The ghoul limped along, casually chewing on the leg of a gr?m. He bit deep into the bitter, sinewy meat and tore off a piece that still oozed with black blood. As he ate, the burns on his left arm slowly healed, charred skin flaking away to reveal pale, healthy flesh underneath. Truthfully, his apprentice would have helped him regenerate faster, and would have tasted better too, but he wasn’t here. Besides, the ghoul still held high hopes for his new apprentice’s plumbing abilities.
"Status"
He quickly put his stat points into intelligence, then continued walking. He quickly made his way to the gr?m he had killed during his flight. It lay in a slump against one side of the corridor, its flesh heavily charred from the sticky nature of the ghoul's firebolt. The ghoul approached it and activated ghoul’s bite. The space in front of him folded in upon itself as two sharp rows of teeth crashed into each other in time with his own mouth, leaving nothing but a single set of legs and a bloody smudge on the ground. He picked up a leg and kept walking as vital energy flowed into him.
He hated to spend the stamina, but he needed the health. Between the explosion and overdrawing his mana, he had hurt himself pretty badly. He walked over to the intersection where he had last seen the fleeing plumber and stopped to consume the other gr?m before following the corridor Jane had taken to the next intersection. Arriving at the intersection, he stopped to look around for signs of either Jane or the Huntsman. Movement down one corridor caught his eye. He looked closer, seeing several small fuzzy creatures move across the corridor entrance at the far end. Bingo. He followed them.
Several coconut sized balls of sentient wire brush rolled and chirped along as they felt the pull of food that had been spilled in the labyrinth. They pushed past and rolled over each other, occasionally sliding along the walls in great arcs as they rushed for the motherlode. Some sucker had spilled hardware out of the food bins. Nuts, washers, screws, even the most-coveted copper fittings littered the ground. They swarmed the buffet of delicious materials in a feeding frenzy, the sated gradually being pushed to the back by the still-desperate. The ghoul that shadowed them watched with muted amusement as the frantic bristle sprites cleaned the corridor. He approached, the well fed sprites scattered away from him, leaving behind a few hungry sprites fighting over scraps. He examined the walls nearby, noticing several drawers out of place, as well as a hole that had been punched through the wall of a cubby. There it is. He climbed into the cubby to find the partially open hatch, held closed by a well-placed pipe wrench. Clever, but it looks like I won’t be able to get through either. The ghoul turned around, climbed down from the alcove, and walked off.
The oppressive gloom of the dimly lit service tunnel loomed over Jane as he trudged along. I'm safe for now, he thought to himself, but I wonder if the ghoul made it away safely. I really should just ask him his name. Under his feet, a shock-wave passed through the ground, shortly preceding the sound of a tremendous explosion. On second thought, I’m sure he’s fine. Jane winced as he felt his side, his fingers coming away wet with blood. I’m not though. It could be worse, I suppose. Jane’s stomach heaved as he imagined what the Huntsman might have done to him. A headache assailed him as he continued through the tunnels, occasionally holding the wall for support. He held on to the piping, waiting for the dizziness to pass.
"Ugh, what is wrong with me? Status." A blue box opened in his vision.
"Ah, crap." Jane checked his health and stamina
Not great. I need to find some water before heat stroke-
Sets in.
"I need to get cool." Jane took off his hardhat and high-viz, carrying them in his hand while walking along the tunnel.
Jane focused on his water sense, hoping to find some nearby. His perception expanded outward, picking up trace amounts of water in the pipes near him. He stretched his perception to the limit, his head pounded. Then, on the very edge of his water sense, he felt water. He took off down the hallway, using the wall for balance, until he came to a small hatch in the tunnel’s side. Opening the hatch, he found a short hallway ending in a small, circular, domed room. Clear water flowed around the outside edge of the room as a cool breeze wafted out from the hatch. A small chest sat next to the channel at the back of the room. This is a trap. Jane thought. I mean seriously, a freakin’ treasure chest? Jane set out a pulse of water sense, feeling the ring of water around the outside of the room, as well as a strangely diluted mass of water above the doorway. Definitely a trap. I really need that water, though. Jane put his hard hat back on, took a fistful of screws from his vest, and tightened his grip on his pipe wrench. Here goes.
Jane dove for the center of the room, coming in low under the door. He turned and scrambled to his feet as he saw a gr?m swing its clawed hands through where he had been an instant before. It dropped to the ground, screeching with anger. Its easy kill thwarted. It skittered back and forth on the claws of its muscular, insect-like legs. A dozen eyes glared at Jane with malevolence. I’ve got one chance at this.
“Pocket sand!” Jane yelled as he threw the handful of screws at the gr?m, rushing in to hit it with his pipe wrench. The screws hit the gr?m, but only a lucky few hit its eyes. The gr?m roared as it swiped its clawed hand at Jane from the left. The claws ripped into him from the side, cutting through flesh to slide along his ribs. He desperately swung his wrench in a wide arc, hitting the gr?m in the shoulder of its front arm with a solid crack. The gr?m shrieked and flung Jane back with a savage backhand. Jane landed with something poking into the small of his back. His pliers. He felt his improvised weapons skill activate as he thought of a plan. Staggering to his feet, he pulled the pliers out of his pocket and switched it into his main hand, holding his pipe wrench in his left. He charged at the gr?m once again. It swiped at him from his left. He blocked the clawed hand with his pipe wrench, bringing the closed pliers down on into the eyes of the gr?m with a vicious fury. He stabbed downwards several times before it pushed him away, its face a mess of half-closed eyes and blood. It shrieked and jumped at him, its maw an open pit of needle-sharp teeth. He lurched out of the way, its mouth snapping shut on nothing but the sleeve of his shirt. Jane’s head pounded, and his vision swam. I need to end this quickly. Jane jumped onto the back of the creature, wrapping its legs around its torso between the first and second pair of legs. The creature bucked and tried feebly to open its mouth, but its jaw lacked the strength to overcome the plumber’s hold on it. Jane let go of his pliers, grabbed the pipe wrench with both hands, and brought it down into the eyes of the gr?m with savage fury. The blind creature rolled onto its back, trying to dislodge Jane, but he held on with the tenacity of a tick as it battered him against the floor. All the while, he kept hammering it with blows from his wrench. Eventually, the creature’s legs gave out. Jane collapsed to the floor.
“Status.” He croaked, checking his health and stamina.
"Cool." Jan said as he lay on the ground. He looked over at the water at the edge of the room. It was so far away, but he needed it. He reached a hand out in front of him. He couldn't reach it. He needed to reach it. I have to do this. He reached out with his other hand, crawling along the floor as his vision slowly faded. He reached the water, and took a sip. He rolled and pivoted, pushing himself parallel to the stream. With a final effort, he pushed his legs into the water, then passed out.
