under her feet; but she kept on working on the lock.
Why wasn’t she trying to protect herself?
Mary sent two more Eldritch Blasts at the Golem. The cracks widened and white light shimmered from them.
Bruno ran towards Agatha, yelling a healing prayer on the go. The gashes on her skin started closing up and that appeared to be enough to help her stand and--finally--manage to unlock the door.
It clicked and opened, revealing a new chamber there. All Mary could see through the door were columns rising towards the ceiling and chains stretched between them. To her Eldritch sight, the room glowed with Abjuration magic. That, she imagined, was what a crazy-powerful holding cell looked like.
They were so close now!
So, how do you like the challenges so far? Golems are nasty constructs, especially when they're resistant to magical attacks.
But anyway, I can't wait for you to read the next episode! We're almost to the BIG mid-Arc finalle.
Until then, take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.